A Lesson in His Story - Isaiah 44:21-45:13

A few years ago, there was a very popular Bible study that looked at the Bible from a unique perspective. It looked at the whole Bible as telling one consistent story throughout. This wasn’t just any story, it was God’s story—the one He had in mind before the world was even created! (If this sounds like a study you’d like…Cindy’s class is doing it right now and you’d be welcome to join it!)

The value of this study is that it changes the way we look at the Bible. Rather than being just a collection of stories from history, we realize that each of these stories reveal a part of His Story. Our passage this morning reminds us of how true this is. It reminds us that God is in control of all things and is ultimately working all things to accomplish His purposes. This is a challenging truth, but if we learn to embrace it, we find that it is also a wonderfully encouraging truth as well.

This morning we pick up at the end of Isaiah 44 and the beginning of Isaiah 45, where God gives the people of Israel a glimpse of what He is going to do in the future. As He does so, He reminds them that He can be trusted, no matter what. That message is one we desperately need to hear and embrace today as well. As we walk through this passage, we will see several truths that should impact the way we live our lives.

Truth #1: God is the Driving Force in Redemption

As we look at the opening verses of our passage, we see God declaring some foundational truths.

21 “Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. 22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” 23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout for joy, O depths of the earth! Break into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel. (Isaiah 44:21-23, NLT)

What is God saying through Isaiah in these verses? He tells the people of Israel that He will not forget them, and that He has taken care of their sins and will bring restoration.

Remember the situation. The northern kingdom of Israel had fallen to the nation of Assyria because of their sin. Now, God was condemning the sin of the southern kingdom of Judah. He had declared that they would be conquered and carried off into exile because their sin. Soon, the nation of Babylon would do exactly that. So, it would be tempting for the people of Israel and Judah to conclude that God had forgotten about them or turned His back on them forever, but God says that is not the case at all. Rather, He is continuing to work behind the scenes to redeem them.

God does not declare that He will restore Israel because they are good, or because they had somehow paid for their sin. Rather, Isaiah makes it clear that it is the Lord who is doing the restoration and payment for sin. It is the Lord who has redeemed them. It is the Lord who has swept away their sins like a cloud. God is reminding His people that He does not forget them, and that He alone provides the means for their forgiveness and restoration.

This was true 3,000 years ago, and it is still true today. The Christian faith starts with the recognition that we cannot save ourselves. It begins with the understanding that we are profoundly and radically messed up by sin, and that we cannot do anything to erase the bad things we have done in the past. But the good news is that God doesn’t require us to pay for our sin. Instead, He sent Jesus into the world to do what we could not. It doesn’t matter what is in our past, if we will trust in what Jesus has already done for us, we can experience the forgiveness and restoration of God. But we must never forget who the active party in our salvation is. It isn’t us. It is God. In our Sunday School class, I’m fond of asking the question: what did we contribute to our salvation? The answer is nothing, except for sin. God is the One who does the restoring. We are simply the gracious recipients. If we understand that, it drives us to worship the Lord, which is exactly what Isaiah says is the correct response.

Our salvation isn’t about bringing honor to us, but about bringing honor to God. Just as God reminded the people of Israel and Judah that He had not forgotten them and that He was working to bring them to Himself, He does the same for you and me today. And our response should be the same: humble worship.

Truth #2: God is Writing His Story

The second lesson we see in our passage reminds us that God is in control of everything that happens, and as such, He can speak with great confidence about the future—because He controls it!

24 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer and Creator: “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? 25 I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools. 26 But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’ 27 When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry. 28 When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’ ” (Isaiah 44:24-28, NLT)

God reminds His people that He is in control of all things. He made the heavens and the earth and didn’t need anyone else’s help. He again contrasts the false gods of the day with himself. He says he puts lies into the mouths of the false prophets (to show they aren’t real), but He carries out the predictions of His own prophets. He reminds the people that He alone is trustworthy, and when He speaks of the future, we should listen.

After that, tells Judah what will happen in the future. He says that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the people will live there again. We don’t know exactly when Isaiah made this prophecy. If it was before Babylon had destroyed Judah, it would have surely been shocking to the people, because they were still living there! The idea that Judah would be rebuilt would seem crazy, since it was still standing. But even if it was after the destruction of Judah, it would be hard for the people to imagine they would ever return, because the situation was bleak. In either case, the message is the same: God is sovereign over what happens in our lives.

Which brings us to one of the most startling prophecies we read in Isaiah. In verse 28, God identifies a specific man named Cyrus, who will give the order for the Israelites to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. That’s a pretty specific prophecy!

We know from scripture and secular history (unsurprisingly) that exactly what God predicted is what happened. Listen to what we read about in the book of Ezra,

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:

2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1-4, NLT)

Ezra records that this prophecy was fulfilled just as God said it would be. He speaks of Jeremiah’s prophecy, which was similar to Isaiah’s. Both were fulfilled when King Cyrus of Persia ordered the nation of Israel to return to their homeland and rebuild their cities and their temple. And not only that, he ordered their neighbors to give them supplies to do so!

The point of this prediction was to drive home a very simple, but important point. God is in control of all things. He knows what is going to happen in the future, and He is working behind the scenes to accomplish His purposes. Therefore, we should trust Him, seek Him, and honor Him, no matter what seems to be going on around us. We can have confidence that He is working even when we can’t see it.

Truth #3: God’s Purposes Are Bigger than We Think

As we move into chapter 45, God explains some of the specifics of how He will bring these things about, and why He will do it.

