Isaiah 64:1

1 ^[a] If only You would tear the heavens open [and] come down, so that mountains would 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 If only You would tear the heavens open [and] come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence-

2 as fire kindles the brushwood, and fire causes water to boil- to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that nations will tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did awesome deeds that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4 From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened, no eye has seen any God except You, who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5 You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember You in Your ways. But we have sinned, and You were angry; we will remain in Your ways and be saved.

Footnotes

• [a]. Isa 63:19b in Hb