Isaiah 5.6 45

Prayer Requests:

Carol, Jamison—scan, improvement already.

Pam, Gaylene, PET scan

Susan, friend Tom week 7 of ongoing health issues

Nan Brow, Bob’s passing

Laura, prayer for the families who lost loved ones in the skiing

Cat Volmber, Cathy (Cat’s Mom)

Andy, praise, Nichols first granddaughter

Janet, Steve’s eye healed,

Jenny, McHenry’s grandson!

Bobby, friend Tim, Saturday going through infusion last treatment.

Last week we worked through most of Isa. 44, looking at Isaiah’s satirical polemic against the idolatry he saw around him, serving as a reminder for those in exile that they should not be taken in by the idolatry around them. Now, let’s look at the end of chapter 44, in which he reminds his audience of who they are and whose they are. Remember, this section comes in the

Isaiah 44:21–28 ESV

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. 22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. 24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, 25 who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, 26 who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; 27 who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’; 28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

The idols of Isaiah’s satire were not personal, they could not sustain, they were material, nothing holy, not transcendent.

This God? YHWH? He formed His people, He formed us, He has the authority and power to forgive and blot out our sins and redeem us. He commands worship from all of creation, from all people, from every tree, from the heavens, from the mountains.

This God made all things and spread out the whole earth by Himself and He will bring about all that He purposes, including the redemption of his people.

Look here, the end of 44 is a vision of Jerusalem being inhabited again, the cities of Judah being built up, Israel returning from exile and building up the ruins of their nation. And then we get a name, Cyrus—the one day future king of Persia who God says is His shepherd, that through this pagan King, God will bring about His purpose.

God will take the lower things of this world, the enemies of His people, the violent things, and redeem them for his salvation and purpose. He did that on the cross of Jesus, taking this instrument of death, that which was meant to overthrow the king of the Jews, and it became the glory of God through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

But this would have been a shocking statment, for God to call Cyrus his shepherd. Well let’s keep going in to chapter 45 where it will get even more shocking.

Isaiah 45:1–13 ESV

1 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: 2 “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, 3 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. 4 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. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 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. 7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. 8 “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. 9 “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’? 10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’ ” 11 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? 12 I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. 13 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.

Here Cyrus is referred to as the lord’s anointed! This was a title only used for priests, prophets, and kings of Israel. Never would it have passed into their imagination that this title could be used of someone outside of His own people, let alone a pagan king. But that is part of the point, God is showing He is the King and God of ALL things and ALL people—He is happy to use even the pagan things of the world to bring about rescue for his people and for His glory. In doing so, God defies the expectations of His own people and all the world, showing on a much larger scale who He is—thus revealing His might and light to the nations. So let’s work through these verses:

God is saying, it says it is addressed to Cyrus, though that is about to be complicated in v. 4; it might be better to think of this as being addressed to God’s people who have been left wondering how God is going to rescue them when they’re in exile and have lost all agency all political power, any ability to affect for themselves redemption, rescue, and restoration.

He has anointed Cyrus for this purpose. God will subdue other nations before Him, God will go before the Persian King and level all the other nations and peoples. God will give Cyrus great treasures. And why? For what purpose will God elevate this pagain king?

Isaiah 45:4–6 ESV

4 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. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 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.

First, God does this for the sake of His servant Jacob, for His people. And notice this important truth here: God calls Cyrus by name to do these things, yet he does not know God. “I equip you, though you do not know me…” so that (and this is the second main purpose here “that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west (that is a way to say people across the earth), that there is none besides me.”

God is using Cyrus, who does not know YHWH to rescue and redeem His people, Israel, and to bring that knowledge and possibility of salvation to all people!

How? How will God use Cyrus. It’s worth noting here that Isaiah proclaims this about Cyrus, by name, about a century before Cyrus is born. Cyrus became a great Persian King who overcame the Babylonians, he overthrew them, conquered them, and then came upon this people in exile. Cyrus then decrees, in Ezra/Nehemiah, that the Jews were to be returned to Jersuaelm, to the promised land and to rebuild the temple. He even sends then with gold and treasures, these precious things that the Babylonians had previously taken and to use them to rebuild them temple!

