Isaiah 45:14-25

Thus says the Lord: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you [Cyrus] 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.’ ” 15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. 16 All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. 17 But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. 18 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. 19 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. 20 “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. 21 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. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 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.’ 24 “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. 25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” - Isaiah 45:14–25

Sermon Text:

Let’s turn our attention this morning to the second half of Isaiah 45. We’ll be looking at verses 14 through 25, which is the end of the chapter.

While you turn there, I’ll briefly remind you of what we saw in the first half of the chapter:

God has given Isaiah the name of the king, the anointed one, who will return His people, Judah, to their land after they were conquered and exiled to Babylon.

This king, Cyrus, will be sovereignly used by God to fulfil God’s promise to His people to return them to the land after seventy years.

You can see the record of that in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Two hundred years before Cyrus is born, God has called him by name, and His word is committed to writing so that all the nations of the world will realize the God of the Bible, Yahweh, is the one and only true God.

That is where we begin in this remarkable passage today.

Follow along in your copy of God’s word as I read Isaiah 45:14-25:

[READ Isaiah 45:14-25]

Many of you probably noticed a familiar verse as we read through this: the second part of verse 23:

To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.

If it sounds familiar to you, it should. The apostle Paul quoted it in two different letters: in the epistle to the Romans and to the Philippians.

The fact that he did shouldn’t surprise us:

He quoted the book of Isaiah more than any other book of Scripture, including the Psalms.

Many of his letters used quotations from Isaiah to prove God’s plan of salvation that culminated in Jesus Christ.

So this morning, I would like to take this familiar statement from the mouth of God through Isaiah and look at what it means.

First, I would like to briefly take a look at how Paul used this verse, because he used it in two different ways in his two letters.

Then, I would like to look at how Isaiah leads up to this great statement of God’s utter sovereignty, and see how that speaks to us today as well.

Now, there are some who may object to this approach:

There is a great error in the way some teachers approach the Old Testament.

The first question they would ask is “what did it mean to the original audience?”

And only once they understood that would they move on to later Old Testament books or to the New Testament to shed light on the subject.

I confess, I have sympathy for this approach. It is very useful in many fields: science, physics, mathematics, even history.

It allows us to understand the building blocks of ideas that have been built up over time.

The error in it, though, is that it treats the Bible as if there were multiple authors, like the generations of physicists or historians who contribute to the world’s knowledge.

But the Bible has a single author – the Holy Spirit of God – and He learned NOTHING in the unfolding of time.

He knew everything in the end from the very beginning.

In fact, He DETERMINED everything in the end from the very beginning.

When we read and study the holy Scriptures, we must always keep that in mind: God is the same before Genesis 1 as He is after Revelation 22.

That is the very thing He is proving to all who would listen by calling Cyrus by name 200 years before he is born.

And so when we study the Scriptures, we must always begin with the greater light to illuminate our understanding.

To begin with that lesser light, to wrangle over how the people in Isaiah’s day interpreted his sermon, is to make the same error the Pharisees did – seeking only to build on older knowledge.

And we will make the same mistakes they did, not recognizing the clear working of God in His sovereign decree in the world.

I am, therefore, much less concerned with how an unnamed hearer of Isaiah took a word of prophecy than I am how the Holy Spirit has fulfilled it more fully than anyone suspected in Isaiah’s day.

Paul again helps us with that:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20–21

So when Paul uses this verse, in both cases he is looking forward to the final judgment, the Last Day, the Glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ.

In Romans 14, he is urging the church to cease quarreling over opinions and interpretations that fall under the great cover called “Christian Liberty”.

As tempting as it is, we won’t go fully in to the teaching of Romans 14.

But in quoting Isaiah in verses 10-12 in Romans 14, he says this:

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. - Romans 14:10–12

So the application he gives us is to content ourselves that there are some things we must leave it up to our great judge to work out in the end.

Some differences in doctrine that we may have to live with for the time being so long as the core beliefs are present.

For example: I am quite certain that many of my Presbyterian brothers and sisters will hear on that day “Why did you baptize infants?”

But that doesn’t mean they are unbelievers, unsaved by Christ.

How many of us have benefited greatly from great Presbyterian preachers and commentators who are just as fully convinced they will hear the Lord say to me: “Why didn’t you baptize your infants?”

But we can have fellowship; we can address each other as brothers.

Then in Philippians 2, Paul again looks to the great Judgment Seat of Christ.

Here he is exhorting his beloved church to walk in humility in the same manner Jesus Christ walked.

To not be afraid that if we don’t put ourselves forward, we shall be ignored or taken advantage of.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9–11

But note the difference with Paul’s citation and Isaiah’s original:

Isaiah says “To ME every knee shall bow…”

And Paul helps us to understand it more fully that it pleases the Father to exalt the Son, giving Him all authority over men.

And it pleases the Son to glorify the Father in all His work.

The tongue of every single person will declare that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Isaiah, likewise, looks forward to that Day, although he didn’t have nearly the light the apostle Paul had.

