Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isa 45:1-7. The apostrophe to Cyrus expresses dramatically the purpose of Jehovah in raising up the Persian conqueror. The idea that the true God has made a personal revelation of Himself to the mind of Cyrus is not implied; Cyrus is to learn the religious significance of his mission from its results ( Isa 45:3), just as mankind at large comes to understand it ( Isa 45:6). The direct address to Cyrus ( Isa 45:2 ff.) is prefaced in Isa 45:1 by a series of clauses describing his invincible career, which has already attracted the attention of the world. There is a startling resemblance between some of the expressions here used of Jehovah’s choice of Cyrus, and some of those employed by the Babylonian writer of the “Annalistic Tablet” in describing him as the favourite of Merodach. We read there that “Merodach appointed a prince who should guide aright the wish of the heart which his hand upholds, even Cyrus ” that he “has proclaimed his title; for the sovereignty of all the world does he commemorate his name,” and that he “beheld with joy the deeds of his vicegerent, who was righteous in hand and heart,” and that “like a friend and comrade he went at his side.” (See Introduction, p. xviii.)
to his anointed, to Cyrus ] The Hebr. word for “anointed” ( msh), when used as a substantive, is almost confined to the kings of Israel; although in later times there was a tendency to employ it in a wider sense (e.g. of the Patriarchs in Psa 115:15, of the people in Hab 3:13). Unless Psa 2:2 be an exception it is never used in the O.T. of the future ideal king (the Messiah); hence the idea that the rle of the Messianic king is by the prophet transferred to Cyrus is not to be entertained. The title simply designates him as one consecrated by Jehovah to be His agent and representative. This, however, is the only passage where the title is bestowed upon a foreign ruler; Nebuchadnezzar is called the “servant” of Jehovah (Jer 25:9; Jer 27:6; Jer 43:10), but the more august designation of “His Anointed” is reserved for one who as the Deliverer of Israel and the instrument of the overthrow of polytheism, stands in a still closer relation to Jehovah’s purpose. Comp. “My Shepherd” in ch. Isa 44:28; also ch. Isa 46:11, Isa 48:14.
to subdue &c. ] Render: to subdue before him nations, and to loose the loins of kings; to open before him doors, and that gates should not be shut; the infinitive construction is resolved into the finite verb. To loose (lit. “open”) is to ungird, or disarm; see 1Ki 20:11, where the same verb forms the contrast to “gird.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed – This is a direct apostrophe to Cyrus, though it was uttered not less than one hundred and fifty years before Babylon was taken by him. The word anointed is that which is usually rendered Messiah ( mashyach), and here is rendered by the Septuagint, To christo mou Kuro – To Cyrus, my Christ, i. e, my anointed. It properly means the anointed, and was a title which was commonly given to the kings of Israel, because they were set apart to their office by the ceremony of anointing, who hence were called hoi christoi Kuriou – The anointed of the Lord 1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 2:35; 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 16:6; 1Sa 24:7, 1Sa 24:11; 1Sa 26:9, 1Sa 26:11, 1Sa 26:23; 2Sa 1:14, 2Sa 1:16; 2Sa 19:22-23. There is no evidence that the Persian kings were inaugurated or consecrated by oil, but this is an appellation which was common among the Jews, and is applied to Cyrus in accordance with their usual mode of designating kings. It means here that God had solemnly set apart Cyrus to perform an important public service in his cause. It does not mean that Cyrus was a man of piety, or a worshipper of the true God, of which there is no certain evidence, but that his appointment as king was owing to the arrangement of Gods providence, and that he was to be employed in accomplishing his purposes. The title does not designate holiness of character, but appointment to an office.
Whose right hand I have holden – Margin, Strengthened. Lowth, whom I hold fast by the right hand. The idea seems to be, that God had upheld, sustained, strengthened him as we do one who is feeble, by taking his right hand (see the notes at Isa 41:13; Isa 42:6)
To subdue nations before him – For a general account of the conquests of Cyrus, see the notes at Isa 41:2. It may be added here, that besides his native subjects, the nations which Cyrus subdued, and over which he reigned, were the Cilicians, Syrians, Paphlagonians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phenicians, Arabians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Bactrians, Saeae, and Maryandines. Xenophon describes his empire as extending from the Mediterranean and Egypt to the Indian Ocean, and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea, and conveys a physical idea of its extent by observing that the extremities were difficult to inhabit, from opposite causes – some from excess of heat, and others from excess of cold; some from a scarcity of water, and others from too great abundance. – (Pictorial Bible.)
And I will loose the loins of kings – The ancients dressed in a large, loose, flowing robe thrown over an under-garment or tunic, which was shaped to the body. The outer robe was girded with a sash when they toiled, or labored, or went to war, or ran. Hence, to gird up the loins is indicative of preparation for a journey, for labor, or for war. To unloose the girdle, or the loins, was indicative of a state of rest, repose, or feebleness; and the phrase here means that God would so order it in his providence that the kings would be unprepared to meet him, or so feeble that they would not be able to resist him (compare Job 38:3; Jer 1:17). See also Job 12:21 :
He poureth contempt upon princes,
And weakeneth the strength of the mighty;
Margin, more correctly, Looseth the girdle of the strong. There was a literal fulfillment of this in regard to Belshazzar, king of Babylon, when the city was taken by Cyrus. When the hand came forth on the walls of his palace, and the mysterious finger wrote his condemnation, it is said, Then the kings countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other Dan 5:6. The Vulgate renders this, I will turn the backs of kings.
To open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut – The folding gates of a city, or a palace. It so happened in the scene of revelry which prevailed in Babylon when Cyrus took it, that the gates within the city which led from the streets to the river were left open. The city was not only enclosed with walls, but there were walls within the city on each side of the river Euphrates with gates, by which the inhabitants had access to the water of the river. Had not these gates been left open on that occasion, contrary to the usual custom, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and could all have been destroyed. It also happened in the revelry of that night, that the gates of the palace were left open, so that there was access to every part of the city. Herodotus (i. 191) says, If the besieged had been aware of the designs of Cyrus, or had discovered the project before its actual accomplishment, they might have effected the total destruction of these troops. They had only to secure the little gates which led to the river, and to have manned the embankments on either side, and they might have enclosed the Persians in a net from which they could never have escaped; as it happened they were taken by surprise; and such is the extent of that city, that, as the inhabitants themselves affirm, they who lived in the extremities were made prisoners before the alarm was communicated to the center of the palace. None but an omniscient Being could have predicted, a hundred and fifty years before it occurred, that such an event would take place; and this is one of the many prophecies which demonstrate in the most particular manner that Isaiah was inspired.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 45:1-6
Thus saith the Lord to His anointed
Cyrus
The name of Cyrus is written Kuras in Babylonian cuneiform, Kurush in Old Persian.
Ctesias stated on the authority of Parysatis, the wife of the Persian king Ochus, that her younger son was named Cyrus from the sun, as the Persians called the sun Kupos (Epit. Phot. 80; Plut. Artax. 1)
. In Zend, however, the sun is hware, which could not take the form Kupos in Old Persian, though in modern Persian it is khur, khir, and kher. The classical writers have given extraordinary accounts of his birth and rise to power All these versions have been shown to be unhistorical by contemporaneous cuneiform inscriptions. The most important of these are
(1) a cylinder inscription of Nabonidus, the last king of the Babylonian Empire, from Abu Habba (Sippara);
(2) an annalistic tablet written shortly after the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus;
(3) a proclamation of Cyrus of the same date . . . The proclamation of Cyrus shows that he was not a Zoroastrian like Darius and Xerxes, but that as he claimed to be the successor of the Babylonian kings, so also he acknowledged the supremacy of Bel-Merodaeh the supreme Babylonian god. Hence the restoration of the Jewish exiles was not due to any sympathy with monotheism, but was part of a general policy. Experience had taught him the danger of allowing a disaffected population to exist in a country which might be invaded by an enemy; his own conquest of Babylonia had been assisted by the revolt of a part of its population; and he therefore reversed the policy of deportation and denationalisation which had been attempted by the Assyrian and Baby-Ionian kings. The exiles and the images of their gods were sent back to their old homes; only in the case of the Jews, who had no images, it was the sacred vessels of the temple which were restored. (Prof. A. H. Sayce, LL. D.)
Cyrus: his character
To Greek literature Cyrus was the prince pre-eminent,–set forth as the model for education in childhood, self-restraint in youth, just and powerful government in manhood. Most of what we read of him in Xenophons Cyclopaedia is, of course, romance; but the very fact that, like our own king Arthur, Cyrus was used as a mirror to flash great ideals down the ages, proves that there was with him native brilliance and width of surface as well as fortunate eminence of position. He owed much to the virtue of his race. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Cyrus, Gods tool
Cyrus is neither chosen for his character, nor said [in the Isaiah passages] to be endowed with one. But that he is there, and that he does so much, is due simply to this, that God had chosen him. What he is endowed with is force, push, swiftness, irresistibleness. He is, in short, not a character, but a tool; and God makes no apology for using him but this, that he has the qualities of a tool. Now, we cannot help being struck with the contrast of all this, the Hebrew view of Cyrus, with the well-known Greek view of him. To the Greeks he is first and foremost a character. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
The victories of Cyrus
We have vividly described to us the victories of Cyrus; in his whirlwind career, subduing the nations before him, loosing the loins of kings (that whole troop of vassal empires enumerated by Xenophon), and opening before him the hundred brazen gates of Babylon (also minutely described by Herodotus, as guarding alike the approaches to the river and the temple of Belus), and cutting in sunder the bars of iron. The spoil amassed on that occasion was probably unexampled in the annals of war; for besides the enormous wealth of palatial Babylon itself, it included the fabulous riches of Croesus, king of Lydia, who brought waggon-load after waggon-load to lay at the feet of the conqueror. The aggregate was computed to be equivalent to upwards of a hundred and twenty-six millions of our money. Well, therefore, might the prophet here chronicle, among the predestined exploits of this mighty prince (Isa 45:3), the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places. (J. R.Macduff, D. D.)
Loosing the loins of kings
The monarchs of eastern nations were accustomed to wear girdles about their loins, which were considered as giving strength and firmness to their bodies; and, being richly decorated, served as badges of royal dignity. When, therefore, God declares that He would deprive them of their girdles and loose their loins, the expression imports that He would divest them of their power and majesty, and reduce them to a mean and contemptible condition. (R. Macculloch.)
Special Divine instrumentalities in the worlds renovation
1. For the enlargement of His Church, God often selects special instruments. In setting into motion a whole system of agencies this is almost uniformly the case. We recognise the fact all along the history of the Church. We see men raised up with peculiar gifts and clothed with peculiar powers to effect certain great works. The text gives us a remarkable illustration of this method of Divine procedure. In the bosom of the Church itself there are two still more remarkable examples of this law; the two men who bore the largest part in the inauguration and establishment of the chief dispensations. Moses and Paul were not indifferent characters; nor were their training and position like that of the multitude. They stand out boldly in history as men of peculiar natural gifts and attainments. Their early discipline exalted their intrinsic power; while their relation to the people among whom their work was to be performed, and to the science of the age in which they lived, imparted special qualifications for their great mission, it is not that the human is thus exalted above the Divine, but simply that the Divine uses that kind and measure of humanity which are best fitted to accomplish its purposes.
2. It is just as certain that the great Sovereign chooses particular nations to effect certain parts of His work in the final triumph of the Gospel, as that He chooses certain individuals for some special operation This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth My praise. His sovereignty reaches back of the immediate work. It chooses according to the character of the nation; it reaches to the antecedent training and the natural characteristics which combine to prepare the nation most fully for the work; nay, this sovereignty in its far-reaching wisdom has been busy all along the history of the people in so ordering the moulding influences under which characters and position are attained, that when the time comes for them to enter into His special work, they will be found all ripe for His purpose. This nation, to whom the passage before us refers, is a marked illustration of this thought. The Jew was designed to be the conservator of the Word of God. He was chosen for this purpose. The object was not propagation, but conservation. The race by nature and education had just those qualities which fitted it for this work. Its wonderful tenacity of impression, its power to hold what once had fairly been forced into it by Divine energy, like the rock hardened around the crystal, belongs to its nature, reveals itself after Providence had shattered the nation, in that granite character which, under the fire of eighteen centuries, remains unchanged. At every step of the progress of Christianity since, illustrations multiply of the truth that God forms nations to His work, and chooses them because of their fitness to accomplish certain parts of that work. The Greek with his high mental culture and his glorious language–fit instrument through which the Divine Word breathed His life-giving truth; the Roman sceptred in power over the whole realm of civilisation, and undesignedly constructing the great highway for the Church of Jesus; the German, with his innate freedom of spirit, nourishing the thoughtful souls whose lofty utterances awoke, whose wondrous power disenthralled a sleeping and captive Church. (S. W. Fisher, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XLV
Prophecy concerning Cyrus, the first king of the Persians.
Every obstruction shall be removed out of his way, and the
treasures taken from his enemies shall be immense, 1-3,
To whom, and on what account, Cyrus was indebted for his
wonderful success, 4-6.
The prophet refutes the absurd opinion of the Persians, that
there were two supreme beings, an evil and a good one,
represented by light and darkness, here declared to be only the
operation of the ONE true God, 7;
and makes a transition to the still greater work of God
displayed in the dispensation of the Gospel, 8.
Great impiety of those who call in question the mysterious
providence of God towards his children, 9-12.
The remaining part of this chapter, interspersed with
strictures on the absurdity of idolatry and some allusions to
the dark lying oracles of the heathens, may partly refer to the
deliverance begun by Cyrus, but chiefly to the salvation by the
Messiah, which, it is declared, shall be of universal extent
and everlasting duration, 13-25.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLV
Verse 1. Loose the loins of kings – “ungird the loins of kings”] See Clarke on Isa 5:27. Xenophon gives the following list of the nations conquered by Cyrus: the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians. He moreover reigned over the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae Paphlagones, and Mariandyni. – Cyrop., lib. i. p. 4, Edit. Hutchinson, Quarto. All these kingdoms he acknowledges, in his decree for the restoration of the Jews, to have been given to him by JEHOVAH, the God of heaven. Ezr 1:2.
To open before him the two leaved gates, c. – “That I may open before him the valves and the gates shall not be shut”] The gates of Babylon within the city leading from the streets to the river, were providentially left open, when Cyrus’s forces entered the city in the night through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated; otherwise, says Herodotus, i. 191, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and taken as in a net, and all destroyed. And the gates of the palace were opened imprudently by the king’s orders, to inquire what was the cause of the tumult without; when the two parties under Gobrias and Gadatas rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. – XENOPH., Cyrop. vii. p. 528.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His anointed, i.e. his king, whom God hath designed, and separated, and fitted, in all respects, for his work and service; in which and such-like respects divers persons are said to be anointed, who never had any material oil poured upon them, as the king of Tyrus, Eze 28:14, and Christ, Isa 61:1, and Zerubbabel, Zec 4:14, and Christians, 2 Cop. 1:21; 1Jo 2:27. And they are thus called by way of allusion to the practice of the Jews, whose kings were frequently anointed, 1Sa 10:1; 16:13, &c.
I have holden, or strengthened; whom I will powerfully assist, teaching his hands to war, as the phrase is, Psa 18:34, supporting and directing his right hand to strike home.
Nations; the Babylonians, and those other nations which were confederate with them, and fought for them, as may be gathered from Jer 51:9.
I will loose the loins of kings; I will weaken them, for a mans strength consists much in his loins, and receiveth some advantage by the girding of his loins: or, I will take away their girdle, which was about their loins, to wit, their power and authority, whereof that was an ensign, of which see on Job 12:18; Isa 22:21.
To open before him the two-leaved gates; the great and magnificent gates of their cities and palaces, which shall be opened to him as conqueror.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. his anointedCyrus is socalled as being set apart as king, by God’s providence, tofulfil His special purpose. Though kings were not anointed inPersia, the expression is applied to him in reference to the Jewishcustom of setting apart kings to the regal office by anointing.
right hand . . . holdenimagefrom sustaining a feeble person by holding his right hand (Isa42:6).
subdue nationsnamely,the Cilicians, Syrians, Babylonians, Lydians, Bactrians, c. hisempire extended from Egypt and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean,and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea.
loose . . . girdle loinsthatis, the girdle off the loins; and so enfeeble them. The looseouter robe of the Orientals, when girt fast round the loins, was theemblem of strength and preparedness for action; ungirt, wasindicative of feebleness (Job 38:3;Job 12:21); “weakeneththe strength of the mighty” (Margin), “looseththe girdle of the strong.” The joints of(Belshazzar’s) loins, we read in Da5:6, were loosed during the siege by Cyrus, at the sightof the mysterious handwriting on the palace walls. His being taken bysurprise, unaccoutred, is here foretold.
to open . . . gatesInthe revelry in Babylon on the night of its capture, the inner gates,leading from the streets to the river, were left open; for there werewalls along each side of the Euphrates with gates, which, had theybeen kept shut, would have hemmed the invading hosts in the bed ofthe river, where the Babylonians could have easily destroyed them.Also, the gates of the palace were left open, so that there wasaccess to every part of the city; and such was its extent, that theywho lived in the extremities were taken prisoners before the alarmreached the center of the palace. [HERODOTUS,1.191].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,…. Cyrus is called the Lord’s anointed, not because he was anointed with material oil, as the kings of Israel and Judah were; but because he was appointed by the Lord to be a king, and was qualified by him for that office; and was raised up by him to be an instrument of doing great things in the world, and particularly of delivering the Jews from their captivity, and restoring them to their own land:
whose right hand I have holden; whom he raised up, supported, strengthened, guided, and directed to do what he did:
to subdue nations before him; which was accordingly done. Xenophon y relates, that he subdued the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the countries of Phrygia, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians; also the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians; likewise the Greeks that inhabit Asia, Cyprians and Egyptians. Herodotus z says, that he ruled over all Asia: all which the Lord subdued under him; for it was he that did it rather than Cyrus; it was he that clothed him with strength and courage, gave him skill in military affairs, and success and victory:
I will loose the loins of kings; as Croesus king of Lydia, and Belshazzar king of Babylon, by divesting them of their dignity, power, and government; and particularly this was true of the latter, when, by the handwriting on the wall, he was thrown into a panic; “and the joints of his loins were loosed”, Da 5:6, “to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut”; the gates of cities and palaces wherever he came, which were opened to receive him as their conqueror and sovereign; this was very remarkably true of the gates of the palace of the king of Babylon, when the army of Cyrus by a stratagem had got into the city, and were come up to the king’s palace, they found the gates shut; but a clamour and noise being made, the king ordered to see what was the matter; the gates being opened for that purpose, the soldiers of Cyrus rushed in to the king, and slew him a; but, what is more remarkable, the gates of brass, which shut up the descents from the keys to the river, were left open that night Babylon was taken, while the inhabitants were feasting and revelling; which, had they been shut b, would have defeated the enterprise of Cyrus; but God in his providence ordered it to be so.
y Cyropaedia, l. 1. p. 2. z Clio, sive l. 1. c. 130. a Cyropaedia, l. 7. c. 22, 23. b Herodot. l. 1. c. 191.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The first strophe of the first half of this sixth prophecy (Isa 44:24.), the subject of which is Cyrus, the predicted restorer of Jerusalem, of the cities of Judah, and of the temple, is now followed by a second strophe (Isa 45:1-8), having for its subject Cyrus, the man through whose irresistible career of conquest the heathen would be brought to recognise the power of Jehovah, so that heavenly blessings would come down upon the earth. The naming of the great shepherd of the nations, and the address of him, are continued in Isa 45:1-3: “Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Koresh, whom I have taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him; and the loins of kings I ungird, to open before him doors and gates, that they may not continue shut. I shall go before thee, and level what is heaped up: gates of brass shall I break in pieces, and bolts of iron shall I smite to the ground. And I shall give thee treasures of darkness, and jewels of hidden places, that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am He who called out thy name, (even) the God of Israel.” The words addressed to Cyrus by Jehovah commence in Isa 45:2, but promises applying to him force themselves into the introduction, being evoked by the mention of his name. He is the only king of the Gentiles whom Jehovah ever m e shch (my anointed; lxx ). The fundamental principle of the politics of the empire of the world was all-absorbing selfishness. But the politics of Cyrus were pervaded by purer motives, and this brought him eternal honour. The very same thing which the spirit of Darius, the father of Xerxes, is represented as saying of him in the Persae of Aeschylus (v. 735), (for he was not hateful to God, because he was well-disposed), is here said by the Spirit of revelation, which by no means regards the virtues of the heathen as splendida vitia . Jehovah has taken him by his right hand, to accomplish great things through him while supporting him thus. (On the inf. rad for rod , from radad , to tread down, see Ges. 67, Anm. 3.) The dual d e lathaim has also a plural force: “double doors” ( fores) in great number, viz., those of palaces. After the two infinitives, the verb passes into the finite tense: “loins of kings I ungird” ( discingo ; pitteach , which refers primarily to the loosening of a fastened garment, is equivalent to depriving of strength). The gates – namely, those of the cities which he storms – will not be shut, sc. in perpetuity, that is to say, they will have to open to him. Jerome refers here to the account given of the elder Cyrus in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia. A general picture may no doubt be obtained from this of his success in war; but particular statements need support from other quarters, since it is only a historical romance. Instead of ( )? in Isa 45:2, the keri has ; just as in Psa 5:9 it has instead of . A hiphil cannot really be shown to have existed, and the abbreviated future form would be altogether without ground or object here. ( tumida ; like , amaena , and others) is meant to refer to the difficulties piled up in the conqueror’s way. The “ gates of brass ‘ ( n e dhushah , brazen, poetical for n e chosheth , brass, as in the derivative passage, Psa 107:16) and “ bolts of iron ” remind one more especially of Babylon with its hundred “brazen gates,” the very posts and lintels of which were also of brass (Herod. i. 179); and the treasures laid up in deep darkness and jewels preserved in hiding-places, of the riches of Babylon (Jer 50:37; Jer 51:13), and especially of those of the Lydian Sardes, “the richest city of Asia after Babylon” ( Cyrop. vii. 2, 11), which Cyrus conquered first. On the treasures which Cyrus acquired through his conquests, and to which allusion is made in the Persae of Aeschylus, v. 327 (“O Persian, land and harbour of many riches thou”), see Plin. h. n. xxx iii. 2. Brerewood estimates the quantity of gold and silver mentioned there as captured by him at no less than 126,224,000 sterling. And all this success is given to him by Jehovah, that he may know that it is Jehovah the God of Israel who has called out with his name, i.e., called out his name, or called him to be what he is, and as what he shows himself to be.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prophecies Concerning Cyrus. | B. C. 708. |
1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Cyrus was a Mede, descended (as some say) from Astyages king of Media. The pagan writers are not agreed in their accounts of his origin. Some tell us that in his infancy he was an outcast, left exposed, and was saved from perishing by a herdsman’s wife. However, it is agreed that, being a man of an active genius, he soon made himself very considerable, especially when Crsus king of Lydia made a descent upon his country, which he not only repulsed, but revenged, prosecuting the advantages he had gained against Crsus with such vigour that in a little time he took Sardis and made himself master of the rich kingdom of Lydia and the many provinces that then belonged to it. This made him very great (for Crsus was rich to a proverb) and enabled him to pursue his victories in many countries; but it was nearly ten years afterwards that, in conjunction with his uncle Darius and with the forces of Persia, he made this famous attack upon Babylon, which is here foretold, and which we have the history of Dan. 5. Babylon had now grown exorbitantly rich and strong. It was forty-five miles in compass (some say more): the walls were thirty-two feet thick and 100 cubits high. Some say, They were so thick that six chariots might drive abreast upon them; others say, They were fifty cubits thick and 200 high. Cyrus seems to have had a great ambition to make himself master of this place, and to have projected it long; and at last he performed it. Now here, 210 years before it came to pass, we are told,
I. What great things God would do for him, that he might put it into his power to release his people. In order to this he shall be a mighty conqueror and a wealthy monarch and nations shall become tributaries to him and help him both with men and money. Now that which God here promised to do for Cyrus he could have done for Zerubbabel, or some of the Jews themselves; but the wealth and power of this world God has seldom seen fit to entrust his own people with much of, so many are the snares and temptations that attend them; but if here has been occasion, for the god of the church, to make use of them, God has been pleased rather to put them into the hands of others, to be employed for them, than to venture them in their own hands. Cyrus is here called God’s anointed, because he was both designed and qualified for this great service by the counsel of God, and was to be herein a type of the Messiah. God engages to hold his right hand, not only to strengthen and sustain him, but to direct his motions and intentions, as Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands when he was to shoot his arrow against Syria, 2 Kings xiii. 16. Being under such direction,
1. He shall extend his conquests very far and shall make nothing of the opposition that will be given him. Babylon is too strong a place for a young hero to begin with; and therefore, that he may be able to deal with that, great additions shall be made to his strength by other conquests. (1.) Populous kingdoms shall yield to him. God will subdue nations before him; when he is in the full career of his successes he shall make nothing of a nation’s being born to him at once: yet it is not he that subdues them; it is God that subdues them for him; the battle is his, and therefore his is the victory. (2.) Potent kings shall fall before him: I will loose the loins of kings, either the girdle of their loins (divesting them of their power and dignity) or the strength of their loins, and then it was literally fulfilled in Belshazzar, for, when he was terrified by the handwriting on the wall, the joints of his loins were loosed, Dan. v. 6. (3.) Great cities shall surrender themselves into his hands, without giving him or themselves any trouble. God will incline the keepers of the city to open before him the two-leaved gates, not treacherously nor timorously, but from a full conviction that it is to no purpose to contend with him; and therefore the gates shall not be shut to keep him out as an enemy, but thrown open to admit him as a friend. (4.) The longest and most dangerous marches shall be made easy and ready to him: I will go before thee, to clear the way, and to conduct thee in it, and then the crooked places, shall be made straight; or, as some read it, the hilly places shall be levelled and made even. Those will find a ready road that have God going before them. (5.) No opposition shall stand before him. He that gives him his commission will break in pieces the gates of brass that are shut against him, and cut asunder the bars of iron wherewith they are fastened. This was fulfilled in the letter, if that be true which Herodotus reports, that the city of Babylon had 100 gates all of brass, with posts and hooks of the same metal.
2. He shall replenish his coffers very much (v. 3): I will give thee the treasures of darkness, treasures of gold and silver, that have been long kept close under lock and key and had not seen the light of many years, or had been buried under ground by the inhabitants, in their fright, upon the taking of the city. The riches of many nations had been brought to Babylon, and Cyrus seized all together. The hidden riches of secret places, which belonged either to the crown or to private persons, shall all be a prey to Cyrus. Thus God, designing him to do a piece of service to his church, paid him richly for it beforehand; and Cyrus very honestly owned God’s goodness to him, and, in consideration of that, released the captives. Ezra i. 2, God has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and thereby has obliged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.
II. We are here told what God designed in doing all this for Cyrus. What Cyrus aimed at in undertaking his wars we may easily guess; but what God aimed at in giving him such wonderful success in his wars we are here told.
1. It was that the God of Israel might be glorified: “That thou mayest know by all this that I the Lord am the God of Israel; for I have called thee by thy name long before thou wast born.” When Cyrus should have this prophecy of Isaiah shown to him, and should there find his own name and his own achievements particularly described so long before, he should thereby be brought to acknowledge that the God of Israel was the Lord, Jehovah, the only living and true God, and that he continued to own his Israel though now in captivity. It is well when thus men’s prosperity brings them to the knowledge of God, for too often it makes them forget him.
2. It was that the Israel of God might be released, v. 4. Cyrus knew not God as the God of Israel. Having been trained up in the worship of idols, the true God was to him an unknown God. But, though he knew not God, God not only knew him when he came into being, but foreknew him, and bespoke him for his shepherd. He called him by his name, Cyrus, nay, which was yet great honour, he surnamed him and called him his anointed. And why did God do all this for Cyrus? Not for his own sake, be it known to him; whether he was a man of virtue or no is questioned. Xenophon indeed, when he would describe the heroic virtues of an excellent prince, made use of Cyrus’s name, and many of the particulars of his story, in his Cyropdia; but other historians represent him as haughty, cruel, and bloodthirsty. The reason why God preferred him was for Jacob his servant’s sake. Note, (1.) In all the revolutions of states and kingdoms, the sudden falls of the great and strong, and the surprising advancements of the weak and obscure, God is designing the good of his church. (2.) It is therefore the wisdom of those to whom God has given wealth and power to use them for his glory, by showing kindness to his people. Cyrus is preferred that Israel may be released. He shall have a kingdom, only that God’s people may have their liberty; for their kingdom is not of this world, it is yet to come. In all this Cyrus was a type of Christ, who was made victorious over principalities and powers, and entrusted with unsearchable riches, for the use and benefit of God’s servants, his elect. When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, took those captives that had taken others captives, and opened the prison to those that were bound.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 45
GOD’S PURPOSE FULFILLED THROUGH CYRUS, HIS ANOINTED SERVANT
As already introduced, in chapter 44, Isaiah stresses the divine choice of Cyrus as an instrument, in the hands of Jehovah, whereby He governs the universe so as to fulfill His own sovereign will. And there is no reason to doubt that Isaiah recorded this prophecy approximately 150 years before the event.
Cyrus was one of the really great men of ancient times. With unimaginable swiftness he defeated the Medes and, by a series of brilliant campaigns, enlarged his empire to colossal size. In defeating Croesus (546 BC) he extended his kingdom to the Aegean Sea. Then, with one rapid blow, he so decimated the Babylonian army that (in 539 BC) his general was able to take Babylon by surprise, and without a fight. Cyrus ruled the world!
Vs. 1-8: HIS SUCCESS DIVINELY ASSURED
1. Cyrus is the Lord’s anointed one – exalted as king over his people to fulfill the Lord’s own purpose; In his work he is a type, or shadow, of the coming Messiah.
2. The Lord is pictured here as holding his hand – evidently to guide him into prepared paths, (comp. Isa 41:13; Isa 42:6; Psa 73:23).
a. Subduing nations before him, (Isa 41:2; Isa 41:25; Jer 50:3; Jer 50:35; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:20; Jer 51:24).
b. Weakening the kings, against whom Cyrus will march, (comp. Job 12:21).
c. Opening doors before him, and providentially arranging that “the gates shall not be shut.”
3. Jehovah Himself will go before Cyrus, (vs. 2).
a. Smoothing rough places, (comp. 40:4).
b. Breaking in pieces doors of brass,,(Psa 107:15-16).
c. And cutting their bars of iron in sunder, (Jer 51:30).
4. The Persian king is promised the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places, (vs. 3; Jeremiah 50; Jeremiah 37); by the fulfillment of this promise Cyrus will know that the God of Israel is real – the true and living God.
5. For Israel’s sake, Jehovah has named Cyrus long before his birth – even surnaming him, (vs. 4).
a. Designating him as a shepherd to His people, (Isa 44:28).
b. Anointing him with kingly authority for the deliverance of Jacob, (vs. 1).
c. And He accomplishes this even though Cyrus has not known Him, (comp. Act 17:23).
6. To Cyrus the Lord reveals Himself as Jehovah (the covenant God of Israel, vs. 5a), and declares that beside Him there is no other God! Furthermore, He will strengthen Cyrus for the task to which He has called him, (vs. 5b; comp. Psa 18:39).
