Isaiah 64:6

The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6-7, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.” Often when we talk about the sinfulness of man, we talk about the greatness of our sins. The Bible does that very thing also. For example, it says in Second Timothy 3:1-4, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” It is easy for most people to understand how greatly we all sin, but Isaiah 64:6 is saying that even the good things that we do are sinful: “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” There are at least two reasons that this is true. For one thing, compared to God we are sinful even when we think we are doing right. It says in Mark 10:18, “There is none good but one, that is, God.” For another thing, even when we think we are doing right, we are not because our hearts are so deceitful. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Isaiah 64:7 says, “there is none that calleth upon thy name.” In other words, no one can call upon the name of the Lord unless the Lord first of all calls that person and makes it possible for that person to call upon the Lord. John 6:44 says “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:…”

God is God, and there is none else. That means that He is in control of all things. He is in control of salvation. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. Jesus gives eternal life to whomsoever He will. Fortunately for all of us, He wants to give eternal life to everyone. And so Isaiah prayed with confidence and assurance when he asked the Lord to remember us and to not cast us off. Isaiah prayed in Isaiah 64:8-9, “But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever; behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.”

Isaiah 64:8 gives us a very wonderful symbolism of a believer being a lump of clay, and God being the Potter. A lump of clay initially has no use. It can become a useful vessel eventually, but until the Potter has made something from the lump of clay that clay has not reached its potential. But one truth to remember is that the clay has a great potential. Once it is formed by the potter, it will be very useful. Another thing to notice about a lump of clay is that how useful the clay becomes depends upon the skill of the Potter. Of course, God is the most skilled of all, so He is going to make each vessel exactly as it needs to be made.

Another truth about pottery and most potters is that sometimes they make mistakes and the vessel must be thrown away because of some flaw or some mistake made by the potter. But God never makes mistakes. Every vessel that He makes, He has a purpose for. That is why every believer has a part in the work of God. Every believer is being molded and shaped into just exactly what the Lord wants that person to be both in this life and in eternity. One of the reasons for everything that God allows to happen in your life, whether good or bad, is to mold you into what He wants you to be. Always remember what it says in Isaiah 64:8. God is the Potter, and you are the clay.

Isaiah continues his prayer asking for God’s help for the nation of Israel in Isaiah 64:10-12, “Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?” The Lord does chastise His children, and indeed His chastisements can be very grievous to bear. But He did create us for a reason. He did not create us to destroy us, but to mold us into something useful for the glory of Christ. We can look forward to God taking His chastising hand away from our lives, just like Isaiah did.

Jesus is such a great Savior that not only will He help those who do cry out to Him, but He will also help those who do not cry out to Him. Isaiah chapter 65 tells us about this great truth, as well as the fact that God will always find someone to serve Him. God loves people, and He loves to be loved. If those who should love Him do not do so, then He will find someone else. The Bible says in Isaiah 65:1-2, “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.”

Notice that God said in Isaiah 65:11, “I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” This verse is a prophecy about the fact that the Gospel of Christ would be offered to the Gentiles. If the Israelites were not going to take their opportunity to serve the Lord, then He would give that opportunity to another people. As we know from the New Testament, even though the Lord offers the gospel to the Gentiles, He has not given up on the Jewish people. God offers the gospel to them also. For example, it says in Romans 11:1 and the first part of Romans 11:2, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”

More of the failures of the Israelites that happened during the time of the prophet Isaiah are listed in Isaiah 65:3-5. It says that the people of Israel are, “A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” Verse 3 is talking about the fact that the Israelites had become involved with false religion. True religion involves the true worship of God. There is false religion in this world, and there is true religion. God wants believers to be separate from false religion. It will not be an easy task to stay separate from false religion because it is everywhere. When Jesus spoke to seven churches in the book of Revelation about their failures and victories, false religion was often the problem that had to be faced. For example, Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus concerning their success in avoiding false religion. Jesus said in Revelation 2:2, “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” But Jesus said to the church in the city of Pergamus in Revelation 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balack to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”

Isaiah 65:4 speaks of food items that the Israelites had been eating that were forbidden in the law for them to eat. They were probably eating these things because of the influence of the wicked people around them. The word that is translated “abominable things” comes from a word that means “to stink.” How did the Israelites know when something was abominable? God told them in the law the things that He did not want them to eat. For example, the law says in Deuteronomy 14:3, “Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.” It also says in Deuteronomy 14:8, “And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.” There were both practical reasons and symbolic reasons that these dietary limitations were given to the people of God. Such commandments concerning even the food that was eaten are example of the fact that the law controlled every aspect of people’s lives. Of course, we are no longer under law, but under grace. And so there are no dietary restrictions for Christians as far as being requirements to serve Jesus Christ. That is why Christians are told in First Timothy 4:1-5, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

And so we see, now that we have the New Testament and are living under grace, that there is a tremendous difference even regarding what we are allowed to eat between what is permitted in the Old Testament and what is permitted in the New Testament. Concerning diet, many things are absolutely forbidden in the Old Testament law, but nothing is forbidden in the New Testament. This is a good example of the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the difference between law and grace. It says in Romans 6:14, “…ye are not under law, but under grace.” And it says in John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Here is the point to remember: just because something is commanded in the Old Testament does not mean that it is necessarily a commandment for Christians to keep. A Christian must find out what the New Testament teaches on a particular subject. Here is another good example of the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament: sacrifices. In the Old Testament believers were commanded to sacrifice sheep and lambs over and over again. In the New Testament there is only one sacrifice, and that sacrifice was Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed once and for all. The New Testament does not present to us the blood of animals that have been sacrificed over and over. The New Testament presents to us the blood of Christ who was sacrificed once for all upon the cross of Calvary. Believe in Jesus and receive the benefit of His sacrifice: forgiveness of your sins.

___________________________________________________