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Isaiah 64:6

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

But we are all as an unclean thing,.... Or "we have been" (t); so all men are in a state of nature: man was made pure and holy, but by sinning became impure; and this impurity is propagated by natural generation, and belongs to all, none are free from it; and there is no cleansing from it but by the grace of God and blood of Christ: all are not...

Isaiah 64:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And there is none that calleth upon thy name,.... Upon the Lord himself, who is gracious and merciful, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and all sufficient, a God hearing and answering prayer, and the Father of his people; all which should engage to call upon him: or, "there is none that prays in thy name", as the Targum; none that prays to...

Isaiah 64:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

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...

Isaiah 64:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord,.... They knew not how to deprecate the displeasure of God entirely; having sinned so greatly against him, they were sensible they deserved his wrath; but entreat it might not be hot and very vehement, and carried to the highest pitch, which would be intolerable: neither remember iniquity for ever; to afflict and...

Isaiah 64:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Thy holy cities are a wilderness,.... Meaning either Zion, the city of David, and Jerusalem; the one called the upper, the other the lower city; now uninhabited, and a mere wilderness: or else the other cities of Judea, in which were formerly synagogues for religious service, and in which dwelt many godly families where the worship of God was kept...

Isaiah 64:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Our holy and our beautiful house,.... Meaning the temple, the house of God, as Aben Ezra: called "holy", because dedicated to holy uses; where the holy sacrifices were offered up, the holy service of God performed; and where the holy God granted his presence, and where were the symbols of it: and "beautiful", in its building, as the first temple...

Isaiah 64:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord?.... From delivering us out of our troubles and miseries, and taking vengeance on our enemies, and showing thy zeal for thine own glory; or, as Kimchi paraphrases it, "how canst thou contain thyself for these things, and not have mercy?'' how canst thou bear to see Judea, and all its cities, a...

Isaiah 65

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 65 This chapter contains an answer to the prayer begun Isaiah 63:15, and continued in the preceding chapter; in which reasons are given by the Lord for suffering such calamities as are before mentioned to come upon the Jewish nation; particularly their rejection of the Gospel as preached by Christ and his apostles, and...

Isaiah 65:1

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

I am sought of them that asked not for me,.... That this is a prophecy of the calling and conversion of the Gentiles is not to be doubted, since the Apostle Paul has quoted it, and applied it to that case, Romans 10:20 and is here mentioned as an aggravation of the sin of the Jews, in rejecting Christ, when the Gentiles received him; and was the...

Isaiah 65:2

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

I have spread out mine hands all the day unto a rebellious people,.... Meaning Israel, as the apostle explains it, Romans 10:21, whom he calls a "disobedient and gainsaying people"; who believed not in Christ, obeyed not his Gospel, but contradicted and blasphemed it; and were rebellious against him, would not have him to reign over them, nor...

Isaiah 65:3

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face,.... They committed their sins openly, without any fear of the divine Being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omniscience and omnipresence; they committed them in the open streets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine residence; and these they did constantly, which...

Isaiah 65:4

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Which remain among the graves,.... In order to practise necromancy, to consult the dead, where they imagined demons and departed spirits haunted, and of whom they fancied they might get knowledge of future things: and lodge in the monuments: whole nights for the same purposes. The Vulgate Latin version is, "that sleep in the temples of idols";...

Isaiah 65:5

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Which say, stand by thyself, c], According to Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, these are the unclean persons that did the above things who say to the righteous, "draw near to thyself" (p); so the words are, go to thine own place, or to thine own company: and come not near to me; keep off at a distance, as unworthy of such company: for I am holier...

Isaiah 65:6

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Behold, it is written before me,.... This account of their sins; it was in his sight and constant remembrance, and punishment for them was determined by him, written in the book of his decrees: I will not keep silence; but threaten with destruction, and not only threaten, but execute; plead against them really, as well as verbally, with sore...

Isaiah 65:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together (saith the Lord),.... That is, the punishment both of the one and of the other; these being alike, and continued from father to son, and approved of, and committed by one generation after another, till the measure was filled up; and then the recompence of reward is given for all of them...

Isaiah 65:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster,.... Now, lest the truly godly and gracious among these people should be distressed at such denunciations of wrath and destruction, it is suggested that these few, this remnant according to the election of grace, should be saved from the general ruin; as when men are about to cut down a...

Isaiah 65:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob,.... Jerom says most understand this of Christ; and who indeed is called the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, and sprang from Jacob or Israel, and came out of the tribe of Judah; and may be fitly signified by the cluster, in which new wine and a blessing were, which "seed" here...

Isaiah 65:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,.... This was a champaign country about Joppa and Lydda, in which were rich pastures for herds and flocks, 1 Chronicles 27:29, it seems to be a prophecy of the conversion of some in those parts, which had its accomplishment in the times of the apostles, Acts 9:35, here Christ had his sheep, and here was a fold...

Isaiah 65:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

But ye are they that forsake the Lord,.... Here the Lord returns to the body of the people again, the unbelievers and rejecters of the Messiah, who turned away from him, would not hear his doctrine, nor submit to his ordinances; they forsook the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; yea, some that professed to be his disciples, and followed him for...

Isaiah 65:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Therefore will I number you to the sword,.... There is an elegancy in the expression, alluding to Meni, that number, they furnished a drink offering for, or trusted in; and since they did, God would number them, or appoint a number of them to the sword; or suffer them to be slain in great numbers, even from one end of their land to another,...