Do you see? in Isa 45:3 God tells Cyrus, I will give you great treasures, therefore Cyrus will be in a place where sending the Jews back with gold and silver won’t be a big deal. It won’t effect his bottom line we might say. Through the campaigns of Ezra and Nehemiah, Jerusalem is rebuilt and the Israelites re establish themselves in the promised land.

Now that’s great, but Isaiah is looking even further ahead than just the rebuilding of a city wall. His vision here has people from across the earth coming to know YHWH. It is through Cyrus that Jerusalem will be reestablished and this political reality, that Israel now occupies their promised land, this becomes the foundation for the historical events of Jesus Christ, the coming anointed one, the coming King of the Jews.

Do you see? There is a direct line between what Isaiah is predicting here and, ultimately, the coming of Christ. Two more things on this:

Isaiah makes this prediction far in advance. That’s important to note, it’s important to note that God would give him such specifics, such information so that in the day of exile when, in Babylon, the exiled Israelites are hearing rumblings of a far off king in Persia named Cyrus, they might be filled with hope. They might be reminded of the promise God made, and this would serve to affirm and deepen their faith in God.

Secondly, I want to note a main feature here: Cyrus is an anointed one, a christ. Yet he was such unknowingly, ignorant really. This all reminds of God’s total sovereignty over all things and all people, yes. But it also invites a contrast between Cyrus and the other anointed one, the other Christ that we know, Jesus. Jesus, unlike Cyrus, He fulfilled God’s plan of redemption knowingly and willingly, willingly even to his own detriment, to his death on the cross. Do you see? If God could fulfill his purposes through a pagan King who didn’t know Him, how much more could he fulfill his purposes through His own son.

OK. Let’s move on.

Isaiah 45:9–13 ESV

9 “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’? 10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’ ” 11 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? 12 I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. 13 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.

If there was anyone concerned, confused, or doubting about the way of the God in raising up Cyrus as their anointed help, here’s is God’s message for them. To complain, to question God is like the clay asking the potter who formed it why was it formed this way or that? Resisting God’s way is futile, that’s what he’s saying there. The Lord created all things and possesses the sovereign authority over all things.

The people were expecting another Moses, not another Pharaoh who God would use. So again, we see emerging is a theme we traced for much of the first 39 chapters: the people’s disbelief in God.

Isaiah 45:14–19 ESV

14 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.’ ” 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.

So the end of the previous section, v. 13 shows God affirming His plan to set His exiles free and bring them back to His city, to rebuild Jerusalem. Again, this is fulfilled, in part, through Ezra and Nehemiah at the command of Cyrus. However, it is brought to reality through Jesus and still yet waits for its fulfillment ultimately. Isaiah’s vision here in v. 14-19, focuses on that larger fulfillment.

Look at the scene: the wealth of the nations they come to someone—who? Cyrus? No, I don’t think so, because they are moved to worship God who is in Him, but Cyrus did not even know YHWH. I think this is rather, Israel, the faithful remnant that will remain. The surrounding nations come and acknowledge the God of Israel and worship. They come and submit, not because they have been conquered but because they recognize the one true and living God. And they, in their idol worship are put to shame!

Do you see? The ultimate purpose, as we’ve been saying, of God using this pagan king is to bring about salvation to peoples of all nations, ultimately, through Jesus Christ. The passage here ends by addressing the despair of those in exile: I did not say, seek me in vain. The language here is also evocative of Genesis, I created! He established them in the land and His plan will prevail. That’s the message for God’s people.

Alright, let’s close the chapter—

Isaiah 45:20–25 ESV

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.”

It is the Lord God and only He who saves. His salvation applies universally to all people who respond to His call. This vision of salvation anticipates Jesus’ instructions to his disciples to teach and baptize and make disciples of all nations. The whole thing, this whole chapter, shows us God’s total control over all of history and over all peoples. And obviously it anticipates the glory of John’s vision in Revelation 7:9-12

Revelation 7:9–12 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”