Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. With whom does the Lord hold fellowship? See Isaiah 64:5a (printed below)
You hold fellowship with the one who rejoices in the practice of righteousness, you hold fellowship with those who remember you by observing your ways. (Isaiah 64:5a)
Isaiah testifies that the Lord is pleased with the man who does what is right and remembers the commandments by keeping them. With such a man the Lord holds fellowship—between that man and his God there is blesses spiritual communion.
2. What is the Lord’s present attitude toward His people at the time this passage of Isaiah’s prophecy was written? See Isaiah 64:5b (printed below)
But you were angry with us, because we sinned; for a long time we have continued in our sins. How can we be saved? (Isaiah 64:5b)
Isaiah must confess that he and his people do not fit the description of the man whose life elicits God’s favor (64:5b): “You were angry with us, because we sinned.” The latter part of verse 5 contains the confession that the way of sin has now been practiced for a considerably long time: “for a long time we have continued in our sins.”
3. What does Isaiah confess about himself and the nation of Israel? See Isaiah 64:6 (printed below)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. All of us shrivel up like a leaf; and, like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
In verse 6 Isaiah makes an honest confession before the Lord: “All of us have become like one who is unclean.” Here is the confession of universal guilt and moral pollution without exception and without excuse (note Isaiah 53:6a and Romans 3:23). Isaiah goes on to testify, “All of us shrivel up like a leaf; and, like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away.” Here is the confession that we are overpowered by our sins and swept away by them (note John 8:34). Note: here is the admission that we have an inherently sinful nature, but it is not offered as an excuse that permits the indulgence of sin; rather, it is confessed as an awful and culpable fact: by nature we have a heart that rejects God in favor of sin (Matthew 15:19-20).
4. In previous days when Israel provoked the Lord’s righteous anger, what prevented Him from casting away His people? See Isaiah 63:10-11a (printed below)
But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore, he turned and became their enemy—he himself fought against them. (11) Then he remembered the days of old, the time of Moses and his people. (Isaiah 63:10-11a)
In verses 10-11a Isaiah recalls that at an earlier date in Israel’s history when they rebelled and the Lord’s anger was provoked against them, He remembered the Exodus—He remembered Moses and his intercession, He remembered the fact that Israel is His people—and He did not cast them away.
5. What prayer does Isaiah now make on behalf of the Lord’s people whose relationship with the Lord has become strained because of their sins? See Isaiah 63:15-16 (printed below)
Look down from heaven, observe from your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassions are withheld from me. (16) You are our Father, even though Abraham does not recognize us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our Father; from everlasting your name has been, Our Redeemer. (Isaiah 63:15-16)
Recalling how the Lord had previously looked down upon His people in their affliction and bondage, Isaiah beseeches Him to do so again: “Look down from heaven” (verse 15a). Isaiah inquires, “Where are your zeal and your mighty acts?” Isaiah questions, Has the Lord lost His zeal for His people? Isaiah’s question is not one of doubt; rather it is intended to move the Lord to display His zeal for His people. Isaiah complains, “the yearning of your heart and your compassions are withheld from me.” He protests and pleads that the Lord is not allowing His compassion to flow forth and move Him to act on behalf of His people. In verse 16 Isaiah reminds the Lord of the relationship that exists between Himself and His people: “You, O Jehovah, are our Father; from everlasting your name has been, Our Redeemer.” That is to say, since the time of the Exodus, the Lord has shown Himself to be a compassionate father to Israel and a faithful redeemer.
