Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 64:8
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.
8. thou art our father ] See on Isa 63:16.
we are the clay, and thou our potter ] The nearest parallel to this application of the common image of clay and potter is perhaps Job 10:9. It is the plea of the creature against seeming unreasonableness on the part of the Creator. Can the potter allow the work on which he has lavished his utmost skill and care to be broken in pieces?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 12. The prayer now ends in a direct and touching supplication, supported by various pleas, that Jehovah will at last cause His wrath against His people to cease.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But now, O Lord, thou art our Father – (See the notes at Isa 63:16).
We are the clay – The idea seems to be, that their condition then had been produced by him as clay is moulded by the potter, and that they were to be returned and restored entirely by him – as they had no more power to do it than the clay had to shape itself. The sense is, that they were wholly in his hand and at his disposal (see the notes at Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9).
And thou our potter – Thou hast power to mould us as the potter does the clay.
And we all are the work of thy hand – That is, as the vessel made by the potter is his work. We have been formed by thee, and we are dependent on thee to make us what thou wilt have us to be. This whole verse is an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God. It expresses the feeling which all have when under conviction of sin; and when they are sensible that they are exposed to the divine displeasure for their transgressions. Then they feel that if they are to be saved, it must be by the mere sovereignty of God; and then they implore his interposition to mould and guide them at his will.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 64:8
But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father
God our King-Father
(Our Lord, Thou art our Father with the Lord is our King, Isa 33:22).
That conviction of a living God, as distinguished from the lifeless one, which is all that many have, made up of a mere bundle of catechetical doctrines, will create a demand for many other convictions besides. For, mark what question presses, so soon as God has been revealed to the soul; it is the deeply self-interested one, In what relation, or relations, does this almighty and glorious One stand to the individuals self? The answer given by our two texts, and much of the Scripture besides, is, that He is related to each of us both as a Father and a King. Now, not only is there no contrariety betwixt the ideas of these two relations; but, properly, there is no sentiment in the one which the other does not contain in some degree. Nevertheless, the idea of a Father contains more prominently the sentiment of bountiful and tender cherishing; when that of a King contains more prominently that of regulation and control; and it is not till we have combined them that we can form an adequate conception of the relation in which He stands to us. (W. Anderson, LL. D.)
Our King-Father or Father-King the memorial of God
Some may say they are identical; nor would I deny, with much warmth, they are. But when the better mode of impressing the heart is the subject of inquiry, not a little depends, I am persuaded, on the order in which the two ideas of the complex relation are presented.
1. Even metaphysically He is first our Father and then our King: the idea of the Divine paternity is the principal one, and that of the royalty the subordinate and qualifying one: He begets us as children before He rules us as subjects.
2. But, whatever may be the state of the question metaphysically, there can be no doubt that, in respect of practical and salutary effect on the heart, the assigning of the place of primary consideration to the relation of Father has a decided advantage. When men ask you, Who is God? let your reply be, He is our Father. And when they say, Is He not your King also? let your reply again be, He is; but first our Father, and more our Father than anything else. Even a heathen could say, as an apostle has approvingly told us, We are also His offspring. Although, in respect of our corporeal frames, we are in the predicament of the inferior animals; yet in respect of the nobler part of our constitutions–the immortal soul–in virtue of which, especially, we bear the Divine image, that has been communicated to us directly, by the breath of the Almighty (Ecc 12:7).
3. The thought is both solemnizing and animating; let us improve it to the ends of having our sense of responsibility deepened for filial reverence and obedience–for upholding the honour of Gods family, by the purity, the elevation, and dignity of our characters–and, also, for our treatment of all mankind as being of a Divine parentage.
4. But it is especially in respect of confidence in His loving-kindness, that I call at present for improvement of the meditation. (W. Anderson, LL. D.)
God the Father-King in redemption
1. Who is so ignorant as not to know that cold parental displeasure and warm parental affection arc frequently found co-existent; and who cannot easily conceive the truth of the following case? I knew a father who, after having long remonstrated in vain with a profligate son–from abhorrence of the sight and hearing of his abominations and profanities, and from respect to his own and familys peace and honour, turned him out of his house, and would not acknowledge him when he met him on the street. All the time he wept and prayed for him in secret, and gave directions to a friend to take care that his wretched boy should never suffer from want. Is the paternity of the human father more tender and amiable than that of the Divine? Hear how He himself vindicates His parental character: How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? etc. (Hos 11:8).