7. By what Jehovah accomplishes through this anointed one, ALL MEN (from east to west) will know that Jehovah alone is God! (vs. 6; Psa 102:15; Mal 1:11).
a. He forms the light (Isa 42:16) and creates darkness, (Psa 104:20; Psa 105:20).
b. He makes peace (which Cyrus will bring to Judah), and creates evil – in the sense of making sorrow, wretchedness, calamity, adversity and affliction the inescapable fruits of rebellion, (vs. 7b; Isa 31:2; Isa 47:11; Amo 3:6-7).
8. When the Prince of Peace reigns, the skies will “pour down righteousness” so that salvation and righteousness will spring up together, (vs. 8; Isa 8:6).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. Thus saith Jehovah. He pursues the subject which he had begun to handle. He shews that not in vain did he promise deliverance to his people, since the manner of it was altogether decreed and appointed by him; (191) for when the question relates to our salvation, we always inquire into the way and manner. Although God frequently chooses to hold us in suspense, and thus conceals from us the method which he has ready at hand, yet, in this instance he indulges the weakness of his people, and explains the method in which he will deliver them.
To Cyrus his anointed. He names the person by whose hand he will bring them back; for, since their faith would be sharply tried by other temptations, he wished in this respect to provide against doubt, that the difficulty of the event might not shake them. And in order to impart greater efficacy to this discourse, he turns to Cyrus himself: “I have chosen thee to be a king to me; I will take hold of thy hand, and will subject the nations to thy authority, so that they shall open up a passage for thee, and voluntarily surrender.” These words have greater effect than if the Lord spoke to his people.
Yet it might be thought strange that he calls Cyrus his Anointed; for this is the designation which was given to the kings of Israel and Judah, because they represented the person of Christ, who alone, strictly speaking, is “the Lord’s Anointed.” “The Lord went forth with his Anointed,” says Habakkuk, “for the salvation of his people.” (Hab 3:13.) In the person of David a kingdom had been set up, which professed to be an image and figure of Christ; and hence also the prophets in many passages call him “David,” and “the Son of David.” (Eze 37:24.) It was indeed a special anointing, intended to distinguish that priestly kingdom from all heathen kingdoms. Since therefore this title belonged to none but the kings of Judea, it might be thought strange that it is here bestowed on a heathen king and a worshipper of idols; for although he was instructed by Daniel, yet we do not read that he changed his religion. True, he regarded with reverence the God of Israel, and considered him to be the Highest; but he was not prompted by a sincere affection of the heart to worship him, and did not advance so far as to forsake superstitions and idolatries.
Thus God deigns to call him his “Anointed,” not by a perpetual title, but because he discharged for a time the office of Redeemer; for he both avenged the Church of God and delivered it from the Assyrians, who were its enemies. This office belongs peculiarly to Christ; and this ordinary appellation of kings ought to be limited to this circumstance, that he restored the people of God to the enjoyment of liberty. This should lead us to observe how highly God values the salvation of the Church, because, for the sake of this single benefit, Cyrus, a heathen man, is called “the Messiah,” (192) or “the Anointed.
Whose right hand I have taken hold of. By this mode of expression, he means that Cyrus shall prosper in all his undertakings, for he shall carry on war under God’s direction; and therefore Isaiah declares that, for the sake of the Church, in order that he may deliver her, God will grant to him prosperity in all things; while he again commends the providence of God, that the Jews may fully believe, amidst changes and troubles, that God on high governs all things in such a manner as to promote the benefit of his elect. Now, since it was not easy for Cyrus to penetrate as far as Babylon, because the whole of Asia had leagued together in order to frustrate his designs, the Prophet testifies that God will dissolve all the strength which men can bring against him.
I will loose the loins of kings. Because the whole strength lies in the reins, the Hebrew writers use the phrase “opening,” or “loosing the loins,” to denote “being deprived of strength.” We might also view it somewhat differently, that is, that the Lord will “make bare,” or “loose their loins,” according to the customary manner of Scripture, by which kings are said to be ungirded of the belt, namely, of the badge of royalty, when they are deprived of authority. Job (Job 12:18) employs this mode of expression, and Isaiah will afterwards employ it: (193) “I will gird thee.” (Ver. 5.) On this account I more readily adopt this sense, that the force of the contrast may be more evident. This shews clearly that kings have just as much strength and power as the Lord bestows on them for the preservation of each nation; for when he determines to convey their authority to others, they cannot defend their condition by any weapons or swords.
To open the gates before him. By this expression he means that no fortresses can resist God, which indeed is acknowledged by all, but yet they do not cease to place foolish confidences in bulwarks and fortresses; for, where cities are well surrounded by walls, and the gates are shut, men think that there they are safe. On the other hand the Prophet shews that all defences are useless, and that it serves no purpose to block up every entrance, when the Lord wishes to open up a way for the enemies. Although it is certain that the gates were shut and securely barred, yet, because Cyrus pushed his way as swiftly as if all the cities had been thrown open, the Prophet justly affirms that nothing shall be closed against him.
(191) “ Estoit decrete et ordonne desia en son conseil.” “Was already decreed and appointed in his counsel.”
(192) For an explanation of the meaning and use of the term “Messiah,” see Harmony of the Evangelists, vol. 1, p. 92, n. 2, and p. 142, n. 2. — Ed.
(193) Our author has already explained this allusion. See Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 2, p. 135. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2.
SOVEREIGN IN SALVATION, CHAPTER 45
a.
OMNIPOTENCE
TEXT: Isa. 45:1-8
1
Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
2
I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;
3
and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.
4
For Jacob my servants sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5
I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me;
6
that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else.
7
I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.
8
Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I Jehovah have created it.
QUERIES
a.
How will Jehovah loose the loins of kings before Cyrus?
b.
Why did God surname Cyrus for Jacobs sake?
c.
How may the skies pour down righteousness?
PARAPHRASE
This is what Jehovah says to Cyrus the man He has especially chosen and whose career of conquest and government Jehovah will guide and sustain. The Lord will subdue great world powers and strip emperors of their strength for him; He will open city gates and no one will be able to shut them against Cyrus. Jehovah says, I will be the One preparing your path of conquest. All obstacles will be removed. Doors of brass, barred with iron will not stand in your way. Secret treasures which these kings assume cannot be found will be given to you to the end that you may know that I am God and that it is I, the God of Israel, who called you by your name many years before you were born. I have called you primarily for the sake of My servant, Israel, My chosen people. I have prophesied your name long before your birth, even though you do not acknowledge Me as the Only God. There is no other god. I, Jehovah, am sovereign in the affairs of all men. It is I, Jehovah, who will empower you in your conquests Cyrus, although you do not acknowledge Me. I will do this so that the whole world will have opportunity to know there is no god besides Me. I am Jehovah, and there is no other god. I create both light and darkness; I send both blessing and woe; I, Jehovah, am the creator of everything. I, Jehovah, have created all of heaven and earth and I will command it and use all My creation to bring about the blessings of salvation and righteousness which I have promised to Israel, My chosen.
COMMENTS
Isa. 45:1-4 ANOINTED: The word translated anointed is the Hebrew word meshikho a form of the word messiah. It is astounding to learn that Jehovah has anointed a pagan emperor to become a messiah for His people. Yet, the Lord has used many servants from among the heathen (see Daniel 7, 8, Jer. 27:1-11) to fulfill His redemptive plan. It is apparent that Cyrus, in his deliverance of Israel, served as a type of the Messiah-Servant to come, Jesus Christ (see special study on Types in this volume). Cyrus was not born for more than a hundred years after this prophecy. Cyrus was born in a little province in north-western Elam and just south of Media. He came to power in about 559 B.C. He was actually Cyrus II, a descendant of Achaemenes (700675 B.C.). Cyrus own cylinder indicates he was thoroughly imbued with the idea that he was the man of destiny: (the opening lines are quoted here)
Through all the lands he (Marduk) searched, he saw him (Cyrus), and he sought the righteous prince, after his own heart, whom he took by the hand. Cyrus, king of Anshan, he called by name; to sovereignty over the whole world he appointed him.
The rule of Cyrus meant for all the conquered world a renewed and continuous political prosperity and a religious liberty unknown in the annals of other rulers. He was the protector and the bounteous promoter of the welfare of his subjects. Their deities and their methods of worship were graciously restored, and dignified by elevating them to their former positions. The peoples, also, who had been forcibly deported from their native lands, were restored by the kings decrees. This generous policy, in contrast with that of preceding rulers, gave Cyrus great influence and power over his subjects. Part of his popularity may have been due to the fact that he was an Aryan (Caucasian), with newer and freer ideas than those of Semitic potentates.
There is an interesting statement in Josephus to the effect that Cyrus read Isaiahs prophecy and was influenced by it to free the Jews (Antiq. XI.1.2.). It is not impossible! Cyrus was a man interested in the religion, culture, and history of all his subjects. In his proclamation (Ezr. 1:1 f; 2Ch. 36:22 f) Cyrus attributes his actions to a knowledge of what Jehovah commanded him to do. There were, as we have mentioned, other reasons for Cyrus actions; (1) it was national policy to restore peoples to their own dwelling places. (2) Palestine had been from time immemorial a buffer state between southwestern Asia and Egypt. To occupy and hold the strong fortress of Jerusalem was the first step toward the conquest of the rival power. If Cyrus could secure that advantage by aiding the Jews to rebuild and hold it, he would be setting up one battlement in the face of Egypts army. For one of his next strokes, after Babylon, would be at the rival imperial power on the Nile. For more on Cyrus and the Medo-Persian Empire see Daniel, by Butler, College Press, pages 223233 and 296298.
There are three distinct reasons God uses Cyrus and speaks so intimately to him nearly 200 years before his birth:
(a)
Cyrus is to know that the God of Israel is the only God there is, (Isa. 45:3).
(b)
Cyrus is to serve Jehovah for the sake of Israel, (Isa. 45:4).
(c)
Cyrus is to serve Jehovah in order that all men may know Jehovah is the only God there is, (Isa. 45:6).
It is apparent that Cyrus was never converted to monotheism or the worship of Jehovah as the only God, for in many of his proclamations, he acknowledges Marduk as god. Whatever Cyrus accomplished, it was because Jehovah, sovereign Lord of all creation, permitted him to do it. Not only did Jehovah permit it, He assisted Cyrus in its accomplishment (cf. Jer. 27:1-11).
Isa. 45:5-8 ALMIGHTY: This is one of the great passages of the Bible teaching that God is immanent in His creation. God has not created the universe and wound it like a clock, only to go off somewhere and let it run itself. He is personally and directly involved in its day-by-day operation.
a.
In Christ, all things consist, or hold together, Col. 1:17
b.
He upholds all things by the word of His power, Heb. 1:3
c.
He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, Mat. 5:45
d.
He gives rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, Act. 14:17
e.
His wrath is revealed from heaven, Rom. 1:18-32, in the things that have been made.
f.
In everything God works for good with those who love him, Rom. 8:28-29
g.
All that happens in history and nature is under the sovereign Throne of God and the Lamb (cf. Revelation 4-9).
If there is one thing made abundantly clear from the prophets (and confirmed by the New Testament) it is that God is sovereign of both weal and woe. Is God in the whirlwind? Yes! (Nah. 1:3; Zec. 9:14). Is God in the earthquake? Yes! (Isa. 29:6; Act. 16:26; Mat. 24:7; Rev. 6:12; Rev. 8:5, etc.). God is in locusts plagues, fires, floods, famines, droughts, plagues. Does evil befall a city except the Lord hath done it? (Amo. 3:6). When some good comes everyone is agreed it is directly from the Lord. When some woe comes let us be equally assured it is from the Lord. Do tornadoes, earthquakes and famines mean those who are victimized are worse sinners than others? No! Jesus cleared that up in Luke 13. Whatever happens, wherever it happens, it is Gods message to a cursed and doomed universe to repent! All who do not repent will likewise perish! What of those who are repenting and yet perish? They come out of their great tribulation (Rev. 7:13-17); they are rested from their labors (Rev. 14:13); and their works follow after them. They are blessed! There is only one part of Gods creation granted the sovereign exercise of free willman! All the rest of His creation is under His direct operation. Nature is simply a word used by man to evade this fundamental issue that it is God who is Creator and Sustainer. But both good and evil, no matter with whom they originate, are never out of Gods control. Even Satans deliberate evil and the freely chosen evil deeds of men are under His control and are being used (and will be ultimately used) to serve His sovereign purposes and redound to His Absolute glory! Both the weal and woe of God is designed to lead man to repentance (cf. Rom. 1:18 with Rom. 2:4); see Isa. 14:24-27; Isa. 44:24-28; Jer. 27:1-11; Job. 2:1-6; 2Co. 12:1-10; Dan. 2:20-23. Do men still rule by Gods sovereign permission? Does God still send famines, earthquakes, fires, floods, whirlwinds, sun and rain, fruit and harvest season? Yes! He is the same God today He was thousands of years ago! Men still choose sin and evil rebellion because God has granted them the freedom to make that choice, and God is in no way to blame for their choice nor is He the author of their evil. But rest assured their evil will in no way triumph over the sovereign will of God. It is His will that their impenitent, unforgiven evil shall be punished foreverand so it will be! Furthermore, their evil in this life is permitted by Him and used as chastening, warning, perfecting, strengthening agents upon all who will put their trust in Him.
Verse eight appears to be Isaiahs own surrender to the expressed sovereignty of God just proclaimed. It is, as it were, a prayer of Isaiah looking forward to the prospective mission of Cyrus and its salvation for the people of God. Isaiah prays that Gods whole universe join in with Gods program of redemption for Israel and the nations. Let all of Gods creation bring forth and pour down spiritual blessings in heavenly gifts, according to the will and in the power of Jehovah, whose ultimate purpose is a new spiritual creation. Any man who believes and contemplates the absolute sovereignty of Jehovah as expressed by Isaiah here must be led to the same adoring prayer!
QUIZ
1.
Why would God use the term anointed to refer to Cyrus?
2.
Is it possible that Cyrus might have known about this prophecy?
3.
How did Cyrus fulfill this prophecy?
4.
To what extent does God exercise control over the universe today?
5.
Is God the author of evil?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XLV.
(1) To his anointed . . .The name is none other than the Messiah, the Christ, with which we are familiar, here and here only applied to a heathen king. It has to be remembered that the words had not yet received the special application given to it in Dan. 9:26, and had been used of the theocratic kings, of Saul (1Sa. 26:9; 1Sa. 26:11; 1Sa. 26:16), of the house of David (2Sa. 22:51; 2Sa. 23:1), and of the patriarch Abraham (Psa. 105:15). What is meant, therefore, is that Cyrus, the future deliverer, would be as truly a king by the grace of God as David had been, not only, like Nebuchadnezzar, a servant of Jehovah (Jer. 27:6; Jer. 43:10), but fulfilling all his pleasure, whom He grasps by the right hand and guides.
I will loose the loins.Literally, I will ungird, either as a general symbol of weakening, or specifically for disarming, the sword being suspended from the girdle. The two-leaved gates are those of kingly palaces; the gates, those of cities, which will have to open to him. The words here, and in the next verse, may have been used with a special reference to the hundred brazen gates of Babylon (Herod. i. 179).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Sec. 4. (2) THE TIMES OF CYRUS AND MESSIAH.
1. This subdivision of section four presents more in detail the relations of Cyrus to Immanuel.
To his anointed, to Cyrus Jehovah’s “anointed” in the typical aspect of kingship and royal command, relating to Israel in particular. For Israel’s sake Cyrus was anointed king. He subdued all nations within and contiguous to Babylon Medes, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hyrcanians, and the nations of account in Asia Minor.
I will loose the loins of kings This means, to weaken, as “to gird up” the loins, means to put strength into one.
To open two leaved gates By which Cyrus entered the city of Babylon. Herodotus speaks of the gate by the river (Euphrates) having been left accidentally unclosed on the night of the attack. To the same effect says Xenophon. (See HERODOTUS 1:191, and XENOPHON’S Cyrop., vii, Isa 5:10.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Cyrus Has Been Called In Order To Assist God’s Servant, His Chosen One ( Isa 45:1-8 ).
Isa 45:1
‘Thus says Yahweh to his anointed,
To Cyrus whose right hand I have held,
To subdue nations before him,
And I will ungird the loins of kings,
To open the doors before him,
And the gates will not be shut.’
God speaks of Cyrus as ‘His anointed’. That was a description usually reserved from a royal point of view for the Davidic house, but the idea of ‘anointing’ is regularly used for setting apart to service and this is therefore little different from Assyria being set apart as His rod (in Isa 10:5), (or Nebuchadnezzar as His servant in Jer 27:6). It is simply stressing that his activity results from God having set him apart for this service. Compare how He could set aside and ‘anoint’ Hazael, king of Syria, in a similar way (1Ki 19:15-17). It was not an indication of Cyrus’ submission, but of Yahweh’s sovereignty.
One point of this stress on Cyrus as His ‘anointed’ is that the one who should have been His ‘anointed’, the scion of the house of David, had failed Him. Indeed we might see that as explaining why he is called the Anointed One. The insider had failed, and so God had to look to an outsider. Thus until the coming of Immanuel He had to look to other Israel for His instrument. It was an indication that Immanuel was yet to come.
‘Whose right hand I have held.’ The picture is not of a little child being led, but of a strong hand giving help and assistance in a difficult task. He is strengthening Cyrus’ strong right hand.
Cyrus’ rapid conquests are now depicted as being due to Yahweh. God subdues nations before him, and makes kings surrender as they put off their armour. He opens up every door, including those of king’s palaces, a sign of his being welcomed, and ensures that no gates are closed before him. When the gates banged shut it was a sign of the arrival of a hard siege, but Cyrus was to be spared that.
Isa 45:2-3
“I will go before you,
And make the rugged places (that which is upraised) plain,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze,
And cut in two the bars of iron.
And I will give you the treasures of darkness,
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that it is I, Yahweh,
Who call you by name, even the God of Israel.”
It is Yahweh Who gives Cyrus his wonderful victories. It is He Who goes before him, and makes the hard going easier, who breaks down the strong doors that guard the way, and destroys the locks and bolts that prevent access. He gives him the treasures hidden away in dark places, in inaccessible places, in hidden places, in underground vaults, in caves, and wherever men keep their treasures. And He does this so that Cyrus is made aware of the fact that Yahweh, Who has called him by name to do this work, is in action. ‘Making the rugged places plain’ can be compared with Isa 40:4. He is Yahweh’s ambassador.
This does not signify an expectancy that Cyrus will be ‘converted’. ‘Knowing that God is Yahweh’ often signifies an awareness that a divine power which is not understood is at work (Exo 14:4), while being ‘called by name’ signifies rather the authority of the caller over the person of the one who is called by name (compare Isa 40:26; Est 2:14).
‘That you may know that it is I, Yahweh, Who call you by name.’ For this phrase compare Exo 14:4. There the Egyptians were to ‘know that He was Yahweh’ when they were destroyed at the Reed Sea, but there was certainly no thought of conversion there. It was simply that what they experienced would make them realise that they were up against something bigger than they had expected or could cope with, something which they did not understand, something greater than they had anticipated. See also the use in 1Ki 8:60; 2Ki 19:19; Eze 21:5. In the same way will Cyrus ‘know that it is Yahweh’ because he will experience powerful victories such as he had never dreamed of, and be aware of a supernatural power at work even though he does not know its source. He may give credit to Marduk, or Sin, and to Yahweh as well when addressing Israel (Ezr 1:2) but he has been made aware of a power greater than himself. Without knowing it he has been made aware of Yahweh. Of course had he responded it might well have resulted in his conversion. But that is not the point at issue.
Behind this thought is that because he is aware that behind his success is the power of more than just his own favourite gods he will support the worship of Yahweh, which in fact he did, although not exclusively.
The treasures he will obtain are clearly his reward for doing Yahweh’s will in restoring Jerusalem and the Temple and subduing the nations. We can contrast here how Abraham refused to accept a reward for what he did (Gen 14:22-23). But Abraham was Yahweh’s servant, not His external appointee. God is debtor to no man.
Isa 45:4-6
“For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen,
I have called you by your name, I have surnamed you although you have not known me.
I am Yahweh and there is none else, beside me there is no God.
I will gird you though you have not known me,
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
That there is none beside me. I am Yahweh and there is none else.”
It is now made clear that Cyrus was not called for his own sake. He was called for the sake of Jacob, Yahweh’s servant, and Israel, Yahweh’s chosen. He was thus raised up to further the work of the chosen Servant of God. The reason for his anointing was not because he himself was ‘a chosen one’, but because God was setting him apart to act on behalf of those who were God’s chosen one.
‘I have called you by your name, I have surnamed you although you have not known me.’ Yahweh has called him by name so as to exercise His authority over him, and has surnamed him to show that he must do the will of Yahweh, even though he does not know Him. To surname means to give a name or title. It may refer directly to the fact the He has called him ‘My shepherd’ and ‘My anointed’.
And that will of Yahweh is that, girded by God, provided for and strengthened and borne along, he might assist Yahweh’s chosen Servant, with the result that through their witness all nations, from east to west, might be made aware of Yahweh and Who and What He is, and that they might know that there is no other God apart from Yahweh, that He alone is God. For this was the Servant’s mission.
Note the sequence of the phrases. The third and sixth line, completing each set of three, emphasise that ‘I am Yahweh and there is none else’, in other words that there is no other God apart from Yahweh. Between the first two lines and the fourth and fifth line there is progression. In the first two it is stressed that he has been called for Jacob/Israel’s sake, because they are Yahweh’s servant and chosen one, in the fourth and fifth it is stressed that God has girded him so that he can be an unwitting witness to the nations, not by his own witness, but by preserving those who are Yahweh’s witnesses. In both cases the aim is to bring out that Yahweh is the only God, and there is no other beside Him. In line three ‘I am Yahweh and there is none else’ leads the way, in line six it completes the description. ‘Beside me there is no God’, and its equivalent, complete line three and introduce line six. There is a beauty of pattern and symmetry as so often in Isaiah.
Isa 45:7
“I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create disaster (evil),
I am Yahweh who does all these things.”
Yahweh is not only the only God, He also controls all things. Forming the light and creating darkness is a reminder of Gen 1:2-5. He is the Creator of all that is, of the very basis of creation, and He continues to sustain that light and also to produce darkness. Without light and darkness life could not go on. He continues to maintain the world as a place full of contrasts, from one extreme to another, both good and ill, and He especially continues with His work of forming light and creating darkness in a spiritual sense, so that some respond to His light, and others turn away to darkness.
‘I make peace and create disaster.’ As with the previous phrase the contrast must be seen as that of opposites. He makes peace and creates unpeace. Harmony and wellbeing is what God desires for the world, and He seeks to ensure its continuance; disaster (compare Job 2:10) destroys that harmony, and yet He has created that too. For the one makes men seek God because of contentment and prosperity, the other through trial and suffering. And God takes responsibility for all because as the Creator He is finally responsible for all. He is the One Who does all these things.
For different uses of the root for ‘evil’ compare for example Gen 19:19, ‘some disaster’; Gen 28:8, ‘were unsatisfactory, did not please’; Gen 31:52, ‘do harm’; Gen 37:20, description of a savage beast; Gen 40:7, of looking ‘sad’; Gen 41:3, of being ‘ill-favoured’: Gen 44:29 ‘sorrow’ that results from the evil of misfortune; Gen 44:34; Gen 47:9; Gen 48:16, ‘evil, misfortune’; and so on. It does not necessarily refer to moral evil, although it can do so.
The nations interpreted such things as these as resulting from warring and disputes among the gods. Yahweh excludes the gods and takes full responsibility for it all. No one is involved but Him (compare Isa 44:24).
Isa 45:8
“Drop down you heavens from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness,
Let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation,
And let her cause righteousness to spring up together,
I, Yahweh, have created it.”
We now have an illustration of how God forms the light and ‘makes peace’. He calls on the heavens to pour down righteousness, and the earth to open and result in deliverance. The first thought here is of a fruitful heaven and earth. The rains pour down at God’s command, the reward of righteousness, the earth opens up, to produce abundant fruitfulness, bringing deliverance to man, and vindication to His people (compare Isa 32:15).
But in the light of Isa 44:3-5 it goes beyond that. It speaks of God’s transforming power in producing life and salvation in men’s hearts, of the pouring out of His Spirit, of the establishing of righteousness and the vindication of His people by they themselves being made righteousness. There can never be vindication without resulting righteousness. Those who are ‘saved’ are reborn from above (compare Isa 55:10-11 where the word which signifies ‘bring to birth’ is actually used). Here in full glory is His purpose for His Servant.
‘That they may bring forth salvation.’ ‘They’ being the heavens, the skies and the earth. ‘Her’ then reverts to the earth. They bring forth the fruit of righteousness. and deliverance for man. It is total deliverance for His own.
‘I Yahweh have created it.’ Yahweh has brought it about from nothing. It is all His doing quite apart from the working of the world and natural events. In His sovereignty He personally intervenes to produce a situation that would not otherwise have happened. Cyrus can have his part in encouraging the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple, but only God can perform the miracle that rebuilds the hearts of men.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
YAHWEH IS ABOUT TO ACT SO AS TO ESTABLISH HIS PEOPLE AND PREPARE THE WAY FOR HIS SERVANT ( Isa 44:24 to Isa 48:22 ).
As with what has gone before it is necessary for us to determine the viewpoint from which we will see these narratives, and in order to do so we must put ourselves in the shoes of Isaiah. Chapters 1-39 were mainly behind him, Hezekiah was dead, and what lay before him was the future in terms of Manasseh’s reign. That reign had not had a promising beginning. Manasseh had taken the people back to the old ways,and the ways of Assyria, and had thereby defiled the Temple (2Ki 21:2-7; 2Ch 33:2-10). The voice of Isaiah was silent (Isa 1:1). Judah was once more in subjection to Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria (Isa 37:38), who was overseeing Judah from Babylon (2Ch 33:11). The people were corrupted, the Temple was defiled, and Babylon was to be seen by Judah as the great enemy, as, in Isaiah’s eyes, it had always been.
Isaiah had already prophesied something of what the future held. He had informed Hezekiah that his sons would be carried off as trophies to Babylon (Isa 39:6-7), and had declared that God’s punishment must come on the personnel who ran the Temple (Isa 43:27-28), and the miserable fate of those who trusted in idols (Isa 43:27; Isa 44:11). (And this would in fact all actually happen in the near future (2Ch 33:11). For invasion from Babylon would result in Manasseh and his entourage being taken captive to Babylon, the Temple inevitably being sacked, and the people being decimated in the warfare that accompanied it).
But the question now was, how did this fit in with what he had already been saying. How could the Servant whose future had looked so glowing be restored, and what was going to be Yahweh’s response to the situation. These chapters will now deal with that question.
As we have seen the problems were threefold. The first was that the condition of Yahweh’s people was in doubt because of their spiritual position and condition (Isa 42:19-25; Isa 43:22-28), the second was the persistent interference of false gods (Isa 42:17; Isa 44:9-20), especially those of Assyria and Babylon, and the third was that the nations were still preventing His people from coming home (Isa 41:11-12; Isa 42:13-16; Isa 43:1-7). So before the Servant could be restored, and in order that ‘he’ might fulfil his proper function, each of these matters would have to be dealt with. In this section therefore we will discover how Yahweh intends to deal with these questions.
In the case of the first He will rebuild Jerusalem and re-establish (or lay the foundations of) a new Temple (Isa 44:26; Isa 44:28), using the house of Cyrus as His instrument.
In the case of the second He will destroy the daughter of Babylon who is responsible for all the lies and deceit connected with the occult and with false gods (Isa 46:1-2; Isa 47:1-15). But here Cyrus is not mentioned as involved.
In the case of the third He will deal with all the nations whose lands contain exiles, so that His Servant might be restored in order that ‘he’ may begin again (Isa 44:27; Isa 45:1-7) in line with God’s promises to Abraham (Isa 41:8). This section will include prophecies concerning the subjection of Egypt/Ethiopia (Isa 45:14-17), the humbling of Babylon’s gods (Isa 46:1-2), and the destruction of the great enemy Babylon from which all men must flee (47; Isa 48:20).
In the terms of those days the restoration of Jerusalem and the building or restoration of the Temple were prerequisites if the Servant was to be able to do his work, and it had become necessary because the previous Temple had been defiled and those who served in it were rejected (Isa 43:28). Thus it was essential that God should make all things new. Equally important if the gods and the occult were to be dealt a bitter blow was the downfall of Babylon, because from there came all that was deceptive and evil, as it cultivated idolatry and the occult, and thought itself so superior that it could behave as though it was unobserved, even setting itself up against Yahweh (Isa 47:10; compare Isa 14:10-13), as it had always done (Gen 11:1-9). And finally if His people who were exiled all around the world were to return, it would be necessary to find someone who could deal with the nations who held them captive, so that they could be enabled to do so.
These are the matters that the narrative will now look at. The section opens with a declaration of Yahweh’s credentials:
1) He is their Redeemer Who formed them from the womb. Compare for this Isa 43:1 which demonstrates that it is describing Israel, ‘thus says Yahweh Who formed you, O Israel, fear not for I have redeemed you’. For formation from the womb see Isa 44:2 where Yahweh, speaking to ‘Jacob my Servant, and Israel whom I have chosen’ says that He has ‘formed them from the womb and will help them.’ Compare also Isa 49:1 where The Servant, Who is identified as spiritual Israel (Isa 49:3 with 5-6), is ‘called from the womb’, and Isa 49:5 where he is ‘formed from the womb to be His Servant’. Clearly then He is also speaking to His Servant here.
2) He is the One Who, with none around to help, made all things, stretching out the heavens alone, and spreading out the earth when none was with Him. He alone is the Creator of all things.
3) He is the One Who oversets the occult world, frustrating and making fools of deceitful ‘diviners’, and showing up the recognised ‘magicians’, the ‘wise men’, by deliberately acting in order to show up their knowledge as foolish.
4) In contrast He is the One Who confirms the word of His true Servant and performs the counsel of His true messengers, that is He fulfils their prophecies so that all may be aware that they are His true prophets.
So Yahweh, the Creator of all things, Who opposes and countermands the exponents of the occult by making things happen in such a way as to make them look foolish, has chosen His Servant, the true Israel within Israel, from the womb (it is all in His divine sovereignty) in order that He might confirm his teaching and fulfil his prophecies. Whatever the true Servant is and does will be confirmed and carried into effect by Yahweh. He is the one who is to bear God’s message to the world (compare Isa 2:4).
But having done so He must prepare the way before them. And in doing this He will restore the situation for them. At present the nations hold many of them captive, Jerusalem has been laid waste, and the Temple is defiled, all of which prevent His Servant Israel from fulfilling their obligation. So now He declares how He is going to remedy matters.
It will be noted initially how firmly these ideas are introduced, and in each case they are introduced, not as concerned about a catastrophe but as a guarantee of their fulfilment. For above all they are introduced as being the work of Yahweh.
It is first made clear that the source of these actions is the One Who does everything according to His will, in fulfilment of His word.
1) He says to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited”, and to the cities of Judah, “You shall be built. And I will build up its waste places.”
2) He says to the deep, “Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers.”
3) He says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd and will perform all My pleasure.”
4) Even saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built”, and to the Temple, “You shall be established” (or ‘your foundations shall be laid.”
