Isaiah 64 ~ our iniquities, like the wind, take us away

Come unto Me, by Carl Bloch

Isaiah 64

1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
[in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in [have delivered us unto]the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful [holy and glorious] house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

We are approaching Good Friday. Historically, Jesus, The Word, became flesh and made his dwelling among us (we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth) this was the week the Pharisees, the Jewish ruling council, and the teachers of the law could tell the crowd was angry with Jesus. The Messiah was to come in great glory.

The people felt they had given Jesus great glory, hadn't they run out to the street and waved Palm branches at Him and hailed Him as King of the Jews? Yes, Jesus had healed the blind, the deaf could hear, the lepers were cleansed, but..... the poor were waiting. Rome had swept in, creating amazing fortunes in front of them. Oxford Historians said the fortunes would not be repeated until the 16th Century Anno Domini, so great were the fortunes created by the Roman Empire. That's right, the righteous poor were waiting. They had had enough of Rome, Herod, Pilate and the rest. Now it was Jesus' turn to triumph, throw out the baggage, gather the armies and let Israel shine.

Did the people wonder if Jesus was Son of God?

Yes, they asked Him. People who don't read the Bible ask, today, "Did Jesus ever actually say He was the Messiah?" This question isn't to be frowned at! This is the door open for Jesus! The answer is answered in almost every other chapter (letter) of the Gospels. The Scriptures repeat and repeat. Just as Jesus implied, said plainly, and gave great and amazing wonders proclaiming Jesus is the Son of God.

The Scriptures repeat. The Ark of the Covenant was put together after all the great plagues the scientists agree occurred in Egypt around 1250 B.C.. - this according to the National Geographic Channel program on Holy Week of this year. The people of Israel won battles and traveled safely through the desert for 40 years. They loved to take the Ark of the Covenant in battle with them. But when they sinned, the Ark & the hand of God went against them. Even King David was worried by the power and the stories of destruction from God's Ark. The people were happy to have a place for the Ark, behind a curtain, where only one priest with a cord tied around his waist (in case the priest died they could pull him out with the cord without entering themselves) would enter once a year. God in a box for them.

The people wanted Jesus to be a tool getting them the freedom they wanted. "Was Jesus the Son of God?" Did He say it. Really. Yes. (In your ways is continuance, that we might be saved!)


John 1:5 ~
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:49,50
Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

⁵⁰Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." ⁵¹He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

John 4:
²⁵ The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

John 7:
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, ²⁹but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."

John 9:
²⁵ He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

³⁶ "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."

³⁷ Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."

³⁸ Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

John 11:
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶ and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

²⁷ "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."



Matthew 16:

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

¹⁷Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Why was Jesus killed? Because He was proclaimed as God, King on earth, King of the Jews.

John 7:45
⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" ⁴⁶ "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.

Mark 15:
²"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

Luke 22:
⁶⁶At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷"If you are the Christ," they said, "tell us."

Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

⁷⁰They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."

⁷¹Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."

John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Exodus 3:13-17
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Yesterday, the people saw amazing events, but could not comprehend Jesus. Look around you. The Church of Jesus Christ has existed for 2,000 years.

Matthew 16:

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

¹⁷Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ. And blessed be the people who proclaim You.

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