2. And yet hitherto I have not, properly, announced one syllable of the tidings of the Gospel. Nature and reason might have sufficed for conducting us all the length we have gone. We need other guidance for proceeding further. I stopped short in my simple story about that young man. What became of him? Well, he repented; returned to his fathers door, with humble confessions, and earnest promises of future well-doing; was taken in; and great was the joy that night throughout that dwelling. Now observe, that though the parallel does not terminate here, when tracing the analogy of the recovery of an outcast from the family of God, yet both lines receive the accession of new elements. On the part of God, there is the accession of the element of His royal character: and on the part of the sinner, the accession of the element of faith in a Mediator. The explanation is most important: it contains the secret of our salvation. Mark, therefore, that God does not re-admit the prodigal to His family, as an earthly father does, merely on account of his repentance; because, beside being a Father, He is a King. Consider, then, how this additional relationship of royalty is produced, and how it affects the Divine procedure. An earthly fathers administration of his family is a matter of privacy. Public interests are not concerned in it; and he may do with his own what pleases his humour. He may open his door and re-admit the prodigal, even without any repentance or confession, if he choose. But Gods family being the Public–the universal Public of created, moral intelligence; though this does not affect the personal love of the administrator, yet does it materially affect the mode of the administration. The family of children has enlarged into a kingdom of subjects; and though it be a Fathers heart, it must be a Kings policy by which the administration is conducted. Davids parental heart said, Spare the young man Absalom; his royal policy commissioned the army to fight him down as a rebel
3. What, then, is the state of our parallel now? It was sufficient for the re-admission of the prodigal into the earthly fathers house that he should be penitent. But the order of all good government of a kingdom is, that the violation of the laws shall be visited with penal suffering, before there be a restoration to the privileges of citizenship. Behold the mystery of our redemption! And see the advantage of our having assumed the paternity of God as His primary and most characteristic relationship. It is this paternity which, humanly speaking, goes in quest of means for saving us; and returns, exclaiming in triumph, Save from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom. When we commence with the royal relationship, and make that the primary characteristic, there is danger that God may appear as being but coldly passive in the work of our salvation. But when we commence with the paternity of God, we more easily discover Him warmly active in the work of our salvation; with all a Fathers self-interested love devising and executing its scheme. Having found the means of ransom in the substitutionary death of His Son incarnated, He brings it to us, that we may carry it away for presentation at the tribunal of His government.
4. This representation will explain, as clearly as any other, the nature, the necessity, and the efficacy of faith. As being that principle which gives credit to the Divine testimony, it lays hold of the sacrifice which Gods paternal mercy has provided, and pleads with His royal justice that it be accepted as compensation for our transgressions. Mark the necessity of such faith. The gift which God has made of Christ to sinners of mankind universally is not the gift of pardon, but of the means of pardon, to be used to that end; and used by the sinner himself: for it would be unholy government to pardon a rebel, whatever might be the amplitude of satisfaction proffered on his behalf by another, if he himself despised or made light of the transaction.
5. Observe, now, a second time, the advantage of giving the paternal relation of God the first place in our meditation on His character. In virtue of this, the proclamation of the Gospel is not so much the proclamation of a King, declaring that no man shall be saved except through faith in that sacrifice; as it is the earnest entreaty of a Father that His children should believe, so as to be saved; when His paternal love shall enjoy them in their recovery to His home; yea, enjoy them. It is much for a child to enjoy his parent; but it is more for a parent to enjoy his child, as an object on which he may lavish his affection; and with all the yearnings of His paternity does God beseech the sinner to afford Him this Divine satisfaction.
6. Having explained the doctrine of Gods paternal love, I now call for its correlative duty, filial confidence on the part of His children.
7. When this first principle of ]parental honour, confidence in God, is secured, the honouring of Him, which consists in obedience, follows naturally and necessarily. (W. Anderson, LL. D.)