If we see this as a chiasmus with 1). and 4). going together, and 2). and 3). going together, there are two emphases. The first is the important one of the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah after its mauling by Sennacherib, and after its future destruction by Esarhaddon (hinted at in Isa 39:6-7; Isa 43:28), and as it later turns out again by Nebuchadnezzar, because Israel does not take advantage of the opportunity gained by Manasseh’s repentance. The guarantee given by His word is that Jerusalem will be reinhabited after its mauling, the cities of Judah will be rebuilt after their devastation caused by war, the waste places caused by war and famine will be restored (built up), and this will include the re-establishing (and as it later turns out the total rebuilding) of the Temple, all of which have been prepared for previously (Isa 41:17-18; Isa 43:19-20; Isa 44:3; Isa 43:28).
The second is Yahweh’s action in the drying up of the deep and the rivers, through the activities of His shepherd, Cyrus, who will do all His pleasure (further expanded on in Isa 45:1-7). Countries in those days were often defined in terms of their rivers (compare Isa 27:1; Isa 7:18; Isa 7:20; Nah 3:8), which were of such vital importance to them, and their drying up was seen as a judgment on them (Isa 19:45; Isa 42:15; Isa 50:2; Psa 74:15; Jer 50:38; Jer 51:36; Eze 30:12; Zec 10:11). The drying up of the deep and the rivers may well therefore signify the desolation of the land of The River, and therefore of both Assyria and Babylon, in which case this is the promise that both will be dealt with through this instrument whom Yahweh has chosen and anointed. But their drying up also reflects what Yahweh had previously done to Egypt when He dried up their deep (Isa 51:10; Isa 63:13; Jos 2:10), and what He had done when He entered Canaan (Jos 4:23; compare Psa 114:3-5), and on top of that it parallels the boast of Sennacherib that with the sole of his feet he had dried up the rivers of all the places that he besieged (Isa 37:25). As he had done to others, so would be done to Assyria, and their accomplice Babylon. As a result restoration was promised to God’s people, which would include the opportunity of return from exile, the restoration of life in Judah, the reinhabiting of Jerusalem, the restoration of the Temple, and destruction to their enemies.
Noteworthy in this description is the total lack of mention of the enemies that Cyrus will deal with. The house of Cyrus has not been raised up in order to deliver them from the Babylonian empire, but to deliver them from all their enemies (Isa 45:1-7), whoever they may be, and to be God’s instrument as Yahweh fulfils His purpose to restore Judah and the Temple (Isa 44:26-28) in readiness for God’s outpouring of righteousness and salvation (Isa 45:8; compare Isa 44:1-5). Isaiah does not pretend to know the details, and shows no awareness of the activities of Nebuchadnezzar. He still thinks in terms of Assyrian Babylon..
It will be noted that in what follows, describing the activities of Cyrus, it is his destruction of nations and taking of their cities and treasures, ‘for Jacob my Servant’s sake and Israel my chosen’, that is emphasised (Isa 45:1-3). While he would also certainly play his part in giving permission for the building of a new Temple (Isa 44:28 with Ezr 1:1), on our reading of it that is here seen as a by-product of his activity. The raising up of the new Temple was to be the work of Yahweh. That was not, of course, to prevent Cyrus having a part in the process. But no heathen king could establish the Temple of Yahweh. (Apart from the lessons learned however, it actually matters little which view we take for Cyrus II was undoubtedly involved in both). Cyrus’ main assignment was to be the defeat and denuding of the nations for Israel’s sake (Isa 44:27-28 a; Isa 45:1-6).
So as we go into this new section we carefully note God’s promise of a restored Judah, a new or restored Temple, and a new or restored Jerusalem, alongside of which the idolatrous city of Babylon will be destroyed because of all that it represents. This latter is, however, not connected with Cyrus, which from the point of view of accuracy was a good job because Cyrus did not desolate Babylon. Rather having taken it easily, and being welcomed by the priests of Marduk, he restored it to its previous importance within his empire. The final demise of Babylon in fulfilment of Isaiah’s words took place much later.
Isaiah accepts these strands of information without flinching, and without trying to fit them together. He is very much lacking in the full details. What he is aware of are the principles involved. The Temple must be restored, the exiles must return from all over the world, Babylon must be destroyed. But it is important from our point of view to recognise that while Cyrus is very much involved in the general picture, he is not described as being involved with Babylon, and once he has made the world ready for Yahweh’s Servant, he departs immediately from the picture.
So the consequence is that, having in His eternal counsels, brought Abraham to the land like a ‘bird of prey’ (Isa 46:11), He will not allow Abraham’s seed to fail, but will restore them so that they might fulfil their task as His Servant..
This description of Abraham as a ‘bird of prey’ is interesting and significant. There can seem little doubt that in using it he has in mind that having originally, within the eternal purposes of God, arrived in the land, Abraham had, like a great bird of prey, descended on the king of Babylon and had driven him off and spoiled him (Isa 41:2; Genesis 14), just as his seed would later do with the Canaanites. Thus Isaiah is now to see the continued presence of Abraham in the land in his seed (Isa 41:8; Isa 45:4) who are God’s Servant, as a guarantee that Babylon will again suffer through the hand of their Kinsman Redeemer as He acts on behalf of His people, as He did in the days of Abraham. Yahweh too will swoop on Babylon, but this time to destroy it completely.
Further Note on Babylon.
In view of all that he has previously said about Babylon (Isa 44:13-14) it is clear that Isaiah could have expected nothing less than its destruction. Nor could he have doubted that it was necessary. For the shadow of Babylon, the great Anti-God and proponent of the occult, continually hung over the world, and over the people of God, and had to be dealt with. Her evil spiritual influence was known throughout the Near Eastern world, and was affecting the future of Yahweh’s Servant. There was therefore no alternative to her permanent destruction.
And yet that has not been the theme of Isaiah’s message. Indeed Babylon has only been mentioned once, and that almost incidentally, in Isa 43:14. At this stage Isaiah is interested in the work of the Servant, not in Babylon. He does not see Babylon as the threat to Israel’s freedom and independence, (he does not even mention it in chapter 45), only as the centre of all that is devilish.
And this is despite the fact that Babylon had yet to appear in order to loot David’s house and take the errant sons of David to become eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon as God had already revealed through him (Isa 39:6-7). But that was a different issue dealing with the rejection of the current house of David. It said nothing about the destruction of the Temple or the future of the Servant.
So while, as we have gathered in Isa 43:28, he was becoming more and more aware that the Temple had been profaned and must be replaced, he does not make any claim that he knows how or when it will come about. Nothing is said about the way in which it will come to be in that state. He simply knows that it will necessarily be so because God’s people have defiled it (Isa 43:22-28). But at no stage, when speaking of the restoration of the Temple, does he mention Babylon as involved, or connected with its destruction in any way. Had he known specifically he would surely have said so. But that was something not revealed to him. While he knew that the Temple must be replaced because defiled, and may well have suspected who the culprit might be, he clearly did not see it as part of his message to Israel.
What he did know was that it was through the folly and unbelief of Ahaz that Assyria had come to tread Israel down (Isa 10:5; Isa 52:4). And at this present time he sees that threat as slightly altered in that the direction of the threat now comes from a Babylon, through whom Assyria was operating. This is clear from the fact that later, when Manasseh was arraigned for misbehaviour against Assyria, it was to Babylon that he was carried off in chains to give account (2Ch 33:11). And this involvement of Babylon in the affairs of Israel as acting on behalf of Assyria would chill Isaiah’s heart, for he knew what God had said about Hezekiah’s children and that Babylon was the permanent enemy of God from the beginning. Indeed it was he who had been called upon to demand its permanent destruction, never to be restored (Isa 13:19-20; see also 14; Isa 21:9; Isa 23:13). And he knew that through the folly of Hezekiah Babylon had been awakened to the prosperity of Judah and would one day come for her treasures (Isa 39:6-7). So when it began acting as broker on behalf of Assyria, in Isaiah’s eyes Babylon, the great Anti-God, came to the fore. Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, rebuilt Babylon and appointed one of his sons there as crown representative and prince, and it would seem that Babylon was now the taskmaster acting on behalf of Assyria with regard to Judah. As the primeval rebellious city, and as the great Anti-God, it had even ingratiated itself with Assyria. It had to be destroyed
So that is why Babylon itself, with its encroaching ways, has to be got rid of, and Yahweh will now assure Israel from his own experience that the gods of Babylon, having been humiliated by the Assyrians, had been revealed as what they were (Isa 46:1-2). Babylon herself was thus doomed (47). All men are therefore to turn from any consideration of, or affinity, with Babylon and recognise the triumph of Yahweh in establishing His people (Isa 48:20). So physically Israel’s deliverance from the nations will be by the hand of a Persian king, but spiritually their spiritual life will be saved by the establishment of the new Temple (Isa 44:28) and by the destruction of Babylon (Isa 48:20), the great threat to Yahwism (47; compare Isa 14:13-15).
These then are now the matters with which Isaiah will deal, and the ideas that are mentioned are in huge contrast, and are all important for the work of the Servant, but he does not interconnect them. On the one hand there is to be the full restoration of a pure, new, and undefiled Temple, a place through which the Servant can operate if ‘he’ is willing, and on the other there is to be the destruction of the evil daughter of Babylon with all her false sorceries and idols. For until both these things have occurred the work of the Servant will continue to be hindered. However, this destruction of Babylon is more connected with Assyria (Isa 46:1-2) than with Cyrus.
Cyrus is rather seen as the one whose conquests will prepare the way for Israel by conquering the nations and acting on Israel’s behalf. For what Cyrus will do is to be ‘for Jacob, My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect’ (Isa 45:4). That is the specific reason why Yahweh has called him by name and put His own name on Him (surnamed him), even though he himself does not know Yahweh. It is because he is acting in order that the Servant might benefit. We must not confuse the two activities of preparing the way for the Servant, which was the purpose of raising up Cyrus, and the destruction of Babylon which will occur through the hand of Yahweh. Both were necessary but no connection is identified between them. To Isaiah they represented the good and the bad about the future as stunningly revealed by Yahweh.
There is no thought in these chapters that Isaiah is over-anxious. He is perfectly aware, on his pinnacle of faith and with his magnificent view of God (40), that the situation is no-contest. And once he has introduced the one who will restore the Servant (45), he puts the gods of Babylon firmly in their place as burdens on the backs of beasts which far from helping them can only make the weary beasts stumble (Isa 46:1-2), and proclaims the end of the daughter of the Chaldeans (47). Then, the great enemy having been dealt with, He reintroduces the Servant in his ministry to His people and to the world (49). It is clear that until Babylon is out of the way the Servant cannot finalise his ministry.
It should be noted how little detail is given with regard to these external threats. Isaiah is not necessarily aware of all the full ramifications of them, and is certainly not concerned about them. His whole thought is concentrated on what Yahweh is doing. It is those facts of which he is sure.
End of note.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
Isa 45:3
Isa 45:3 “am the God of Israel” – Comments – The names of God used in passages of Scripture often relate to the context of the passage. Here, God is using a name that reveals His close relationship to the nation of Israel.
Isa 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
Isa 45:12
Scripture Reference – Note a similar verse:
Psa 148:5, “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created .”
Isa 45:15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
Isa 45:15
2Ki 18:7, “And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.”
2Ch 32:31, “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.”
God wants us to pursue Him, which is a sign of our love and devotion and dependence upon Him; for God wants our fellowship. The angel of the Lord pull away from Jacob, but the patriarch wrestled with the angel until he received a blessing (Gen 32:24-30). Jesus did not stay with the Samaritans until they urged Him (Joh 4:40). When Jesus came walking on the water towards the disciples in the boat during a storm, He made as if He were going to pass by them. They cried out to Him and He came (Mar 6:48).
Isa 45:15, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.”
Joh 4:40, “So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.”
Mar 6:48, “And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Deliverance by Cyrus a Proof of Jehovah’s Power
v. 1. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, v. 2. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight, v. 3. and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, v. 4. For Jacob My servant’s sake and Israel, Mine elect, v. 5. I am the Lord, and there is none else, v. 6. that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the West, v. 7. I form the light,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Isa 45:1-7
GOD‘S WILL CONCERNING HIM ANNOUNCED TO CYRUS. This direct address of God to a heathen king is without a parallel in Scripture. Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Abimelech, were warned through dreams. Nebuchadnezzar was even promised Divine aid (Eze 30:24, Eze 30:25). But no heathen monarch had previously been personally addressed by God, much less called “his anointed,” and spoken to by his name (Isa 45:4). Three motives are mentioned for this special favour to him:
(1) that he might acknowledge Jehovah to be the true God;
(2) that Israel might be benefited and advantaged by him;
(3) that the attention of the whole world might be attracted, and the unity of God made manifest far and wide (Isa 45:3-6).
Isa 45:1
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed. The “anointed of Jehovah” is elsewhere always either an Israelite king, or the expected Deliverer of the nation, “Messiah the Prince” (Dan 9:25). This Deliverer, however, was to be of the line of David (Isa 11:1), and of the city of Bethlehem (Mic 5:2), so that we can scarcely suppose Isaiah to have seen him in Cyrus. But he may have seen in Cyrus a type of the great Deliverer, as he saw in the release of Israel from the power of Babylon a type of their deliverance from sin. Whose right hand I have holden; rather, strengthened (comp. Eze 30:24). To subdue nations before him (see above, Isa 41:2, and the comment ad loc.). Among the nations subdued by Cyrus may be mentioned the Medes, the Babylonians, the Lydians, the Caftans, the Caunians, the Lycians, the Bactrians, the Sacae, the Parthians, the Hyrcanians, the Chorasmians, the Sogdians, the Arians of Herat, the Zarangians, the Arachosians, the Satagydians, and the Gandarians. I will loose the loins of kings; i.e. render them weak and incapable of resistance” (comp. Dan 5:6), net “disarm them” (Cheyne); for the chief royal weapons were the spear and the bow, neither of which was carried at the girdle. To open before him the two-leaved gates. The cities and forts repro-sented on the Assyrian monuments have invariably their gateways closed by two large gates or doors which meet in the centre of the gateway. The bronze plating found at Ballarat gave the dimensions, and showed the strength of such gates.
Isa 45:2
I will make the crooked places straight; rather, I will make the rugged places level. No doubt intended generally, “I will smooth his way before him.” The gates of brass the bars of iron. According to Herodotus, the gates of Babylon were of solid bronze, and one hundred in number (1.179). Solid bronze gates have, however, nowhere been found, and would have been inconvenient from their enormous weight. It is probable that the “gates of brass,” or “bronze,” whereof we read, were always, like these found at Ballarat, of wood plated with bronze. To the eye these would be “gates of bronze.” Gates of towns were, as a matter of course, secured by bars, which would commonly be made of iron, as the strongest material. Iron was well known to the Babylonians (Herod; 1:186).
Isa 45:3
I will give thee the treasures of darkness; i.e. “treasures stored in dark places””bidden treasures.” Treasuries were built for greater security without windows. Of the treasures which fell into the hands of Cyrus, the greatest were probably those of Babylon (Herod; 1.183) and of Sardis (Xen; ‘Cyrop.,’ 7.2, 11). The value of the latter has been estimated at above one hundred and twenty-six millions sterling. That thou mayest know; or, acknowledge. If these documents are accepted as genuine, or even as true in substance (Ewald), Cyrus must be considered to have identified Jehovah with his own Ormuzd, and to have viewed the Jewish and Persian religions as substantially the same. He would be under no temptation, with so weak and down-trodden a people as the Jews, to resort to politic pretences, as he might be in the case of the Babylonians (see the comment on Isa 41:25). Which call thee by thy name (comp. Isa 45:1 and Isa 44:28). (On the special favour implied in God’s condescending to “know” or “call” a person by his name, see the ‘Pulpit Commentary’ on Exo 33:12.) Am the God of Israel; rather, am the Lord the God of Israel.
Isa 45:4
For Jacob my servant’s sake. This second motive is, in a certain sense, the main one. Cyrus is raised up, especially, to perform God’s pleasure with respect to Judah and Jerusalem (Isa 44:26-28). Jacob, his Church, is more important in God’s eyes than any individual. No doubt his Church is maintained, in part, that it may be “a light to lighten the Gentiles;” but it is not maintained solely: or even mainly, for this end. Its welfare is an end in itself, and would be sought by God apart from any further consequence. Israel mine elect (comp. Isa 41:8; Isa 44:1). I have surnamed thee; i.e. “given thee designations of honour,” e.g. “my anointed” (Isa 45:1); “my shepherd” (Isa 44:28); “he who shall do all my pleasure” (Isa 44:28). Though thou hast not known me; rather, though thou didst not know me. Cyrus’s honours, his titles, his mention by name, etc; were accumulated upon him before his birth, when he knew nothing of God, when, therefore, he had in no way merited them. Thus all was done, not for his sake, but lot the sake of Israel.
Isa 45:5
I girded thee. As God “loosed the loins” of Cyrus’s adversaries (Isa 45:1), to weaken them, so he “girded” those of Cyrus, to give him strength (comp. Psa 18:32).
Isa 45:6
That they may know from the rising of the sun. Here we have the third motive of the Divine action respecting Cyrus. The attention of all the world from the extreme east to the extreme west, would be drawn by the wonderful occurrences. Jehovah’s hand in them would be perceived, and his sole Godhead would obtain acknowledgment. An impulse was doubtless given to monotheism by the victories of Cyrus and the favour which he showed the Jews; but it cannot be said to have been very marked. Idolatry and polytheism were to a certain extent discredited; but they maintained their ground nevertheless. It was not till the true “Anointed One” appearedthe antitype of whom Cyrus was the typethat the idols were “utterly abolished.”
Isa 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness. It has been recently denied that there is any allusion in these words, or in those which follow, to the Zoroastrian tenets; and it has even been asserted that the religion of the early Achaemenian kings was free from the taint of dualism. But according to some authorities, “a god of lies” is mentioned in the Behistun inscription; and the evidence is exceedingly strong that dualism was an essential part of the Zoroastrian religion long before the time of Cyrus. It is quite reasonable to suppose that Isaiah would be acquainted with the belief of the Persians and Medes, who had come in contact with the Assyrians as early as b.c.. 830; and a warning against the chief error of their religion would be quite in place when he was holding up Cyrus to his countrymen as entitled to their respect and veneration. The nexus of the words, “I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness,” is such as naturally to suggest an intended antagonism to the Zoroastrian system. Under that, Ormuzd created “light” and “peace,” Ahriman “darkness” and “evil.” The two were eternal adversaries, engaged in an inter-ruinable contest. Ormuzd, it is true, claimed the undivided allegiance of mankind, since he was their maker; bat Ahriman was a great power, terribly formidableperhaps a god (diva)certainly the chief of the devas. It was from Zoroastrianism that Manicheism derived its doctrine of the two principles, and to the same source may, with much probability, be traced the “devil-worshippers” of the Zagros mountain chain.
Isa 45:8
THE BLESSED RESULTS OF ISRAEL‘S DELIVERANCE. The restoration of Israel to their own land will be followed by a great increase of righteousness and salvation. They will be, as it were, showered down abundantly from heaven, while at the same time they will spring in profusion from earth’s bosom. Jehovah, who has caused the deliverance, will also cause these results to follow from it.
Isa 45:8
Drop down, ye heavens; literally, distil, ye heavens (camp. Deu 32:1; Job 36:28); or rain down on the thirsty earth your gracious influences. Let righteousness, or God’s law of right, descend afresh from the skies as a boon to mankinda boon for which they have been long waiting. And let the earth open. Let earth make due response, opening her gentle besom, as she does in spring, and blossoming with human righteousness, the fruit and evidence of salvation. To the prophet’s rapt gaze the excellence of the post-Captivity times, when all idolatry had been put away, seemed, in comparison with earlier ages, the reign of justice and truth upon earth. I the Lord have created it; i.e. “I, Jehovah, have wrought the change by the larger outpouring of my Spirit” (camp. Isa 43:3).
Isa 45:9-13
ISRAEL WARNED NOT TO CALL IN QUESTION GOD‘S MODES OF ACTION. Apparently, Isaiah anticipates that the Israelites will be discontented and murmur at their deliverer being a heathen king, and not one of their own body. He therefore warns them against presuming to criticize the arrangements of the All-Wise, reminding them of his unapproachable greatness (verse 12), and once more assuring them that the appointment of Cyrus is from him (verse 13).
Isa 45:9
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive, etc.; rather, woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, a potsherd among potsherds of the ground: All men are equally made of “the dust of the ground” (Gen 2:7). Israel has no prerogative in this respect. He, too, is “a potsherd among potsherds”day moulded by the potter; no more entitled to lift up his voice against his Maker than the vessel to rebel against the man who shapes it (comp. Isa 29:16; and see the comment furnished by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Rom 9:20-24). What would a man think if the clay that he was fashioning objected to being moulded in a particular form, or if a work that he had made exclaimed, “He is a poor bunglerhe hath no hands”? Yet this is what a man does who finds fault with the arrangements of the Almighty.
Isa 45:10
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, etc.! A change is made in the metaphor, the relationship of a father and his child being substituted for that of a potter and his clay. What would a man think of a child murmuring against his parent for not having made him stronger, handsomer, cleverer? Would not such a child be regarded as most unnatural, and as deserving to have woe denounced upon him?
Isa 45:11
The Holy One of Israel; i.e. he who always does right, and with whom, therefore, it is absurd to find fault. His Maker; i.e. Israel’s Maker, who has, therefore, the right to do with him as he pleases. Ask me of things to come concerning my sons. This sentence is wrongly punctuated. The last three words should be attached to what follows, thus: “Ask me of things to come: concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me;” i.e. first learn of me what in my designs is to be the course of human events, and then (if necessary) give me directions concerning my sons (Israel), who are the work of my hands; but do not presume to give me directions while you are still in utter ignorance of my designs. In any case remember who I amthe Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, One accustomed to give directions to the angelic host (Isa 45:12).
Isa 45:12
I, even my hands; literally, I, my hands; i.e. “my hands, and my hands alone.” All their host. The “host of heaven” is sometimes put for the stars, and may be so understood here; but “commands” are laid on intelligent rather than on unintelligent beings. (The object of the verb tsavah in Hebrew is almost always personal.)
Isa 45:13
I have raised him up. “Him” can only be referred to Cyrus, the one individual mentioned previously in the chapter (Isa 45:1-5). The expression,” raised up,” had been already used of him (Isa 41:25). In righteousness means “to carry out my righteous purposes.” I will direct; rather, as in the margin, make straight. He shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward. Captives were often “redeemed for a price” (Neh 6:8). In Greece a fixed sum was established by general consent as the ransom of a captive (Aristot; ‘Eth. Nic.,’ Isa 5:6). Cyrus, however, in letting the Jews go free, would not be actuated by the paltry motive of pecuniary profit. He may, as Mr. Cheyne remarks, have been actuated in part “by a consideration of the usefulness of such a faithful advanced guard at the border of Egypt;” but mainly it is probable that “he obeyed the dictates of religious sympathy with the Jews.” The recent contention, that he was not a Zoroastrian rests upon insufficient evidence, his so-called inscription being a document not put forth by himself, but by the priests of Merodach at Babylon; and the first introduction of Zoroastrian monotheism into the state religion of Persia by Darius Hystaspis being expressly disclaimed by him in the Be-histun inscription, where he declares his reformation to have consisted in the rebuilding of the temples which Gomates the Magian had destroyed, and the reinstitutier for the state of the religious chants and the worship which he had put down (col 1. par. 14).
Isa 45:14-25
THE CONVERSION‘ OF THE GENTILES A CONSEQUENCE OF THE RESTORATION AND SALVATION OF ISRAEL. “With the prospect of the release of the exiles is associated,” says Delitzsch, “in the prophet’s perspective, the prospect of an expansion of the restored Church, through the entrance of the fulness of the Gentiles.” Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saba are especially mentioned here, as in Isa 43:3, as among the first to come in (Isa 43:14, Isa 43:15). Later on, a more general influx is spoken of (Isa 43:20); and, finally, a prospect is held out of an ultimate universal conversion (Isa 43:23). At the same time, judgment is denounced against the idolaters who persist in their idolatry (Isa 43:16, Isa 43:20), and they are warned that they will have no share in the coming glories of the Israel of God.
Isa 45:14
The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabaeans; i.e. “the laborious Egyptians, and the traffic-loving Ethiopians and Sabaeans.” Their buildings and their husbandry alike justify what is said of the Egyptians, while the very ancient traffic between Egypt and Ethiopia is sufficient ground for the assignment of a commercial character to the Ethiopians and the Sabaeans. Men of stature. (On the tall stature of the Ethiopians, see Herod; Isa 3:20; and comp. Isa 18:2, with the comment.) Shall come over unto thee. Knobel understands that they would give their aid to the rebuilding of the temple; but this they certainly did not do, and Isaiah’s words certainly do not imply it. He is again speaking of the great conversion of the nations, which he connected with the restoration of the Jews to their own land (Isa 11:12; Isa 18:7; Isa 19:18-25, etc.), and which may be considered to have begun then, but only to have had its full accomplishment in the Messianic period. In chains they shall come over. Ready to serve the Church as slaves and servantsnot literally wearing chains. They shall fall down unto thee, etc. The Church, as informed with the Spirit of God, shall Seem to them a holy thing, and therefore an object of worship (romp. Rev 3:9). There is such a union between Christ and his Church, that worship, in a qualified sense, may be paid the Church without unfitness.
Isa 45:15
Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself. Some commentators regard this as an exclamation made by Isaiah himself, who marvels at the unsearchable mystery of God’s ways. But others, with better reason, take it for a continuation of the speech of the converted heathen, who marvel that God has so long hid himself from them and from the world at large, not manifesting his power, as he has now done in the person of Cyrus. In this recent manifestation he has shown himself especially the God of Israel, and their Saviour.
Isa 45:16
They shall be ashamed shall go to confusion; rather, are ashamed are gone to confusionthe “perfect of prophetic certainty.” While the heathen that join themselves to Israel partake of their glory and salvation, such as abide by their idols are covered with shame and confusion.
Isa 45:17
Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation; literally, a salvation of ages; i.e. one which will continue age after age. As Mr. Cheyne remarks, for this to be so, the redemption required to be spiritual as well as temporal. Otherwise it would ere long have been forfeited.
Isa 45:18
Thus saith the Lord, etc. Translate, Thus saith the Lord that created the heavenshe is Godthat formed the earth and made it; he established it; he created it not a chaos, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none else. As God had not formed the earth to be a material chaos, but had introduced into it order and arrangement, so he willed his spiritual creation to be recovered out of the confusion into which it had fallen, and to be established in righteousness.
Isa 45:19
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; literally, in a place of the land of darkness. Jehovah’s oracles have not been given, like those of the necromancers, or those of the heathen gods, in dark places of the earthcaves like that of Trophonius (Pansan; 9:29, 2), or the inmost recesses (adyta) of temples; but openly on Sinai, or by the mouth of prophets who proclaimed his words to all Israel. So our Lord says of his own teaching, “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing“ (Joh 18:20). Seek ye me in vain; rather, seek ye me as a chaos (comp. Jer 2:31, where God says to his people, “Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness?”). God has no more revealed himself to his people as chaotic, confused, disordered, than he has presented the world to them in this condition.! the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. There is an allusion to the crooked and ambiguous utterances of the heathen oracles, which rarely gave direct answers or plainly expressed any definite meaning. God in his utterances never diverges from the straight line of righteousness and truth (comp. Pro 8:6).
Isa 45:20
Assemble yourselves and come ye escaped of the nations. The prophet reverts to the main idea of the section, which is the conversion of the Gentiles, and calls on all “the escaped of the nation”i.e. all who have survived the judgments of the timeto “assemble and come,” to consider the claims of Jehovah to be the only true God, to “look to him (Isa 45:22) and be saved.” The great judgments through which the heathen will be brought to God have been frequently mentioned (Isa 24:1-23; Isa 26:20, Isa 26:21; Isa 27:1-7; Isa 30:27-33; Isa 34:1-10; Isa 40:24; Isa 41:11, Isa 41:12, Isa 41:25; Isa 42:13-15, etc.). They must not be regarded as limited to the time of Cyrus, but rather as continuing into the Messianic period, and indeed nearly to its close (see especially Isa 34:1-17.). Each one of them constitutes a call to the nations, and is followed by a conversion to a greater or less extent. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image; rather, who lift up (or, carry) the wood of their graven image (comp. Isa 46:7, “They bear him upon the shoulder,” where the same verb is used). It was a practice of the idolatrous heathen to carry the images of their gods in processions, generally exposed to view upon their shoulders, but sometimes partially concealed in shrines, or “arks”. There would be still among the “escaped” some who would so act.
Isa 45:21
Tell ye, and bring them near. Dr. Kay and Mr. Cheyne understand the nations to be addressed, and told to “show” or “announce,” and “bring forth” or “produce,” any argument in favour of the divinity of their gods. But it is simpler and better, with our translators, to regard the address as made to the prophets of God, who are bidden to announce his message of mercy to the nations, and to bring them near to him (comp. Isa 40:1). Let them take counsel together; i.e. let the nations consider one with another, whether God or the idols be the fitter object of worship. Who hath declared this? “This” must refer to the conquest of Babylon and deliverance of Israel by Cyrus. None but Jehovah had ever announced thisnone but he could bring it to pass. From ancient time; rather, from aforetime (Cheyne). The announcement cannot have been made very long before this prophecy was delivered. A just God and a Saviour. A God in whom “mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Psa 85:1-13 :16); who can be at once just, “acting stringently according to the demands of his holiness” (Delitzsch), and yet design and effect the salvation of sinners.
Isa 45:22
Look unto me; rather, turn unto me (as in Psa 25:16; Psa 69:16; Psa 86:16); i.e; “Be convertedturn unto the Lord your God.” It is implied that all can turn, if they will. And be ye saved. On conversion, salvation will follow. It will extend even to all the ends of the earth (comp. Psa 98:3, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God”).
Isa 45:23
I have sworn by myself (comp. Gen 22:17; Jer 22:5; Jer 49:15). “God swears “by himself,” because he can swear by no greater” (Heb 6:13). He condescends, for man’s sake, to confirm in this way promises that are exceedingly precious (see the Homiletics on Isa 14:24). The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness. So Dr. Kay and Mr. Cheyne (comp. Isa 45:19, “I the Lord speak righteousness”). And shall not return; i.e. shall not be withdrawn or retracted. God’s gifts and promises are “without repentance.” Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. This universal turning to God belongs to the final Messianic kingdom, prophesied in Isa 2:2-4; Isa 11:6-9; Isa 35:1-10; Isa 65:17-25; Isa 66:18-23; and also by Daniel (Dan 7:9-14) and St. John the Divine (Rev 21:1-4). The entire destruction of God’s enemies is to take place previously (Rev 19:17-21).
Isa 45:24
Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness; rather, only in the Lord, shall each man say to me. is their righteousness. All shall confess that God alone is righteous, and that any goodness which they have is derived from him. The Hebrew has “righteousnesses” in the plural, to express abundance. All that are incensed; rather, all that were incensed (see Isa 41:11). Such persons shall repent and be ashamed.
Isa 45:25
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. Joined to Jehovah in mystic union (Cheyne). the whole “Israel of God” shall be justified, and glory in their condition.
HOMILETICS
Isa 45:7
In what sense God creates evil.
