God Moves Among Nations
Notes
Transcript
INTRO:
INTRO:
AG:
TS:
RS:
I. The Anointed of God (45:1–21):
I. The Anointed of God (45:1–21):
Isaiah predicts that Cyrus the Great, founder of the mighty Persian Empire, will function as God’s chosen servant.
A. Cyrus and the Gentile nations (ISA 45:1–3, 14–21):
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
“I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
Thus says the Lord: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him.’ ”
Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.
But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right.
“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.
He is divinely empowered to crush the Babylonians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, and other armies.
God chose Cyrus out of all the Earth to accomplish the destruction and judgment of Babylon, who had previously been used to be God’s chosen instrument of judgment upon the world and Judah.
V 1 and 2: doors, gates doors of bronze
This probably refers to how easy it was for Cyrus to enter Babylon. The inner gates from the river to city were left open as were the palace doors.
Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the openness was so great the Persians were taking prisoners as the moved to the palace in the center.
God chose Cyrus the Great to deliver his justice and opened the doors for him!
He was God’s anointed: “messiah” and serves as a type (picture) of Jesus Christ The Messiah.
It refers to him being set apart by God’s providence for divine purposes.
v. 3 God intended Cyrus to understand that he served at God’s discretion. God was raising him up for a purpose
Josephus, the Jewish historian, indicated Daniel influenced Cyrus with the prophecy of Isaiah. Thus, Cyrus DID indeed know he was brought into power by God and for God’s purpose.
Thus says the Lord: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him.’ ”
Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.
But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right.
“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.
“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
Cyrus was an instrument of GOD’s wrath over several nations.
They would come in chains and say”
‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him.’
There is a partial fulfillment in Cyrus the Great and it points to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus when He comes again to rule and reign on Earth!
B. Cyrus and the Jewish nation (ISA 45:4–13):
For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
“Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.
“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?
Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’ ”
Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
God allows Cyrus to be successful for the sake of Israel.
God brought him victory and then turned His heart to God’s people. Perhaps it was Daniel’s influence.
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
What an unprecedented decree!
This is a foretaste of Israel’s ultimate restoration by God in the last days.
God is omnipotent and saved Israel and His people because none can oppose Him
AP: 2 views of God are shown here
Righteous Judge
God judges sin.=
We must never forget this lesson from history
God judged Israel and Judah and HE will judge us
He is just, He could do no less
Sin = not doing what He tells us to do and doing things He tells us to not do
We are all guilty and stand in need of judgment
BUT!!!!!
Gracious Redeemer
By His grace, He forgives us!
IL: "God’s forgiveness is not for decoration it is for use."
Eduard Schweizer
We must confess our sins in repentance and God promises to forgive them!
I’d rather know God as my gracious redeemer than my judge!
II. The Anger of God(46:1–2; 47:1–15):
II. The Anger of God(46:1–2; 47:1–15):
Isaiah describes the judgment of Babylon by God.
Many were appalled to hear that God would use the pagan Babylon as His instrument.
They would rightly point to the sins and rebellion of the Babylonians and wonder “but what about their sins”
IL: I hear this all the time when correcting students and even in my own home. The “what abouts”. We are often guilty of doing it too. We try to justify our own actions by pointing out someone else’s.
We stand before GOD on our own!
For all the “what abouters” This part of 46 and 47 will encourage you.
God wasn’t ignoring Babylon’s sins and here we see them on full display as a reason God was judging them.
A. The sins of Babylon (ISA 47:6–8, 10)
1. Cruelty (ISA 47:6–7):
I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
You said, “I shall be mistress forever,” so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.
Babylon shows the Israelites no mercy.
2. Materialism and pride (ISA 47:8, 10):
Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”:
You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”
The people feel self-sufficient and are pleasure-crazy.
B. The shame of Babylon (ISA 47:1–4):
Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.
Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.
Babylon is stripped and exposed to public viewing.
C. The suffering of Babylon (46:1–2; 47:5, 9, 11–15)
1. Its idols are crushed (ISA 46:1–2):
Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.
They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.
The idols cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect their idols.
2. Babylon is crushed, never to rise again (ISA 47:5).
Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
3. This destruction strikes suddenly, in a single day (Isa 47:9, 11–15).
These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.
But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.
Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror.
You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.
Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!
Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you.
God used Cyrus as an instrument of His righteous wrath and here we have seen how Babylon deserved it.
What about us?
Do we show mercy?
Are we absorbed in materialism and pride?
If we are guilty of these things, we can expect the same treatment of Babylon apart from the grace of God
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Confess and have God’s forgiveness!