We are the clay and Thou our Potter
Clay and Potter
The nearest parallel to this application of the common image of clay and potter is, perhaps, Job 10:9. It is the plea of thecreature against seeming unreasonableness on the part of the Creator. Can the Potter allow the work on which He has lavished His utmost skill and care to be broken in pieces? (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Lessons from a pottery
Many years ago it was my privilege to visit the porcelain works at Worcester, and there I learned most of what I know about the potter and his art. We were first taken into a large showroom, where there were displayed the finished products of the potters skill and labour. Here we were glad to spend some time in looking upon the beauty and loveliness which the potter had created. In thinking upon what was exhibited there, what can be learned about the potter and his art with a view to understanding the work and grace of our heavenly Father as our Potter? There were two things that deeply impressed me. The first was the almost unlimited variety secured by the potter in his workmanship. There were not two pieces exactly alike. Everywhere you perceived the mind of the potter on the stretch, seeking to attain all possible variety of form, design and ornamentation. I said to myself. Well, there is one thing very clear about the earthly potter–he has determined that in his work there shall be an utmost absence of repetition, monotony, similarity. By infinite variety he reveals his skill and the fruitfulness of his mind. If God is our Potter, are we to think of Him in this respect as like unto the earthly potter? Go to His work in Nature. How much of monotony is there in any department of Gods creation? What does that mean for us? It means a very great deal for Christian life. As a young Christian, I had a way of greatly admiring other people. If I saw any person of decided and beautiful Christian character, my heart was impressed. But the mistake was that I also wanted to be like them! And if I saw any one doing a particular work for God I wanted to do something similar. This longing to be like other people became a great curse and hindrance. Then God had pity upon me, and showed me the mistake of it all, and said to me: I do not want to make you like anybody else in the universe; I want to make you something different from everybody else; and He graciously persuaded me to give myself up to Him, to let Him make me the one thing He wished to see me. No greater deliverance ever came into my life than that. Do not try to be like anybody. Do not be one of a set. It would be a thousand pities to go to heaven, and for the angels to say: We have seen this sort before! It will not be Christs fault if that should happen in your case. There is something that God wants to make each one of us that shaft reveal His glory in a way that nobody else does. The second thing to be noted about the work of the potter is this: His whole aim is to make of the clay, not a vessel for its own use, but a vessel for the joy and service of others. Let us realize that Christ is in our lives to turn them outward! When we had spent some time in the showroom, our guide bade us follow him. He at once led us through a door out into the works. What a change! We were now amid the noise and splash and dirt. First of all he directed our attention to a shelf, on which were some half-dozen lumps of what might be described as glass and chalk and clay. As a matter of fact, they were different kinds of clay. All you have just seen inside there has been made out of such materials. Who had bridged the gulf between the shapeless clay and the beautiful vessel? The potter–that is what he is for. We are the clay–the thing of possibility only. The Lord is the Potter; and He can take the clay, and by His skill and power and grace, make it into a thing of joy and beauty for evermore. But our guide soon led us on, and we saw something of the processes of the potters art. One of the first things he did with the clay was to put it into a mill, where it was ground for a week, ground until it was so fine that it would pass through silk with hundreds of meshes to the square inch. If the clay could have thought, how puzzled it would have been! It would have said: There was something of me once, but I am coming to nothing now. I caught a glimpse through that open door of all those lovely vessels and vases, and I thought the potter was going to make me into one such as they; but here it is only grind! grind! grind! What does it all mean? Experiences very much like that come to the soul that has surrendered itself to God. The methods and processes of the heavenly Potter are at times very perplexing, and in no discerned relation to the desired end. Be quite sure that God understands His own work! Trust Him. The next thing that struck me was the large use which the potter made of fire. I cannot tell you how many times the porcelain was put into the fire before it was finished. But there was this remarkable thing: it was never put into the fire unshielded. It was always enclosed in a strong outer vessel, closely sealed, so that the fire did its work, and yet no hurt came to the porcelain. Into the fire of trial and suffering God, our Potter, puts us all; but He never puts us in unshielded. When this white porcelain had been taken through a great many processes, it was put into the hands of skilful artists, whose work it was to adorn it with the glory of colour and design with which we are all familiar. When the porcelain left the hands of the artist, the finger of a child could have brushed away all that he had painted upon it. But our guide explained that the porcelain would go into the fire, and that the fire would open its pores, and take in the colouring, so that what the painter had put on it would become part of the very vessel itself. That illustrated to me this great truth, that we never become better people by merely knowing more. New truth in the mind is like the colouring upon the porcelain, and some failure of memory may remove it. But Gods way is, when we have got a new truth, to lead us into some trial, some fire, that will make that truth part of our very manhood. Lastly, we were taken into another room, and there the artists were all busy working with a black fluid, which they were putting on the beautiful, pure, white porcelain. I said to our guide, What are they doing here? Apparently they were disfiguring the porcelain. His answer was: They are putting on the gilt! When the porcelain goes into the fire, this black that you see upon it now will be transformed into Gilt. There are times when God seems to be disfiguring the lives of his people. What is He doing? Putting on the gilt. (G. C. Moore.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. But, now, O Lord, thou art our Father – “But thou, O JEHOVAH, thou art our Father”] For veattah, and now, five MSS., one of them ancient, and the two oldest editions, 1486 and 1488, have veattah, and thou; and so the Chaldee seems to have read. The repetition has great force. The other word may be well spared. “But now, O Lord, thou art our Father.” How very affectionate is the complaint in this and the following verses! But how does the distress increase, when they recollect the desolations of the temple, and ruin of public worship, Isa 64:11: “Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire,” &c.
We all are the work of thy hand] Three MSS. (two of them ancient) and the Septuagint read maaseh, the work, without the conjunction vau prefixed. And for yadecha, thy hand, the Bodleian, and two others MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read yadeycha, thy hands, in the plural number. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; an argument or pathetical plea for pity; or, Notwithstanding all this, thou art our Father, both by creation and by adoption, therefore pity us thy children.
We are the clay; a metonymy of the matter, clay for the vessels made of clay; or, we are clay, pointing at our original matter; or it may relate to their state, that God framed them in a body civil and ecclesiastical, out of a confused multitude; they plead at the same time their own frailty, why they would be pitied; and Gods covenant interest in them, why he should pity them.