It was to avoid the objections which the human conscience feels against regarding God as in any sense the author of evil, that dualism was invented. The Western Aryans thought it simpler and more natural to explain the phenomena of the physical and moral universe’ by a perpetual struggle of two equal, or nearly equal, powersone a principle of pure goodness, the creator of everything that was bright, sweet, delightful, holy, pure, good; the other, his antagonist, the creator of all that was the oppositethan to postulate a single original principle, all-powerful and all-perfect, which had yet brought into being a universe in which so much of moral and physical evil obtains as experience reveals to us. And it scarcely seems surprising that unassisted human reason should so argue. There is a difficulty in understanding the coexistence of evil with the absolute government of all things by an omnipotent and absolutely good Ruler. The difficulty is greater with regard to moral than physical evil, but it is considerable even with respect to the latter.
I. PHYSICAL EVIL. “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Rom 8:22). The sum of animal suffering is so enormous that to dwell on it in thought would make almost any man miserable. Even the sum of human suffering is more than we can well bear to think of. Hunger, thirst, sickness, accidents, blows, wounds, sores, excessive toil, make the lives of millions a burthen to them, and cause them to welcome death. No doubt much of this physical evil is the result of moral evil; but, making any reasonable deduction on this score, we shall still find in what remainsthe resultant of the physical conditions of human and animal lifea total that it is agonizing to contemplate. Yet God must, it would seem, be regarded as the direct Author of this. He has so arranged the worldthat, with the first introduction into it of sentient life, pain came in. Appetites are pains; desires are pains; most of the animal functions are pains; growth is a pain; decay and decline are pains; death is mostly an intense pain. Man, as an animal, must have known pain, even had he never known sinmust, as he increased and multiplied, have found the means of subsistence grow scanty, and have had to struggle for existence. Can we at all account for this? Much of it, especially the animal suffering, must, we think, remain an inscrutable mystery until we are “within the veil.” But for the physical evils to which men are liable we may see sufficient reason. Men are made “perfect through sufferings.” In overcoming, or in bearing, physical pains, man finds the best training for his moral nature. He learns to be courageous by resisting fear, which is a pain; to be just by resisting covetousness, which is another pain; and so on. Great physical evils bring out the greatest moral excellences, as those developed in martyrs and confessors. Altogether, we may pretty clearly see that the moral good produced by the pain which humanity suffers may greatly outweigh the evil of the pain itself in the sight of a moral Being.
II. MORAL EVIL. Moral evil is certainly not “created” by God, in the same direct way as physical evil. He has not necessitated it by the arrangements of his universe. He has but allowed it to come into existence. And this he seems to have done in consequence of a necessity in the nature of things. Either he must have limited his creation to objects that moved mechanically and were incapable of moral action, or, by creating moral agents, have allowed the possibility of moral evil coming into being. A free agent must be free to do right or to do wrong; if he is not free to do wrong, he is really not free when he does right. And when millions of free agents were created, each with a power of doing wrong, that some of them would choose to do wrong was to be expected, and was of course foreseen by the Creator. From the fact that, though thus foreseeing the introduction of sin into his universe, God nevertheless determined to create moral beings, we may gather that it is better in God’s sight, and therefore better absolutely, that the two classes of good and bad moral beings should coexist, than that there should be no moral beings at all. Further, moral evil is certainly, like physical evil, a great means of developing higher forms of moral goodness. The virtue that resists contact with vice, the influence of bad example, the seductions of those who make all possible efforts to corrupt it, is of a higher form than that untried virtue which has passed through no such ordeal. The religion that leads men to plunge, into the haunts of vice, and give themselves to the reclaiming of the lowest outcasts among the dregs of our populace, is the highest form of religion. If there were no moral evil, moral goodness would fall far short of being what it isthere would be no Howards, no Frys, no Havelocks, no Livingstones. By the moral furnace through which it passes, “the trial of men’s faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,” is found, and will “be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:7).
Isa 45:9-11
Murmuring against God’s arrangements at once foolish and wicked
Man is very apt to consider himself wiser than God, if not altogether, at any rate in this or that particular matter. There are few who do not at times imagine that, had the arrangement of the universe been committed to them, they could have improved it in many respects. Some would have had no sin; almost all would have had no suffering. Every one would have made some change or other. Bishop Butler suggests that such speculations are not altogether innocent (‘Analogy,’ part 1. Isa 2:1-22.); but they are, perhaps, not greatly to be blamed, unless where they lead on to positive dissatisfaction, to complaints, and to murmurings.
I. MURMURING IS FOOLISH. Since:
1. It is vain, idle; it can produce no change. God will not alter his arrangements because we are dissatisfied with them. “With him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17). The laws which he gives are laws “which shall not be broken” (Psa 148:6, Prayer-book Version). “Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2Pe 3:4). If we could affect the operation of God’s laws, change them, modify them, the case would be different; there would then be some result of our querulousness. But, as it is, there is no resultwe effect nothing.
2. It is founded on ignorance. We know so little of God’s entire scheme of things that we cannot possibly tell whether any part of the scheme to which we object may not be a necessary condition to, or inseparably bound up with, some other part or parts on which we set the highest value. That to which we object may conceivably be the very thing which, if we knew all, we should most prize.
3. It is the preference of a lesser good over a greater. Whatever we may say in moments of suffering, ennui, or dissatisfaction, we do not really believe in our inmost hearts that any portion of God’s arrangement of the universe is actually wrong and could be set right by our wisdom. We know that “whatever is, is best.” Were we actually empowered to make a change, we should hesitate. We should be afraid of doing harm. How foolish, then, to grumble at arrangements which we should fear to disturb!
II. MURMURING IS WICKED. Since:
1. It is a form of rebellion against God, and so of the basest ingratitude, inasmuch as God is our great Benefactor, to whom we owe everything.
2. It is always selfish. We are never tempted to murmur except when the operation of some law of God’s universe interferes with our own immediate comfort, or our profit, or our imagined advantage. But in such cases we know that our disadvantage must be compensated by some overplus of advantage to others, or the law would not exist; so that our murmuring implies a desire that others should suffer instead of ourselves, which is pure selfishness.
3. It argues pride. If we had a right sense of our own demerit and ill deserving, we should accept any and every chastening at God’s hands as far less than our due. We should “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God,” and take thankfully whatever suffering he sent us. It is only when we are so proud as to imagine we do not need chastening that we can murmur.
Isa 45:14-23
The conversion of the Gentiles gradual, but ultimately complete.
Three stages in the conversion of the Gentiles seem to be markedone in Isa 45:3; another in Isa 45:20; a third in Isa 45:23.
I. THE FIRST STAGE. The nations within a certain moderate radius of Palestine are naturally the first to come inEgypt and Ethiopia, in Africa; and by parity of reasoning, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor, in Asia; Greece, Italy, and Southern Gaul, in Europe. This was very much the range of Hebrew influence during the five centuries preceding Christianity, and of Christian influence during two centuries afterwards.
II. THE SECOND STAGE. The circle gradually widens, and a time comes when the gospel may be said, roughly, to have penetrated everywhere, and “the earth” to be “full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9). Missionaries have visited the remotest ends of the earth; and the nations generally may be challenged to “assemble themselves, and come,” and make their choice between true religion and their own false and absurd systems (Isa 45:20). But conversion has not kept pace with preaching. On many nations very little, on some no, impression has been made. Prayer is still offered widely to deities “that cannot save.” This is the state of things at the present day. Scarcely a nation in the world has not heard of the salvation of God; but a large numberas much as three-fourths of the population of the globe, we are toldhave not yet accepted it.
III. THE THIRD STAGE. God has “sworn by himself, the word is gone out of his mouth in righteousness, and shall not return”that ultimately “unto him every knee shall how, and every tongue shall swear” (Isa 45:23). In “a new heaven and a new earth” (Isa 65:17) the Messiah, u the Ancient of days” (Dan 7:6), will rule over a kingdom which will contain “all people, nations, and languages” (Dan 7:14). How this will be brought about, what exactly will be the scene of the kingdom, what the condition of its members, is not revealed, otherwise than in mystical words, and cannot be laid down with definiteness; but in that kingdom, beyond a doubt,” all people will fall down before Jehovah, all nations will do him service”the prophecies of Isaiah will have full effect: “all flesh will worship before the Lord” (Isa 66:23).
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Isa 45:1-8
Cyrus the anointed of Jehovah.
I. THE REASON OF THE DIVINE FAVOR TO CYRUS. Cyrus is the only king out of Israel who bears the title of Jehovah’s anointed. He is solemnly set apart as an instrument to perform an important public service in the cause of Jehovah. It does not necessarily imply the piety of Cyrus. For the purposes of Jehovah he is upheld, “grasped by the right hand,” that he may subdue nations before himfrom the Euxine to Egypt, from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The girdles of mighty kings will be unloosed before him. See this said of Belshazzar (Dan 5:6); then were the “two-leaved gates” of Babylon left open, amidst the revelry, and the conqueror broke in unopposed (Herod; 1:191). The treasures of the city are laid open before him.
1. The object was that he might acknowledge Jehovah. “He hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth” (Ezr 1:2). “Son of Cambyses, Heaven favours you manifestly, or you could not thus have risen superior to fortune”. None but the Omniscient could have known the person and the name of him who was to conquer Babylon and deliver his people
2. The next object was the deliverance of the chosen people. “The fates of the empires and kingdoms of the world are divinely disposed of with a view to the Church.” But all the progress and prosperity of true religion are summed up in the knowledge of Jehovah: that he is the sole God; that he is the Creator and the providential Ruler of the world. The alternation of day and night is Jehovah’s ordinance. So also is that of peace and war, success and misfortune, good and evil. This is pure monotheism, opposed alike to pantheism and to dualism. That the world may be converted to true religion is the final and all-comprehensive object.
II. SONG OF PRAISE. “The appearance of the shepherd of Jehovah, and the thought of the blessings of which he is to be the medium, inspires the prophet with a joyous strain of psalmody.” The form of the expression is borrowed from the Eastern religions, the fertility of the earth being due to the impregnating influence of Heaven (Psa 85:11; Hos 2:21, Hos 2:22). Righteousness, in the sense of salvation (Isa 51:5, Isa 51:6, Isa 51:8; Isa 56:1; Isa 59:17; Isa 61:10, Isa 61:11; Isa 62:1), descends upon the souls of men. And they will break forth into “fruits of righteousness” to the glory of God. Prepared for repentance and the reception of the truth from the Holy Spirit, they will be, even as the earth is, made mellow and adapted for the reception of seed by rain and dew. “A Church smiles under the influence of a revival of religion, and society puts on the aspect of loveliness like the earth after abundant showers.’J.
Isa 45:9-13
The sovereignty of God.
I. THE MURMURER AGAINST PROVIDENCE. He is compared to a “potsherd among potsherds on the ground.” “Woe unto him who, though made of earth, and with no intrinsic authority over others of his race, presumes to find fault with the Maker!” (cf. Isa 29:16; Isa 64:8; Jer 18:1-6; Jer 19:1, Jer 19:10,Jer 19:11; Rom 9:20-24). In the account of the Creation, the Almighty is conceived as making man out of the dust of the earth (Gen 2:7). Shall the clay, then, quarrel with the plastic hand of the Potter? How can the distance between man and God be better expressed than by the tautology, “God is God, and man is man”? or that he is Maker, man the made? “Since matters stand thus between God and us, let us consider what bands we are in, and what an irresistible grip has hold of us; and let that teach us, even for our sakes, to be quiet under it. There is, indeed, but one way of encountering an infinite power; and that is by an extraordinary (if it were possible), an infinite patience” (South). Is it natural, again, for the child to complain of its parents that it has been brought deformed or weakly into the world? Nor is it becoming of men to catechize and call to account Jehovah. “Are ye children of God? Then is it well with you; and to murmur against me is as if ye should renounce your sonship.”
II. THE ABSURDITY OF MURMURING. To criticize the Creator is to assume a knowledge we have not got. We should be creators ourselves before we could say whether this or that part of the great world-work could have been otherwise executed. It is also to assume a knowledge of the clues of history, the springs of sudden events, which is not ours. And Jehovah reminds man again of his providential relation to Cyrus. His absolute unquestionable dominion and sovereignty over all things is the great argument for our submission to him. His dominion is founded on an inalienable titleCreation and Providence. It is reasonable that the first cause should be the Supreme Governor; and whatever has been made by God should also be commanded by him. He might have chosen whether he would have made the world or no; for he had no need of it to complete or add to his happiness, which was infinitely perfect within the compass of his own glorious being. Yet he was pleased, by the free motion of his will, to communicate and diffuse some little shadow of those perfections upon the creatures, and more especially upon his nearer resemblances, men and angels. A being essentially wise cannot do anything but wisely. Our ignorance of God’s actions cannot make them or argue them to be unreasonable. He is more honored by our admiration than by our inquiries. Hence the necessity, the prudence, and the becomingness of submission, without murmuring to his allotments.J.
Isa 45:14-17
The conversion of Egypt.
In this conversion of the nations to true religion the Divine goodness and providence will be at last recognized. They are represented as going over to Israel of their own accord, and surrendering to her their wealth. And they will be brought at last to the great confession, “Of a truth God is in thee, and there is none besideno Godhead at all.”
I. HISTORY AS THE CONCEALMENT OF GOD. So it often appears. The weak are down-trodden; the proud and tyrannical are in the ascendant. Israel in her prostrate condition and insignificance seemed to imply a God impotent to save. And so it is in the personal life and history. There are sufferings which obscure the light of faith, and seem to give the lie to the most deep-seated religious hopes. But God is where he was, though our view pierces not to him. “He’s in his heaven; all’s right with the world!”
II. HISTORY THE UNVEILING OF GOD. “Now we are forced to own that Israel’s God is the absolutely Strong One, able and willing to deliver all who trust in him.” Then in a moment they who have trusted in idols are covered with confusion, together with the artificers of them. And Israel is saved with an everlasting salvation. “Time, like a dome of many-coloured glass, stains the white radiance of eternity.” What is all life and time, nature and human fashion, but a veiling of God? How can we see him except “through a glass darkly”? What is thinking but dreaming, and dreams what but pictured screens, concealing and revealing the truth? We are in bondage to sense, to belief, to fancy. But our deliverance draws near; and no confusion will await them that have believed to the end.J.
Isa 45:18-25
God, Israel, and the world.
Again, with solemn iteration, Jehovah declares that he is Creator and God alone. The earth was framed and fitted to be the habitation of man, and the theatre of providential manifestations.
I. THE REALITY OF THE ETERNAL. The truth is open, and may be published to all; it is no thing of mystery, secrecy, like heathen esoteric rites or knowledge. “Jehovah’s Law is not to be obtained by any occult arts from the under-world.” He has not been a wilderness unto Israel or a land of darkness (Jer 2:31; cf. Jer 2:6). The seeking of his people after him is not to end in chaos. Here, again, may be an allusion to the dark sayings of the heathen oraclesambiguous, oblique, or fallacious. His speech is direct, upright, and true. Let those who have escaped from the judgment upon the nations bear witness. How foolish they who carry the wooden image in processions, and pray to it (cf. Isa 46:1; Jer 10:5; Amo 5:26)! What argument can be produced for the divinity of idols? Which of them can pretend to the prophetic and predictive power of Jehovah? God is the only Reality, the only Truth, the only faithful Principle in a world of idolatrous unrealities, pretences, and shams.
II. CALL TO SALVATION. In him who is real and true, alone can men find deliverance from temporal and spiritual ills. Not Israel alone, but mankind, is destined to look to him as the Universal Saviour. Jehovah swears by himselfthe strongest form of assurance”when the accompanying revelation is specially grand, or specially hard to believe.” “The abolition of the last vestige of nationalism in the true religion is announced.” The word is gone forth, and shall not miss its aim; the truth has sped like an arrow to the mark. Every knee shall bow in homage, every tongue shall swear allegiance. Submission shall be without reserve and absolute. “Only in Jehovah are righteousness and strength.” While confusion shall be the portion of his enemies, his servants shall be accepted, and be placed by him on the footing of the justified and righteous. “He, then, that trembles at the name of an offended Creator, let him comfort himself in the title of a reconciled Father. Though we have cause to dread the tribunal of his justice, let us come confidently to the throne of his mercy. Let us come freely, and spread all our wants before him, lay open all our complaints, tell him all the distresses and secret anguishes of our burdened consciences. Believe it, we cannot be more ready to tell them than he is to hear them; nor he to hear them than to relieve them. Let us anchor our hopes, our trust, our confidence, on his goodness; for although as our Creator he will not save us, yet as our Redeemer he will.”J.
Isa 45:18-25
Jehovah: his nature and purposes.
I. HIS SOLE DEITY. He is the Creator, and to say this is to say that his is “the Godhead.” This truth is repeated “line upon line,” and “precept upon precept.” Simple truths have an emphasis peculiar to them. They need to be iterated, because the memories of men are unfaithful, their imaginations vagrant, their affections prone to wander from their true and central Object. It was so in ancient times; it is so still. Then men were tempted to think that other national gods had some power; now they are disposed to turn to some “ideal substitute” for God. We should learn, not to share out our reverence among God and various ideals of the true, wise, beautiful, and good, but to conceive of him as the sum total of them all. The enduringly good, and the permanently true and spiritually and essentially fair, all enter into the conception of “the Eternal, beside whom there is none.”
II. HIS PURPOSE IN THE CREATION. It was to be, “not as a chaos,” but a scene of order, a kosmos, as the Greek said. It was “formed, finished, and arranged, that it might be inhabited”like “a lodging for a friend.” God “rejoices in the habitable parts of the earth; and his delights are with the children of men.” His thought was above all for the social the spiritual system, the beauty of the regenerate state of souls; his mind to be reflected in the human creation; the human creation to illustrate the glory of his mind. If science brings to light the wonders of the natural order, true theology brings to light the greater wonders of the spiritual order. It is a discovery of the law to which the passions and forces of human nature must render obedience in order to happiness.
III. THE OPENNESS OF HIS REVELATIONS. Not in darkness and secrecy, like the heathen mysteries; nor in obscure and symbolic phrases, like theirs. Nor is it a matter of occult art and divination. It is the “light of Jehovah” (cf. Deu 30:11-14; Jer 2:31). Luminous in themselves, his words lead us on to tracts of light and felicity. They are direct, and opposed to the crooked and enigmatic deliverances of the heathen oracles. Let human experience decide between Jehovah and the heathen gods. They only dare to make such an appeal who are conscious that it cannot be resisted. That religion cannot stand which will not endure satire; for ridicule is the test of truth. How can they endure it who “without knowledge carry the word of their image, and pray unto a god that cannot save”? What argument can they produce? What covenant can there be between the soul and an idol? what ability in wood or stone to save? The result remains as before. As there is but one Creator, so is there but one Moral Governorone righteous, faithful, covenant-keeping God.
IV. CALL TO SALVATION AND TO ADORATION. “Be saved!” That is, ye shall be saved in turning unto me. If he is the only God, obedience to him must be the only salvation. And upon this end God has set his heartthis end, he swears, as God is God, shall be accomplished. The true Israel shall expand, the barriers of naturalism shall be broken down; there shall be universal, voluntary, unrestrained submission. Shame at error, and triumphant, boastful gladness in the new-found truth, shall go together. Such a communion of spirits in God and with one another is the object of faith, of aspiration now, and shall be a glorious realization hereafter.J.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
Isa 45:5
God in our past life.
“I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” When the soul of man is renewed, and his rebellion against God ceases, wonderment often arises in the heart that life has not been altogether a ruin. So many times we have been near the precipice; the crumbling stones fell down into the plain; our feet well-nigh slipped. Here is the open secret.
I. UNCONSCIOUS HELP. “I girded thee.” We have not seen a face nor even heard a voice, but an invisible arm has been around us. “It is of the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed.” Our folly was sufficient to ruin us. Our obstinacy was wild and wilful. We cannot take credit to ourselves for deliverances from moral danger. We can look back and see that often there was but a step betwixt us and moral death. “Great deliverances,” as the prophet says, hath God wrought,
II. HUMAN IGNORANCE. “Though thou hast not known me.” The life has been destitute of fellowship with God and likeness to God. We have not retained the knowledge of God. There has been all through our life:
1. God’s care without our cognizance.
2. God’s love without our gratitude.
3. God’s wisdom without our skill.
Verily the apostle was right: “By the grace of God I am what I am.”W.M.S.
Isa 45:22
The eye of the soul.
Look unto me, and be ye saved.” Faith can look! We have the spiritual vision and the spiritual object. “Blessed are your eyes, for they see.” We look, and are saved! Yes; and we look in hours of sorrow and unrest, and our burdens are lightened. This is no dream of the quietist; no meditation of the mystic. We do not look into infinity, and feel awe. We do not merely set religious imagination to work. We have a loving Lord and Saviour, to whom we look. “Sir, we would see Jesus.” When our eyes are filled with worldly visions; when we are active in the warehouse, the office, the street, the home;then we have experience of time-visions. When our souls are awake we gaze on the unseen Lord, who has been about our path all the day, and who is always waiting to be gracious. What is the exact word, do you say? I see! You are accustomed to a close exegesis of the Scripture. It is well! The Hebrew means, “flowed together.” Is not that beautiful? “They looked unto him, and flowed together.” We are lightened by oneness with our Lord.
I. LOOKING UNTO JESUS LIGHTENS US BY CONSCIOUS SYMPATHY. This always lightens. In a human sense it does. We can enter into each other’s lives, and bear each other’s burdens. We want not more strength, but more cheer. He does not give new faculty, but the Holy Spirit quickens faith; faculty we already have. Think of the one Divine life. Christ knew what it was to go to his Father in prayer, to be alone, to be misunderstood, to be solitary and forsaken. He was tempted, too, in all points as we are, yet without sin. He suffered, being tempted. We look to the Brother as well as the Saviour. Sympathy! Is it not precious? We get hardened by habits, where each has to struggle for himself or herself. Yes, herself! The womanly life is often a heroism of endeavour in the sense of seeking sometimes a livelihood; and the world to a widow does seem a very selfish place at times. Christ was poor. He was, in a human sense, needy. But, you say, even in these lives of struggle and difficulty, the spiritual anxieties are the deepest: to maintain a pure heart, a faithful love, a true conscience, a gracious progress in heavenward affection. Then remember he knows your inner history. Look to him. Seek oneness. Let your life and his “flow together.”
II. LOOKING UNTO JESUS LIGHTENS US BY CONSCIOUS POWER. He is able to keepable to save. Have you ever been in a gale at sea, and been nervous and timorous? But there, on the bridge, is the calm, keen-eyed, well-trained captain. You feel that there is confidence coming to your heart as you look at him. What waves cannot Christ calm? What coast of life does not he know the soundings of? What can surprise his vigilance, or blind his knowledge, or binder his commands? Even when the earthly physician came to your sick child, you watched his face and were lightened; he hoped, and you renewed your strength. A Christ less than Divine is no real refuge for such anxious souls as ours. We need not only beautiful ethics, exquisite parables; but we want Divine authority: “I will; be thou clean !” We are at rest when we can say with the centurion, “Truly this was the Son of God.” We feel how guilty we are. We admit no man, no priest, into the picture-gallery of the soul. We decline to reveal our leprosy of heart to our fellow-men. But we are all polluted and evil; and we have deep repose of heart when we come to the one fountain open for sin and uncleanness, and know that Christ is “able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.” No look lightens us which is merely imitativewhich is a lesson-look of duty. We need a great Saviour as well as a great Teacher.
III. LOOKING UNTO JESUS LIGHTENS US BY CONSCIOUS OBEDIENCE. This comes next. We flow together, not merely in sympathy, but in life and service. We do his commandments; we know in following him we are in the right path; and how it lightens one to feel that the way is right, however hard and painful it may be! Rectitude is the music of the soul. Is not this sometimes forgotten? you say. Or, if not forgotten, is obedience relegated to a very inferior place by some Christians? Yes; they mean well, but they take a superficial view of the gospel. Removal of guilt is not all. Doing is not a deadly thing, it does not end in deathif it is life-doing and not law-doing. Christ says, ” Keep my commandments.” “This do, and thou shalt live.” We are never lightened by self-indulgent piety, which leaves all to God. We are to exercise our graces; to use what Paul calls “the gymnastic of godliness”a beautiful expression. Looking to Jesus, we shall gain strength for every earnest endeavour after the Divine life. But is there not a danger of spiritual pride? Is it not better to feel God does all? There is no one of us free from the danger of spiritual pride. We must all watch and pray against it. But you may detect spiritual pride often very manifestly in those who think that they, and they alone, know the entire secret of God’s will; and their secret is, a leaving it all to him. Then pride says, “See; I am free from legalism, and I have no danger of self-righteousness.” Pride may hide under this cloak of confessed humility. We are only safe in Christ’s own way. He and no earthly teacher is to be really our spiritual Director, and he says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments;” “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them;” “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto eternal life.” Not by a cowardly shrinking from duty, but by looking up to the Captain of the great host and gathering nerve to throw one’s self into the thick of the fight is our heart lightened.
IV. LOOKING UNTO JESUS LIGHTENS BY CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE. We have tried it in the days of old! Christ has lightened many a burden we foolishly tried to carry alone. Men are ashamed of their failures. They boast of a certain specific, and it fails. They recommend certain methods of conduct which break down in operation. But our faces are not ashamed. They glow with the consciousness of what Christ has been in past times of test and trial. He has never failednever forsaken. This is a beautiful idea about the countenancea Christian should have no shame there. I do not mean a face defiant or boastful; that is not the meaning of these words, “And their faces were not ashamed.” It means no confusion, no flush of anxiety, no prophecy of failure on it. We can all look to him. We are all invited! None of us can measure the weight on the heart. Christ can. And he knows that it is heavy, very heavy. We are often tired and weary. Come to him! You need him! You have slighted and neglected him long time now; but you have found no Friend, no Saviour away from him.
“‘Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.'”
Let us do so. Then this experience will have brought to us a peace which passeth all understanding.W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 45:1-5
The unfelt hand on the human heart.
Of this passage the most striking and inviting words are those in the fourth and fifth verses: “I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me;” “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” But while these sentences furnish the theme of consideration, the other part of the passage suggests three particular things in which the prophetic word was fulfilled.
1. The opening of the gates of brass (Isa 45:1), fulfilled during the capture of Babylon.
2. The discovery of hidden treasure (Isa 45:3), fulfilled in the taking and sacking of two of the wealthiest cities of antiquity, besides other great acquisitions.
3. The strengthening of Cyrus for the sake of Israel (Isa 45:1-4), fulfilled in the brilliant successes of the great Persian conqueror, followed by the liberation of the Jews from captivity. But the interesting fact is the presence and action of the Divine hand in the course of this heathen king. Little as Cyrus imagined it, he was under the guardianship and guidance of the Lord of hosts from his earliest childhood to his last successes. The power that snatched him from earliest peril, that made him the wise and capable administrator he became, that planted in him the spirit of humanity and equity, that saved him in a thousand dangers, and gave so triumphant an issue to his various enterprises,this was none other than the power which is Divine. God was girding him, though he knew not the name and the works of Jehovah. On this unenlightened sovereign, from infancy to age, through all the events of a crowded life, a Divine hand was laid; its touch was all unfelt, its secrets undiscovered; but it was therea gentle, constraining force, shaping his career, tracing the lines along which he moved, making him the power among the nations that he was in those ancient times. This known fact does two very useful things for us.
I. IT GIVES A PROFOUND INTEREST TO ALL HUMAN HISTORY. There is too much in the affairs of men to justify the sarcasm about the “battle of kites and crows;” there is something pitifully small in the contests which proceed in “high places” for honours, titles, and emoluments. In one view the struggles of men are small enough to excite our pity, if not our disregard. But introduce the element of the Divine! Then all is changed. And should we not introduce that element? If God’s unfelt hand was on one heathen king, why not on another? why not on all the others? If, all unknown, he was upsetting and upraising kingdoms in one clime and age, why not in other climes and in other ages? In this view “profane” history becomes “sacred;” for in it we have a record of God’s doings in the world. When we read the account of the overthrow of Assyria, of Persia, of Greece, of Rome, of Spain; when we read the careers of Alexander, of Caesar, of Charlemagne, of Napoleon, of Cromwell, of Washington,in the light of the truth which lies in the text, human history is very much more than the story of a “battle between kites and crows;” it is more than the account of human passions in stern conflict, of human ambition working itself up and burning itself out. It is Divine procedure; it is God’s outworking and overruling; it is the hand of God laid on the arm of man,unfelt, unrecognized, but directing and controlling, working to wise and righteous issues. In the great events which are the landmarks of history, and in the careers of illustrious men, God is “within the shadow,” girding men though they know him notthe mightiest factor by far in all worlds, and even in this, where he is so little known, so much forgotten.
II. IT LENDS GREAT IMPORTANCE TO EVERY HUMAN LIFE. Men may imagine that there is nothing sacred about their individual life; that they have very little to do with God and he with them; that God stands in no closer relation to them than that of the Author of the laws by which they are governed, and the ultimate source of the blessings which they receive. But they are wrong. God is much more to them than this. He is the Father of their spirits; he is ‘the Saviour of their souls; he is seeking their welfare; is following them out, in his thought and affection, to the “far country” of sin; is inviting and promoting their return; is touching them in many ways and at many points, “girding them, though they know him not.” The meaning of all sacred privilege and of all parental discipline is that God is laying his hand upon us, and is saying to us, “Return unto me;” “Come unto me.”C.
Isa 45:6-8
An old perplexity.
From very ancient times, through very many generations, there has presented itself to the human mind the perplexity which arises from the antagonism of forces. We find everywhere
I. OPPOSITE ASPECTS OF HUMAN LIFE. Here are light and darkness, peace and evil (Isa 45:7). On the one hand are signs and indications of a marvellous and minute benevolence. In the sea, in the soil, in the forests, in the air, and on the earth; in fish, in insects, in beast, in bird, and, above all, in the life and in the mind of man,are innumerable, inestimable evidences of Divine beneficence. But, on the other hand, there are drawbacks, there are shadows, there are evils, the number of which we cannot count, and the nature of which it is difficult to exaggerate. Pleasure is matched with pain; joy is followed by sorrow; hope is shadowed by fear; peace is waited upon by strife; life is swallowed up by death.
II. THE PERPLEXITY THUS OCCASIONED. What is the secret of this strange contradiction? What is the explanation of it? Shall we find intellectual rest in dualism? or shall we fall back upon fateupon the blind action of unintelligent forces? or may we rise to the belief in one overruling God? Who shall read the riddle of the unintelligible world?
III. THE ARGUMENT FROM THE ISSUE. Go far enough on, and we shall find that which enlightens and relieves us; we must look to “the end of the Lord” (Jas 5:11). The end of the Lord is found:
1. In righteousness. (Isa 45:8.) At last, in the history of men, families, and nations, the pure and just are exalted, while the wicked are consumed and perish.
2. In salvation. (Isa 45:8.) To the suffering ones comes rescue from poverty or oppression; to the sinful ones comes redemption from penalty, reinstatement in the home and kingdom of God.
IV. THE SATISFYING TRUTH. After all, only one thing will decide the questionGod’s revealing Word. It was his declaration through the prophets, “I am the Lord;” “I the Lord have created it.” It is the word, the life, the work of Jesus Christ, who reveals to us an ever-present, overruling Father of mankind.C.
Isa 45:9-12
The argument for acquiescence.
