Isaiah 64:8

"But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."

This is the third time in this prayer (See Isaiah 63:16) that the appeal has been directed to God as the Father of his people. Isaiah did not presume to plead any merit on Israel's part, but appealed only to God's gracious covenant promises.

Douglas has pointed out the following correspondences between this chapter and the early chapters of the prophecy. "Isaiah 64:4 is like Isaiah 8:17; 30:18. Isaiah 64:6 is like Isaiah 30:22; 28:1; 27:8. Isaiah 64:7 is like Isaiah 27:5; 8:17; 29:16; 19:25; etc."[11]

We have called attention here, once again, to the inimitable work of Douglas, the great scholar who so many years ago wrote that remarkable book, "Isaiah One; His Book One." A full account of all that he did cannot be included in a work of this kind. But this little excerpt here is given as an example of what he has done for practically every portion of the whole prophecy. It exposes the shallowness and the inefficiency of those critical advocates of multiple authors for Isaiah.

Yes, Jehovah was the Creator and Father of Israel; but, "He is the Father of only his spiritual people. It should be remembered that a potter can mold a vessel only as the clay yields to his hands; if he is unable to make a vessel unto honor, then he makes one unto dishonor."[12] Paul's comment on this fact as applied to Israel is that, "God, willing to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath (Israel) fitted unto destruction" (Romans 9:22). Also, in this connection, John Locke wrote, "By the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction (Romans 9:22) God manifestly means the nation of the Jews."[13]