Isaiah 64:1

1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence,

Isaiah 64:1 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 64:1

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst
come down
Before, the church prayed that the Lord would look down from heaven and behold, ( Isaiah 63:15 ) , now that he would open the heavens, and descend from thence; not by change of place, for he fills heaven and earth with his presence; but by some visible display of his power, in destroying her enemies, and delivering her from them. Some take this to be a prayer for the first coming of Christ from heaven to earth, by his incarnation, in order to redeem and save his people; and others that it is for his second coming to judgment, to take vengeance on his adversaries, when his wrath will burn like fire; but rather it is for his spiritual coming, to avenge his church and people on antichrist, and the antichristian states. She had seen him, as a triumphant conqueror, stained with the blood of his enemies; and now she prays for the accomplishment of what she had seen in vision and prophecy: that the mountains might flow down at thy presence;
kings and princes of the earth, and kingdoms and states governed by them, compared to mountains for their seeming firmness and stability; yet these will melt like wax, and flow like water, tremble and disappear at the presence of the King of kings, when he comes forth in his great wrath against them; as it is explained in the next verse, that the nations may tremble at thy presence;
see ( Revelation 16:20 ) . Here ends the sixty third chapter in the Targum.

Isaiah 64:1 In-Context

1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence,

2 as when fire kindles the brushwood, [and] the fire causes the waters to boil; to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!

3 When you did terrible things which we didn't look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

4 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

5 You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways: behold, you were angry, and we sinned: in them [have we been] of long time; and shall we be saved?