The Gospel of Isaiah: Ch. 64:1-4, Tear Open the Sky!

The Gospel of Isaiah: Ch. 64:1-4, Tear Open the Sky!

WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens, rip the sky open and come down! And the mountains would tremble at Your awesome presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make Your mighty name known to Your enemies, and that the nations might tremble at Your presence! When You did amazing wonders that we didn’t expect, things we never dreamed of! You came down and the mountains shuddered at Your presence! Since before time began, no one has ever imagined, no ear heard, no eye seen, a God like You who works for those who wait patiently for Him, who intervenes for those who trust Him and wait for His mercy. For You mercifully meet them who joyfully work righteousness, who remember You in Your ways.” (Is. 64:1-4).

The Sky is Split Apart. The Hebrew word that Isaiah used refers to a sudden, forceful, almost violent tearing, ripping, and rending. It was the word used for ripping apart a garment, or gashing open the skin, or the mauling apart of someone by a wild beast. Does Isaiah’s passionate request of God remind us of anything? How about at the baptism of Jesus? “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized Him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove.” (Mark 1:9-11). The Greek word used in Mark, and only in Mark, comes from the term “schizo,” which is not at all a meager little crack being created in the sky. Schizo is a very dramatic Greek term that means to violently tear apart, to divide asunder, to cleave open, to rend into two pieces. The term is also used in Mark 15:38, when the untearable Temple veil is ripped into two from top to bottom. So the image at the Baptism here is that of the fabric between heaven and earth being torn asunder, ripped apart. One gets the sense here of an excited young child eagerly looking at his Christmas presents beneath the tree, and he can’t wait to start ripping off the wrapping paper, and he starts to passionately rip the paper apart out of sheer excitement and anticipation. It’s as if the Trinity has been waiting for this very moment, has been building up their excitement for just the right time to tear apart the curtain separating heaven and earth. God has been holding it in since the foundation of the world, unable to contain Himself anymore. For the time has come! Let’s tear apart this sky and open the present of Christ’s ministry to the world! Finally, this moment has arrived! Let’s rip this curtain apart so My Spirit can descend onto My Son and He can hear the Father’s blessing! Let’s make this happen!

The Atmosphere. The Greek word used for “heavens” is “ouranus,” and could translate as sky, atmosphere, outer space, the visible heavens, or the spiritual home in which God dwells. Take your pick, it could be all the above in a sense, but we do know that the veil which separated heaven from earth was torn apart for a time, creating the ultimate “thin place.” This event is a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 64:1, in which the prophet pleaded, “Oh, how we wish You would tear open heaven and come down!” At Christ’s baptism, Isaiah finally got his wish. And down through the gaping hole in the atmosphere came the Spirit of God straight from heaven. Jesus was conceived in the Holy Spirit, and now He was confirmed in that same Spirit as He began his ministry.

Theophany. In this passage, Isaiah was asking for the Lord to make a command performance, to make an appearance. God’s theophanies, His appearances on earth, are always high drama. Sometimes the supernatural power of God’s presence makes the natural world burst at the seams. There are times God’s theophanies on earth simply overpower nature. Isaiah asks for God’s presence and what it would take for Him to make an appearance in Isaiah 64:1: “Tear the heavens apart and come down!” David puts it much the same way in Psalm 144:5: “Bend your sky, O Lord, and come down.”

God’s Drama. So it’s inevitable that an appearance of God, a theophany, would be accompanied by various natural phenomenon. When God makes an appearance, He seems to enjoy announcing it dramatically with special effects that capture our attention. God loves variety, so a theophany involved everything from a whirlwind and hurricane to a soft whisper; from heavenly trumpet sounds to earthquakes; from lightning and gale-force winds to thunder and voices; from fire and smoke to blinding lights and a burning bush. One particular time, a theophany of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, included many things all at once… a violent rushing wind, tongues of fire on people’s heads, and foreign languages.

Anytime, Anywhere. Theophanies can take place in any number of settings as well… At a Trash Heap: a whirlwind appearing before a suffering man (Job 38:1, 40:6); On a Mountain: Dense cloud; thunder; lightning; consuming fire; smoke; violent earthquake; increasingly louder trumpet blast (Exodus 19:9, 16-19; 20:18-19; 24:15-18); In a Tent: thick cloud; heavy presence (Exodus 40:34); On a Journey in the Wilderness: thick cloud by day, fire by night (Ex. 40:34-38); In a Cave: violent wind; earthquake; fire; gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13); In a Temple: thick cloud; heavy presence (2 Chronicles 5:13-14); In the Heavenly Throne Room: Isaiah’s calling (Isaiah 6); At a Babylonian River: Ezekiel watching the appearance of a violent storm, a cloud filled with flashing fire, and glowing metal in the midst of the fire (Ezekiel 1:1-5); In a Divine Courtroom with the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-10); At the River Jordan: Father, Son and Holy Spirit all together (Mark 1:9-11; also refer to Matthew 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34); During Prayer on a Mountain: dense cloud; body of light; clothing transfigured; voice of the Father; presence of two dead prophets. (Luke 9:28-36); On the Cross: Temple veil torn in two; earthquake, rocks split; tombs open, dead are raised; darkness at noon; salvation of thief. (Matthew 27:45, 50-53); In an Upper Room: tongues of fire; strong wind; foreign languages; filled with Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-4); Under Persecution: Stephen saw skies open, heaven, Jesus and the Father. (Acts 7:54-56); On the Road: lightning; flashing lights; voice from heaven; blindness. (Acts 9:3-7); On an Island Penal Colony: St. John interacts with the glorified Jesus (Revelation 1).

