Isaiah 63:15

The Bible says in Isaiah 63:15, “Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?” For the next several verses, including Isaiah chapter 64 we will be given what we can call a prayer from Isaiah to the Lord. This prayer is basically a request to the Lord to please go ahead and fulfill these great Messianic promises. Israel had been suffering greatly because of their sins. These promises of the Lord about a future kingdom are marvelous promises. It will be wonderful when they are finally fulfilled through Jesus Christ. But they have not been fulfilled yet. This prayer and this desire expressed by Isaiah can be found in the hearts of many believers. For example, we see this same truth expressed at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation. In the first part of Revelation 22:20 Jesus promised, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.” The response that the Apostle John gave to this promise is basically the same response that Isaiah was giving in Isaiah chapters 63 and 64. John said in Revelation 22:20, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Isaiah mentioned the “zeal” and the “strength” of the Lord in Isaiah 63:15. These two words tell us both why and how the Kingdom of Christ will be established on earth. The Kingdom of Christ will be established, not because man is zealous to establish it, but because God is zealous to do it. The Kingdom of Christ will be established, not because man has the strength to do it, but because Almighty God is powerful and the power of God will bring it to pass. “Zeal” speaks of motivation and desire. It is a word that means “passion,” an ardent passion to accomplish something. This word “zeal” has already been used earlier in the book of Isaiah concerning God’s motivation to set up the Kingdom of Christ. It is used in one of the great Messianic passages. It says in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Isaiah continues His prayer in Isaiah 63:16-19 and says to God, “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.” As Isaiah continued to make his pleas to God, Isaiah mentioned some truths about the Lord that are good reasons to expect that Isaiah’s prayer would be answered. God is our Father. This means that God is the Giver of life and the Sustainer of life. God gives life and He takes it away when He chooses, and God gives spiritual life if any spiritual life is to be found among men. God is also our Redeemer. He paid for us with the price of His precious blood on the cross of Calvary. Christians belong to Jesus, and therefore we can be confident that He is going to take care of His possessions. Isaiah said to God in Isaiah 63:19, “We are thine.”

Isaiah also mentions that God’s name is from everlasting. This refers to the name that was revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, “I AM that I AM.” This is the same name that Jesus used in reference to Himself when He said in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was. I AM.” God is eternal, and Jesus is eternal because He is God. He has no beginning of days or end of days. This implies that whatever He once thought, He always thinks; and whatever He once decided, will always be. It says in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever.” Among other things, this means that promises made centuries ago are the same as if they were made today. And it also means that whomever God loved centuries ago He still loves today and just as ardently. He loves His believers.

In Isaiah 63:17 Isaiah prays, “O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.” Isaiah says something in this prayer that is very important to remember: spiritual revival comes from God, not from man. Also, we need to remember that God is involved in everything that happens, and everything that does not happen. He is God, and there is none else. If there is no spiritual revival, it is because He does not let it happen. If there is spiritual revival, it is because He causes it to happen. If any person’s heart is hard against God, that is person is responsible for having chosen a hard heart; but God ratifies the decision and makes the heart even harder. That is what happened with Pharaoh. In Exodus 7:3 God speaks and says, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.” But it also says in Exodus 8:32, “And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.” Nothing happens unless God allows it to happen, and nothing happens unless God causes it to happen. The way to get revival is to repent of one’s sins, and to pray to the Lord and ask for revival. God can bring revival to any people and to any nation. Jesus holds the heart of the king and the heart of any nation in His hand. The Bible says in Second Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Isaiah continues his prayer in Isaiah chapter 64 and Isaiah says to the Lord in Isaiah 64:1-3, “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains would flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thy adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.” This is an expression of a desire to see God bring His judgment against a wicked world. Everyone who walks close to Jesus understands that there are very few in this world who serve the Lord. Often true believers are hated, persecuted, and even killed. The ungodly make the wrong decisions purposefully against what is decent and good. There is deceit, and immorality, and murder, and the trafficking of children: just to speak of a few of the sins. The pride and lust for power among our leaders have corrupted them. They turn away from God and away from what is good. Notice that Isaiah called these people in Isaiah 64:2 the “adversaries” of God. They are God’s enemies because they have chosen to be God’s enemies.

This desire that Isaiah had to see justice finally brought to the world is a righteous desire. The Lord Jesus is Judge of the whole earth, and He will answer that prayer when the time is right. Jesus will thrust in His great sickle into the harvest of the earth, and take the vine of the earth and put it into the winepress of the wrath of God. It says in Revelation 14:14-15, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” And it says in Revelation 14:19-20, “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” This is one of the great promises of God that is also quoted in the New Testament. It says in First Corinthians 2:9, “But it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” The purpose of this verse is to remind us that God has a wonderful future prepared for each of His believers. There may be disappointments, and heartaches, and sorrows in this life, but Jesus will more than make up for them in the future. This life will soon be past. Human beings cannot imagine on their own how great and how wonderful it is going to be in the Kingdom of God. It says in Revelation 21:4 concerning the eternal existence of the believers, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 64:5, “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth: for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.” This is a very interesting verse in that it presents several great truths in a very unique way. It speaks of righteousness, sin, and salvation. God wants human beings to do the right thing. We ought to do the right thing: always. There are no excuses for failure. And there can be terrible consequences to sin. Isaiah said to the Lord, “thou art wroth: for we have sinned: in those is continuance.” The problem of the human race is the sin problem. It says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That sin problem continues throughout the life of every person and throughout the history of the human race in every culture and in every age. But thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a solution to the sin problem that each person has. The solution is called salvation from sin through faith in Christ. Isaiah was able to say at the end of Isaiah 64:5, “we shall be saved.” Are you saved? If not, you can be. The Bible says in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

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