No doubt there are circumstances in which men find
I. A TEMPTATION TO REBEL.
1. Men are bitterly disappointed, or they are greatly distressed; their high hopes are dashed to the ground, or their chief treasures are taken from their grasp.
2. Then they think themselves aggrieved; they imagine that the Almighty is dealing with them as he does not with their fellowsthat he is acting ungraciously and even unjustly toward them.
3. The issue is often a settled rebelliousness of spirit, an” inward thought” that God is partial and unfair; a tone of querulousness, if not actual terms of reproach, or even blasphemous arraignment.
II. THE ARGUMENT FOR ACQUIESCENCE. This is manifold.
1. The impotence and the peril of human resistance to the Divine Will. “Woe unto him that striveth,” etc. (Isa 45:9). How vain is the contrast between finite, perishable man and the Infinite and Eternal; between one who is formed of clay and him who “made the earth and stretched out the heavens”!
2. The deference due from the creature to the Creator. “That striveth with his Maker” (Isa 45:9, Isa 45:11). For us to enter into a controversy with the Being who called us into existence, who endowed us with all the faculties we possess, who gave us the very power which is being exercised in criticism and questioning, without whose creative and sustaining hand we could not think one thought or speak one word, is unseemly and unbecoming in the last degree.
3. The fact of God’s fatherhood, and all the reasons that reside therein. If it be unfitting for a son to reproach his father (Isa 45:10), how much more for us to rebel against God, who stands to us in a relation far more intimate, far more sacred, far more worthy of reverent submission, than that in which the human parent stands to his child! And it is also short-sighted; for the Divine Father has thoughts in his mired, reasons for his action, which we, his children, are quite unable to comprehend or even to conceive. For us to complain of him is for ignorance to complain of wisdom.
4. Consideration of the future which is coming. We must not leave the “things to come” (Isa 45:11) out of our reckoning; they have much to do with the whole question of God’s dealings with mankind. What God purposes to do for us, both as individual men and as a race, forms an essential element in the whole matter. The future will be found to adjust the past and the present. The grievous things which have been and the painful things which are now will be balanced by, will be completely lost in, the blessed and glorious things which “wait to be revealed.”C.
Isa 45:15
Divine concealment.
In God’s dealings with individual men and with mankind at large, as with his people Israel, there are three stages.
I. THE REVELATION OF HIMSELF. “O God of Israel.” The God who was thus addressed was, emphatically, a Revealing One. He was known to Israel as the One who revealed himself to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, to Moses and Aaron, to Samuel and David and Solomon, to all his holy prophets. We also know God as the Being who has revealed himself in nature, in the human reason and conscience, in providence, and more especially in Jesus Christ. We worship him as the God who “hath showed us light,” who has made clear to us his nature, his character, his disposition toward us, his sinful children, the conditions under which he will receive and reinstate us.
II. HIS CONCEALMENT OF HIMSELF. “Thou art a God that hides[ thyself.” We see this truth appearing in various directions.
1. In the processes of nature. The power of God is in all the beneficent forces of nature, working out for us the changes of the seasons, the bounties and the beauties of the earth, the wonders of human attainment; but his hand is unseen, his touch unfelt.
2. In his government of mankind. Israel did not understand what Jehovah was doing with her; as a nation she entirely misunderstood her mission. God concealed the purpose he had in his training and his providential treatment. The other nations of antiquityAssyria, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Romewere serving a Divine purpose; but they knew it not. It was “the mystery hid from the ages and generations.”
3. In his redemption of our race. How little did the apostles, while they accompanied our Lord and ministered to his wants and witnessed his sufferings, imagine that he was laying the foundations of a spiritual and universal empirea kingdom of truth and love! What a blessed purpose, what a grand design was concealed beneath the humble person and the peaceful ministry of the Son of man! And in all the subsequent outworkings of the Divine plan, how much has there been of Divine concealment! So that, as one has said, while these eighteen centuries have been anni Domini, we have had to lament
“Years of the Lord are these,
But of a Lord away.”
4. In his conduct of each human, life. We believe that God is ordering our lives, shaping and moulding them, determining their course, and deciding what shall be the witness they shall bear and the work they shall dowhat shall be their contribution to the great campaign he is conducting. But, here again, his hand is all unseen. Often, generally, we cannot detect the unity, the plan, the purpose of our lives; it is because we walk by faith and not by sight that we are convinced of the presence of his intervening and overruling power. Many are the dark passages in the good man’s career, when he is prompted to exclaim, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself.”
III. HIS MANIFESTATION IN REDEEMING LOVE. The last word we have to use is a word which explains everything”the Saviour.” Israel is brought very low; God’s face is hidden from his people; he seems to have forgotten them; but he comes in redeeming grace, and “with the saving strength of his right hand” proves himself their Refuge and their Friend. The human race goes from bad to worse, and, when it seems delivered over to corruption and ruin, there is born in the city of David a Saviour, Jesus Christ. The hour in our experience is dark, misfortunes have multiplied, disaster is imminent; but our extremity is his opportunity, and God appears in delivering power. “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.” From the very edge of the precipice we are snatched by the strong and saving hand of God.
1. Circumstances of distress are no proof of God’s absence. He may only be hiding his face for a while.
2. Let all souls in their integrity appeal for and anticipate a merciful and full redemption (Psa 50:15).C.
Isa 45:16-19
What shall the end be?
Things are rightly tested by their issues. We do well to askTo what is this course tending? in what will it terminate? Taken in a deep and full sense, though not in a short and shallow one, “all is well that ends well.” The prophet says that idolatry will be condemned in the ultimate and utter overthrow and confusion of its victims (Isa 45:16), while true piety will be finally and fully established (Isa 45:17). Of this there was the most ample security (Isa 45:18, Isa 45:19). We infer, generally
I. THAT EVIL ENDS IN OVERTHROW AND DISHONOUR. It is not idolatry only which, when the last stage is reached, is covered with confusion. It is the doom of all departure from the righteous will of God. Self-indulgence has its pleasant hours; but it conducts by a sure road to disease and early death. Crime has its successes; but it spends its last days within prison-walls. Greed has its own wretched gratification; but it earns general and unspeakable contempt. Worldliness wins its honour and “has its reward;” but it ends in heart-ache and bitter disappointment, Rapacity and injustice do often wring treasures from the wronged and suffering; but they end in exposure, in condemnation, in ruin.
II. THAT OBEDIENCE ENDS IN BLESSEDNESS AND HONOUR. It is not confounded nor ashamed; it is savedit “seeks not God’s face in vain.” It “inherits the land.” Though much may be endured, yet a great deal more is gained, by a complete surrender of self to the service of Christ. It ensures that without which all earthly possessions and all human honours are worthless, with which they can be cheerfully foregone. It brings peace of mind, joy of soul, growth in goodness, victory over the world, Divine favour and guidance, eternal glory.
III. THAT OF THIS RESULT WE HAVE THE MOST AMPLE SECURITY. It rests on the foundations of:
1. Divine power. On the “thus saith the Lord,” on the word of him who “created the heavens and formed the earth.”
2. Divine wisdom. On the word of him whose presence is attested by his handiwork: “He created it not in vain.”
3. Divine righteousness. “I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” The power, the wisdom, and the righteousness of God are to us the all-sufficient pledge that we shall not seek his face in vain, but shall find that the earnest seeker after God will find all that will fill his heart, ennoble his life, and secure a glorious and immortal destiny.C.
Isa 45:21-25
Our great hope: a missionary sermon.
The view of the prophet is “exceeding broad.” He sees that which is “afar off.” He looks across the countries and across the centuries, and he has a more glorious vision than statesman ever pictured, than poet ever dreamed. We look at this
I. OUR SUPREME HOPE FOR THE HUMAN WORLD. Isaiah has before his mind a time when “all the ends of the earth will be saved;” when “every knee will bow” to God, and every tongue solemnly invoke his holy Name; when men shall “come to him” in adoration and in thanksgiving. This is our heart’s most profound desire, our soul’s highest hope. We do not want our nation to subdue every other to servitude and subsidy. We do not want our form of faith or polity to swallow up every other form. We do want mankind to know God, to approach him in pure worship, to bless him for his fatherly love, to glory in his goodness, to submit to his righteous sway, to rejoice in him as the One that saves from sin and restores to righteousness. When, beneath every sky, speaking every language, with all possible varieties of custom and civilization, men everywhere shall honour the one holy Lord and rejoice in the same righteous Redeemer, the supreme hope for the world will be fulfilled. But we have to consider
II. THE DELAY IN ITS FULFILMENT. The Israelites returned from captivity, and entered again on a course of national freedom and Divine worship in the holy place; the Lord “did great things for them, whereof they were glad.” But nothing happened then or in subsequent days in Jerusalem or in Judaea which could be said to be a realization of this glorious vision. Jerusalem perished and Israel was scattered, while the prophecy remained unfulfilled. Jesus Christ came and formed his Church; that Church grew and throve, overturning the idolatries with which it contended. It has been making its way in the world, and, during the last century, has made substantial progress. But the world is very far indeed from having attained to the condition which is here foretold. The prophetic word waits to be fulfilled; there is a long delay in the realization of our supreme hope. But let us gladly turn to
III. OUR CONFIDENCE IN A VICTORIOUS RESULT. It rests on three things.
1. The triumphs which have been already gained. These are very great, and they are exactly proportionate to the purity of the doctrine which has been taught and the zeal of the Churches which has been shown, With Christ’s truth taught as it came from him and from his inspired apostles, and with the Churches of Christ as much in earnest as they have been during this century, the advance will be sure and swift..
2. The strong word of Divine promise. “I have sworn by myself that unto me,” etc.; “I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” etc.; “All power is given unto me go ye therefore,” etc.
3. The fitness of the gospel of Christ for the necessities of men. It provides:
(1) A sense of forgiveness of sin. “Be justified.”
(2) The possession of moral excellency “Righteousness.”
(3) Spiritual power to resist temptation. “Strength.”
(4) Joy of heart, showing itself in praise. “Shall glory.”
IV. OUR PRIVILEGE AND DUTY IN RELATION TO IT. Since there is, indeed, such a hope for mankind, since that is to be the final issue of all strife and suffering and toil, let each nation, each Church, each family, each Christian man, see to it that its (his) contribution is forthcoming, so that, when the fields arc ripe, it (he) may have a share in the joy of harvest.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Isa 45:2
The secret of assured success.
These figures indicate the removal of all obstacles and hindrances out of the way of him who is called of God, entrusted with some particular work for God, and helped of God in the doing of that work. Historical illustration is found in the fact, as stated by the older writers, that in some unaccountable way the river-gates of Babylon were found open on the approach of Cyrus; or, as stated on the authority of the monuments, that the city capitulated, as a consequence of the defeat of Nabonidus in the field. Professor Sayce says, “Another fact of an equally revolutionary kind, which the inscriptions teach us, is that Babylon was not besieged and taken by Cyrus. It opened its gates to his general long before he came near it, and needed neither fighting nor battle for its occupation.” Grote, in his ‘History of Greece,’ says, “The way in which the city was treated would lead us to suppose that its acquisition cannot have cost the conqueror either much time or much loss it is certain that the vast walls and gates were left untouched.” The assurances of the text arc even better fulfilled by moving obstacles out of the way, than by Cyrus actually mastering them. Herodotus tells us that Babylon had a hundred gates of brass, with posts and hooks of the same metal.
I. OBSTACLES IN THE WAY SHOULD BE NO HINDRANCE TO US. There is hardly anything worth doing in life that is not difficult to do. The difference between men is seen in their attitude in face of difficulties. Illustrate by the position of Israel before the Red Sea. It was a brave thing for Moses to command Israel to “go forward;” but it was a type of the right attitude for us always to take when the way seems obstructed. “I cannot” must give place to “I will, God helping me.”
II. THE ONE THING TO SEEK IS THE ASSURANCE THAT WE ARE DOING GOD‘S WILL. This distinguishes the good man from the mere man of energy. The Cyrus here referred to was raised up by God, and entrusted with a particular work. But it is true that still God calls individuals to special service. He makes plain to them his will And our first anxiety should be to be sure that we are where he has set us, and are doing just what he would have us do. Once let these things be settled, and oppositions and hindrances count for nothing. We want more faith in Divine providence, in the inward inspirations and outward directings of God. Where he sets us we must bear, conquer, and do.
III. WAYS ALWAYS OPEN BEFORE THE OBEDIENT, RESOLUTE. TRUSTFUL MAN. Firmness, moral courage, persistency, and, above all, real faith in God, compel difficulties to yield. They are always according to the size of the man himself. If he is big with faith, they grow small; if he is little with fears, they grow big. Obstacles are searching tests of character. Men of faith are like the mountain streams that make their way down amid the rocks; if they cannot get over the rocks, they go round them, but they will not be stopped.R.T.
Isa 45:4, Isa 45:5
The Divine surnaming.
“I that call thee by thy name.” “I have titled thee” (Cheyne’s translation). Some think the reference is to the name Cyrus, or Koresh, regarded as a new title for one who was originally known as Agradates.” Others, with more probability, think the reference is to the honourable epithets, “my shepherd,” “my anointed.” Our knowledge of Cyrus has been modified, in some very important particulars, by recent discoveries of Babylonian inscriptions. Professor Sayce is of opinion that, “We must give up the belief that Cyrus was a monotheist, bent on destroying the idols of Babylon. On the contrary, from the time when we first hear of him, he is a worshipper of Bel-Merodach, the patron-god of Babylon; and the first care of himself and his son, after his conquest of Babylonia, is to restore the Babylonian gods to the shrines from which they had been impiously removed by Nabonidos.” “The theory,” he says, “which held that Cyrus had allowed the Jews to return to ‘their own land because, like them, he believed in but one supreme godthe Ormazd, or good spirit,, of the Zoroastrian creedmust be abandoned. God consecrated Cyrus to be his instrument in restoring his chosen people to their land, not because the King of Elam was a monotheist, but because the period of Jewish trial and punishment had come to an end.” It has been thought by some that this prophecy of Isaiah concerning Cyrus was brought to that king’s notice, and so helped to secure its own fulfilment. It is agreed that this Cyrus was a singularly just and noble monarch. Dr. H. Bushnell says, “So beautiful is the character and history of Cyrus, the person here addressed, that many have doubted whether the sketch given by Xenophon was not intended as an idealizing or merely romantic picture And what should he be but a model of all princely beauty, of bravery, of justice, of impartial honour to the lowly, of greatness and true magnanimity in every form, when God has girded him, unseen, to be the minister of his own great and sovereign purposes to the nations of his time?” Dean Stanley says, “Though we know but little of the individual character of Cyrus, he first of the ancient conquerors, appears in other than a merely despotic and destructive aspect. It can hardly be without foundation that both in Greek and Hebrew literature he is represented as the type of a just and gentle prince.” Three subjects are suggested.
I. THE DISTINCT ENDOWMENTS OF MEN INDICATE DIVINE CALL TO DIVINE WORK, In the Divine sovereignty and wisdom there is a proportionate distribution of gifts among men. In the figure of our Lord’s parable, we may say, the master of the house calls together his servants, and delivers to each one some portion of his goods in trust. Very marked are the varieties of endowment and ability in a single family. We are often made to feel that God has given special gifts to some of our children; but we should see that these cases are only prominent illustrations of the truth that he has given some gifts to all. We all have some special work to do for God in the world, and so we all have some special endowments for the doing of it. Every man is called of God, girded by God, surnamed by God, and the moment when he clearly sees what his lifework is, is the moment when he becomes conscious of his call. Bushnell says, “What do the Scriptures show us but that God has a particular care for every man, a personal interest in him, and a sympathy with him and his trials, watching for the uses of his one talent as attentively and kindly, and approving him as heartily in the right employment of it, as if he had given him ten? and what is the giving out of the talents itself but an exhibition of the fact that God has a definite purpose, charge, and work, be it this or that, for every man?” “Every human soul has a complete and perfect plan cherished for it in the heart of Goda Divine biography marked out, which it enters into life to live.” The point on which we dwell is that the sense of power, the consciousness of power, is the witness to God’s call; and the responsibility of using the power to do God’s work comes with the consciousness. To say “I can” is to affirm that there is something God wants me to do.
II. THE PRECISE TIME IN WHICH A MAN HAS TO LIVE INDICATES DIVINE CALL AND WORK. Each one comes into being at the “fulness of time” for him. It is sometimes said that great preachers and thought-leaders of the past would do little if they lived now. The saying is a foolish one. They belonged to their age, and were endowed for their age. The Divine lead was as marked in the time of their appearing as in the gifts with which they were endowed. In each age God wants men
(1) who can represent the age, and find expression for the average thought of the age;
(2) men who are before the age, and can lead the age up towards the thoughts and things that are to be; and
(3) men who are behind the age, and zealously preserve the good things of the past that may seem to be imperilled. A man may say, “God has called me to live just now; then I may be quite sure that there is something which he wants me to do for him, and which he has fitted me to do, just now.” Thus viewed, life grows solemn and holy for us all. We have our own work to do.
III. THE PROVIDENTIAL CULTURE OF MEN FITS THEM FOE DOING GOD‘S PRECISE WORK FOR THEM. This is often imperfectly apprehended. We are precisely endowed, and set forth in the world at just the right time; but it is important that we further trace how God cultures the gifts by the influences with which he surrounds us, and the providences he arranges for us. Often when men have found out what their life-work is to be, they gain the key to the meaning of the scenes and circumstances through which they have been led.R.T.
Isa 45:7
One source of evil and good.
“I make peace, and create evil.” It is an unworthy forcing of Scripture to set this passage in relation to the insoluble difficulty of the origin of moral evil. Two things are often sadly confoundedevil as an unpleasant state of our circumstances; and evil as a wrong condition of our will. The latter is referable to God only in the sense that he gave to man a moral nature and a capacity of choice. The former view of evil is that alluded to in the passage now before us. It has been thought that the passage was written in view of the principles of Persian dualism. “The Magi taught that there are two coeternal supramundane beingsOrmazd, the pure and eternal principle of light, the source of all that is good; and Ahriman, the source of darkness, the fountain of all evil, both physical and moral. These two divide the empire of the world, and are in perpetual conflict with each other.” Perhaps Isaiah deals here with evil and good as they are regarded by man, not as they are estimated by God. The “good” here is that which is pleasant; the “evil” is that which is painful; and the assertion is that both the pleasant and the painful are within the Divine controlling, and are forces used by God to secure certain high moral ends. “Darkness” represents the misery and woe of the exile; “light” represents the happy state to which Israel was to be restored through the agency of Cyrus.
I. THE TENDENCY TO THINK OF A SEPARATE SOURCE OF EVIL. So great are the disturbances of God’s order through man’s sin and wilfulness, that human life seems more full of calamities and anxieties than of blessings and good. This is man’s impression, and he has ever been disposed to say, “The good God cannot send these calamities; they must have a source of their own.” Men are always ready to make Ahrimans, Sivas, or Typhons, to explain the existence of physical evils.
IX. THE TENDENCY TO GIVE ALMOST EXCLUSIVE WORSHIP TO THE EVIL–GOD. To ward off evil seems to be a more pressing thing than to be good or to obtain good, and so the supreme effort is made to propitiate the evil-god. Illustrate by the heathen sailors in the boat with Jonah, exposed to storms. We even need to be most careful in our conceptions of Satan, lest a notion of his independence should divide our worship between him and Jehovah. He must be thought of as dependent on God, even as we.
III. THE INEVITABLE DEGRADATION OF HUMAN WORSHIP, UNDER. THIS CONDITION. The maintenance of high morality is found absolutely to depend on the jealous preservation of the truth of the Divine unity.R.T.
Isa 45:9
The sin and folly of resisting God.
The truth of the Divine sovereignty must be clearly and faithfully presented. But we must carefully guard God from all charges of caprice or favouritism. We must liken him to man, in order to apprehend him at all; but we must eliminate from our figure of man all that is weak and self-seeking. The infinite holiness and infinite wisdom of God glorifies his sovereignty. He does what he wills with his own; but what he wills to do is always the absolute best, the eternally right. It must, then, be mistaken, unworthy, and wrong for us to resist God. “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” The immediate reference of the text is to those who murmured at the delay of the deliverance from exile. “Woe unto him who, though made of earth, and with no intrinsic superiority over others of his race, presumes to find fault with his Maker, and to criticize providential arrangements!” Matthew Henry says, “Men are but earthen pots, nay, they are broken potsherds, and are made so very much by their mutual contentions. They are dashed in pieces one against another; and, if they are disposed to strive, let them strive with one another, let them meddle with their match; but let them not dare to contend with him that is infinitely above them, which is as senseless and absurd as for the clay to find fault with the potter, as unnatural as for a child to find fault with his parents.” Criticizers of God may be classed under two heads
(1) those who only question and raise doubts;
(2) those who arrogantly condemn.
Some of the people of Israel were looking for a deliverer to arise from among themselves, and criticized God’s delay, and then criticized his delivering by the agency of a heathen prince. The plea urged is this: “Will Israel be more wise than God?” We have here suggested three stages of unworthy treatment of God.
I. CRITICIZING. There are two ways of judging the actions of others, and they differ by the difference in their tone and spirit rather than in the acts themselves.
1. We may judge with the prevailing disposition to find out all that is good.
2. We may judge with the prevailing disposition to find fault. This is always unworthy, but never so unworthy as where applied to the ways and works of God.
II. CONDEMNING. Always a doubtful thing for man to do, seeing he is invested with neither authority nor ability for such work. Always wrong and unworthy, if man’s condemnation of God, seeing that he cannot compass the whole of God’s reasons, motives, and aims. Man never knows enough to allow him to venture on a condemnation.
III. WORKING AGAINST. Translating bad opinions into bad conduct. Allowing criticism to encourage enmity. Illustrate from Saul of Tarsus, who ventured to criticize and condemn God’s Messiah, and then thought himself justified in working against him.R.T.
Isa 45:15
The joy of mystery in God.
“Surely thou art a God that hideth himself, O God of Israel, Saviour!” (Cheyne’s translation). This represents the average feeling of the captives. God’s ways, though excellent, are not as man’s ways; they are often hidden from men. They are mysterious ways; but faith rises above the mysteries, and calls them “good ways.”
(1) God’s plans are hidden in the counsels of eternity;
(2) God’s work is often hidden in the variety of the agencies he employs; and
(3) God’s results cause surprise and joy when they can be revealed. Dealing with this subject in a larger way, we inquire
I. WHAT IS GOD TO MAN‘S SEEING? In our pride of heart we are very unwilling to admit the limitation or imperfection of our faculties. We can know so much; why cannot we know God? We can see so much; why cannot we see God? Men are restless, and bitterly fret, because the dark mists still fringe and hide the “mountain-peak of a God.” They say, “If it be so to our vision down in the plains of common life, then we will climb the hills of science, get up above, and look down on the peak, and shatter for ever the mysteries that surround him.” Some expect to return to us with a scornful smile, prepared to say, “There is no God, only a high peak, which the unclouded sun gilds with a perpetual radiance; and this, shining through the clouds, made you think there was a God.”
“Then all goes wrong: the old foundations rock;
One scorns at him of old who gazed unshod;
One, striking with a pickaxe, thinks the shock
Shall move the seat of God.
“A little way, a very little way
(Life is so short), they dig into the rind,
And they are very sorryso they say
Sorry for what they find.
“O marvellous credulity of man!
If God indeed kept secret, couldst thou know
Or follow up the mighty Artisan
Unless he willed it so?”
(Jean Ingelow.)
Human vision cannot see all round. When it can see the under-world and the within, world, it may begin to boast that it can see the beyond-world. But not till then. And what it does see it can only see imperfectly. Only sides and parts and aspects. With the great heap of human attainments lying before us, we may say, “Lo, these are parts of his ways; but the thunder of his power who can understand?” Do you want to see God all round and right through? Be assured of this: “No mortal vision, pure or sinning, hath seen the face.” Better, far better, to adore and love the mystery of God and God’s ways.
II. WHAT IS GOD BEYOND MAN‘S SEEING? Man’s foolish ambition is to see everything with his bodily eyes. Man’s true wisdom is in knowing God through the soul-visions that are granted to faith. And, beyond our seeing of the clouds and the mystery, what is God?
1. To our seeing, there is much difficulty and mystery about God’s ruling of the earth; but our souls know that he reigns in righteousness.
2. To our seeing, there is much cloud and mystery about God’s providential dealings with us; but our souls know that he makes “all things work together for good.”
3. To our seeing, the redemption of the human race from sin is a profound and awful mystery; but our souls know that Christ “shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.”
4. To our seeing, the future of the human race is all hung about with clouds and darkness. The very terms, “eternal life,” “eternal death,” are but folds of the wondrous veil that hides the unspeakable from our view; but our souls do enter into rest. Righteousness and love will preside over man’s future, as truly as over the past and the present. We may rejoice in a God who hideth himself. We may be glad that the clouds hang low about him, that the mystery of him cannot be solved, and that he therefore calls for a great wondering, lowly adoration, and the perfect trust. Our God is within the grasp neither of our hand nor of our mind. Nothing in heaven above or earth beneath can be, in any full sense, a likeness of him. The grandest things do but hint his grandeur; the most lovely things do but suggest his loveliness; the truest things are but faint echoes of his truth. Away, beyond us, above us, he soars into the “light inaccessible “our ever-blessed God, who, though he hideth himself, is our Saviour.R.T.
Isa 45:19
Seeking in vain.
Henderson regards this as an appeal “to the publicity” and perspicuity with which the Divine predictions had been announced; with manifest reference to the responses of the heathen oracles, which were given from deep and obscure caverns, or the hidden recesses of temples; and were, at the best, artful and equivocal, and, in cases of extreme difficulty, were altogether withheld.” Cheyne says, “The heathen oracles are as obscure in their origin as they are unveracious and disappointing. Those who deliver them say, as it were, ‘Seek ye me as chaos.’ But the revelations of Jehovah are the embodiments of righteousness and uprightness.” (comp. Pro 8:6). It may be urged
(1) that God’s message to men is plain;
(2) is satisfactory;
(3) is just.
Or it may be shown that God’s will is clearly and sufficiently revealed, in all its several forms:
(1) in creation;
(2) in history;
(3) in individual experiences;
(4) in Word-revelations spoken directly within man, as the law of conscience; and
(5) in Word-revelations spoken to man, as the law of conduct.
It is suggestive of illustration to recall the declaration of our Lord Jesus, “In secret have I said nothing” (Joh 18:20). Another line of treatment may be offered.
I. MEN‘S SELF–PURSUITS END IN VANITY. We do “seek them in vain” Illustrations should be taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is precisely thisa man’s record of his seeking the “chief good” as he could conceive it. He sought this way and that, in every conceivably hopeful direction, and with every possible advantage in the search; and his conclusion of the matter is, “Nothing satisfies. All is vanity.” Byron sought self-satisfaction in pursuing self-ends; and long ere old age could come with its burdens he wrote, “The worm, the canker, and the grief, are mine alone.” Before the ruins of the self-seeking life, we stand and say, “So is he who heapeth up riches for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
II. MAN–MADE RELIGIONS END IN VANITY. To trust them is “spending money for that which is not bread.” Illustrate this by showing how, in St. Paul’s day, the Athenians had multiplied gods because, one after another, they had been sought, and failed to satisfy; and at length they even, in their unrest, inscribed altars to the “Unknown God.”
III. GOD‘S WAY OF LIFE IS ABUNDANTLY SATISFYING. It is a living fountain of waters.
1. It meets the soul-cry for righteousness in God.
2. It meets the soul-cry for pardon of sin.
3. It meets the soul-cry for restored and happy relations with God.
4. It meets the soul-cry for power to perform that which is good.
5. It meets the yearning of the soul for assurance concerning the future.
So men never seek God in vain.R.T.
Isa 45:21
Just and saving.
The idea is that God is strictly faithful to his covenant, and therefore he must be a saving God. Saving is implied and involved in the covenant. There is the further assertion that God stands alone as a Saviour; there is no God who can save besides him. The point which may be unfolded and illustrated is that there is here declared the union of two attributes in God which, in human actions, are often thought to be incompatible. The just man is thought of as likely to punish. The just God is sure to save.
I. MAN‘S IDEA ISJUST AND PUNISHING. Our minds are mostly occupied with the work of justice in finding and punishing evil-doers. Consequently, a very limited forensic idea of justice has come to possess men’s minds; and this limited and unworthy notion of justice we too readily apply to God; and according to it settle God’s relations with men. But justice is properly “doing right by men” and “setting men right,” and mere punishment is only an accident of the true work of justice; or, we may say, one of its agencies in doing its higher work. Justice is as truly delivering men out of the hands of the wicked, as it is punishing the evil-doer. This position should be fully illustrated, and it will prepare the way for the consideration of the next division.
II. GOD‘S IDEA ISJUST AND SAVING. With God the “just” means the “right,” and that always includes the “kind.” This may be opened in several ways.
1. God is just in saving his people from disasters which others have brought on them.
2. God is just in saving them from the consequences of their own infirmities and follies.
3. God is just in saving men from their sins by punishing them for their sins.
4. God is just in saving them from punishment, when the ends of punishment have been secured.
5. God is just in finding a way by which, through the voluntary sacrifice of his Son, his honour can be maintained while his mercy is extended to guilty and helpless sinners. His saving, in Christ Jesus, is the expression of his justice. He is the “Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus.”R.T.
Isa 45:22
Salvation by looking.
The illustration at once suggested is that of the Israelites, healed from the bite of the serpents by looking at the God-provided brazen serpent, lifted up on high in the middle of the camp. This familiar subject needs only a bare outline of points to unfold and impress.
I. HIM TO WHOM WE SHOULD LOOK. “I, if I be lifted up,” said Christ, “will draw all men unto me.” “That whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”
II. THE LOOK THAT SAVES.
1. The look of conscious need.
2. The look of personal helplessness.
3. The look of humility.
4. The look of faith.
III. THE SALVATION THAT COMES BY LOOKING.
1. Salvation from the penalty due to sin.
2. From the wrong relations brought about by sin.
3. From the bad inward state induced by sin.
“For all within you, Guido, which sighs after a redemption, is Christ come as a Redeemer; he has redeemed your heart and your reason; he has redeemed your spirit and your body; he has redeemed yourself and nature which surrounds you” (Tholuck).R.T.
Isa 45:23
The Lord’s final triumph.