We all are the work of thy hand; another argument of the same nature with the former, Psa 138:8, not only as men, but as a body of men made thy peculiar.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. father (Isa63:16).
clay . . . potter(Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9).Unable to mould themselves aright, they beg the sovereign will of Godto mould them unto salvation, even as He made them at thefirst, and is their “Father.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But now, O Lord, thou art our father,…. Notwithstanding all that we have done against thee, and thou hast done to us, the relation of a father continues; thou art our Father by creation and adoption; as he was in a particular manner to the Jews, to whom belonged the adoption; and therefore this relation is pleaded, that mercy might be shown them; and so the Targum,
“and thou, Lord, thy mercies towards us “are” many (or let them be many) as a father towards “his” children.”
We are the clay, and thou our potter: respecting their original formation out of the dust of the earth; and so expressing humility in themselves, and yet ascribing greatness to God, who had curiously formed them, as the potter out of the clay forms vessels for various uses: it may respect their formation as a body politic and ecclesiastic, which arose from small beginnings, under the power and providence of God; see De 32:6:
and we all are the work of thy hand; and therefore regard us, and destroy us not; as men do not usually destroy their own works: these relations to God, and circumstances in which they were as creatures, and as a body civil and ecclesiastic, are used as arguments for mercy and favour.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 8-12: A FINAL SUPPLICATION
Though this may have reference to the attitude of the nation in the midst of the Babylonian captivity, its ultimate fulfillment is to be found at the end of this age – just prior to the return of our Lord to establish a rule of justice, righteousness and equity on the earth.
1. Finally recognizing the tragic end of walking in their own way, they appeal to Jehovah as their Father; they are but clay in the hands of the Divine Potter – whom they now desire to fashion them into what He wants them to be, (vs. 8; Isa 63:16; Isaiah 29; Isaiah 16; Isa 45:9; Isa 60:21; Psa 100:3).
2. Declaring themselves to be His people (comp. Isa 64:8; Psa 79:13), they plead with the Lord not to remember their iniquities (Isa 43:25; Mic 7:18) and to temper His wrath toward them with mercy, (Isa 57:16-18; Isa 60:10).
3. Jerusalem, the holy city, has become a wilderness and a desolation; the beautiful temple, where the fathers of Israel once worshipped the true and living God, is now burned with fire – as are all the objects of desire associated with it, (vs. 10-11; Isa 1:7; Isa 3:8; Isa 6:11; Isa 63:18; Psa 74:5-8; La 1:7, 10-11).
4. Will God still refuse His aid – in spite of all the heart-rending calamities that have befallen His erring people? (vs. 12; Isa Psa 74:10-11; Psa 74:18-19; Isa 63:15).
a. The implication is that they are yearning for divine forgiveness, and restoration to divine favor.
b. Nor will He forever hide his face from their cries; He will remember His covenant and extend His mercy – not for their sake, but for His own name’s sake! (Isa 41:14-16; Psa 105:6-12; Psa 106:43-48).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. And now, O Jehovah. After having complained of their miseries, by which they were almost overwhelmed, they now more openly ask pardon from God and a mitigation of their distresses, and with greater boldness plead with God that still they are his children. Adoption alone could encourage them to cherish favorable hopes, that they might not cease to rely on their Father, though overwhelmed by the load of afflictions. And this order should be carefully observed; for, in order that we may be truly humbled in our hearts, we need to be cast down, and laid low, and almost crushed. But when despair seizes us, we must lay hold on this altar of consolation, that, “since God has been pleased to elect us to be his children, we ought to expect salvation from him, even when matters are at the worst.” Thus, with a view to the gracious covenant, the Israelites affirm that they are the children of God, in order that they may experience his fatherly kindness, and that his promise may not be made void.
We are the clay, and thou our potter. By means of a comparison they magnify the grace of God, and acknowledge that they were formed of despicable clay; for they do not seek the ground of superiority in themselves, but in their origin celebrate the mercy of God, who out of mean and filthy clay determined to create children to himself.
We all are the work of thy hands. Of the same import as the former is this second clause, in which God is called the Creator, and his people are called the work of his hands; because to God alone they ascribe all that they are and all that they have. This is true gratitude; for, so long as men advance the smallest claim to anything as their own, God is defrauded of his right. Now, Isaiah speaks not of the ordinary creation of men, but of regeneration, on account of which believers are especially called “the work of God;” as we have frequently stated in the exposition of other passages: (192) Here they acknowledge a remarkable act of God’s kindness, in having elected them to be his people, and adorned them with benefits so numerous and so great.
(192) Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 2, pp. 26, 83, 121, 264; vol. 3, pp. 132, 318, 338.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
5. PLEA FOR VERIFICATION
TEXT: Isa. 64:8-12
8
But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
9
Be not wroth very sore, O Jehovah, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, look, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
10
Thy holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste.