1 This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. 2 This is what the Lord says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. 4 “And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.

5 I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me, 6 so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things. (Isaiah 45:1-7, NLT)

God says that He will raise up Cyrus and empower him. He will allow Cyrus to dominate his enemies and become a world power. Cyrus would have a God-given power that would cause the rest of the world to tremble before him.

Cyrus was the ruler of the Persian empire, which was the dominant world power of the day. Persia overthrew the Babylonian empire, which was who conquered the nation of Judah. God did indeed make Cyrus a powerful ruler, whom his enemies came to fear.

The question is why did God do this? We might expect that the reason God gave Cyrus such success was because he was a good and godly man. But that’s not the case at all. God says he called Cyrus by name when he did not even know the Lord. So why did God give Cyrus, a pagan king, such power? Because it would accomplish God’s greater purpose with the nation of Israel. It would put on display for the whole world that the Lord is the one true God. God’s plan was far bigger than Cyrus.

We see this throughout the Bible. God raises up certain leaders, not because they are good, but because He is using them to accomplish His purposes. God used the Pharaohs of Egypt, then once they had accomplished God’s purpose, they were defeated. He did the same with Assyria and Babylon. He ultimately did the same with Persia, Greece, and Rome as well. Each of these empires enjoyed a measure of success, not because of how good they were or how pleased God was with them, but because God was using them to accomplish a far greater purpose.

This should be a sobering truth to us as well. We tend to view “success” as a mark of God’s blessing on our lives—as God’s way of giving approval to the things we are doing. We assume that if things are going well in our lives, it is because God is happy with us, and that if things are hard, it’s because He is not. But this passage reminds us that God doesn’t work in such a simplistic manner. God is working to accomplish much grander purposes than we typically imagine. As such, our current circumstances are not necessarily a result of our immediate actions, but rather are part of a bigger plan by God.

Here's the good news in all of this: God knows what He is doing, even when we don’t. When we see the world going down a bad path around us, we don’t need to throw up our hands in despair, concluding that God has abandoned us. He has not. Just because we can’t understand what God is doing, doesn’t mean He isn’t doing anything. He is working to accomplish His purposes. But we must also remember that God’s purposes are not always the same as ours. Sometimes we are disappointed simply because we are expecting God to do what we think He should. We must trust that God has a purpose, and that He may be working on something bigger than we can understand.

Truth #4: We Should Take a Position of Faith Rather than Critique

It is tempting, when we don’t understand why God is doing what He is doing, to stand in judgment over Him. We complain, we argue, we might even question if God is real or turn our backs on Him. But we should remember who we are dealing with.

9 “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ 10 How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’ ” 11 This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? 12 I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command. 13 I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people— without seeking a reward! I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” (Isaiah 45:9-13, NLT)

God reminds us of our position before Him. He is the creator of all things, He is all powerful, He is all wise. When we sit in judgment over the Lord, we are acting foolishly. God says it is like a pot criticizing the potter for the way it is made, or a child demanding that their parents justify their reason for existing.

God reminds us that He is in control and has a good and perfect plan. The fact that we can’t discern or understand or anticipate it does not give us the right to criticize the Lord. God’s words in these verses are not meant to belittle us, but to remind us of who He is! God is the One who made the heavens, who created everything with a word. He is the One who is in control of every star in the universe, so why do we doubt that He knows what He’s doing in the affairs of our lives?

Here is the challenge for us—we should take a position of patient faith in all circumstances. The temptation is for us to turn away from the Lord when times get tough and to forget about the Lord when things are going well. But regardless of the situation, we must remember that God is in control. We must constantly keep that truth at the forefront of our minds.

Conclusion

So what does all of this mean practically? It means that all of history is His story—the good, the bad, and everything in between. No matter what we face in this life, we must remember that God is still on the throne, and He is working to bring glory to Himself. Often we are more concerned with our comfort than we are with His glory, but that’s because our priorities are out of whack. God is the potter, and we are merely clay. He can (and will) use us as He sees fit. That might sound harsh at first, but the good news is that He knows what is best and has the power to accomplish His plan.

I want to remind you of one of my favorite verses in all of scripture, because it is a promise that gives me great comfort, no matter what I face. I think it will do the same for you.

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28, NLT)

This promise is only for Christians, but what it promises us is this: If you are a follower of Jesus, God is working everything in your life for good. This should bring us great comfort, especially in the times when we can’t see the good. We may not be able to see what God is doing, but these verses in Isaiah remind us that God is working even when we can’t see or understand it.

The Israelites had no idea who this Cyrus person was. They had no idea how or when or why he was going to send them back to their homeland and have them rebuild the temple. When Isaiah made this prophecy, the temple may have even still been standing! What happened may have been a surprise to the Israelites, but it wasn’t a surprise to God—because He was the One making these things happen.

The same is true for our lives. We don’t know what the future holds. We make choices (some good and some bad) that have an effect on our lives, but God’s ultimate plans will never be thwarted. He will accomplish exactly what He set out to do.

So let me challenge you to live with faith. We live in a time when all sorts of things cause us to worry. We don’t trust our leaders. We fear the direction our society is going. We see all sorts of bad things going on. But remember that God is working all things for good. In the times when things don’t make sense, hold tight to the Lord. When the world tells you that God’s ways are outdated and simplistic, remember who is running things! God knows what He is doing, even when we don’t. God is not surprised by anything that happens. We don’t know how God is writing His Story…but the good news is, He does.