(Comp. Php 2:10.) It should be noticed that “kneeling” and “swearing to” are acts of homage and fealty; and they are so used in this passage. Still we “swear” allegiance to a sovereign. “If the heart be brought into obedience to Christ, and made willing in the day of his power, the knee will bow to him in humble adoration and addresses, and in cheerful obedience to his commands, submission to his disposals, and compliance with his will in both; and the tongue will swear to him, will lay a bond upon the soul to engage it for ever to him.” The point suggested for illustration is thisHow can the faith of Israel claim to be the universal religion for mankind? The answer is that, beneath its forms and ceremonials, which were but illustrations of its truths, it holds all the absolute essentials of religion, and these can gain varied expression, to suit the genius of all races, in all climes and periods. These essentials are
I. THE TRUTH THAT THERE IS ONE GOD, AND HE IS A SPIRITUAL BEING.
II. THE FACT THAT THIS ONE GOD HAS REVEALED HIS WILL.
III. THE DEMAND THAT THIS ONE GOD SHOULD BE HONOURED BY MAN‘S FAITH AND SERVED BY MAN‘S RIGHTEOUSNESS.R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Isa 45:1-3. Thus saith the Lord See ch. Isa 41:2-3. Cyrus is called the Lord’s anointed; that is to say, appointed by the divine counsel to perform God’s good pleasure, and furnished for that purpose by the divine providence with the necessary endowments. Whose right hand I have holden, should rather be rendered, Whose right hand I have taken hold of. See ch. Isa 41:6. To loose the loins of kings, signifies, to render them weak and infirm, unprepared and unable to oppose Cyrus. Comp. ch. Isa 5:27, &c. To open before him the two-leaved gates, &c. signifies, that the most strongly-fortified cities, most closely shut and guarded, such as were Babylon and Sardis, should be compelled to open their gates to this conqueror, aided by God. In the next clause there is a manifest allusion to the gates of Babylon, for Nebuchadnezzar made 25 gates of solid brass to every side of the great wall which encompassed Babylon; the whole number of the brazen gates being 100. In the third verse it is promised, that Cyrus should find much hidden spoil and great treasures among the conquered nations; and accordingly we learn from history, that the riches which he gained in his conquests amounted to a prodigious value: Nor can we wonder at it; for those parts of Asia, at that time, abounded in wealth and luxury. Babylon had been heaping up treasures for many years; and the riches of Croesus, king of Lybia, whom Cyrus conquered and took prisoner, are in a manner become proverbial. The rapidity and wonderful success of Cyrus were such, that heathen historians have particularly remarked the interposition of the Deity in his cause: “O son of Cambyses, the gods certainly respect thee, or thou couldest not have arrived at such good fortune,” says Harpagus to him in Herodotus, lib. i. 100. 124. See Bishop Newton, vol. 1 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
VI.THE SIXTH DISCOURSE
The Crowning Point of the Prophecy. Cyrus and the Effects of his Appearance
Isaiah 45
1. THE DEEDS OF CYRUS. THEIR REASON AND AIM
Isa 45:1-7
1Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have 1holden,
To subdue nations before him;
And I will loose the loins of kings,
To open before him the two leaved gates;
And the gates shall not be shut;
2I will go before thee,
And make the 2crooked places straight:
I will break in pieces the gates of brass,
And cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness,
And hidden riches of secret places,
That thou mayest know that I, the Lord,
Which call thee by thy name,
Am the God of Israel.
4For Jacob my servants sake,
And Israel mine elect,
I have even called thee by thy name:
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5I am the Lord, and there is none else,
There is no God beside me:
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6That they may know from the rising of the sun,
And from the west, that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord, and there is none else.
73I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil:
I the Lord do all these things.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 45:1. infin. for ; only here in Isaiah; comp. Psa 144:2.Regarding the structure of the sentence, notice that first the Prophet speaks, but immediately surrenders the word to the Lord; then both infinitive clauses and according to common usage change to the finite verb.
Isa 45:2. , Piel as Isa 40:3; Isa 45:13; Pro 3:6; Pro 11:5; Pro 25:21; the reading of Kthibh is suspected here, as in Psa 5:9, because the Jod in all other forms of this verb, (comp. Pro 4:25 and the foregoing citations) is treated, not as quiescent, but as a strong consonant.
Isa 45:3. and are expressions that occur only here; see List.In the last clause is subject, in apposition with it, is predicate and supplemental apposition with the subject. All emphasis here rests on .
Vers, 4, 5. The imperfects and stand with a past sense, because the whole context, dominated by , translates the reader into the past, or because the Vav. Consec. in also dominates the subordinate verbs.
Isa 45:6. is subject; the at the end of is suffix, comp. Isa 23:17-18; Isa 34:17, since occidens elsewhere is always .
Isa 45:7. The participles , , , stand in apposition with the subject of the foregoing clause.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. We are here pretty near the middle of the prophetic cycle, chapters 4048. All that precedes was a gradual ascent to the culmination point, to which the name of Cyrus, Isa 44:28, immediately leads over. On this elevated point the Prophet pauses in chap. 45, in order to represent the deeds of Cyrus, the reason and aim of his calling, and in a comprehensive view to exhibit the effects of his appearance. He calls Cyrus the anointed of the Lord whom the Lord has grasped by the hand, and to whom He will bring in subjection nations and kings, Himself going before and removing all obstacles, and handing over to him all hidden treasures (Isa 45:1-2). This the Lord prophesies and fulfils for a threefold reason: 1) That Cyrus himself may know Jehovah, that the God of Israel, who centuries before called him to be His instrument, mentioning his name, is the true God (Isa 45:3); 2) that Israel might be delivered by him (Isa 45:4-5); 3) that all nations also might acknowledge Jehovah as the only God, Creator of light and darkness, good and evil (Isa 45:6-7).
2. Thus saithsecret places.
Isa 45:1-3 a. All that the Prophet from chap. 40 on has said concerning the infinite power, wisdom, and glory of Jehovah, and in contrast concerning the nothingness of idols, was intended to prepare for the great act that is accomplished by the mention of the name of Cyrus. And, when we recall the things there declared of Jehovah, shall not such an one be able to call Cyrus, as a particularly important and chosen instrument, centuries in advance, with the mention of his name? No one will deny that He can do this if He can do the other things the Prophet has affirmed of Him from chap. 40 on. Those who controvert the former because they also regard the other things affirmed as impossible, in other words: those who deny a personal, omniscient, and almighty God, must at least admit that the author of these discourses, whoever he may have been, believed in such a God. Therefore he represents his God as prophesying something great and quite extraordinary. Did he then write something not divinely prophesied, but something already happened ex eventu, would that not be a wicked sporting with the holy name of God? Is it not blasphemy? But does what we read in chapters 4066 give the impression of having been the work of an impostor and blasphemer? If now the living, personal God could know the name of Cyrus centuries beforehand and put it on record, the only question is whether He can have willed to do this? Of this we will speak below in considering the three reasons the Prophet himself assigns for Gods so willing (comp. the thrice, Isa 45:3-4; Isa 45:6).
Cyrus is not called Servant of Jehovah, although in a certain sense he was such. On the other hand Israel, both the nation in general and the spiritual Israel is never called Messiah, anointed, whereas the Saviour of Israel is called both. From this I must infer that in Servant of the Lord there lies as much the idea of lowliness as there lies the idea of royal dignity and elevation in anointed or Messiah. Hence Israel is called only servant of the Lord, Cyrus only anointed, but the Redeemer bears both names, inasmuch as He was both the lowly servant and the anointed king. Moreover Cyrus is the sole heathen king whom the Scripture calls anointed. We learn from this that the work of the Holy Spirit who gives the anointing, must in him have been, not merely indirect, but direct and especially intensive. The word in fact occurs only here in Isaiah, and therefore only in reference to Cyrus. is used here as in Isa 41:9; Isa 41:13; Isa 42:6. Jehovah strengthens Cyrus by holding him by the right hand, and thereby he subdues the nations to him and thereby he looses the loins of kings. The latter expression is figurative. The girdle binds and holds the strength of the man (Isa 11:5; Pro 31:17). By removing the girdle the strength is weakened, and also the sword that hangs at the girdle is taken from the warrior. Moreover the expression to open the loins (comp. Isa 5:27) is metonymic like (Isa 14:17). If the strength of men is broken, they can neither hold the doors of their houses, nor hold the gates of their cities closed against the hero, although it is not to be denied that the unclosed gates may have also other reasons. [Are not gates closed and barred the girdles that bind the loins of kings?Tr.] J. Dav. Michaelis (Anmerk. f. Ungel p. 235) calls attention to the fact that Cyrus actually found the gates leading out to the river from the shore unclosed, and Herodotus remarks that had not this been the case, the Babylonians could have caught the Persians as in a weir-basket (I., 191). Notice that the words from to recall the first half of Isa 41:2, b. I will go before thee, so the Lord begins his direct address to Cyrus, that of Isa 45:1 being in the 3d pers. This is probably an allusion to that promise that Moses gives Joshua (Deu 31:8), the Lord He it is that doth go before thee, and to Deborahs word to Barak, Jdg 4:14. Certainly it is a great word that the Lord here speaks to Cyrus. By this He makes the cause of the latter His own. He will make level the loca tumida ( again only Isa 63:1, the swelled up, proud, self-inflated), i.e., the obstacles that pile up like mountains, and will break down all resistance, even of brazen doors and bars of iron. Here too J. D. Mich. calls attention to the fact that Babylon had a hundred brazen doors, but not in Isaiahs time. For Nebuchadnezzar was the first to fortify the city in this way (according to Megasthenes in Eusebius, Praep. ev. IX. 41, comp. Herod. I., 179). The second half of Isa 45:2 is reproduced in Psa 107:16.
Isa 45:3 a. The ancients give great accounts of the prodigious treasure that Cyrus obtained in Sardis and Babylon (Herod. 1:84, 88 sq., 183; Cyrop. VII. 2, 5 sqq., 4, 12 sq., 5, 57; VIII. 2, 15; Pliny, Hist. nat, 33, 2 sq., 15). Gesenius cites the Englishman Brerewood (in his book De ponderebus et mensuris, Cap. 10) as computing the sum of this gold and silver [taken from Crsus of Sardis aloneTr.] at 126,224,000. And Babylon was celebrated above all cities in point of riches (comp. Jer 50:37; Jer 51:13; (Aesch. Pers. 2), but Sardis as the [Cyrop. VII. 2, 11).
3. That thou mayest knowthese things. Isa 45:3 b7. What we have read Isa 45:1-3 a is prophecy. The prophecy alone without fulfilment were empty talk. The fulfilment without the prophecy were a fact whose author could not be recognized. Only when the fact is previously announced by its author does it prove the author of the prophecy and fulfilment to be an omniscient and omnipotent being, and, accordingly, the true God. This chief aim is realized in a three-fold respect: 1) in reference to Cyrus, 2) to Israel, 3) to all nations. Hence follows thrice, introducing each time the statement of a purpose. First. We read Isa 45:3 b, that thou mayest know that I (am) the Lord which called thee by thy name, the God of Israel (see T. and Gr.). Therefore Jehovah had regard to Cyrus directly and personally. This man is so important to him that he makes a special arrangement for bringing him to the knowledge that the God of Israel is the true God. All the emphasis here is on which call thee by thy name. Precisely this fact, that he found his name in such a remarkable connection with grand events, must have made the deepest, impression on Cyrus. But the book containing this wonderful call to him must of necessity prove its antiquity. Cyrus would easily suspect deception, and would be aware of this being possibly a flattering imposture meant to purchase his favor for the Jews. The proofs of genuineness that he might demand could easily be presented, e.g. witnesses (comp. Isa 43:9-10; Isa 44:8-9), old men, not Jews, who fifty years and more before had read these prophecies in the books of the Jews. Cyrus then must regard it as a fact that the God of the Jews had him personally in view, and destined him to greatness, and had called him by name. Why may not divinity that knows all things, know also the names of all His creatures? Was that less possible than that Cyrus knew the names of all his soldiers (see Rambachin loc)? If the latter was a fact, then Cyrus knew by experience how valuable it is to a man, who fancies he is lost in the great mass, to be known by the one highest in authority, and to be called by name.
Second. Jehovah must be recognized by Cyrus as the true God in the interest of the people of Israel. For this distinction put on Cyrus of being named by God by all his names, name and surname, and that before he, Cyrus, could know anything of the Lord, this was to be for the special advantage of that people whom Jehovah here calls His servant and His elect (see on Isa 42:1). The construction is like , Isa 44:14, which see. and are conjoined as in Isa 44:5. If is the principal name, and denotes an attributive, additional name, then may likely be meant the honorable predicates and that are given to Cyrus, Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1. , which recurs Isa 45:4-5, like a refrain, stands, in a certain sense, in antithesis with , Isa 45:3. The Lord knew and named Cyrus before Cyrus knew the Lord (or even could know, Jer 1:5) in order that Cyrus might learn to know the Lord. The chief object, which dominates the subordinate aims, appears in Isa 45:5. He who called Cyrus is with emphasis called Jehovah, the only true God. This is so done that is put as in apposition with the subject of and of Isa 45:4. This stands parallel with the same words Isa 45:3; Isa 45:6, so that thus the assignment of the chief object recurs with each assignment of the subordinate object. In Isa 45:5 and correspond in the parallelism; the former manifestly making prominent its appellative meaning: I the absolutely Existent (in the sense of Exo 3:14).I girded thee is in antithesis with the ungirding of kings, Isa 45:1. Moreover, the Prophet had evidently in mind the passage, Hos 13:4. The third subordinate aim is (Isa 45:6-7) that all nations may know Jehovah as the only true God. Here, too, as already remarked, the chief object is made prominent in I am the LORD in both verses. East and west, i.e. all nations of the entire earth shall know the Lord. From this we see that Cyrus is conceived of as the medium of a world-historical progress of the true knowledge of God that shall be coincident with the rehabilitation of the Theocracy. The book of Daniel gives evidence of revelations of God that had the same object. As the appearance of Christ did not effect the entire disappearance of heathenism, just as little and even much less could those manifestations of the true God in the centres of heathenism produce any enduring effect. But they could operate inwardly and secretly, and prepare for the appearance of the Saviour of the world. The appearance of the Magi (Matthew 2) is a proof of this.
Most expositors admit that this strong emphasizing of monotheism has relation to the Persian dualism. Would the Lord bring Cyrus to a correct knowledge of him as the only true God, it could not be without pointing to the fundamental error of the Persian view of the world. If hence one would admit that Cyrus regarded the God of Israel as identical with his own chief divinity, and recognized in the name Jehovah only another word, and that a kindred one in sense, for Ahura–mazda (comp. Fr. W. Schultz on Ezr 1:2), and generally looked on the worship of the Israelites, with its absence of images, as being like that of the Persians, still one must beware of supposing that the Prophet of Jehovah would awake in the mind of Cyrus the view that Jehovah was the same as Ahura-mazda. Our passage shows plainly that to Cyrus it would be said, Jehovah stands high above Ahura-mazda. The latter was only creator of light. But Jehovah says of Himself here: I form the light, and create darkness. That primarily light and darkness in a physical sense are meant, appears from what follows. For it is more natural to think that peace and evil say something additional, than that they merely explain light and darkness (Isa 9:1). The latter moreover would not suit because light and darkness as designations of light-substance, are per se much more comprehensive notions than peace and evil, and it cannot be meant that the Lord creates light and darkness only in the sense of salvation and evil. On the other hand, from the fact that He does not say and , but and , it is seen that nothing is meant to be affirmed concerning the origin of moral evil. The Lord would evidently present Himself, not as the absolute author of evil and good, but as the Judge of them, who prepares salvation for the pious, and destruction for the bad. To conclude, the Prophet once more emphasizes the fundamental thought of his discourse, with the words: I the LORD do all these things.
Footnotes:
[1]Or, strengthened.
[2]uneven.
[3]Formingcreatingmaking peacecreatingmaking.
2. THE FUTURE SALVATION FOUNDED THROUGH CYRUS IN CONTRAST WITH THE FAINT-HEARTEDNESS OF ISRAEL
Isa 45:8-13
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness:
Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together;
I the Lord have created it.
9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!
4Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?
Or thy work, He hath no hands?
10Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou?
Or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
11Thus saith the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker,
Ask me of things to come 5concerning my sons,
And concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
12I have made the earth,
And created man upon it:
I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens,
And all their host have I commanded.
13I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will 6 7direct all his ways:
He shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives,
Not for price nor reward,
Saith the Lord of hosts.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa 45:8. . Isa 45:11. .
Isa 45:8. The subject of is neither the taken collectively (Gesen., Ewald, Knobel, et al.), nor , together with the following (Hitzig, Delitzsch), but the before named heaven and earth. The heaven is treated as the masculine fructifying potency and the earth as the one conceiving and bearing. does not mean provenire, but proferre (comp. , fero, baren, baeren, to bear)., it is true, is elsewhere used either of God (Gen 2:9; Psa 104:14, etc.), or of the earth (Gen 3:18, etc.). But it is grammatically possible to use it in the sense of to make , to germinate, to sprout, and therefore to apply it to the sprouting plant itself (in a causative sense). The ancient versions, too, understood it so, if perhaps did not actually stand in the original text; thus the LXX. (or ); Vulg, justitia oriatur; Syr. egerminet; Targ. reveletur; Ar. crescat. The meaning is similar to that in Psa 85:12. .
Isa 45:9. Repeat before .
Isa 45:10. the sole example in Isaiah of the archaic feminine ending : comp. Olshausen, 262, e, Anm.; 244, e.
Isa 45:11. is imperative; comp. Psa 137:3, where the perfect form is used. The context altogether demands this.Just so must be taken as imperative. with accusative of the person and of the object occurs Isa 10:6; 2Sa 7:11; 1Ch 22:12; Neh 7:2, etc. Comp. the somewhat extended construction 1Sa 13:14; 1Sa 25:30; 2Sa 6:21.
Isa 45:12. In the personal pronoun is to be regarded as strengthening the suffix. For according to Eze 33:17 it is possible for the pron. separatum that intensifies the suffix to be put before. stands partly with double accusative, partly with the accusative of the person and a preposition or an infinitive following (Genesis 1, 2) or . But when it stands with the simple accusative, with no mention of what is commanded, it means to appoint, to order, to commission, and is used both of persons and of things. Thus it could be said here , whether one thinks of the of heaven personally (comp. Isa 24:21) or impersonally (Isa 48:5).
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. With the mention of the name of Cyrus and the description of his doings the Prophet has attained the culmination of his prophetic cycle. He pauses now a while on this elevation, first to sum up the future that is to follow the appearance of Cyrus in a word of prophecy that presents a glorious Messianic prospect (Isa 45:8); but he contrasts with this Israels faint-hearted unbelief, that despairingly wrangles with the Creator (Isa 45:9-10). Opposed to this unbelief the Lord admonishes them to inquire of Him respecting the future, and to commend to Him the care of His people (Isa 45:11), urging this not with new grounds of comfort, but only repeating emphatically the old, viz.: that He who can make heaven and earth (Isa 45:12) has also raised up Cyrus to build His city and release His prisoners without receiving an outward reward (Isa 45:13).
2. Drop downcreated it.
Isa 45:8. These words characterize in general the consequences that will follow the appearance of Cyrus on the theatre of the worlds history. It is Messianic salvation that he will bring. It was not in vain that Isa 45:1 He was called Messiah. He is such really, though only in a lower, typical degree. If the Exile is the (relatively) lowest point of Israels humiliation, then deliverance out of Exile is the beginning of their salvation. And even if later the way of salvation still sinks down low, even below the level of the Babylonian exile, still on the whole it ascends. By the will and power of God, Cyrus is the pole on which this turning to salvation rests, and is accomplished. With one look the Prophet (Isa 45:8) surveys the entire future and observes, as the pith of it, an all-comprehending salvation, that involves also the regeneration of nature. For blessing is not to bloom only in single places of the earth, but all heaven is to influence fruitfully the whole earth, so that, therefore, all nature will, as it were, become a single field bearing the fruit of salvation. Under the figure of rain is represented, in oriental fashion, the fructifying influence of the heaven on the earth (comp. Deu 32:2). According to the laws of parallelism, that which operates from above is expressed by two notionsheaven and clouds. These two notions are not co-ordinated, but subordinated. For precisely by the clouds does heaven pour out its fructifying moisture. In the second clause, as often, there is a change in the person. Although in consequence of this, each of the two clauses stands independent, thus the construction does not point to a common object, still righteousnessmust be regarded as that which drops or drizzles down from above, especially as clouds is but a nearer definition of heavens. But by righteousness is not at all to be understood the fruits of blessing that appear on earth, but much rather the pure, spiritual, heavenly life-potencies that have their foundation in the holy being of God, and hence may be called righteousness. The earth, moistened and fecundated shall open up (causative Kal=to make an opening, viz.: for the germs awakened by fecundation, comp. Psa 106:17). Therefore heaven and earth are in common to bring forth salvation, i.e., good in the objective sense, and righteousness, i.e., subjective being good, moral salvation (compare the relationship of Heil and heilig) shall germinate. (See Text. and Gram.). The prospects opened up by the Prophet are as sure and reliable as they are glorious, as is intimated by I the LORD have created it.
3. Woe unto himbrought forth.
Isa 45:9-10.The Prophet knows that this great salvation must develop slowly and with great alternations, and that hence many, in the moments of apparent standing still or even of retrogression, will become faint-hearted. Elsewhere also he reproves this despondency: Isa 40:27; Isa 51:12 sq. The whole book of the chapters 4066 is a book of consolation. Hence it begins Isa 40:1 with the double comfort ye. But the Prophet knows the human heart too well not to know, that among those for whom this book of consolation is written, there are many who will be content neither with the quality nor quantity of the comfort that is offered, and who strive with their Maker as if no comfort were there. Against these he justly utters a woe, for nothing offends God so much as unbelief. Thus there is an incisive contrast between Isa 45:8 and Isa 45:9 sqq. In Isa 45:8 we see the future beaming in clear light. But this clear light exists not for those who, when things are not as they wish, immediately despair, because they see no human help, and will not see the divine help. Yet what is man in comparison with God? Nothing more than an image of clay in comparison with the potter ( comp. Jer 18:1-5; Jer 19:1 sqq.). This comparison is all the more fitting in view of Gen 2:7, where man has just this resemblance. He is a potsherd of earth, and in fact this is the original and foundation stuff common to all men, and not of some specially weak one. In the weakness of others, each should become thoroughly conscious of his own weakness. Thus it is an aggravating circumstance in him who would strive with God that he is a potsherd among potsherds (comp. 44:11), and not an isolated sherd. An isolated case might more easily be excused for self-deception. And if man is a potsherd and God his Maker, then he may as little strive with God as the clay, could it speak, may say to the potter what makest thou (i.e., thou makest not the right thing; thou misshapest me), or as any work which thou, O man, formest, may say: he hath no hands, i.e., no power or capacity to form. This clause generalizes the thought by extending it to any human work. The suffix assumes that God would involve him who would strive with Him in an absurdity by a demonstratio ad hominem: will then thy work, whatever it may be, say to thee whoever thou mayest be: he can do nothing? hands by metonymy for that to which the hand is applied, viz., the exercise of power and skill (comp. Isa 28:2 : Psa 76:6; also the analogous use in passages like Jos 8:20, and of comp. Isa 48:14). The expression seems to be of a proverbial nature. Delitzsch cites the Arabian l jadai lahu, it is not in his power. Paul makes a well known use of this passage Rom 9:20 sq. Comp. Wis 15:7 sq.
Isa 45:10. The Prophet, by another comparison, expresses the disconsolate murmuring of the desponding creature, which, like Isa 45:9, also consists of two members. It happens (comp. Job 3:1 sqq.; Isa 10:18 sq.; Jer 20:14 sqq.) that one oppressed by sufferings wishes he had never been born. This is also the idea of Isa 45:10, only modified so that to the despairing one is imputed a complaint against his parents that they have begotten him.
4. Thus saith the Lordof hosts.
Isa 45:11-13. To this sinful, blasphemous conduct the Prophet now opposes what the true Israelite ought to do in times of the Theocracys apparent ruin: he ought to inquire of the Lord and commend to the Lord the destiny of his people. Yet the Lord will and cannot help this unbelief by new and would-be better grounds of comfort. He can only repeat the old, viz., that he who made the world has now in the person of Cyrus irrevocably appointed the instrument of the deliverance. The Holy One of Israel and his Maker.So the Lord is named Isa 45:11 in a way well be-fitting the context. For it becomes His holiness to keep His word, and His character as Maker to remain consistent and not suffer His work to come to disgrace. Beside the expression , former, Maker is occasioned by the comparison of Isa 45:9. This holy God and Almighty Creator therefore commands the Israelite who is in deepest distress to turn to him in respect to the dark future, and to inquire of him.For such was of old His will (Exo 33:7; Num 27:21; 2Ki 1:6; 2Ki 1:16), and also the custom and practice in Israel (Jos 9:14; Jdg 1:1; 1Sa 28:6; 1Sa 28:15, etc.) Even this may be done in a very improper way, Isa 58:2., comp. Isa 41:23; Isa 44:7. Concerning my children and the work of my hands (allusion to ) command ME (see Text. and Gram.). The commission, the office of caring for Israel they should give to the Lord.
Isa 45:12. That in these hands Israel will be well secured must appear from the fact that these same hands prepared heaven and earth. Thus here also, as constantly before and after (Isa 40:12; Isa 40:21; Isa 40:28; Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; Isa 45:18; Isa 48:13; Isa 51:13) the Lord proves His ability to accomplish deliverance by a reference to His character as Creator. Doubtless in My hands there is an allusion to Isa 45:9 b (see Text. and Gram.). There it is assumed that no human workmanship can say of him that formed it: he has no hands. In allusion to this, the Lord calls Israel here (Isa 45:11) the work of His hands. It is impossible that it can mean: I, i.e., not My feet, mouth or other organ, but My hands have spread out the heavens; but He would say: not the hands of another, but My hands have done this ( and , see Text. and Gram.).
The almighty Creator is also the almighty Redeemer. And He is such through Cyrus, the raising up of whom (Isa 41:2; Isa 41:25) even now to Him stands as an accomplished fact. All faint-heartedness that comes from, any sinking of Israel in the world-power, whether apprehended or experienced, the Prophet represses by the announcement that the Lordhas raised up a deliverer in righteousness (comp. on Isa 42:6). Because this one shall realize all Gods intentions, the Lord, too, will make level all his ways (Isa 45:2). And so he will rebuild the holy city (Isa 44:26; Isa 44:28) and let the prisoners go (Isa 52:3). He will do so not for price or any outward advantage. In fact one cannot see what motive of policy, or of national economy or worldly motive of any kind could have determined Cyrus to restore the Israelitish nation and its religious worship. It has been said that he would make room for other exiles. But then why did he not send the latter to Judea? And why did he make the return of the Jews optional? This last consideration shows that he had no interest to promote by it. Indeed this restoration may be pronounced a political mistake. There was some truth in the reproach that Jerusalem was a rebellious city and hurtful unto kings and provincesof old time (Ezr 4:15). For the world-power must ever feel that the kingdom of God in the midst of it is a disturbing and hurtful element. Add to this the surrender of the holy vessels (Ezr 1:7 sqq.), and the requisition to help the Jews with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts (Ezr 1:4), and one must confess that the conduct of Cyrus was very surprising and inexplicable by natural causes. This sort of sending away reminds one very much of that from Egypt (Exo 12:31 sqq.). In both cases the letting go free was not mans work, but Gods work.
Footnotes:
[4]A potsherd among the.
[5]put; after come.
[6]Or, make straight.
[7]level.
3. THE SOUTHERN WORLD-POWER IS ALSO CONVERTED TO JEHOVAH
Isa 45:14-17
14Thus saith the Lord,
The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine:
They shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over,
And they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee,
Saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else,
There is no God.
15Verify thou art a God that hidest thyself,
O God of Israel, the Saviour,
16They 8shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them:
9They shall go to confusion together
That are makers of idols.
17But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation:
Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet having discharged the painful duty of reproving Israels pusillanimity (Isa 45:8; Isa 45:13), now turns to the pleasant task of showing what will be the effect of the salvation instituted in the northern world-power on the world-power lying south of Palestine. The holy nation lay in the middle between these two world-powers. Again and again it had suffered from the friendship and the enmity of both. It had oscillated back and forth between them both, seeking support against the enmity of the one in the friendship of the other. Both, too, had contended with each other for Palestine, and more or less made Palestine their battle-field. Recall Tirhaka and Sennacherib, Pharaoh Necho and Nebuchadnezzar. Now Israel is in bondage to Babylon as it was in its youth to Egypt. But it is to be delivered from the Babylonian bondage by Cyrus. Will it also thereby be delivered from the assaults of the sinful world-power? Already in Isa 43:3 the Prophet presented the prospect of the northern world-power being in a certain sense indemnified by the surrender of the southern for mildness displayed towards Israel. And in reality Egypt became a prey to Cambyses. But the Prophet sees still more. He sees Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba not merely in chains, but turning in their chains to Israel to worship the God of Israel (Isa 45:14). They [but see below, Tr.] recognize Him as the true God, who had hitherto remained hidden (Isa 45:15). They recognize that idolatry was a false way, and that all idol-makers have come to shame (Isa 45:16), whereas Israel may confidently expect through Jehovah everlasting salvation and honor (Isa 45:17). From this it appears that the Prophet makes the southern world-power join together with Israel in honoring Jehovah, and hence also with the northern world-power, just as happens in Isa 19:23 sqq. If the South and the North, united by Israel, have become brothers, then the chains fall of themselves.
2. Thus saithin chains shall they come over.
Isa 45:14 a. To understand this passage we must take Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, not as representing the heathen world in general [Barnes, J. A. Alex., Delitzsch and others, Tr.], but as representing specially the southern world-power that was the rival of the northern. For why should just the nations about the Nile represent the heathen world? The general heathen world has its turn, Isa 45:22. The present text deals with an eminently important centre of the heathen world, viz., with that which corresponds to what in the south is now friendly to Israel. In Isa 43:3 the subjection of those nations of the Nile to Cyrus is announced. Hence they appear here as bearing chains. But the dominion of the messiah Cyrus is to be one of universal peace and blessing (Isa 45:8). In a prophetic sense, i.e., potentially it shall be such, in consequence of the influence that the world-power itself will experience from the spirit of the kingdom of God in the person of Cyrus. Hence the Prophet sees here in the subjugation of those nations of the Nile also the bridge to their conversion. They are the same thoughts that we find above, chap. 19, from Isa 45:19 on. There it is said, Isa 45:23, that Egypt shall serve Assyria. But Assyria denotes the northern world-power, which was then represented by Assyria, was later represented by Babylon, and then by Cyrus. But Egypt will also worship Jehovah. The Prophet only indicates in general how this will come about. We see in both passages that Israel is the medium. From our passage, in connection with Isa 43:3, we learn that, proceeding from Israel, first Cyrus comes to the knowledge of Jehovah, then from Cyrus (whether directly or indirectly does not appear) Egypt, so that these three, Israel in the middle, on the left the north (Assyria), on the right the south (Egypt), shall be as a glorious tritone and a blessing to the whole earth (Isa 19:24-25). As in general, taking spoil and receiving tribute are signs and fruits of victory, so in many places the Messiah or His types are represented as those to whom nations, hitherto hostile but now converted, bring their treasures or tribute (comp. Psa 45:13; Psa 68:30; Psa 68:32; Psa 72:10; Psa 72:15; Isa 60:6; Mat 2:11). Thus it is said here that Egypts acquisitions of labor (, labor, metonym. for what is acquired; again only Isa 55:2), and Ethiopias and Sebas acquisitions of commerce (, mercatura, also metonym., comp. Isa 23:3), shall come to Israel. The Egyptians were originally strictly exclusive, hence from the first not a commercial people, but they had branches of industry, Isa 19:9. Ethiopia was of old famed for great riches, comp. Herod. III., 17 sqq., and Gesen.in loc. On Seba see Isa 43:3. There is no ground for separating Ethiopia and the Sabeans, and connecting merchandize only with the former. For 1) it is grammatically allowable to subordinate one word in the construct state to several words (Gen 14:19; Psa 115:15; 2Ch 2:7, etc.); 2) Ethiopia and Seba are the same people, both may equally be called men of stature; 3) the plural does not conflict, because in compound subjects the predicate is very often ruled, not by the grammatical subject, but by the primary logical idea (comp. Isa 2:11 with Isa 5:15; Gen 4:10; Jer 2:34, etc.). Thus here, as undoubtedly appears from what follows, the chief matter with the Prophet is the passing over of the men, not of their treasures. Hence he says and hence he expresses still this thought by three verbs following. Concerning men of stature, comp. on Isa 18:2. Herod. III. Isaiah 20 : The Ethiopians are said to be the tallest and finest-looking of all men. Solin., cap. Isaiah 30 : Aethiopes duodecim pedes longi (Gesen.). The Egyptians and Ethiopians will, indeed, still come in chains. They are conquered, but precisely by their defeat they have learned to know the nothingness of their idols (Isa 45:16), and the divinity of Jehovah. But by their confession (Isa 45:14 b17) they acquire a claim to release from the chains.