12
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Jehovah? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
QUERIES
a.
Is there a change in attitude here?
b.
Is Jerusalem a desolation at this writing?
c.
What is their beautiful house?
PARAPHRASE
Now, Lord, we are pleading that You will intervene directly and relieve our present circumstances because, First, You alone are our Father. We are clay and You are our Former or Potter, the One who formed us with Your own hand. You should not be so angry with us, or keep on holding our sins against us, Lord, because we are begging You to remember, we are Your children. Second, the cities and villages of Your consecrated land, (even Zion, Jerusalem, the city where Your presence dwells) are being desecrated, profaned and ruined by Your enemies. And if they are not stopped, our beautiful temple, Your house, where our ancestors worshipped You is as good as ruined by the fires of our enemies. All our beautiful, peaceful land will be made a place of desolation and ruin. In view of all this, will You still withhold Your judgment upon our enemies and refrain from intervening for us and allow us to continue to be afflicted?
COMMENTS
Isa. 64:8-9 OWNERSHIP: This last section of the petition of Zion, born of her restlessness, is a plea for Jehovah to verify His relationship to her. She offers two motives she thinks should move Jehovah to act and intervene directly to relieve her circumstances. First, the Lord should act immediately and supernaturally, on her behalf, because they have no other Father than Jehovah. The emphasis is on His exclusive Fatherhood. The literal Hebrew syntax would read, And, even so, Father of us You are, we are clay and You are former of us, and work of Your hand all of us are. Despite their uncleanness and their sin, Jehovah formed them like a potter forms clay. They now fall back upon that relationship as a last resort. This was not always their attitude. Once they refused to admit the potter-clay relationship (cf. Isa. 29:16; Isa. 45:9-10)! That was when they thought they needed no help. But now it is a different story! Now they plead for His mercy and His immediate and direct help because they have suddenly realized He is the only Father they have!
Before we thank God that we are not like those people, let us remember that we have undoubtedly been as arrogant and then as helpless as they at one time or another in our Christian walk. All of us have tried, with Peter, to walk on the stormy sea of life by ourselves at one time; all of us have probably cried out as we began to sink, Lord save me! (cf. Mat. 14:29-31). But actually, this is where God wants us! This is where He wanted Zion! He could not save them until they allowed Him to do so. Of course, most of us want Him to save us right now, and according to our human program. But Jehovah is not only omnipotent, He is omniscient. His knowledge of what we need and when we need it is perfect. He is indeed our perfect Father.
A literal translation of verse nine would read, Do not be angry, Jehovah, unto strength, and do not eternally remember our sin. In other words, they are pleading that Jehovah not carry out His anger as strongly as He is capable of doing. That would obliterate them! Their plea is that they are His people. Their appeal is that Jehovah verify their status as His chosen people by intervening and saving them from impending captivity. Jehovah will deliver them from captivity and verify their election as His children when they do their part to verify their relationship to Him by obedience to His will as children should. Will Jehovah claim them as children? Yes, when they claim Him as Father! Will He verify they are His? Yes, when they verify He is theirs! Will He deliver them! Yes, when they allow Him to do so and when it is best for Him to do so! Ezekiel (Eze. 20:1-49) predicts this very thing! God does have a remnant and He will verify His ownership!
Isa. 64:10-12 OMNIPOTENCE: The second motive Zion thinks should move Jehovah to act immediately on her behalf is the continuing plunder of Judahs cities and villages by the Assyrians. This continuing plunder portends an even more disastrous day when the Temple may be put to the torch and the holy city itself, beautiful Jerusalem, may be overrun and ruined by the heathen hordes. It was evidently so imminent that the prophet spoke of it as if it were already happening! Jerusalem and the Temple were not completely destroyed and burned until 586 when Nebuchaddnezzar razed the whole city (cf. Jer. 52:13). Isaiah is not writing after the fact but using the predictive present.
The statement in Isa. 64:12 sums up and presses home the point Zion is pleadingneed for immediate, direct intervention by Jehovah to deliver her from her enemies. God must not allow the land and the people who bear His name to be profaned lest His name be profaned throughout the world. Jehovah has acted in the past to vindicate His power and glorify His name; will He now remain silent? The Hebrew word khesheh is translated peace in Isa. 64:12, but more literally means silence. The usual Hebrew word for peace is shalom. The phrase ad-meod which means, . . . unto strength . . . is repeated in this verse. In view of the continued plundering of the cities and the imminent razing of Jerusalem and the Temple, will Jehovah continue to keep silent and continue to afflict Judah so severely? Indeed He will so long as Judah keeps on walking in sin. One has only to read Jeremiah and Ezekiel to know that Judah not only continued but worsened in her sin and rebellion (cf. Eze. 5:5-6; Eze. 8:7-18) until finally Jehovah withdrew His glory from her altogether (Eze. 11:22-25).