The Holy Fire. When thinking of the almighty God making an appearance, Isaiah’s reference point was the Exodus and the theophany on Mt. Sinai with earthquakes, trembling mountains, and heavenly fires. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible puts Isaiah’s passage this way, “If You open heaven, trembling shall take hold of the mountains before You, and they shall melt as wax melts before the fire.”

The Fire of His Glory. Time and again in Scripture, God turns out to be a fire. Is there a better way to describe God’s glory? He is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24) that gives light, sparks love, judges sin, and purifies like a refiner’s fire. Somehow, the Lord is a Person and yet a fire that kindles faith and declares His presence. How were the people alerted to God’s presence on Mt. Sinai? “And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.” (Ex. 24:17). “Mt. Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire.” (Ex. 19:18). When we are confronted with a fearful, overpowering fire, our natural response is to be in awe of its power, and that is a natural reaction when seeing God’s glory. We respond with fear and awe and a healthy respect. Somehow, God can be our friend as well as a consuming fire. We are able to talk with this Fire, like Moses on Mt. Sinai. Sometimes the fire is small and seemingly manageable, like the burning bush. Other times it appears to be out of control, a raging wildfire managed only by God. But make no mistake, in His glory He is a devouring fire. “Offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe; for our God is indeed a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29, AMP).

Shekinah Glory. God’s glory can be described as the weighty, majestic, and fiery presence of God on the earth when He wants to localize Himself. God’s glory is what He looks like when He chooses to make an appearance. God is indeed everywhere, but apparently there are those times when He wants to appear on earth. The Jewish scholars between the Testament periods developed a wonderful word for “dwells,” Shekinah, which sums up for them, and us, God’s personal, divine presence on earth. So these two terms, Shekinah and glory, have come to mean much the same thing, and the two terms are often spoken as Shekinah glory, both terms together. And now the Holy Spirit comes to mind. When we see Shekinah glory, the fire of the Holy Spirit inevitably appears as well, in the midst of the glory, as a part of the glory. Since God is a “consuming fire,” it is not surprising that fire usually demonstrates God’s presence. All three of these spiritual realities, God’s glory, Shekinah glory, and the fiery Spirit, seem more or less indivisible. I’m not sure how one would separate one from the other, even if we wanted to do so. All three have to do with God’s localized presence, with God settling in and making a dwelling place.

Shekinah literally means “the One who dwells, settles in, resides, makes Himself at home.” The supernatural power of God’s presence has an understandable effect on nature. Shekinah Glory bursts the earth at its seams. Nature doesn’t seem prepared for God’s glory and seems to sometimes have a difficult time managing something so otherworldly. After all, God’s glory is weightier than the universe, it has more substance to it than the entire world. Even a sliver of Shekinah glory sends the earth into turmoil. Isaiah asks for God’s presence and what it would take for Him to make an appearance in Isaiah 64:1: “Tear the heavens apart and come down!” Or perhaps you like the way David puts it in Psalm 144:5: “Bend your sky, O Lord, and come down.” One dramatic example is described when God’s glory made an appearance on Mt. Sinai… “Mt. Sinai was enveloped in smoke, because Yahweh descended onto it in fire. The smoke went up like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently, as the sound of the heavenly shofar grew louder and louder; All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the smoking on the mountain; To the people of Israel, the glory of the Lord looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain.” (Ex.19:18 and 24:17). The heavenly fire from the Holy Spirit was a fearful and awesome part of Shekinah. God’s glory, the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit. What a fearful package of uncreated light from the essence of God Himself. The Spirit of Glory is one way of putting it. Another translator says: “The Spirit of the Shekinah, the Spirit of God.” Another put it this way: “The Shekinah glory of the Spirit.”

1. Shekinah is understood in Judaism, and then adopted by Christianity, to be the “uncreated light, fire and luminous cloud” that became visible when God made an appearance on the earth. God’s Shekinah glory announced His presence.
2. Shekinah glory is not the full inner essence of God’s Being, since God is an invisible Spirit who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16).  But instead, God’s Shekinah is the “out-raying” of that source of Light, like the sunbeams coming directly from the sun. We can’t even look directly at the sun, but we can see and feel and get the benefits of the sun though its rays. The Shekinah is the sunbeam from the “Father of Lights.” Isn’t it wonderful that the palmist exclaims that “Yahweh God is the sun!” (Ps. 84:11).
3. Shekinah is God’s visible glory pulsating outwards from the spiritual energy of God’s Being, the flowing out of light from the “consuming fire” of God’s essence. (Ex. 24:17).
4. Shekinah is a word that combines “shakan” (Dwells) and “mishkan” (tabernacle), and so literally means “the One who dwells, settles in, resides, makes Himself at home.”
5. Shekinah is defined as the Divine Presence, the glory of God that dwells on earth, and implies God’s nearness, closeness, God’s with-ness to us.
6. Shekinah was often used as a word that represents God’s holy name Yahweh, which was not to be pronounced.
7. Shekinah has been described as when the Omnipresent One becomes localized, when the Invisible One becomes visible.
8. Shekinah is also equivalent to the Biblical terms “My Glory,” “The Cloud,” “The Pillar of Cloud,” “My Presence,” and “the Cloud of Yahweh” in the eyes of rabbinic authorities.

“Since before time began, no one has ever imagined, no ear heard, no eye seen, a God like You who works for those who wait patiently for Him, who intervenes for those who trust Him and wait for His mercy. For You mercifully meet them who joyfully work righteousness, who remember You in Your ways.” (Isaiah 64:4).

Power and Mercy. And to think that the mighty God of this mountain-shaking power, this consuming fire, this mind-boggling Shekinah glory of the Lord, will meet us as we trust in Him and His mercy? There is no doubt in my mind that His willingness to bend low and show mercy may be the most impressive quality of our all-powerful God.