3. And they shall fallwithout end. Isa 45:14 b17. And they shall fall, etc., does not say that they shall worship Israel, but that they shall worship in the direction of the land of Israel, for they know the Temple and the throne of the true God to be there (comp. Dan 6:10). In what follows we learn the contents of their prayer. The three brief but weighty words , surely God is in thee, form the fundamental thought. It is understood of course that in thee refers to the same person as the feminine suffixes in and , viz.: to Israel or Zion. The knowledge that the right God is in Zion (Psa 84:8) is herewith expressed positively. 1Co 14:25, is a quotation of our text. The same is expressed negatively and there is none else, there is no God. But this last thought must be made very emphatic. Hence is added to strengthen , of which the present is the only instance. If (comp. 16:4; Isa 29:20 and Isa 45:22, etc.), means cessatio, finis, then, beside other modifications of this meaning, it can be construed, as acc. localis, and may also have the sense of in fine. But then it says (comp. on Isa 47:8; Isa 47:10): That not at that (unthinkable) point where God ceases, does another appear. In other words: involves, indeed, the sense of praeter, praeterea. Therefore one does not need to take as a genitive relation; but construe: and there is not still in fine or in loco cessandi (viz.: of the before mentioned ) a God.
In Isa 45:15 the heathen address the God of Israel directly. [It is far more natural to take the verse as an apostrophe, expressive of the Prophets own strong feelings in contrasting what God had done and would yet do, the darkness of the present and the brightness of the future. If these things are to be hereafter, then O Thou Saviour of Thy people, Thou art indeed a God that hides Himself, that is to say, conceals His purposes of mercy under the darkness of His present dispensations.J. A. Alex. So, too, Barnes, and Delitzsch. The latter says The exclamation in Rom 11:33, O the depth of the riches, etc., is a similar one.Tr.]. They now pray to Him themselves as was intimated by and . First of all they utter the conviction that Jehovah is a God who hides Himself (comp. Isa 29:14; 1Sa 23:19; 1Sa 26:1), i.e., a God who has hitherto been hidden from them. [The LXX. favors this interpretation. It reads: for thou art God, though we did not know it, O God of Israel the Saviour.Tr.]. In that lies a trace of the knowledge never quite extinguished among the heathen, that beyond and above the multitude of gods representing the forces of nature, there is a highest Being ruling over all. The language recalls, at least as to sense, the of the Athenians, Act 17:23. It seems to me, therefore, that the designation of God as suits much better in the mouth of the heathen than of Israel. see List. This hitherto concealed God is identical with the God of Israel (thus for the latter no concealed God), and also a saving God, i.e., that is willing to help and can help and actually does help. In verse 15 is subject, predicate, apposition with the subject, and as second predicate put after in the form of an apposition. In (see List) there lies also an antithesis to the heathen idols and in so far a transition to Isa 45:16.
The necessary reverse side of the correct knowledge of God is to know the false gods as such. Isa 45:16 expresses this knowledge by emphasizing that they come to confusion. The gods of Egypt could not help Egypt; for Egypt succumbed to that power that opposed it by the commission and power of the God of Israel. They are ashamed and also confounded, see Isa 45:17; Isa 41:11 and the borrowed passages Jer 31:19; Ezr 9:6. The expression they go to confusion (which equally affirms their going into disgrace, and going about in disgrace) occurs only here. (from = ), the image, occurs in this sense only here, and Psa 49:15. The Lord having been called Saviour in Isa 45:15, and Isa 45:16 having said that idols are not this, it is now said, Isa 45:17, of Israel that Jehovah has showed Himself such a Saviour and how He has done so. For Israel is saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation (acc. modalis;Heb 9:12). Finally the speakers turn their discourse to Israel as in the beginning of it (surely God is in thee). These shall not experience what the others have with their idols: Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. The plural occurs Isa 26:4; Isa 51:9, and excepting Psa 77:6, only in later writings. The expression occurs only here. Shall those who have learned so to speak be still kept in chains by Israel?
Footnotes:
[8]are.
[9]They go.
4. AFTER THE WORLD-POWERS, ISRAEL, TOO, FINALLY RENOUNCES IDOLS AND GIVES ITSELF WHOLLY TO ITS GOD, SO THAT NOW ALL HUMAN KIND HAS BECOME A SPIRITUAL ISRAEL
Isa 45:18-25
18For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens;
10God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it,
He created it not 11in vain, he formed it to be inhabited;
I am the Lord ; and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth:
I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain:
I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations:
They have no knowledge that 12set up the wood of their graven image,
And pray unto a god that cannot save.
21Tell ye, and bring them near;
Yea, let them take counsel together:
Who hath declared this from ancient time?
Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me;
A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
2213Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
For I am God, and there is none else.
23I have sworn by myself,
The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That unto me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall swear.
2414 15Surely, shall one say,
In the Lord have I 16righteousness and strength:
Even to him shall men come;
And all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
25In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified,
And shall glory
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for recurrence of the words used, particularly: Isa 45:20. Hithp. Hithp. see Isa 45:14.
Isa 45:23. may not be construed as one notion (word of truth), for then it must read . Nor may one take as nominative in an attributive sense (as righteousness, a word) connecting it with , for that would be a contorted, unnatural expression. Out of the mouth of righteousness [J. A. Alex., Del.], is indeed grammatically correct, but this personifying of righteousness and this distinction of it as a speaking person from Jehovah Himself were something very peculiar. For are not the one swearing and the one speaking this word that cannot be frustrated one and the same? We must construe parallel with and as a noun with the suffix of the first person. But then must be taken as accusative. It is the accusat. adverbialis, that stands for the substantive with a preposition and expresses the modality, of whatever sort it may be. Thus, as is well known, substantives often stand, as (Jer 23:28), (Psa 119:78), (Isa 31:7), (Job 21:34), (Psa 75:3), etc. and stand in pointed antithesis. before stands according to the peculiar Hebrew paratactic mode of expression. In our idiom we would say: which will not go back,or, less exactly: that will not go back.
Isa 45:24. =in regard to me, comp. Isa 5:1; Isa 41:7; Gen 20:13. = they say, comp. Isa 25:9; Isa 65:8, etc. = let one come. It is the same impersonal construction as in comp. Isa 6:10; Isa 10:4; Isa 14:32; Isa 18:5; Isa 33:20, etc. It is indeed not impossible that a before has fallen out because of the following before ; but grammatical reasons by no means compel such an assumption.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. With these words the Prophet concludes his contemplation of the future salvation that is connected with Cyrus. It is assuredly not an accident that only after Cyrus and the northern world-power represented by him and after the southern world-power are noticed, does he turn to Israel in order to announce also to it what shall be its part in that future salvation. Here, too, the chief point is again the knowledge of Jehovah as the only true God. Jehovah, who made the heavens, even that suffices to prove Him to be the God; Jehovah, who also formed the earth, of which He is also the orderer and disposer, but who according to His goodness prepared the earth as a friendly dwelling for men, justly says of Himself: I am the absolute Being, and another beside Me there is not (Isa 45:18). But this same Jehovah has chosen a people out of mankind for His particular inheritance and property, and from the first He has clearly and publicly proclaimed what He purposes to do with this people. And He has in that plainly expressed that, as with the creation He had in mind the salvation of mankind, so, too, He had in mind the salvation of this people, as the reward that a just and right thinking lord gives his servants, when He made those arrangements in which this people were to serve as means and instrument (Isa 45:19). This people is to receive salvation through Cyrus. This having happened, Israel delivered from the heathen may be summoned to acknowledge idolatry to be a foolish and ruinous error (Isa 45:20). After being summoned, too, to give information and to settle by consultation what they have lived through and experienced, they must confess: Jehovah foretold all that would come about; as He foretold so it has turned out. Jehovah alone is the true God (Isa 45:21). The world-powers and Israel having so acknowledged Jehovah, He can now call to all mankind: turn to Me as to Him who blesses you (Isa 45:22). Thus will be fulfilled what the Lord hath sworn and announced as not to be frustrated, that to Him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear (Isa 45:23). All will then acknowledge that only in Jehovah is salvation, and that hostility to Him brings only ruin (Isa 45:24). All mankind, become one in the glory and praise of the Lord, will then have become seed of Israel.
2. For thus saith the Lordnone beside Me.
Isa 45:18-21. For, beginning Isa 45:18, connects with Isa 45:17. There it is said Israel is saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. This, spoken by the heathen, is here confirmed by the Lord as correct, by saying that of course He did not call Israel to a fruitless service ( Isa 45:19), but promised him a just reward. For now the Lord turns to Israel to say to him wherein the blessing promised to them in Cyrus will culminate. The Prophet knows that Israel still inclines to idolatry, that fundamental evil of the natural man. But he also knows that Israel, utterly broken by the Exile, and wholly convinced, by the way of prophecy and fulfilment, of Jehovahs being the only God, will, from the time of their deliverance by Cyrus, renounce idolatry. We know that the Exile made a decisive turning-point in the religious life of the Israelites. Coarse idolatry they renounced from that time on. Yet the inward as well as the outward deliverance by Cyrus was only a beginning. But in this beginning the Prophet sees already the completion, according to his complex way of regarding history. Thus in Isa 45:18 he tells how that everlasting salvation will come about. A fundamental condition is for Israel to attain to the lively knowledge expressed by the words: I am the Lord, and there is none else. The foundation of this is double; what pertains to the history of the world and what to the history of salvation. The former consists in this, that Jehovah before all made the heavens, which is proof enough that He alone is God. For He who made the world to come, the abode of spirits, of elohim, must He not Himself be Elohim? yea, as the Creator of the elohim world, he is exalted above all elohim, therefore the Elohim (comp. e.g., Psa 97:9). Such is the sense of the parenthesis: He is God, Isa 45:18. In the second place the Lord proves His sole divinity by the fact that He formed the earth, and made it (ready), comp. Isa 43:7. As to that created the heavens there is added in parenthesis a nearer definition, so there is to that formed the earth and made it. In both cases the parenthesis begins with . The first consists of two words; the second of two words , He established it, and a nearer explanation. For at first sight this seems redundant after and . But we learn from the following words to that is not used in the sense of fundare, which is its common meaning elsewhere, but in the sense of (LXX.) to equip, prepare (comp. Deu 32:6, where, too, follows ; and especially the Hiphil of like meaning, Isa 14:21; Gen 43:16; 1 Kings 5:32; 6:19, etc.). By this is expressed the final equipment or adaptation to an object, in contrast with the original making. That such is the sense is expressly said by the words not empty did He create it. For these words affirm that the object of creating and forming was not that the earth might remain empty, but that it might become fit for dwelling, and the Prophet designates by the activity that prepares, sets in order the product of the creating, forming, making. Thus men prepare a friendly dwelling for their children, friends, dear guests. Therefore this preparation is a proof of the goodness and kindness of our God.
But for this I am Jehovah and there is none beside there is also a foundation in what pertains to the history of salvation. God had sought out Israel as a peculiar treasure to be the medium of His thoughts of salvation, and lifted them high up and then cast them down. He did not choose them that they might end in wild chaos, any more than He made the earth to be empty. He had never required this people to seek Him in vain, for nothing, as it were in the emptiness (so to speak, to trace out, find out the hidden, Isa 45:15). But He had said: what is right and proper, shall be to you. here is not the abstract, subjective righteousness, but the concrete, objective right, as in the expressions (Psa 15:2, etc.) (lsa. Isa 64:4, etc). comp. Isa 33:15. Also is to be taken in the concrete and objective sense (comp. Isa 33:15). This promise: what is right shall be yours, God did not make in secret (48:16; Psa 139:15) so that it can come under no investigation, and cannot be proved to have actually happened. For He did not speak in, say, caves and hiding-places, such as the heathen oracles let themselves be heard from, but He spoke before all the world. If now the Lord has given His people the promise of a good time and happy dwelling after the chaos, and the promise is fulfilled exactly as it runs, there is the proof that Jehovah is omniscient. As by the creation He has shown Himself the Almighty and the All-good to all mankind, so, by the promise given to Israel and by its fulfilment He showed Himself to the people whose history is that of redemption to be the Omniscient and All-good. But as the All-good, All-mighty and All-knowing He is the God, Jehovah, the Absolute.
According to Isa 45:19 the Prophet assumes that all will come to pass as promised so publicly, and that by means of Cyrus. For Isa 45:20 sqq. we find ourselves translated into the time after the emancipation. Hence the Israelites are called escaped of the nations, and he that helped them to this title can be no other than Cyrus. Therefore in the time of the deliverance effected by Cyrus the redeemed are to assemble, and come and draw near in order to elicit the facts resultant from the preceding course of history. The resultant is negative and positive. The negative is stated Isa 45:20 b, viz.They know nothing those carrying the wood of their graven image, and praying to a god that will not save., comp. Isa 44:9; Isa 44:18; Isa 56:10, a kind of causative Kal, comp. on Isa 45:8, therefore properly: not to exercise knowledge. , comp. Isa 46:1; Isa 46:7. , comp. Lam 4:17.By this is expressed, that after the deliverance by Cyrus Israel will at last definitely come to the knowledge of the folly and nothingness of idolatry.We learn in Isa 45:21 the positive result of that counseling. But the announcement of it is again introduced by a solemn summons to use the needful deliberation (comp. Isa 41:22-23). Tell ye, and bring near means as much as bring on information. The thought is completed by adding another verb. The necessary facts must first be produced; then counsel may be taken about them (change of person as in Isa 45:8; Isa 41:1, etc.). The Lord himself announces the result. In the consultation he made his right felt, and what he said must be accepted, for it was the truth. It was as follows: Who has caused this (viz. what is intimated Isa 45:19, and whose fulfilment, after Isa 45:19, is assumed) to be heard of old, and long ago declared it? Not I, Jehovah?etc., Isa 45:21. Therefore, here again the Lord proves His divinity from His omniscience. One might say, that this is that divine attribute that can be most easily inspected even by those not eye-witnesses. For let the prophecy as such and the fulfilment be verified, and the necessary conclusion for every one is a superhuman knowing, willing and ability, even for such as are ever so remote in respect to time and place. When the Lord designates Himself here especially as a just God, it is with reference to Isa 45:13; Isa 45:19. He calls Himself Saviour in contrast with a god that cannot save, Isa 45:20.
3. Look unto meshall glory, Isa 45:22-25. In this concluding word the Lord, by the expression all ye ends of the earth, comprehends all previously named, viz. the nations of the northern (Isa 45:6) and of the southern (Isa 45:14 sqq.) world-power, along with Israel. One might be tempted to take Isa 45:22-25 as an independent section, parallel with Isa 45:14-21. But then it would doubtless have begun, like the others mentioned, with thus saith the Lord. Moreover we see from all the seed of Israel, Isa 45:25, that after Israel has been entirely converted to the Lord, the Prophet sees in all mankind still only a seed of Israel. It is perhaps highly significant that only after the northern and southern world-power, or after the fulness of the Gentiles represented by them, does he let the escaped of the nations become partakers of the salvation inaugurated by Cyrus. Is that not an intimation of the fact so emphatically confirmed by Paul (Romans 11)? Thus by all the ends of the earth we are not to understand those nations that remained beside those mentioned in Isa 45:6; Isa 45:14 sqq. and 18 sqq. For those thus mentioned by the Prophet represented already all mankind. Therefore the same are meant, only here they are mentioned comprehensively instead of singly as before. All together they constitute the entire (all the) seed of Israel in a spiritual sense. To all of these, after salvation is prepared for them and they for salvation, the Lord addresses the final, decisive word of calling: turn unto me and be saved. Of the Imperatives the first is commanding, the second promissory. The inviting call reminds of Mat 22:4 : I have prepared my dinner, etc.,all things are ready, come unto the marriage. (comp. Isa 30:15) is=be saved, become partakers of the perfect and everlasting salvation (Isa 45:17).The causative clause: for I am God,etc., Isa 45:22 b, proves the possibility, yea the necessity of the salvation, by reference to the irrefragable truth, doubted since the fall, but now acknowledged on all hands (Isa 45:6; Isa 45:14 sqq., 21) that Jehovah alone is God. Only God can warrant everlasting salvation. Jehovah alone is God. Ergo!When all turn to Jehovah and find in Him salvation, then, too, the eternal decree of God is fulfilled that all shall bow to him and serve him.This decree has great importance as appears from: I have sworn by myself, and he could swear by no greater (Heb 6:13 sqq.). The oath thus acquires an abstract right, so that under no circumstances can it go back, be revoked or declared null. as in Gen 22:16; Jer 22:5; Jer 49:13; comp. Isa 44:26.I had rather translate (see Text. and Gram.): for the sake of righteousness, or of right. This word, being an emanation of the divine righteousness, bears in itself the guaranty of its realization, and therefore cannot go back (comp. the very similar passage, Isa 55:11). The contents of the oath is that every knee shall bow to the Lord, and to Him ( belongs also to the second clause; comp. Isa 19:18) every tongue shall swear. Therefore the , as outward expression of homage (Psa 95:6), and the (Rom 14:11; Php 2:10-11), as expression of the confession that God is the All-wise, All-righteous and Almighty, shall be accorded to Him as His divineright, that He does not suffer to be wrested from him. But every oath by God involves the confession, not only that there is a God, but also that this God knows the truth, and has the will and the power to avenge the untruth. An oath is, indeed, a divine worship (Goeschel).The Prophet, moreover, is very far from believing that (to say it with one word) the conversion of the heathen and of Israel will be sudden and universal. Rather this conversion will progress by successive stages, and manywill make decided resistance. To this Isa 45:24 refers.
Isa 45:24. In this verse we perceive the cheering call of the converted to their still hesitating or even decidedly resisting brethren (see Text, and Gram.). First, they point to their own experience: Only in Jehovah are righteous deeds and strength. (comp. Isa 33:15; Isa 64:5 and Psa 11:7; Psa 103:6; Jdg 5:11, etc.), are juste facta. The speaker would say, therefore: displays of righteousness (i.e., of a disposition conformed to the will of God) and strength (i.e., the power to do great things and bear hard things) are only in Jehovah, i.e., are only possible where God gives ability. Second, there is joined to this the exhortation to come to Jehovah as the only source of right inward life. Regarding the expressions and , the Prophet would evidently intimate by that Jehovah represents the loftiest goal of human effort, and that it concerns us to penetrate as far as to Him. The notion of progredi ad fastigium quoddam (Gesen.), is expressed in many modifications by . Comp. 2Sa 23:19; Job 11:7; Nah 1:10; 1Ch 4:27, etc. Finally, those converted do not fail to add a threat for those that oppose themselves: and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. The same expression again only Isa 41:11; Son 1:6. It seems to me that the expression those inflamed with anger points to the psychological fact, that in the hearts of those filled with hatred the display of love provokes anger and not love. Compare Judas, Joh 13:27.
Isa 45:25 is not to be regarded as either the word of Jehovah or of the converted Isa 45:23. In the former case we would have ; in the latter would say only what had been already said in . Hence I regard this verse as the word of the Prophet, added in conclusion by way of confirming, explaining and also of praise. By shall be justified he verifies that men are not able to find the grounds of their justification in themselves, but only in God. This is a New Testament evangelical thought, that well befits the Evangelist of the Old Testament. And shall glory contains a doxology as an ingredient. It is as a finger board to the praising choir of which John speaks in Rev 4:8 sqq.; Rev 5:9 sqq.; Rev 7:9 sqq.; Rev 11:16; Rev 12:10 sqq, etc. Finally, all the seed of Israel is an explanation, showing us that we are to construe verses 2225, not as a new co-ordinate member of the discourse, but as the sum of the whole discourse, so that the ends of the earth are not new nations hitherto unmentioned, but the totality of those previously named. All those who according to Isa 45:6; Isa 45:14 have been converted to Jehovah are become Israel, i.e., spiritual Israel. All they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. Gal 3:7.
Footnotes:
[10]He is Godwho formed the earth and made ithe ordered it.
[11]to he empty.
[12]carry.
[13]Turn.
[14]Or, Surely he shall say of me, In the LORD is all righteoueness and strength
[15]Only.
[16]Heb. righteousnesses.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On 45. The Egyptian and the Babylonian captivities correspond to one another. Both times the holy nation were outside of the Holy land and in the service of a heathen world-power. In each case, too, this happened in the resplendent period of the world-power concerned. Egypt, at the time it was compelled to let Israel go, stood foremost among all nations in respect to culture and political power. Those were the most glorious times of all Egyptian history (Lepsius, Chronology of the Egyptians, I. p. 359). Cyrus was the conqueror of the Babylonian kingdom, which itself had conquered the old Assyria, and he had appropriated its power so that he represented the northern world-power in, as it were, its third power or degree. In both instances the inconsiderable, despised Jews were slaves without power or rights in the territory and service of the world-power. Yet how superior the powerless appears in contrast with the mighty! God declared it to be His express purpose, in leading His people miraculously out of Egypt, to show His power to Pharaoh, and that His name might be declared throughout all the earth; and to execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt (Exo 9:16; Exo 12:12, comp. Isa 8:10; Isa 8:19; Isa 14:4; Isa 14:17-18; Isa 14:25). The entire first half of Daniel informs us of those miraculous measures of God whose common object and effect was that confession of Nebuchadnezzar: Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings (Dan 2:47; comp. Dan 3:28 sqq.; Dan 4:31 sqq.; Dan 4:25 sqq.). Therefore, twice in that period between the apostacy from the true God (Gen 11:8) and the appearance of Christ, there took place grand testimonies from the Lord to the heathen world. And in both instances the medium of testimony was an exile of Israel, and it was received by the world-power that at the time was dominant: first Egypt the southern world-power, and then the northern, the Babylonian-Persian kingdom of which Cyrus must be regarded as the head. The object of this revelation to the heathen world was in general, not the extermination of idolatry (for then the object were not attained), but the preservation and revival of the remembrance of the highest Creator, Ruler and Judge, of the One ruling over all that is visible and invisible, a remembrance ever present in the most secret part of the human breast. This remembrance may not be extinguished, for it is the connecting point for the final and highest revelation that is accomplished by the Son of God becoming man for the purpose of redemption. But especially the testimony imparted to Cyrus was intended to free, from the Exile, the nation that was to be the medium of salvation and thereby to make shine the first beams of Messianic salvation to Israel and the world.
2. On 45. Pressel (in Herz. R.-Enc. III. p. 231) gives a list of the data of the Old Testament in regard to Cyrus, which, with some modification, is as follows: 1) He was a Persian (Dan 6:28); 2) he was king in Persia (2Ch 36:22; Ezr 1:1 sq.; Ezr 4:5); 3) he was king of Media and Babylon (Ezr 5:13; Ezr 5:17; Ezr 6:2-3); 4) he was a conqueror and founder of a world-monarchy (Isa 45:1-3; Isa 45:14); 5) he was the fourth ruler before Xerxes (Dan 11:2); 6) he was the destroyer of the Babylonian dynasty and of the Chaldean idolatry (Isa 46:1; Isa 48:14; Dan 2:39; Dan 8:3-4; Dan 8:20); 7) he was a worshipper of the true God (2Ch 36:23; Ezr 1:2); 8) he was the liberator of the Jews, and promoted the building of the city and Temple (Isa 44:28; Isa 45:13; 2Ch 36:23; Eze 1:2 sqq.; Isa 5:13; Isa 6:3 sqq.); 9) he was a shepherd of God who was to fulfil Gods will concerning Israel, yea, an anointed of the Lord (Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1), whose spirit the Lord raised up (2Ch 36:22 sq.; Ezr 1:1; Isa 45:13).
What was it that made so deep an impression on Cyrus, and one so favorable for the knowledge of the truth? Pressel (l. c.) in answer to this question mentions in substance the following: 1) The part that Daniel played in the downfall of the Babylonian kingdom, by foretelling the event the very night of its taking place (Dan 5:28; Dan 5:30); 2) the high position that Daniel occupied, with miraculous divine support, at the court of Darius the Mede, whose general Cyrus was still at that time (Daniel 6); 3) the experience Cyrus might have of the nothingness of idolatry in contrast with the faith of Daniel, in respect to which less account must be made of the history of Bel and the Dragon than of the inability of the heathen idols to protect their nations against Cyrus, who acted under commission from Jehovah (Isa 45:1-3); 4) the reading of Isaiahs prophecies in respect to himself, according to the testimony of Josephus cited above; see Doct. and Eth. on Isa 44:24-28.
But if it be further asked: how does it come that the descriptions of profane authors are far from coming up to the picture of Cyrus that we get from Daniel and Isaiah? I would reply, by a modification of Pressels views: 1) the fact that Cyrus, as soon as he began to reign, extended to the captive Jews special favor, and exhibited a lively interest in the restoration of the worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem is a notorious proof that he must have received a strong impulse in this direction (comp. Oehler, in Herz., R.-Enc. Xii. p. 230 sq.). For how otherwise may it be explained, that this mighty ruler, whose sway was so extended, and who was busied with great plans for war and peace, gave his attention to this matter long since settled, and took measures that from his stand-point were inconsistent and a mistake? 2) That profane history says nothing about those mysterious transactions between Cyrus and his God (we may surely be allowed, in an objective sense, to call the Lord so), is to be explained partly from the nature of the subject in itself, partly from these extraordinary manifestations of divinityapart from the restoration of the Jewsnot being intended for outward effects that could have been the subject of historical writing, but only for such inward effects as spin out their mysterious threads in the depths of human consciousness, and withdraw themselves from outward observation and representation. Notwithstanding what has been remarked, profane history still gives us so far an indirect testimony, that it draws a remarkably grand, and even unique picture of Cyrus. Thus Herodotus relates (III, 89) that the Persians called Darius a merchant, Cambyses a despot, but Cyrus a parent. Darius seemed to have no other object than the acquisition of gain; Cambyses was negligent and severe; whilst Cyrus was of a mild and gentle temper, ever studious of the good of his subjects. He further mentions in the account of the taking of Babylon by the cunning of Zopyrus: With respect to the merit of Zopyrus, in the opinion of Darius, it was exceeded by no Persian of any period, unless by Gyrus; to him, indeed, he thought no one of his countrymen could possibly be compared (III, 160). Notwithstanding Herodotus speaks so highly of Cyrus, he is still sharply called to account for making it appear that Cyrus was tutored and corrected ( ) by Croesus, which latter he had yet previously described as an uncultivated, boastful, absurd man, as Cyrus . Diodor. Siculus (Hist. XIII., p. 342) relates that the Syracusan Nikolaos recommended his countrymen to use gentleness toward the captive Athenians, citing for example the of Cyrus, of whom he proceeds to say: Justinus (I., 8) calls Cyrus admirabiliter insignis. Ammianus (XXIII., 6) says: Antiquior Cyrus rex amabilis. See Vitringa on Isa 42:2; Isa 45:1. But especially it is to be emphasized here, that Xenophon did not write his Cyropaedia in order to present his ethico-political ideals in the form of a romance, choosing Cyrus for the hero, because his historical reality most agrees with those ideals, and needed only a little idealizing embellishment. On the contrary he was astounded by the fact that Cyrus found it so easy to rule over so many nations differing so extraordinarily from one another, easier than any other ruler had ever found it, whereas ruling over men, even a few and those of the same kind, had else been proved to be harder than ruling over beasts. And he notices as an especially important circumstance, that even the most remote nations would willingly and voluntarily have obeyed Cyrus. It was this wonder at such extraordinary facts that determined him to investigate the circumstances of parentage, nature, and education, that made it possible for Cyrus to distinguish himself so as a ruler of men. Such is the occasion and object of his writing, that Xenophon himself gives in the introduction to it. Does not this remarkable fact that Xenophon thus singles out find its proper explanation in the words of our Prophet: whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, Isa 45:1?
3. On Isa 45:1 sqq. Unbelieving Israel is judged by the Lord, and it appears to be given up by the Exile to ruin forever. But the Exile is only momentary, and must itself serve to bring it about that Israel shall lastingly penetrate to the light of true knowledge of God. It shall not only do so itself, but also, as servant of Jehovah, it shall become the means of the heathen receiving this light. But the latter shall chiefly happen by a heathen prince of eminent power and importance being brought to the knowledge of the true God and to the consciousness of having received from Him a grand religious mission. As this prince on the one hand terminates the deepest humiliation of Israel and prepares the way for its being lifted up again, and on the other hand introduces into the heathen world, at least as to principle, the first rays of the true knowledge of salvation, he is a forerunner and type of the Messiah, and stands under quite a peculiar guidance of God, who equips him and makes the way even before him. So far Cyrus is no disconnected, unnecessary and hence incredible miracle, but he is an appearance organically connected with the development of salvation. It was he that was to restore Israel from physical and spiritual estrangement to its centre of salvation, and prepare the heathen for faith in God and his Saviour. For this double purpose the nothingness of idolatry must be made patent and brought to the consciousness of Jew and Gentile. As regards Israel, it is of special importance here for it to see this prince announced beforehand, indeed named beforehand, and to hear from his mouth and that of his predecessor the confession that the idols are nothing, and that Jehovah alone is God. How far the effect on the heathen was real and lasting, we can, of course, not determine, on account of the inwardness of the effect and the want of witnesses concerning it. Yet we will not err if we assume that the later readiness of the heathen to accept the apostolic preaching, indeed the precedence of the heathen world in this respect to the Jews rested on that preparatory influence. It is especially to be noted in this respect that the Magi that came from the East openly inquired in Jerusalem for the stopping place of the new-born King, whose birth they took for granted, whereas in Israel itself this birth appears to have been treated as a secret in the narrow circle of the initiated. Else why had Herod heard nothing of it?
4. On Isa 45:7. Fanatici homines hanc mali vocem detorquent, acsi Deus mali, i.e, peccati auctor esset. Sed facile apparet, quam praepostere hoc prophetae testimony) abutantur. Antithesis enim id satis explicat, cujus membra inter se referri debemt. Nam opponit pacem malo i.e. aerumnis, bellis, rebusque omnibus adversis. Quod si justitiam malo opponeret, aliquid haberent coloris; verum haec contrarium inter se rerum oppositio aperta est. Ideo vulgaris distinctio non improbanda est, Deum mali esse auctorem, non culpae sed poenae. Calvin. A Plato. Is all in the world well-ordered and sure, then not a single thing can be taken away without all collapsing or losing its harmony, just as little as in a well-ordered building. Therefore the Scripture has often declared that misfortune as well as fortune, evil as well as good is under the government of God. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I the Lord do all these things. Says another Prophet: Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Amo 3:6. Comp. also Lam 3:37-38. So, too, in the New Testament the Lord and His disciples declare in the case of the blackest iniquity, that all happens according to the will of God. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done, Act 4:27-28. Tholuck.