For the sake of His name and the faithfulness of a small remnant, Jehovah delivered His people from their captivity and rebuilt their city and their temple. However, the rebuilt Jerusalem and Zerubbabels temple were temporary edifices used by the Lord to the ultimate end He sought and that was a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:22), the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the church the presence of the Lord dwells now and forever more. An earthly Jerusalem and an earthly temple are now of no consequence to God and His people. Those who worship Him now and forever more worship in Spirit and in truth (cf. Joh. 4:19-26).
QUIZ
1.
What is the aim of Zions petition in these verses?
2.
To what relationship does Zion appeal in her plea?
3.
Does God want men to come to such helplessness as Zion exhibited here?
4.
Why does Zion remind the Lord of what is happening to the cities?
5.
Did God ever deliver Zion?
6.
What was Gods ultimate deliverance?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(8) We are the clay, and thou our potter . . .Commonly, partly, perhaps, from St. Pauls application of the image in Rom. 9:20-21, and Isaiahs own use of it in Isa. 29:16, we associate the idea of the potter with that of simple arbitrary sovereignty. Here, however (as in Jer. 18:6), another aspect is presented to us, and the power of the Great Potter is made the ground of prayer. The clay entreats Him to fashion it according to His will, and has faith in His readiness, as well as His power, to comply with that prayer. The thought of the potter becomes, in this aspect of it, one with that of the Fatherhood of God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Thou art our Father To the very few thou art the spiritual Father. The confession here reaches the point when God accepts, and becomes a heavenly Father.
Clay In the hands of God, as moulder, are all penitent men when God does accept, and then he forms them by discipline to the character they should have. God works creatively and renewingly in and upon all who will let him. To choose is our work. He chooses not for us. We yield our rebellion. He does not this for us; but if we continue obedient he does all the rest.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah Pleads For Yahweh To Exercise His Sovereignty On Their Behalf ( Isa 64:8-12 ).
Isa 64:8
‘But now O Yahweh, you are our father,
We are the clay and you are the potter,
And we are all the work of your hand.’
Here lies Isaiah’s hope. That Yahweh has proclaimed Himself their Father (see on Isa 63:16). He has set His choice on them (Deu 7:7-8). And while they are but clay He is the Potter. Thus He can shape them into what He will. The declaration of the sovereignty of God is absolute. He knows that it is within Him to make them what He will. The difference between Edom and Jacob is not that Jacob is a little better than Edom, but that Jacob is loved and chosen and Esau (Edom) is not (Mal 1:2-3). This is why Isaiah believes that Yahweh can yet step in and save. The materials on which He has to work may be impossible. But Yahweh is the God of the impossible, and he is confident that He can and will save them.
Isa 64:9
‘Do not be not very sorely angry, O Yahweh,
Nor remember iniquity for ever,
Behold, look, we beg you,
We are all your people.
Having stated his case that all is dependent on the graciousness of Yahweh Isaiah now pleads for Yahweh to act. Let Him assuage His anger, let Him forget their iniquity, let Him remember that they are the people whom He has chosen. Let Him look on them and show mercy towards them. Otherwise they have no hope. Was this not why the Servant died, that He might make deliverance and salvation available to such as these? In this lies their hope. They are all His nominal people. But if they are to experience His salvation that must become actual and real. So Isaiah prays for the theory to become the fact. ‘All the people’ is the longing of his heart, for he knows from what he has already been told that not all will respond.
Isa 64:10
‘Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and our beautiful house,
Where our fathers praised you,
Is burned with fire,
And all our pleasant things are laid waste.
Will you refrain yourself for these things, O Yahweh?
Will you hold your peace and afflict us very sorely?’
Sitting in the loneliness of his room, remembering the Bloodstained One (Isa 63:1-6), fearing the doom of Edom for his people, and grieving over and praying for their sins, the ancient Isaiah is making his desperate plea. Will God have mercy? But he knows that it cannot be until Babylon’s interruption promised in Isa 39:6-7 has occurred, and he sees it ahead as though it were already there. Babylon must be allowed further say before Zion prevails. The perfect tenses indicate certainty of completion not the time when the events will occur.
