God, Why Haven’t You Acted Yet?
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would quake at your presence.” (Isa 64:1)
What explains this?
Grief and anger are distorting emotions. They are not necessarily wrong, but they often lead us to see things wrongly. A person deep in the anger can’t see past their pain—everything is an affront to them. A person deep in their grief can’t see above the clouds—everything is woe to them.
The people of Israel find themselves in a similar situation in exile. They are angry, and they are grieved. That’s the emotion pouring out in Isaiah 64:
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down
that the mountains would quake at your presence–
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! (vv. 1–2)
…
Our holy and beautiful house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly? (v. 11–12)
Israel’s homeland has been dashed to pieces, and they have been carted off into exile. They are wondering, “God, why haven’t you acted yet?”
One commentator, writing about verse 1, sums up the people’s perspective well. Stick with this paragraph, because I wonder if what comes to mind for me is what also comes to mind for you:
The first wish [“oh that you would rend the heavens”] has a perfect verb “you split” (qaraʿta). It refers to something that the speaker wishes God had done in the past. Thus the future-oriented NIV translation, “Oh that you would rend the heavens,” should actually relate to the past, “Would that God had already split the heavens.” The petitioner wishes that God had left his heavenly home long ago, had split open that solid curtain in the sky that hides him from human view, had come down to earth in his full glory, and had caused all of nature to “quake” (Judg 5:4–5; Pss 18:7; 97:1–4). The prayer wishes for a divine theophany of the full glory of God similar to examples of his divine appearances in the past (cf. Deut 5:22–29; 32:22; Ps 18:8–16; Mic 1:3–4; Nah 1:3–6; Hab 3:3–15). In these situations God not only revealed his glory, but he also spoke his words to people, confronted evil, demonstrated his power, and brought salvation. The lamenter wants the glorious light of God’s help (cf. 60:1–3) and the wrath of God’s vengeance on his enemies to be seen by all men (63:1–6). In fact, his wish is that people had seen God in action long ago.
The people are wondering why God didn’t work salvation again for them. He had appeared to them at Sinai to give the law (v. 3 is referring to this), he had driven out their enemies, he had given victory after victory to David, so why stop now? Why haven’t you acted yet, God?
Perhaps you find yourself in a similar position this Advent. You could write a list of ways God has acted in the past that is five times longer than the list of ways you wish he would act now, but all you can think of is that second list. How do you gain perspective?
Back to that paragraph I quoted. Did you notice anything?
Left his heavenly home …
Split open that solid curtain in the sky that hides him from human view …
Spoke his words to people, confronted evil, demonstrated his power, and brought salvation …
Does that sound like anyone’s biography? This is exactly what the Son of God did when he took on flesh to save us. This is how God acted. What the people are pleading for in Isaiah 64, God answers in Luke 2—he sends his Son in the flesh. This isn’t just how God acted for the people of Israel, but for all people everywhere who call upon him to act. To them he says, “Look to my Son.”
How does this speak to our grief and anger? How does God’s acting in Jesus guide us in gaining the perspective we need so that our distorting emotions are not the realities that govern us? It puts a new question before us. The question is no longer, “God, when will you act again?” but one posed to us: “Child, how will you act in light of my acting?” God has rent the sky in two in Christ, his Spirit is actively bringing the kingdom now in ways we cannot fathom, and Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. What do we do as we wait?
I think Israel in this chapter instructs us in what to do: worship (vv. 4–5a) and confess (5a–7).
Worship
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.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Confess
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
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.
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 the hand of our iniquities.
Advent calls us to turn from our list of problems we wish God would fix and give attention to what we are called to do: remember God. When we remember God, we remember that there is no one like him, who acts for those who wait for him. God doesn’t help those who help themselves; he helps the helpless. And we are helpless! We sin. We fade like a leaf. Our own sins carry us away.
Are you in an argument with God? Have you been rehearsing a list of grievances against him, accusations of his lack of action? Pause. Pause and remember who God is. Remember that in Christ, God is not your enemy, but your friend. He is not your tormentor, but your savior. He has acted in love to deliver you, and his encore is about to come.
How might you wait on God if you gave your attention to how he has already acted in Christ? Perhaps it will propel you to joyfully work righteousness as you wait (v. 4).
Reflect on some of the questions scattered throughout this piece:
How does God’s acting in Jesus guide us in gaining the perspective we need so that our distorting emotions are not the realities that govern us?
Are you in an argument with God? What list of grievances against him or accusations of his lack of action have you been rehearsing?
How might you wait on God if you gave your attention to how he has already acted in Christ?