There is an eschatological element to it, which Paul illuminated for us.

But what Isaiah gives us in our passage today is nothing less than God revealing His plan not only for Cyrus and the return of His people to the land of Judah,

But revealing the plan of God to save all His chosen people, the true seed of Jacob, the seed of Israel.

It will culminate in His Judgement Seat because that is where every person will end up.

As Paul declared to the philosophers in Athens:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” - Acts 17:30–31

So in revealing God’s plan, we see someone talking back to God in vv. 15-17.

It may be Isaiah; it may be the Jews. It may be the nations.

And it’s meant to be a song of praise to God.

Truly, you are a God who hides Himself…

The point is that God doesn’t need, and He doesn’t allow, images of Himself.

He doesn’t allow idols, and He never approves of any representation of Himself.

Therefore, He is unseen.

The makers of idols go in confusion together. – v. 16

But that is not entirely correct, is it?

Is it completely true that there is no image of God on the earth anywhere?

What does the Second Commandment say?

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. - Exodus 20:4–6

“You shall not make for yourself…”

God has not left Himself WITHOUT an image on earth;

We are not to MAKE them.

We aren’t holy enough to represent Him.

We aren’t righteous enough to distinguish between the object and the Lord.

But God has made FOR HIMSELF images in the world:

1. His image is in man – we were created in His image.

2. His handiwork is in nature – the heavens declare His glory.

3. His character is in morality – every person knows certain things are right and wrong.

4. And His physical representation is in the Son, Jesus Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. - Colossians 1:15

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:19–20

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. - John 1:18

Those images are the very things God points out in vv. 18-19:

He declares I didn’t speak in secret…I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob “Seek Me in vain.”

But then we see something remarkable beginning in verse 20: God’s declaration of His church.

Assemble yourselves and come…

There are two great ideas in that simple phrase:

1. Assemble is the root of the word synagogue, the assembly of the called.

2. The Greek term in the New Testament – ekklesia – means “the called-out ones”

There is simply no other way to see this call of God for all His chosen to assemble themselves into His church.

And WHO are these chosen?

You survivors of the nations!

You refugees from the world.

Paul, to the Galatians, describes the work of Christ this way:

who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, - Galatians 1:4

And what shall we do when we assemble?

Declare and present your case…

He is not saying we will make arguments, defending ourselves like in a court.

He does have other court scenes in Isaiah, but this isn’t one of them.

The invitation here is to declare your needs – to PRAY to God – no matter what nation you came from.

And to present your case – literally to draw near.

I think this passage is one Paul had in mind when he wrote:

remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. - Ephesians 2:12–13

When we come together as a church, we come together primarily to draw near to God in worship:

Offering prayers, singing praises, and enjoying all the ordinary means of grace He has provided us.

And when I say “means of grace”, I mean those things the Holy Spirit uses to bring us closer to God, making us more holy in His work on us.

Scripture reading, preaching, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper – those all are used by the Spirit to draw us to the Father through the Son.

God cries out: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. - Isaiah 45:22

Not just “Turn to me Judah” or “Israel” - ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

I am God, and there is no other…

God is not one among many – He is unique and truly the only God.

Which brings us back to His statement we began with: To Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear allegiance.

This doesn’t speak of some universal atonement, where everyone will be saved (unless they were really rotten, like Hitler).

The Roman Catholics teach that, and many cults, because the thought of God’s wrath is terrifying.

But can we prove from the text that this is NOT a universal atonement?

Yes – quite easily.

We see it in verses 24 and 25:

“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. - Isaiah 45:24

Those who hated God, who rejected Him for idols they made in THEIR own image, they will be ashamed.

They will be humiliated, ruined.

They thought they could make a good life for themselves, but in the end, this life is too short.

It ends, and after that, the Judgment.

Will you stand before God in your own strength?

In your own goodness, proclaiming your own worth?

Will you tell Him of all the good things you have done?

Will you inform Him that a loving God would never send anyone to hell?

I don’t care what your plan is to defend yourself before the only God, holy and true; it doesn’t matter what you plan or prepare to say.

You will bow, you will bend the knee.

You will declare He is right – but if you haven’t followed Christ in this life, that bowing will do you no good.

You will face His wrath upon your sin with no protection, nothing between you and His holiness.

And that very holiness will, alas too late, it will bend you and drop you to your knees in abject shame.

And for all eternity, if you are not found in Christ, you will live in the middle of God’s wrath and your shame, crying out in hatred of your sin, but unable to repent or escape God’s holy judgment.

The time for repentance ends when your heart stops beating and your body dies – after that is only the perfectly just judgment.

But I would not leave you without the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In verse 25, we find the great promise of God to all who believe:

In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” - Isaiah 45:25

Like I said last week, the seed of Israel here are the children of FAITH, not just the physical descendants.

Those, though they come from every tribe and nation on earth, across all times from the beginning to the end, they are of the faith of Israel.