The holy cities of Judah will become a desolation, it is as certain as though it had happened. (All the cities are holy because this is all God’s land). Zion will become a wilderness. Jerusalem will become a desolation. The Temple, their holy and beautiful house of Yahweh, where their fathers had praised Yahweh, will be burned with fire. All that is theirs that is most pleasant will be laid waste by the northern predators. He knows this must be because God had said so (Isa 39:6-7; Isa 43:28), and he accepts it. But the question is, will this mean their end as it had meant Edom’s end? Will He refrain from helping them in these dreadful circumstances. Will He say and do nothing and let them be afflicted by His will? Will the Bloodstained One tread them in the winepress? Or will God have mercy and save? That is his question. Is there hope?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
How beautiful is the connection between the opening and close of this prayer, and indeed the whole, of the Chapter from beginning to end! Surely, every faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, who knows himself to be, in himself, what this prayer expresseth; and desires, in that conviction to lie as clay in the hand of the potter, will look up, in and through the Lord Jesus, and the fullness of his propitiation and advocacy, and rest in humble waitings oh the Lord, until the hour of deliverance come. Wilt thou refrain thyself? Wilt thou hold thy peace? Wilt thou be silent from the throne, when Jesus’s name is pleaded? will be the finishing and irresistible argument of every prayer. It is as if the soul of the believing pleader should say, “will God forget his covenant engagements? Shall the efficacy and merit of Jesus’s blood and righteousness cease, and the helping of our infirmities in prayer, by God the Holy Ghost, be no more available?” Sweet and unanswerable pleas, these, to be sure of finding grace and mercy in due time of need.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 64:8 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.
Ver. 8. But now, O Lord, thou art our father. ] Or, Yet now, O Lord, thou art our father; therefore “we shall not die,” say they, Heb 1:12 boldly, but warrantably. See on Isa 63:16 .
We are the clay, and thou art our potter.
We are all the work of thy hands.
a Orat. ad Pison.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 64:8-12
8But now, O LORD, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.
9Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.
10Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11Our holy and beautiful house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious things have become a ruin.
12Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O LORD?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Isa 64:8-12 This is a prayer of hope for YHWH to remember His covenant and not His children’s sin.
1. You are our Father (see Special Topic: Fatherhood of God )
2. You are the potter
3. we are the work of Your hand (cf. Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9)
Isa 64:9 There is a series of commands in the sense of prayer requests.
1. do not be angry beyond measure – Qal IMPERFECT (BDB 893, KB 1124) used in a JUSSIVE sense, cf. Isa 54:7-8
2. do not remember iniquity forever – Qal IMPERFECT (BDB 269, KB 269) used in a JUSSIVE sense, cf. Isa 43:25
3. look, all of us are Your people – Hiphil IMPERATIVE (BDB 613, KB 661)
All of these are similar to Isa 57:16-17; Psa 103:8-14.
Isa 64:10-11 All of the VERBS are PERFECTS (become used four times). They describe the complete destruction of YHWH’s wrath.
1. the cities of Palestine are a wilderness
2. Jerusalem is desolate
3. the temple burnt with fire (i.e., Babylon in 586 B.C. and Titus in 70 A.D.)
4. all Israel’s precious things are in ruin
Isa 64:12 God’s people cry out for restraint and compassion. Please, please, no more, they cry. Please come to us again!
now. A special various reading, called Sevir (App-34), with some codices, two early printed editions, and Aramaean, read “Thou”.
Thou art our Father. See note on Isa 63:16.
hand. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “hands” (plural)
Isa 64:8-9
Isa 64:8
“But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
This is the third time in this prayer (See Isa 63:16) that the appeal has been directed to God as the Father of his people. Isaiah did not presume to plead any merit on Israel’s part, but appealed only to God’s gracious covenant promises.
Douglas has pointed out the following correspondences between this chapter and the early chapters of the prophecy. “Isa 64:4 is like Isa 8:17; Isa 30:18. Isa 64:6 is like Isa 30:22; Isa 28:1; Isa 27:8. Isa 64:7 is like Isa 27:5; Isa 8:17; Isa 29:16; Isa 19:25; etc.”
We have called attention here, once again, to the inimitable work of Douglas, the great scholar who so many years ago wrote that remarkable book, “Isaiah One; His Book One.” A full account of all that he did cannot be included in a work of this kind. But this little excerpt here is given as an example of what he has done for practically every portion of the whole prophecy. It exposes the shallowness and the inefficiency of those critical advocates of multiple authors for Isaiah.
Yes, Jehovah was the Creator and Father of Israel; but, “He is the Father of only his spiritual people. It should be remembered that a potter can mold a vessel only as the clay yields to his hands; if he is unable to make a vessel unto honor, then he makes one unto dishonor. Paul’s comment on this fact as applied to Israel is that, “God, willing to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath (Israel) fitted unto destruction” (Rom 9:22). Also, in this connection, John Locke wrote, “By the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction (Rom 9:22) God manifestly means the nation of the Jews.
Isa 64:9
“Be not wroth very sore, O Jehovah, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, look, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.”
Isaiah’s great prayer here is a model in many respects; but like all language, there is a line in it that might have been misunderstood, especially by the wicked majority of Israel. That line is the last clause of Isa 64:9.
