A Man Cannot Raise Himself from His Sleep; It Is God That Raises a Man
by TCW
In the eyes of God everything a man does is worthless and vile before Him, it is all vanity.
(Isaiah 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
All our righteousness is vile before a holy, just and pure God; the God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham: the God of Israel. And no matter how hard a man believes that he himself seeks after God, that man is highly deceived [2 Cor 11:4, 13-15] for the bible speaks in direct opposition to it.
(Isaiah 64:7) And there is none [Ps 53:2; Rom 3:11] that calleth(q̣ara) upon thy name(sem), that stirreth up himself (ur) to take hold(ḥazaq) of thee(God): for thou (God) hast hid (saṯar) thy face(paniym) from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
A man cannot call upon the name of the Lord to awaken himself, so that he can take a hold of God. For a man is dead in his transgressions; God hides His presence from the workers of iniquity. It is God that reveals himself to whom He chooses, and a man has no say in the matter.
No man calleth on God, unless it is Gods will, from the foundation of the world, for that man to call upon the name of the LORD;
q̣ārā – A verb meaning to call, to declare, to summon, to invite, to read, to be called, to be invoked, to be named.
šēm – A masculine noun meaning a name, fame. It is what specifically identifies a person or anything: God’s name, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:15)
There is not a man that can awaken himself to God; if God so chooses that man as a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction [Rom 9:21-22; Prov 16:4; Jude 1:4].
ûr – to rouse oneself, awake, awaken, incite
By far the most significant use of this word is in the causative with God as its subject. Here one sees the active involvement of God in history. He is not aloof or passive. He is not simply a spectator. He is in complete charge, manipulating his plan. All his actions are purposeful. Events do not happen by chance. This emphasis is clearly discernible in the ot passages which use this verb in the causative with God as subject. Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, was stirred up by the Lord against the tribes in the Transjordan area (I Chr 5:26). He aroused the Babylonians against Jerusalem (Ezk 23:22). Then he stirred up the Medes against Babylon (Isa 13:17; Jer 50:9, 11; 51:11).
Again it was the Lord who incited Cyrus to allow the Jewish exiles to return to Judah (II Chr 36:22; Ezr 1:1) and who in turn urged the exiles to return (Joel 3:7 [H 4:7]). When apathy had overtaken the returned exiles, the Lord agitated Zerubbabel and Joshua through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to carry the construction of the second temple to its completion (Hag 1:14).
ref Theological Workbook of the Old Testament
There is not a man that has the faith or courage on his own accord to take hold of God, unless it is the will of God for that man to take hold of Him.
ḥāzaq: A verb meaning to be strong, to strengthen, to be courageous, to overpower.
For it is God that hides Himself from whom He wills;
sāṯar – A verb meaning to hide, conceal. It has the sense of preventing someone to know or see something, to keep something from public notice or from certain persons.
And to remove His presence from the workers of iniquity.
paniym – The face, also the presence of one through the sense of being in the face of.
And if it is Gods will to destroy the clay in which He molds, then so be it hell will be our home.
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
For there is nothing a man can do outside the will of God, for God has already from the foundation of the world set the timing of everything; past, present and future.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it (yacaph – augmented, add to it), nor any thing taken (gawrah – to subtract, withhold, restrain) from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
All His timing is set.
Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be (the timing, a future timing) hath *already been*; and God requireth that which is past.
And man does not have any will outside the will of God; man has no say in the matter or anything.
Romans 9:15-18 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. (17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
All have sinned, and none seek Christ, not a single one.
Romans 3:10-18 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (14) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: (15) Their feet are swift to shed blood: (16) Destruction and misery are in their ways: (17) And the way of peace have they not known: (18) There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Repent, and turn from your vile ways, and if it be God’s will, you will seek Him and repent; if it be His will, you will call upon the name of the LORD; for from the foundation of the world you have been saved.
Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
