64 [a]Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
2 [b]As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in them a long time;
And shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who arouses himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have [c]delivered us into the power of our iniquities.8 But 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.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
As I read this plea from the prophet, I am reminded once more of the video I saw (especially by v. 7). A young man asked a question something like this, “Why doesn’t God just do some huge miracle for the whole world to see? Then they would all believe in Him, right?” Right?
Well, let’s think about that for a moment, what did the Israelites see? God rescued them from Egypt, parted an entire sea for them to walk through, and led them by a visible pillar of cloud (by day) and a pillar of fire (by night). Further, while they were journeying back to Canaan, they saw earthquakes and lightning on the mountain. It was so intense, they were terrified as Moses ascended to speak with God and receive His commandments.
While they were waiting, they rebelled against God and asked Aaron to make them an idol. Yeah, the very people who saw the sea part, who were led by a visible sign from God, they asked for an idol. But that’s not all! Then God provided manna for them to eat, every single day. When they got tired of it, he send them a massive flock of quail that was more than the millions of Israelites could eat–many got sick and died from a plague, but we won’t go into all of that.
The next generation literally watched as the fortified walls of a city collapsed, after they had done nothing but walk around it and blow a few trumpets. They also walked across a dry riverbed, while the Jordan river was in flood stage. God vanquished their enemies and let no one stand against them, so that they took possession of an entire country in very short order. Notably, these were peoples and armies that had (previously) prevented them from so much as crossing certain areas of land.
Within another generation, they again turned away from God, and He continued to do miracles, like Gideon defeating an army of 120,000+ with only 300 men. God used David to slay literal giants, and once more defeated all their enemies, so that Solomon had complete peace during His reign. The list goes on, and on, and on. And always, the Israelites turned their backs on God.
So first, even if God did such a miracle, would all the world really turn and repent? Probably not, sadly. We are a fickle and skeptical bunch of creatures, and no amount of miracles would convince everyone. Even in Jesus day, after He raised multiple people from the dead (Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter, possibly others), most of the religious leaders refused to believe He had come from God. They even had the nerve to ask for more signs and miracles.
But even more, in v. 7, we see that it seems God has hidden. Though the writers in the New Testament record many miracles, never again did God do something so big that all the nation would see it–even Jesus’ resurrection was witnessed by around 500 people, vs. the massive crowd that witnessed fire from heaven alongside Elijah. It’s as if God had said, “Look here all you skeptics… You wanted miracles, I gave them to you, it doesn’t work!”
So yes, it may seem like God is hiding, even though He isn’t really. What God really wants are sincere believers. Those who will love and serve Him without expecting something in return. Oh, there are plenty of promises from God, so we’re making out like bandits–except not really like bandits, that would be stealing, right 🙂
Anyway, the point is that we can only benefit from surrendering our lives to God. There’s no possible downside, since God wants what is best for us, and will “work things together for our good”. What about persecution, Jesus promised that, no? Yes He did, but what is that in light of what God calls us to.
As Paul wrote to the church at Phillip, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…”
There is simply nothing greater than knowing God, so it should be no surprise that Isaiah pleads with God to show Himself once more. In comparison, all their righteous deeds were filthy rags (v. 6). And they didn’t even have anything to cling to otherwise, for all their precious things had been burned, the temple burned, the city destroyed (vv. 10-11).
Isaiah longed only to hear from God (v. 12), so how much do we desire that? It is only natural to put a lot of stock in things we can touch, feel, and see. Yet none of it is so great that it holds a candle to the greatness of knowing Jesus. Just as the Israelites, we frequently need to check our perspective, and check our values, to see what we are clinging to. Is it our stuff, or is it Jesus? Refocus today, and set your sights on Him once more, as you walk the path He has put before you.