64:1 The prophet called on God to make another appearance among His people, as He had done at Mt. Sinai and at other times (cf. Exod. 19:18-20; Judg. 5; Ps. 18; Mic. 1:3-4; Hab. 3). The Israelites' condition was so desperate that another special visitation from God was what they needed. The next time God did this was at the Incarnation.
64:2 Had God appeared He would have ignited the brushwood of people's lives and brought them to a rolling boil in judgment. Then the nations would know who Yahweh really was and would tremble at His presence.
64:3 At the Exodus God had done awesome things that no one had expected. Isaiah wished that instead of remaining quiet the Lord would do something spectacular again, something that would move the Israelites and the nations to respect Him.
"We too who are so often baffled by the way the Lord runs the world can identify with the spirit which wonders why he has acted in some other way--why he has not done something to check evil, change circumstances and people, rescue his own--rather than, as it appears, doing nothing!"716
64:4 Isaiah respected Yahweh because he knew who Yahweh was, but so many of his contemporaries were spiritually blind and deaf that they could have profited from a dramatic revelation (cf. Matt. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:9).
64:5 The prophet knew that God had fellowship with those who practice righteousness and who remember His ways to walk in them. He wondered if there was any hope of Israel being saved since she had sinned so much for so long and since this sinning had angered God.
64:6 Israel's sins had thoroughly polluted her and had placed her in an apparently hopeless position (cf. 6:5). Furthermore she could not stop sinning. Was there any hope for her? She was as unclean as a leper, as repulsive as menstrual cloths, as spiritually lifeless as a dead leaf on a tree ready to be blown away by more sin.
64:7 Furthermore, none of the Israelites felt concerned enough about their sinful condition to seek the Lord and try to lay hold of Him in prayer. This was understandable since God had hidden Himself from His people; they saw no hope that He would respond even if they did pray (cf. 59:16; 63:5).