And by trusting in Jesus Christ, believing He is the Son of God, trusting in His sacrifice, and repenting of your sinful attempts at controlling your own life, you will be saved.

Repent and believe – before it is too late.

It is those children of faith who will be justified and glorified.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

It really is that simple.

No great quests, no heroic works.

Just faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and you will be saved.

Target Date: Sunday23 March 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

15 – hide - sathar (711b); a prim. root; to hide, conceal:—absent(1), conceal(3), concealed(4), cover(1), hid(11), hidden(16), hide(33), hides(4), hiding(3), placed(1), secret things(1), surely hide(1), undetected(1).

The root has the idea of concealing, covering and carefully avoiding being discovered.

The LXX translates this as “not seen”, stressing more the ATTRIBUTE of God’s invisible nature (as opposed to the idols) than the ACTION of God implied by the hithphel voice as a participle.

18b – Amplified translation: For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, he is Elohim: who shaped [molded] the earth and made [finished, dressed] it (he established [fixed, fastened] it; he did not create it empty [deserted, devoid, desolate], he formed it to be inhabited [settled, dwelt in].

19 – secret – sether – etymologically related to v.15 “hide”.

This is God’s denial that He had failed to speak – it is we who failed to hear.

20 – Assemble - qâbats, kaw-bats’; a prim. root; to grasp, i.e. collect:— assemble (selves), gather (bring) (together, selves together, up), heap, resort, × surely, take up.

The LXX translates this “synago”, the root for synagogue.

20 – survivors - palit (812c); from 6403; escaped one, fugitive:—escaped(1), fugitive(1), fugitives(4), one escape(1), refugee(1), refugees(4), survivors(1), who escape(2), who escaped(3), who escapes(1).

The implication of this noun is one who has survived because they have fled:

Refugee, remnant.

Throughout the book of Isaiah, God has declared Himself the refuge of His people; those who have fled to Him are saved.

It is no disgrace to flee to the refuge in the day of trouble, in the day of judgment.

It is no disgrace to flee to the holy one from the evil and sin of this world.

Those who have been rescued by this are His people – He has called them out.

Like Lot, who was preserved from his sinful age and city, God calls His people out to preserve them.

Thoughts on the Passage:

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

Teachings:

14 – Because God had decreed and foretold it long before, the rise of Cyrus will cause all nations to know that the LORD is God.

God’s signs and wonders are never for the glory of man, never for the glory of His servants.

What good is OUR glory? Are we, even at our most faithful, so good that we may make another person right?

God does not require association with men to be glorified. He has never thought, “I need to protect this person so people will think well of Me.”

And yet, we esteem persons and consider that some will bring more prestige upon the church if THEY can be converted.

God is always drawing men to His glory alone, even when He uses men to do so.

Great preachers are not made through their eloquence, but through the Spirit of God applying His word through them to your heart.

It is not just that good preaching is in the ear of the hearer, but the state of your relationship with God will affect the ability of any sermon to move you.

The closer you get to God, the better you will find all faithful preachers.

15 – Truly you are a God who hides Himself…

Although this is said ABOUT God in this stanza, this is a largely true statement that God, in v.19, corrects a bit.

He is not represented by idols or any other man-made representation. There is no image of God that man can create.

Only those representations He has given are legitimate:

1. His image in man.

2. His handiwork in nature.

3. His character in morality.

4. His physical representation eternally in the Son. (We beheld His glory…)

There is an important corollary to the thought of a God who hides Himself: He is also, thus, the God who REVEALS Himself.

Other gods, false gods, must be invented by men, crafted with man’s skill and worshipped in man’s ways;

The true God reveals HIMSELF, since He is the one Living God.

17 – All men shall be confounded, the makers of idols doubly so.

But the Israel of God, His people, are sustained in Him.

This eternal promise is not to National Israel: they were confounded, shamed, and conquered time and again as God declared.

But His people, the Israel of God, were carried through those trials like noah in the ark.

Their faithfulness proved and prepared them.

Proved that they are God’s chosen race.

Prepared them for the trials ahead.

18-19 – God’s response to the accusation of His hiding:

He made the world to be discovered in it.

The reason men do not find Him in it is because they close their eyes and ears to Him – they are willfully ignorant.

He did not tell Israel to seek Him in vain – He has done mighty works for His people.

20 – I am not certain if there is a greater description of God’s church in the Old Testament.

Hear the call of God to His people:

Come, assemble yourselves from all nations, you who have fled the evil world to His holy refuge. Come, not as individuals any more – come together before Me.

21 – Declare and present your case – this is God’s invitation for men from all nations to pray to Him. The idols they hold cannot hear (v.20) and cannot save.

He calls all men everywhere to repent.

He will hear the cried of His people from all nations.

He also hears the cries of those He has not called – and He answers in His sovereign decree.

22-23 – This is God’s general call to all people to come to Him.

23 - so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:11

23 - Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. - Romans 14:10–12

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9–11

25 – The offspring of Israel – the seed of Israel – the True Israel:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. - Romans 9:6–8

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: