Isaiah 64:1 1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!
This is the pleading prayer of Isaiah the prophet concerning the nation he loved (Israel) and its spiritual condition. The word Isaiah uses to call for God’s manifestation of presence, in the prophet’s world, “rend”, means to tear in pieces, or to rip violently asunder.
In our world of torn denim, we often do not see something torn as a negative thing, but it is. To “rend” something or tear it apart, damages whatever is being rent in two. Consider the rending of a torn pair of jeans. The denim can be repaired with a patch or sowing the tear back together, but it is impossible to do that without there being a scar or remembrance of the damage.
Naturally speaking, this is because to “rend” something is a violent act, which breaks something apart in a dramatic and dynamic fashion.
Why would Isaiah be asking the LORD to do something so dramatic, as to have God’s presence tear apart the sky? Could it be Israel had become so far away from the LORD, in practice of true religion and reality of His presence, that the prophet believed they needed another Mt. Sinai intrusion of God’s presence and power?
Simply put, yes! Consider the author of Hebrews’ understanding of the fear God’s presence produced in Israel at Mt. Sinai.
Hebrews 12:18-21 18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so, much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
Isaiah’s vantage point of his nation and its religion caused him, in holy desperation, to cry out to the LORD “Rend the heavens and come down! That you would come down! That mountains might shake at your presence”.
Isaiah’s plea is ultimately answered in Christ’s first incarnation, death and resurrection. In that knowledge, let’s remember what I said earlier, about something being torn apart violently and there being a scar of that event.
Remember our Lord Jesus Christ fulfills Isaiah’s plea, and in Christ, who still has His scars, we have a reminder of the cost of the rending of the heavens, that God could bring the Christ for His glory and our sake.
Let’s examine the state of Israel to illuminate the reason for the prophet’s desperation.
Israel had backslidden to a state of self-righteousness before the Lord
From the very text of Isaiah 64 we received our first diagnosis of Israel’s perilous position before God.
Isaiah 64:6-7 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities.
In the first place, Israel had fallen into a false disposition of faith, believing that doing the religious rituals and sacrifices made them righteous, rather than by faith, the rituals and sacrifices, pointing to the Lamb of God to come. The word of God revealed their need for grace to overcome that which could separate them from God; where the sacrifices and rituals where to be acts of faith, looking forward to the Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Because of their error, believing religion is what made them right with God, the LORD was announcing to them that in that state, every ritual and good deed done was like a filthy or used menstrual rag. I am not using hyperbole in the metaphor, as the word filthy rags, means used menstrual rags.
In their pursuit of saving themselves, they were being led by their iniquities (inborn tendency to sin), rather than God’s word and His manifest presence, from the Holy of Holies.
In this state of being, where they felt justified by their religious works, they no longer felt the desperate need to call on the name of the LORD. It was not that they were not praying or fasting, it was that God was not listening, for their prayers had become selfish and their fasting was to move God to give them their selfish requests (read Isaiah 58; Psalm 66:18)).
Therefore, Isaiah rightly declares “And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us”.
Christians be warned, we can grieve the Holy Spirit, having been saved by grace through faith and then attempting to be made perfect in the flesh of self-righteousness(Galatians 3:1-4).
Followers of Christ can very easily, if not careful, fall into a state where we believe we are doing enough, and God is pleased with that enough. This is self-righteousness, for can we ever do enough to pay our Lord Jesus back for what He accomplished for us?
When we arrive at this perilous place, we forget the first and greatest commandment is not to love God to the degree we see fit or measure, but to love the Lord our God with ALL!
Many Christians will sing “I surrender all” and mean “I surrender some, or enough as I see fit”.
Where have all the good men gone?
A second reason for Isaiah the prophet’s desperate prayer is that Israel had been vilifying God’s call on godly men. Be careful not to assume I am making a statement against women in ministry. I am not.
Let us listen to God’s assessment in Isaiah 3:8-12.
Isaiah 3:8-12 8 For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory. 9The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. 10 “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings 11Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths.”
Here we see that Israel provoking the Lord because their proclamations religiously, denied the Lord even when they were speaking in His name. We also see that they were unashamed concerning their sin. Verse 12 declares the denial of godly male leadership.
“As for My people, children are their oppressors”, Israel had been a society of the tale wagging the dog. In God’s nation, the want and concern for the young to be pleased had taken over the society. Attempting to get their youth excited about God, they watered down what little was known of His word, to mean nothing. Scriptural practice was changed to accommodate the supposed sensibility of the young. And the young wanted more.
Who drove this agenda? Women, who had risen in power, in the vacuum of men who abrogated their scriptural authority in the public sphere and in the home, and goldy men who were shouted down as being old fashion and out of date. Much like the woke feministic culture of America, where anyone who appears to be a godly man is canceled, as it was in Israel. Where had all the good men gone? They were run out of society.
This culture still exists against the kingdom of God, in His church. Where God’s word and God’s roles for men and women are to be cherished, protected, and celebrated, in the home and family, chaos reigns. In the church this leaves a body of immature people, who know enough of God’s word to twist it for their own purposes, but not enough to be led by the Holy Spirit for discerning good and evil (Hebrews 5:12-14).
This is one of the reasons Isaiah pronounces
Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to you, wo call good evil and evil good” . Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
It is imperative that we in the church once again hide the word in our heart and obey it with all our heart, for if not, we will wind up as Israel. The author of Hebrews knew this and warns.
Hebrews 5:12-14 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Pride, Prestige, Prosperity and Power.
Under Judah’s first kings, they experienced times of great prosperity and power among the nations of the world. They had great power, power which often stimulated the pride of even their good kings.
King David, a man after God’s own heart, was stimulated by Satan to test God in his taking a census, which led to the death of tens of thousands of his subjects. Hezekiah, king during a portion of Isaiah’s ministry, also reveals how pride, prestige, and power from prosperity, caused God to turn from Israel’s’ help to their enemy (Isaiah 63:10).
We find Hezekiah’s story in Isaiah 38-39.
In Isaiah 38 we see Hezekiah sick. Isaiah tells him to set his house in order for, he is going to die.
The king prays to the LORD, asking him to remember how he had walked before the Lord, in truth and with a loyal heart; having done good in God’s sight (Isaiah 38:2-3). The LORD grants Hezekiah fifteen more years.
One would think that such a good king, who walked in God’s ways would certainly do greater good, in those 15 years, than in the previous years of his reign. That was not the case.
In those fifteen years, Hezekiah married a Phoenician princess (Psalm 45:10), from the area of Tyre and Sidon, where Ba’al worship coupled with Ashtaroth worship was religion; a religion of abominable abortion and sexual rites for fertility.
This union produced Manasseh, the worst king in Israel’s history.
We also find that the prestige of being king, receiving healing and having the prosperity of Israel in his treasury, led to pride. In this pride, Hezekiah opened his treasury to brag about his wealth and power, to ambassadors from Babylon. What they saw, would lead to their invasion of the promised land, destruction of Jewish worship in the temple, and the captivity of the nation.
It is important we heed Isaiah’s call to have the LORD rend the heavens and come down. Any of these three character-traits of Israel, self-righteousness, immaturity and a lack of discernment, and pride can be affecting our sensitivity and commitment to Christ. If these traits are present, the Holy Spirit is grieved and withdrawals relationally.
Consider this New Testament calling from Paul.
Ephesians 5:14-21
Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Next post we will explore what occurs when God rend the heavens and comes down, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
