Isaiah 64:1-9

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • "Pride and Egotism," Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit.
  • Chapter XIX of the Epistle of Barnabas. (ca. 130)
  • Chapter XXV, Dialogue With Trypho, Justin Martyr. (c 160)
  • V.XXXVI.3, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
  • Chapter VIII, Exhortation to the Greeks, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • II.4, V.14, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • Chapter X, On Patience, Tertullian (c. 202)
  • III.VI.4, First Principles (De Principiis), Origen. (c.225)
  • V.XIX, V.XXI, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
  • Chapter XXV, Chapter XXVI, Proslogium, Anselm of Canterbury, 1077-1078.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "Even though O Lord by your just judgment you may utterly destroy us as the potter may his pot, yet we appeal to your mercies, by which it has pleased you to adopt us to be your children."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "The happiness of his people is bound up in what God has designed for them, and is preparing for them, and preparing them for; what he has done or will do."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "Rent - A metaphor taken from men, that when they would resolutely help one in distress, break and fling open doors and whatever may hinder."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "Oh, that Thy wrath would consume Thy foes as the fire. Rather, "as the fire burneth the dry brushwood" [GESENIUS]."
  • "Exposition of Isaiah 63-64," Charles H. Spurgeon, 1892.
    • "He is as terrible to his foes as he is precious to his friends. He stands before us as the one hope of his ancient church."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Isaiah 64:1-9, Samuel Giere, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
    • "This pericope is simultaneously rooted in the rich memories of God's saving acts and mired in the muck of dashed expectations and the experience of God's absence."
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • "Isaiah 64:1-9," Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "The writer/speaker is calling on the past experience of the people to remind them of the power and presence of God in their lives."
  • The Old Testament Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9. Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
    • "We pray constantly for him to ‘tear open the heavens and come down’ into our world which, in its pain and hurt, forever needs the touch of heaven. But we know also that the one who will/does come will not do so simply at our call and to our demands..."
  • "Going Against the Stream," William Willimon, The Christian Century, 1984. At Religion Online.
    • "Let us not be too harsh on the royal theology which we created. In our own lives, in our yuletide overspending, overdrinking, overhoping, overgetting and overgiving we act out a sad seasonal ritual: oh, that a new video recorder or a new car might fill the emptiness. Yet, we know that in the cold gray of January the bills come, the radio evicts Bing Crosby and we find that, alas, the “Peace on Earth and Good Will” of the TV Christmas specials barely lasted until New Year’s."
  • "Drinking Tears by the Bowlful: Waiting," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation.
    • "We wait in patience knowing that not every act of God reverberates like a pounding sledge hammer. In Isaiah's metaphor, God does not always split open the heavens."
  • Isaiah 6:16b-17; 64:1-8, Isaiah in Advent: The Transforming Word, Diane Jacobson, Texts in Context, Word & World, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1990.
    • "This lament sets Advent in the context of a real world in which things are not going well. The world is not a perfect place; people are disillusioned."
  • Isaiah 64:1-9, Studies on Old Testament texts from Series B, Ralph W. Klein, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
  • "Lament Song," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.
    • "When did you experience "bad times?" How did God give you hope?"
  • Environmental & earth-centered reflection, Rev Helen Hanten, from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota Environmental Stewardship Commission.
    • "We need the "acts of God" to remind us that God is God, CREATOR GOD, and we are among the creatures invited to live lives in God's presence."
  • A Prayer of Hope: Verse Commentary on Isaiah 64:1-12, Dennis Bratcher, Christian Resource Institute.
    • "Throughout history, God's people have spent most of their time waiting. It is an expectant waiting, anticipating God's new activity to bring justice, deliverance and the kingdom of God to the world (Psa 25, 37, 130; Rom 8:18-25). But it is not a waiting that only has the future in view. Neither is it an idle, self-centered waiting, as seen in those who sell everything they have and then sit on a mountain waiting for God to come."
  • Isaiah 63-64, The Dark Side of God: Considerations for Preaching and Teaching, Richard Nysse, Texts in Context, Word & World, Luther Seminary, 1997.
    • "The speaker of this text places the community (the speaker included) and us in the same place as Pharaoh."
• Articles & Background:
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  • Bautch, Richard J., "An Appraisal of Abraham's Role in Postexilic Covenants," Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2009.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Burnett, Joel S., "The Question of Divine Absence in Israelite and West Semitic Religion," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2005.
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  • Howard, Roy W., "Isaiah 64:1-9, Between Text & Sermon," Interpretation, 2008.
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  • Jacobson, Diane, "Isaiah in Advent: The Transforming Word," Word & World, 1990.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Montgomery, Stephen R., "Beyond Fear, Fundamentalism, and Fox News: The Active Hope of Advent," Journal for Preachers, 2005.
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  • Niskanen, Paul, "YHWH as Father, Redeemer, and Potter in Isaiah 63:7-64:11," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2006.
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  • Norris, Kathleen, "Apocalypse Now," The Christian Century, 2005.
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  • Nysse, Richard, "The Dark Side of God: Considerations for Preaching and Teaching," Word & World, 1997.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Reid, Stephen Breck, "A Time for Dangerous Memory, Isaiah 63:7-64:11," Brethren Life and Thought, 2007.
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  • Webster, Edwin C., "The Rhetoric of Isaiah 63-65," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 1990.
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  • Willimon, William, "Going against the Stream," The Christian Century, 1984.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Sermons:
• Reviews:
  • Review: Leszek Ruszkowski, Volk und Gemeinde im Wandel: Eine Untersuchung zu Jesaja 56-66. (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000) Review by Roy D. Wells in SBL's Review of Biblical Literature. (Review is in English.)
• With Children:
  • "Be a Spark that Starts a Fire," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
• Drama:
  • "The Pottery, Pliable," Glenn A. Hascall, dramatix.
  • "Potter," Matthew Pole, Christian Drama and Mime.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
• Hymns and Music:
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Isaiah 64:6, 8. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
    • Have Thine Own Way, Lord
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Isaiah
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Isaiah