“We are ALL thy people …” (Isa 64:9). While true enough if understood as an assertion that all of us are created by God, it is a serious error for it to be construed that “all of the nation of the Jews” were God’s people. That, however, was exactly the way the Jews took it. This was the fundamental error of the whole nation, for they believed that the total population, regardless of their ungodliness, were heirs of the promises to Abraham; but this was never the case at all. The great New Testament principle that, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel,” (Rom 9:6), seems never to have been comprehended by the Jews. Only those of like faith and character of Abraham were ever, in any sense whatever, the chosen people.
Isa 64:8-9 OWNERSHIP: This last section of the petition of Zion, born of her restlessness, is a plea for Jehovah to verify His relationship to her. She offers two motives she thinks should move Jehovah to act and intervene directly to relieve her circumstances. First, the Lord should act immediately and supernaturally, on her behalf, because they have no other Father than Jehovah. The emphasis is on His exclusive Fatherhood. The literal Hebrew syntax would read, And, even so, Father of us You are, we are clay and You are former of us, and work of Your hand all of us are. Despite their uncleanness and their sin, Jehovah formed them like a potter forms clay. They now fall back upon that relationship as a last resort. This was not always their attitude. Once they refused to admit the potter-clay relationship (cf. Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9-10)! That was when they thought they needed no help. But now it is a different story! Now they plead for His mercy and His immediate and direct help because they have suddenly realized He is the only Father they have!
Before we thank God that we are not like those people, let us remember that we have undoubtedly been as arrogant and then as helpless as they at one time or another in our Christian walk. All of us have tried, with Peter, to walk on the stormy sea of life by ourselves at one time; all of us have probably cried out as we began to sink, Lord save me! (cf. Mat 14:29-31). But actually, this is where God wants us! This is where He wanted Zion! He could not save them until they allowed Him to do so. Of course, most of us want Him to save us right now, and according to our human program. But Jehovah is not only omnipotent, He is omniscient. His knowledge of what we need and when we need it is perfect. He is indeed our perfect Father.
A literal translation of verse nine would read, Do not be angry, Jehovah, unto strength, and do not eternally remember our sin. In other words, they are pleading that Jehovah not carry out His anger as strongly as He is capable of doing. That would obliterate them! Their plea is that they are His people. Their appeal is that Jehovah verify their status as His chosen people by intervening and saving them from impending captivity. Jehovah will deliver them from captivity and verify their election as His children when they do their part to verify their relationship to Him by obedience to His will as children should. Will Jehovah claim them as children? Yes, when they claim Him as Father! Will He verify they are His? Yes, when they verify He is theirs! Will He deliver them! Yes, when they allow Him to do so and when it is best for Him to do so! Ezekiel (Eze 20:1-49) predicts this very thing! God does have a remnant and He will verify His ownership!
our father
Here the reference is to relationship through creation, rather than through faith, as in Act 17:28; Act 17:29. (See Scofield “Act 17:29”).
thou art: Isa 63:16, Exo 4:22, Deu 32:6, Gal 3:26, Gal 3:29
are the clay: Isa 29:16, Isa 45:9, Jer 18:2-6, Rom 9:20-24
all are: Isa 43:7, Isa 44:21, Isa 44:24, Job 10:8, Job 10:9, Psa 100:3, Psa 119:73, Psa 138:8, Eph 2:10
Reciprocal: Gen 1:26 – Let us Gen 2:7 – formed man Gen 18:27 – dust Job 10:3 – the work Psa 33:15 – fashioneth Psa 119:94 – I am thine Jer 3:19 – Thou shalt Jer 18:6 – General Jer 31:9 – for I Jer 32:27 – God Lam 2:20 – consider Mal 1:6 – if then Mal 2:10 – all Mat 6:9 – Our Luk 3:38 – of God Joh 8:41 – we have Rom 9:21 – the potter Heb 1:10 – the works
Isa 64:8-9. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father Notwithstanding all this, thou art our Father, having both created and adopted us; therefore pity us thy children; we are the clay, and thou our potter We are in thy hands as clay in the hands of the potter: thou canst form us, and dispose of us as thou pleasest. And we will not quarrel with thee, however thou art pleased to deal with us. We are all the work of thy hands Therefore forget us not, forsake us not, but spare, and preserve, and save us. Be not wroth with us very sore But let thy anger be mitigated by the clemency and compassion of a father. Neither remember iniquity for ever Thou hast been angry with us a long time, be not so for ever. Behold, &c. we are thy people Thy peculiar people, Isa 63:19. Another argument to enforce the former petition.
64:8 But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the {i} clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.
(i) Even though O Lord by your just judgment you may utterly destroy us as the potter may his pot, yet we appeal to your mercies, by which it has pleased you to adopt us to be your children.
The appeal 64:8-12
Yet Isaiah did appeal to God for help. He appealed on the basis that Yahweh had brought Israel into existence and was, therefore, responsible for her-regardless of her condition (cf. Isa 63:16). She was just inert clay, but He was the Potter who had formed Israel as the work of His own hands (cf. Jer 18:1-6; Rom 9:19-21).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)