Isaiah 64:11

Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. OUR HOLY AND OUR BEAUTIFUL HOUSE, WHERE OUR FATHERS PRAISED THEE - the temple. "Beautiful" includes the idea of glorious (; ). IS BURNED - (; ; .) Its destruction under Nebuchadnezzar prefigured that under Titus. AND ALL OUR PLEASANT THINGS ARE LAID WASTE - Hebrew, all our objects of desire; our homes, our city, and all its dear associations....

11._The house of our sanctuary and of our glory. _(195) It is called “the sanctuary of the people” in a different sense from that in which it is called “the sanctuary of God;” for, being the testimony of a sacred union between God and the people, it is often called “God’s holy house;” that is, because it corresponds to his holiness. But now, in a passive sense, believers call it “their sanctuary,” because from it they must seek their sanctification. This is more plainly confirmed by the words, “of our glory.” They acknowledge that they have nothing in which they ought to glory, except the temple, in which God wished to be adored and worshipped. And yet we see that this glorying was often without foundation, and for that reason was reproved by Jeremiah, “Trust not in words of falsehood, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are we.” ...

6-12 The people of God, in affliction, confess and bewail their sins, owning themselves unworthy of his mercy. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Our deeds, whatever they may seem to be, if we think to merit by them at God's hand, are as rags, and will not cover us; filthy rags, and will but defile us. Even our few good works in which there is real excellence, as fruits of the Spirit, are so defective and defiled as done by us, that they need to be washed in the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. It bodes ill when prayer is kept back. To pray, is by faith to take hold of the promises the Lord has made of his good-will to us, and to plead them; to take hold of him, earnestly begging him not to leave us; or soliciting his return. They brought their troubles upon themselves by their own folly. Sinners are blasted, and then carried away, by the wind of their own iniquity...

OUR HOLY AND OUR BEAUTIFUL HOUSE - The temple. It was called ‘holy,’ because it was dedicated to the service of God; and ‘beautiful,’ on account of its extraordinary magnificence. The original word more properly means glorious. WHERE OUR FATHERS PRAISED THEE - Few attachments become stronger than that which is formed for a place of worship where our ancestors have long been engaged in the service of God. It was now a great aggravation of their sufferings, that that beautiful place, consecrated by the fact that their forefathers had long there offered praise to God, was lying in ruins. IS BURNED UP WITH FIRE - (See 2 Chronicles 36:19). AND ALL OUR PLEASANT THINGS - All that is precious to us (Hebrew); all the objects of o

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 64:1 ISRAEL'S PRAYER CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED. Not content with praying God to look upon them once more with favour (Isaiah 63:15), Israel now asks for a theophany, or manifestation of the Divine Presence, such as they have experienced in the times of old, and such as shall suffice to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies (Isaiah 64:1). With profound humility confessing their manifold and grievous iniquities, they beseech God once more, as their Father and Maker, to have pity upon them, reminding him of the desolate condition of Judaea and Jerusalem, and urging him no longer

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 was that was built by Solomon; but here the second temple is meant, built by Zerubbabel, which being repaired and beautified by Herod, was a very beautiful building; and the Jews say d, that "he who has not seen the building of Herod has never seen a beautiful building;'' or it may be rendered, "the house of our holiness, and of our glory" e; where their holy services were performed, and which was the glory of their nation, and on which they gloried and boasted: WHERE OUR FATHERS PRAISED THEE: with psalms and songs; the singers in the temple,...

Isaiah 64:1. _Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth,_ Or, much better, «as when the brushwood burneth»; for if God does but come to his people, they are ready to catch the flame, like the dry heather which is soon ablaze; and his enemies also shall be like brushwood before the fire. Isaiah 64:2. _The fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou comest down, the mountain flowed down at thy presence._ O Lord, come again! Thou didst come in the past; repeat thy former acts, and let us see what thou canst do for the a

CHAPTER 63:7-19-64:12 The Great Intercessory Prayer 1. _Jehovah's loving kindness and power in the past remembered (Isaiah 63:7) _ 2. _Their deepest need (Isaiah 63:15) _ 3. _The cry of faith, Thou art our Father (Isaiah 63:16) _ 4. _The increasing plea (Isaiah 63:17) _ 5. _The prayer for Jehovah's manifestation (Isaiah 64:1) _ 6. _Confession and humiliation (Isaiah 64:5) _ 7. The cry for mercy and help ...

These verses, which describe the Temple as not merely desecrated but actually burned, seem to be a late addition from a period of which we have no exact information. The cities of the holy land are become a desert, Jerusalem a curse (LXX and Latin). The Temple, which has existed long enough to have exchanged its simplicity for adornment, and to be hallowed by memory, is burned. All that the people took delight in is ruined. Can Yahweh refrain from action on behalf of his people?...

PRAISED. See note on "shall not", &c. (Isaiah 13:10). IS BURNED UP WITH FIRE. This prayer is proleptic; and is said now by anticipation of the then (and now still future) day of Israel's repentance and return to Jehovah. PLEASANT THINGS. goodly places, or vessels. Same word as in 2 Chronicles 36:19....