5. On Isa 45:8. Celeber hic locus est in ecclesia Papistarum et illustre argumentum ignorantiae, quod ad beatam virginem eum accomodarunt. Nos autem scimus, agi in hoc capite de promissa liberatione per Cyrum. Hic igitur locus mimeticus est . Quasi dicant Israelitae: Ecce sumus privati sacerdotio et regno, templo et omni cultu Dei, translati sumus in gentes. Ibi respondent nobis peccata nostra. Quare O coeli rorate et depluite justitiam, quae nisi desuper in nos effundatur, actum est. Luther. The Roman Catholic church, on the 18th of December (the Festival of the expectation of the lying-in of Mary) celebrates the so-called Rorate-mass, named thus from the introductory words: Rorate Coeli desuper, etc. Comp. Herz. R.-Enc. I. p.134.
6. On Isa 45:11. The peculiar and greatest gift that parents can bestow on their children is the discipline of the inner man and a bringing up to Gods word. It is written: And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, Gen 18:17-19. So highly did God esteem in His servant Abraham the nurture of his children in piety! Thus parents may deserve heaven or hell merely by the education of their children. And when the apostle says of the woman: Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety (1Ti 2:15), he means not merely that she bear, but also, as essentially a part of it, that she educate, if she therefore herself continue in the faith, and thus also may understand how to bring her children up to faith. Tholuck.
7. [On Isa 45:14. The idea indicated by this is, that there would be a condition of anxious solicitude among heathen nations on the subject of true religion, and that they would seek counsel and direction from those who were in possession of it. Such a state has already existed to some extent among the heathen; and the Scriptures, I think, lead us to suppose that the final spread and triumph of the gospel will be preceded by such an inquiry prevailing extensively in the heathen world. God will show them the folly of idolatry; He will raise up reformers among themselves; the extension of commercial intercourse will acquaint them with the comparative happiness and prosperity of Christian nations; and the growing consciousness of their own inferiority will lead them to desire that which has conferred so extensive benefits on other lands, and lead them to come as suppliants and ask that teachers and the ministers of religion may be sent to them. One of the most remarkable characteristics of the present time is, that heathen nations are becoming increasingly sensible of their ignorance and comparative degradation; that they welcome the ministers and teachers sent out from Christian lands; the increased commerce of the world is thus preparing the world for the final spread of the Gospel. Barnes. Some of the most wonderful illustrations of the foregoing remarks have occurred since they were penned, e.g., Japan.Tr.].
8. On Isa 45:15. As God the Lord is Himself a hidden God, and said He will dwell in darkness, it has therefore seemed good to Him to hide His children in this world under so much affliction, contumely, contempt, poverty, sickness, simplicity, weakness, sin, etc., that often not only the world, but believers themselves cannot reconcile themselves to it. Scriver, Seelenschatz, Theil II. 10, Pred. 26.
9. On Isa 45:17. Even the ancient Jews explained this to refer to the Messiah. But what is said here of Israel applies, according to the quality of the New Testament, to the whole human race (Isa 43:24). The grace on Israel shall be everlasting, and as it has been from everlasting, so through the Messiah it shall be continued to everlasting. For the religion of the Messiah leads everything out of time into the blessed eternity. Hence He is called the Rock of Ages (Isa 26:4) that gives to the redeemed everlasting joy (Isa 35:10), an everlasting name that shall not be cut off (Isa 56:5), everlasting glory (Isa 60:15), the ground of which is the everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24). Starke.
10. On Isa 45:19. The heavenly wisdom would have itself proclaimed in clear light, and not in the darkness. Hence Christ also said that what his disciples heard in the ear they should proclaim from the house-top (Mat 10:27). As, on the contrary, all false teachers are sneaks, they do not go straight forward, but cloak their doing and doctrine with a false appearance and sheep-clothing (Mat 7:15). Cramer.[In the language here, there is a remarkable resemblance to what the Saviour said of Himself, and it is not improbable that he had this passage in His mind: I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Joh 18:20. Barnes.]
11. On Isa 45:22-25. This text is one of the most important in Isaiah. The person that speaks in it is the Messiah, the Son of God, because He calls Himself in the context (Isa 45:15) the Saviour and attributes to Himself the everlasting redemption (Isa 45:17); because through Him all the ends of the earth shall be blessed (Joh 3:16; Act 4:12); because what is said here in Isa 45:23 of the oath, the Son of God certifies of Himself (Gen 22:16); because in Christ we have righteousness and strength (Isa 45:24; 1Co 1:30); because that every knee shall bow to Him is declared to refer to Christ (Php 2:9 sqq.). Starke.
12. On Isa 45:23. Concessum est homini christiani jurare. Fundamenta adversus Anabaptistas haec sunt: 1) Mandatum Dei: Deu 6:13; Deuteronomy 2) Exempla a. Jehovae: Gen 22:16; Jer 22:5; Jer 51:14; Amo 6:8; b. Christi: hoc loco itemque, Joh 16:23; c. Angeli: Rev 10:6; d. Sanctorum: Abrahami, Gen 14:22; Davidis, 1Ki 1:13; Pauli, 2Co 1:23. 3) Ratio, quia juramentum est species cultus Dei ut iterum hoc loco et infra cap. Isa 48:1 et quidem talis, qui maxime commendatur (Ps. 63:12). Foerster.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. On Isa 45:1-7. The missionary work of Cyrus a type of our own. 1) The task of Cyrus is also our own. For Cyrus was a. to lead back Israel inwardly to its God, and also to restore outwardly the service of the Lord among the people that returned home. So, too, must we convert Israel inwardly to its Saviour (the testimony of the heathen must provoke Israel to zeal, Rom 11:11), and contribute to the restoration of the true worship of Jehovah (Joh 4:23 sq.) and of the spiritual kingdom of David. Cyrus was to bring also the heathen, East and West, to the knowledge of the true God (Isa 45:6-7). We should do the same by bringing to them the knowledge of the Triune God and of salvation, that is come to all men by the Son becoming man.2) The promise given to Cyrus in regard to the execution of his task. All opponents will bow before him, all gates open, etc., Isa 45:1-3. So, too, our work, as the cause of God, will conquer in spite of all resistance; the doors of hearts will open, and we shall gain those hearts that are born of God and made susceptible of the truth as precious spoil.
[Now that which God here promised to do for Cyrus, He could have done for Zerubbabel or some of the Jews themselves; but the wealth and power of this world God has seldom seen fit to entrust His own people with much of, so many are the snares and temptations that attend them. But if there has been occasion, for the good of the Church, to make use of them, God has been pleased rather to put them into the hands of others, to be employed for them, than to venture them in their own hands. M. Henry.]
2. On Isa 45:8. A great favorite in the Roman Catholic Church as an Advent text (on account of their reference of the Rorate to the Virgin Mary), but which has been much and variously used by Protestant preachers. Comp. e.g. the Rorate propheticum of Joh. Fortumannus (in Wernigerode) three Advent sermons on Isa 45:8, Wittenberg, 1625.The salvation of men depends on heaven and earth continuing in right relation to one another. They must not be separated, but must co-operate. The heaven must incline to the earth, fructifying it; the earth must open up receptively. As fruits of the field are conditioned on the ground being fruitful and well plowed, while the heaven gives rain and sunshine; so the salvation of souls depends on hearts rightly opening themselves to the fructifying influences from above. This thought is especially brought home to us by the Advent. The Lords Advent is heavenly dew for a thirsty land. 1) The Lord came once with His holy person as Lamb of God and Second Adam. 2) He comes continually with His Spirit and gifts, a. by the daily bread of His grace in the word and sacrament; b. by the annual bread of the Churchs feasts, especially now of the feast of the Advent, by which He quite especially extends to us the blessing of His personal coming. 3) We only become truly partakers of this blessing if we are a thirsty land, i.e. if we hunger and thirst after righteousness. Conclusion: Therefore where heaven above drops down and the clouds rain righteousness, and the earth on the other hand opens itself up, there righteousness grows and salvation will be brought forth.
3. On Isa 45:9-13. In great distress and conflict one is often tempted to strive with his Maker and to say: Ah, why was I born? This is wrong. We ought never, even in the greatest distress, to forget that we have a God that can help and will help. 1) God can help, for a. He made heaven and earth (Isa 45:12); b. He especially made known His power to the people of Israel in their greatest distress by raising up the heathen prince himself, in whose land they were captives, to be their friend and deliverer (Isa 45:13). 2) He will help, for we are His children and the work of His hands (Isa 45:11). Therefore in every distress we ought believingly to let ourselves be pointed to Him.
4. [On Isa 45:15. 1) God hid Himself when He brought them into the trouble, hid Himself and was wroth, Isa 57:17. Note: Though God be His peoples God and Saviour, yet sometimes, when they provoke Him, He hides Himself from them in displeasure, suspends His favors, and lays them under His frowns: but let them wait upon the Lord that hides His face, Isa 8:17. 2) He hid Himself when He was bringing them out of the trouble. Note: When God is acting as Israels God and Saviour commonly . His way is in the sea, Psa 77:19. The salvation of the Church is carried on in a mysterious way, by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts working on mens spirits (Zec 4:6), by weak and unlikely instruments, small and accidental occurrences, and not wrought till the last extremity; but this is our comfort, though God hide Himself, we are sure He is the God of Israel, the Saviour. See Job 35:14. M. Henry.]
5. [On Isa 45:18-19. That the Lord we serve and trust in is God alone appears by the two great lights, that of nature and that of revelation. I. By the light of nature: for He made the world, and therefore may justly demand its homage. 1) He formed it. It is not a rude and indigested chaos, but cast into the most proper shape and size by Infinite Wisdom 2) He fixed it, Psa 24:2; Job 26:7. 3) He fitted it for use and for the service of man. He did not create it to be empty. Psa 8:2. It appears by the light of revelation. His oracles far exceed those of Pagan deities, as well as His operations (Isa 45:19). The preference is here placed in three things: All that God has said is plain, satisfactory and just. 1) In the manner of its delivery it is plain and open. Not in mutterings and ambiguities issuing from dens and caverns (Isa 8:19), but like the law was given from the top of Mt. Sinai. Pro 1:20; Pro 8:1-3; Hab 2:2; Joh 18:20. 2) In the use and benefit of it it was highly satisfactory. I said not: Seek ye me in vain. 3) In the matter of it it was incontestably just, consonant to the eternal rules and reasons of good and evil. The heathen deities dictated those things to their worshippers which were the reproach of human nature and extirpated virtue. See Comm. above on Isa 45:19, last clause. Comp. Rom 3:26. After M. Henry.Tr.]
6. On Isa 45:22-25. Missionary Sermon. Whither must every missionary anniversary turn our eyes? 1) To the interior of Christendom for proper examination; 2) to the heathen world for urgent warning; 3) to Israel for cheering comfort. Langbein. [On Isa 45:22. The invitation proves, 1) That the offers of the gospel are universal; 2) That God is willing to save all, or He would not give the invitation; 3) That there is ample provision for their salvationsince God would not invite them to accept of what was not provided for them. 4) That it is His serious and settled purpose that all the ends of the earth shall be invited to embrace the offers of life (Mar 16:15). And now it appertains to His Church to bear the glad news of salvation around the world, and on it rests the responsibility of seeing this speedily executed. Barnes.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Much is said in this chapter of Cyrus, king of Persia: but much more of Jesus, King of Zion. It is spoken by way of prophecy in the first relation to Babylon, but in the more direct reference to the redemption by Christ.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is a most remarkable portion of the holy scripture, and very highly merits our attention. The Lord here speaks of a man, and a stranger too, not one of Israel, and calls him by his name, at least 200 years before the events predicted of him were to be fulfilled. In the history to which this portion of the prophecy refers, we find the conquest of Babylon exactly answering. Profane historians relate that Cyrus entered Babylon, by means of a subterraneous passage, opening from the river by two-leaved gates, and at a time when from the strength of the city and its walls, the king was carousing in full confidence of safety. Sacred history also bears testimony to the same in the corresponding account; See Dan 5:30Dan 5:30 . But what is yet more important for us to remark, is what the Lord saith concerning the cause of this ruin. The Church’s salvation was the one sole object, and in the very moment that the Lord raised up Cyrus, as his instrument for this purpose, Cyrus himself knew not the Lord. I pray the Reader to make this the practical improvement from this scripture; and never to lose sight of the Lord’s design, in the Lord’s appointment of men and things. How often, in the present hour, are men made the unconscious ministers of God for good to his people, although their heart thought not so, neither did they intend it. Think, Reader, from such a view as this, and which is every day going on in the world, how dear to Jesus his Church is!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Treasures of Darkness
Isa 45:3
I. There are Treasures of Darkness. Darkness is approached from two standpoints in God’s Book. From one viewpoint it is something to be feared, dreaded, loathed. But darkness is shown to us from another angle of vision, and then it is desirable, inestimable in worth.
He who knows what is in darkness assures us that He will give us the treasures of darkness. But what is the literal meaning of these words? In the East of old, instead of depositing their wealth with the bankers as we do, they would dig deep pits or excavate and construct subterranean chambers in which they placed their treasures. So that as a matter of fact most of their possessions were ‘treasures of darkness’.
God promises Cyrus that he shall tap the buried wealth of Babylon. But what does this promise mean for us? In an infinitely grander sense God promises to us in the ends of the ages ‘the treasures of darkness’.
1. There are treasures of literal darkness. When darkness covers the earth millions on millions of worlds flash upon our view, all mansions of the Father’s house. The stars in their ‘mystic dance’ are treasures of darkness.
Many of life’s best gifts are ‘treasures of darkness’. Is not sleep such a treasure?
The world of nature abounds in illustrations of this fact. Every lovely flower is a treasure of darkness: it springs up through the dark earth and blooms a parable of beauty. Every harvest is a treasure of darkness. The whole circle of Nature illustrates abundantly the idea of my text. Our debt to darkness is incalculable.
2. There is mental darkness. In a sphere of darkness we dwell, and but here and there are glints of light Very depressing this darkness is, but God gives us treasures out of it. Facts, truths, philosophies, aspirations that are grander than realizations, dreams that are the true realities.
3. Are there treasures in social darkness? Sickness, bereavement, disappointment, business anxiety or reverses. Dark are these experiences. Yet God gives treasures out of them. Philip Melanchthon said, ‘Were I without cares I should be without prayers’. It is true of us all. Prayer is a treasure of darkness. The Bible is a treasure of darkness. It is but as a great book to us till sorrow comes, and then it becomes, as it is in truth, the Word of God.
Marvellous treasures come out of social gloom. In literature, in art, but supremely in perfected character, we are always discovering the encircling power of sorrow.
4. Dare we ask if God gives treasures of moral darkness? This is the most gruesome darkness the world knows. Bushnell describes moral evil as ‘the night side of creation’. And we owe much to it We speak only of sin that has been repented of. We are humbler, more tender, more ardent after holiness, more instinct with evangelistic sympathy, because of the past sins over which we grieve.
5. The mortal darkness will inevitably fall upon us ere long. What men call death will shadow us. Strong consolation. The peace of resignation. Hope on the atoning sacrifice of the Saviour. Blessed anticipations and outlooks. These are treasures of that final darkness.
II. The Treasures of Darkness may be our possession. All life’s darkness may yield us enrichment. Our ignorance, our depression, our sorrow, our very sin, our death itself. Out of all our anxieties, loss, annoyance, tribulation, may come a wealth which can never take to itself wings and fly away.
Dinsdale T. Young, Unfamiliar Texts, p. 233.
Divinely Girded
Isa 45:5
Many things are done without our intelligence. Our intelligence is oftentimes our only difficulty and only danger. It would often be happier for us if we had no heads. We are ruined by what we think we da know, and if any man thinketh he knoweth anything as it really is, he knows nothing. The Bible is full of explanations that are clear, simple, definite, and final. There is no book so final as the Bible. There are times when we want the final voice; that is to say, a voice which we feel is final; there cannot be anything beyond it that is contrary to it. That is the strength of every message, that is the sole power of every true ministry. A man who is uncertain of his message had better not deliver it.
I. Concerning the Bible answer I make three submissions. First, that it is adequate. The Bible says, The Lord reigns; you do not see everything just as it is in its real purpose and its full scope, you are walking in shadows, the colours are all blurred, but wait for the end, for the upsumming of life’s mystery by the God of life, and God will justify Himself. There is but one Lord, there is only one enduring throne; you must not, therefore, judge anything before the time, the hour of judgment has not come, criticism must not yet be invoked, because the whole case is not before us; wait, wait patiently; O rest in the Lord. We have in this chapter and in the text great voices which bring with them their own adequacy: ‘I have holden thee; I will go before thee; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places; I have even called thee by thy name; I have surnamed thee; I have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me.’
II. The explanation is reasonable. It puts a living Personality at the head of things, it dismisses blind fate and enthrones a living God: no matter if He be invented, there He is; the imagination that invented fate has but a poor wing compared with the imagination that invented God. It is reasonable to believe that things are governed by an Infinite Intelligence; it is reasonable to suppose that God, having made this universe, has not discarded it: He who created the universe pledged Himself by that very act to redeem it; creation and redemption are terms implying one another.
III. The explanation is not only adequate and reasonable, but it is ennobling. All this was worth going through because of the issue; we are being watched, inspired, guided. Once let that faith get hold of the soul, and that faith will mean Sabbath day, a holy peace, a celestial, unruffled tranquillity. We are being educated, moulded, we are being made meet for the master’s service, we are having another faculty added to the sum-total of our present manhood; we are being refined, purified, chastened.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vii. p. 39.
References. XLV. 5. T. G. Selby, The Imperfect Angel, p. 50. XLV. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 183. R. J. Campbell, A Faith for Today, p. 107. XLV. 15. G. F. Williams, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 309. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 94. R. F. Horton, The Hidden God, p. 3. XLV. 15-19. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah, p. 326.
Isa 45:15
Compare the words with which Mr. G. T. Romanes closed his Darwin, and after Darwin in 1892: ‘As I said, at the beginning, the religious thought of our generation has been more than ever staggered by the question Where is now thy God? But I have endeavoured to show that the logical standing of the case has not been materially changed; and when this cry of reason pierces the heart of Faith it remains for Faith to answer now, as she always answered before and answered with that trust which is at once her beauty and her life Verily thou art a God that hidest Thyself.’
References. XLV. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 508. XLV. 22. Ibid. vol. ii. No. 60; vol. xlviii. No. 2805; vol. 1. No. 2867. David Macrae, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. 1897, p. 363. R. J. Campbell, ibid. vol. lvi. 1899, p. 312; see also A Faith for Today, p. 29. XLV. 24, 25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2793. XLVI. 1-4. Ibid. vol. xxxiv. No. 2056. XLVI. 4. Ibid. vol. ii. p. lxxxi. J. D. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 407. J. Page Hopps, Sermons of Sympathy, p. 83. XLVI. 4-11. P. H. Hall, The Brotherhood of Man, p. 157.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Unconscious Providences
Isa 45:5
We sometimes say that we cannot think how it is that we have been so honoured and prospered, for we really do not deserve it. We have heard some say that it is a wonder they are here at all. They were such sickly children, their mothers said they never could rear them; many a time they had been given up, and it was always thought impossible that so frail, a thing could ever come to years of maturity. A man wonders how he has come to his position, his wealth, his fame, his influence he cannot make it out, he is simply confounded by his success, and doubly so when he remembers the failure of men much more able than himself. He says, “How is this? They were better born, they had larger education, they had ampler opportunities of advancement where are they now?” The digger cannot find the roots in the earth, yet it hath pleased God to make him thus and so.
How is it that the bruised reed has not been broken? How is it that the smoking flax has not been quenched? How is it that the little one has become mightier than a thousand, and how is it that the weak one has chased ten thousand and put them to ignoble flight? Explain how it is that a wisp of straw has become as a sword in a weak hand, before which the enemy has fled to the gate. We allow that these things are so: they are not the dreams of the religious imagination: we can certify that every point named is a point of fact what is the explanation? We are obliged to believe in ghostly circumstances, if we may not believe in ghostly personages. We say we do not believe in ghosts: but that there are ghostly circumstances in life no thinking man will venture to deny. When, therefore, we look upon the ghostly circumstances, it becomes rather easy to cross the less-than-cobweb line that separates between the circumstances and the personages. Just as if you propound the proposition or the inquiry, There is a devil, or, Is there a devil? I say, “I do not know, by my unassisted reason.” But when I see the infinite devilishness that is in society, it becomes too easy to believe that there may not be one devil, but many.
We cannot rid ourselves of these ghostly circumstances, these riddles and enigmas that start up in life and challenge replies when there is no answer in our imagination, but when there is an echo in our consciousness which says the inquiry is founded upon fact, and the answer will be seen only within the lines thai are distinctively and solemnly religious. The text gives us the religious explanation. The man spoken to did not know what he was doing, he had no idea of the value and force of the weapons he was wielding, and the purposes he was carrying out, but at the last he got his surname, Shepherd of Jehovah, at the last a face shone upon him that had been hidden in thick mist: God said, “I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me: I have girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” Let us recount the story, and then proceed to its analysis and the inquiries which may be justly founded upon it.
Cyrus the Persian had conquered the Babylonian kings of Assyria who had carried the Jews into captivity. Cyrus, by overthrowing the kings of Babylon, had the destiny of the Jews peculiarly in his own hand. The Persian religion was primitively the religion of one God; it was monotheistic, and therein was found a point of sympathy between the Persian prince and the captive Jews. The Babylonian temples, on the other hand, were set up for the worship of gods many, and lords many, and were emphatically dens of thieves, being enriched with the spoils of many cruel wars. Cyrus was the first Gentile friend of the Jews, the first Gentile that ever stretched out a hand to them, and he had the privilege of becoming their liberator and their restorer. Hence in the long run he was surnamed of God “the anointed of the Lord.” For him God brake in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron, and history, from Herodotus to Xenophon, has not recorded one evil or ungenerous word of the mighty and heroic Cyrus, the Persian soldier.
How did all this happen? The text gives the explanation. “I have surnamed thee, I have girded thee: thou wast an unconscious minister; thou didst not know whose arms were round about thee, thou didst not even know me by name. But man cannot exclude me from his little universe; even though he deny my existence and denounce my claim I am still there. I water the garden of the atheist, and bring his flowers to summer bloom and his fruits to autumnal glory. Men deny me, curse me, flee from me I am still round about them, and their life is more precious to me than is their blasphemy detestable, and until the very last I will work for them and with them, and if they go to perdition it shall be through the very centre of my heart’s tenderest grace.” “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” How true it is that we do not know the full measure and value of any work we are doing. We see but part of it. Cyrus regarded himself merely as a soldier: he went down to Babylon for strictly military purposes: the deliverance of the Jews did not so much as enter into his imagination. We cannot tell what we are doing. We cannot follow a single word of our own: we hear its first vibration in the air, but what it will do afterwards in ever multi-plying and ever expanding circles we cannot tell. We are quoting today our father’s words, though he has been dead these fifty years; we are calling to memory a mother’s prayers, though she began to sing in heaven some quarter of a century ago. Things are not cut short off: they have outlooks and outgoings and manifold relationships, tentacles too fine for the naked eye to see, but always laying hold of something else, and growing by what they grasp.
Our programme is a short one: it is this. “We will go into such and such a city, and abide there a year, and buy and sell and get gain.” Very well. We put a full stop there: God puts a comma: our punctuation is unskilled and unwise, God’s punctuation alone measures out the languages, and metes in fair proportion the weird and solemn music of life. We cannot tell what lives we touch, what thoughts we start, what suggestions we convey, what impulses we stir. The hearer does not confess the full weight of our ministry: he says, “It is so,” or, he will think about it, or he passes swiftly from that thought to another; but afterwards it recurs, he eats bread in secret, which at first he appeared to despise, and in concealment he drinks the water which we offered him, and which he thanklessly declined.
Let us get the right view of life. We cannot tell all we are doing. Now our labour looks poor, shallow, commonplace: we know not what it is, what apocalypses it is working up, and what may come out of it. To the least of us, the smallest, God has given wings, and wings are as the beginning of immeasurable capacity and power.
We know not what is happening around us. What is yonder man doing in the field? He is a king’s son, and himself looks a king, every inch. Is he amusing himself? Alone he stands there, and is drawing a bow and shooting arrows, and a lad far off is engaged to bring them back that he may shoot them again. Ask the boy what the king’s son is doing: he says the king’s son is amusing himself, is taking exercise, is preparing by this rehearsal for some larger feat of archery. But hidden somewhere in the field is one who is reading that primitive telegraph with another eye. What was amusement, what was archery to the young watcher, was life or death to David. Who can tell what signs are being written in the air? Who knows what shocks may be conveyed by the uplifting of a hand in signal? Beware the men who make life little and small and dull, and who say it is all froth and foam, and that you can see every whit of it. We really see next to nothing the angels are hidden no man hath seen God at any time.
We have corresponding instances in life. Every man is a living personal commentary upon these truths. He says he has been saved when all his most loving friends had given him up. He has seen sights that cannot be accounted for by mere verbal criticism. He says that there is a secret about him, and he cannot tell its name.
Who is that boy sitting on the steps there? He has a hat on that was made for any head but his own; and his coat, who made it? His mother, very likely rough spun, not too well fitting. What is he waiting for? To get the job of sweeping the steps he sits on? Perhaps. Years pass by and a portly man comes down those steps. Broad his face, a great round shining blessing, kindness in his eye, power in the uplifting of his hand. Who is he? That is the boy, grown now fully, physically, intellectually and socially. The boy and the man are both Horace Greeley, an editorial prince, a man whose writings no one among his countrymen can afford to decline to read. “I girded thee, I brought thee to those steps, I set thee down upon them, I appointed an angel to watch thee all the time: it was my way of nursing and caring for thee, and training thee.” He bringeth the blind by a way that they know not.
See that poor little lad, climbing that ladder. The ladder is forty feet high. Suddenly he falls from the top of it. Is he dead? No, but deaf. Not rather hard of hearing, but deaf. The thunder passes over him and he hears it not, and the wind in its most staccato tone fails to touch the organ of his hearing for ever in this world deaf. And see that kind-looking man who is looking at him, inquiring about him, who offers him books and a little help. That man is an angel of God though he knew it not, and the lad will write his name high up on Biblical literature which the Church will never let die. John Kitto the brick-carrier was nobody John Kitto the Biblical encyclopaedist was a great man nursed roughly but nursed well: and God says to him, “I nursed thee, I surnamed thee, I girded thee, it was all within my scheme; nothing overlaps the ring of the divine movement: it encloses the horizon, and beyond it there is no throb of life. The Lord reigneth.”
He has done just so with some of us, and he is not going to cast us off now. We have sometimes wondered whether we might not be at last allowed to drop. That is the devil’s speech: it is a suggestion from below, and not from above. God is not going to allow us to fail at last: he never reckons on building a tower which he cannot finish. Many a half-built tower we have left behind us, but God finishes his buildings right up to the pinnacle. He will not leave us in trouble to sink: all our yesterdays crowded with tender mercies should be regarded as prophecies and pledges that our to-morrows shall be rich with divine benedictions. O that we might live in that faith! Then there would never be a dull tone in our voices again. The enemy gets the better of us now and then, but afterwards we are brought up as from the dead by a mighty act of divine resurrection, and the sum total of our testimony is this God is good: all things work together for good to them that love God: the Lord will bring forth the judgment of the righteous as the morning, and set him as a child of light above the cloud and fog and storm. The Lord write this faith upon our hearts, make it the faith of our life, and there shall be no more death in all our being.
What is true of the individual is true also of the nation.
England has been girded by a mightier hand than statesmanship or diplomacy. So has the great America, and robust and noble Germany, and brilliant and dashing France, and sunny and tuneful Italy whatever the nation, it is part of God’s earth and is girded and surnamed by him, and it has a great and beneficent purpose to work out. Nations are not cards with which politicians play at gambling: they may think they do, they may seem to do so, but the Lord reigneth, the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, and he says to the nation as he says to the individual, “The very hairs of thy head are all numbered.” Ralph Waldo Emerson has a beautiful little parable about this. He pictures a republican convention: he has in it several very stormy spirits who have undertaken to carry the republic at all costs mighty little straws hardly strong enough to hold a fly. They have a meeting and storm at one another a long while, and when the meeting is broken up, kind mother Nature, all her stars alight, all her winds quieted down to a touching and pathetic minor, says to the hottest of these conventionalists, “Why art thou so hot, little sir?” The little sir thinks he has been manipulating a nation, settling the affairs of a republic that without him the republic would be nowhere, and great quiet solemn Alma Mater, every lamp aflame, bends over him, “Why so hot, little sir?” It is the same with this great England of ours. There is a House, in which men point to one another, charge honourable gentlemen opposite these honourable gentlemen are always opposite shake their fists almost at the right honourable gentlemen opposite and kind great Nature waits for them, and when they come out, she says to the fiercest and fussiest of them, “Why so hot, little sir?” The Lord reigneth, the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: everything is mapped out in his providence and brought within the circle of his decree: he has a purpose to realise, and no man can thwart it. Oh that we were less hot and less fierce, that we had the repose of strength, the quietness of omnipotence!
Here I would repeat an illustration which I may have given before, and which always seems to me vividly to put the subject before my own mind. It is that of the vessel on the sea. Night has come, the passengers have retired to their rest: the wind blows, the waves surge and plash round the noble ship. The bell tells the hour of the night, and immediately upon the announcement of the hour the man on the watch sings out, “All’s well; all’s well!” There is a man downstairs sick; there is another man sleepless; there is a child dying; there is a woman in grief; there are some hearts troubled and sad below, and yet the man on the look-out says, “All’s well; all’s well.” He takes the great view, he looks at the sum total, he looks at the vessel and so it is with the angels and the nations: nations are ships that are being steered over stormy waters and through dark times: many a local trouble, many a keen controversy, many an assault-at-arms, and many a war of words, but the good ship goes on, and the angel reports to the higher watchers, “All’s well; all’s well.” God has hold of the whole, the sum total, and all local disturbances and personal difficulties are gathered up into one great view. If we were to dwell only amid the detail we should be vexed and tormented to death: we must seize the grandeur, the entirety of the situation, and then,
“Above the rest this note shall swell, My Jesus hath done all things well.”
What is true of the individual and true of the nation is true of the whole earth we call the great globe itself. Truly this earth has been girded though it knew him not. It would seem to be the very Church of the firmanent. Can any other world tell such a tale of sin, or sing such a song of salvation? Suppose that every other star is peopled: then what is this tiny earth am id wealth so vast? Why not crush it out of existence, why not sink the small black ship with its blasphemous crew? It would be but a splash and silence. Yet God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. Or suppose that the earth is the only peopled star in all the hosts of the firmanent: then how great it is, how amazing, that God should have chosen this little spark of light within which to work out the tragedy of sin and the mystery of atonement! Take it from the one point or from the other, the greatness of this earth cannot be disputed. God says to the earth as a whole, “I have girded thee, though thou hast not known me: I have steered thee through the sea of space, and kept thee from collision and burning, and I sent upon thee the sleep of winter and joy of summer: I found a path for thee in the darkness, I attempered the rays of the sun to suit thy vision: thou art my child-world, thou art the planet of my heart, thou art the star made sacred by the Cross: I will empty thy graves, I will heal thy broken hearts, I will proclaim thee with the trumpets of angels to be the Bethlehem of the skies, the home and the sanctuary of the God that made thee.”
Let us beware of the men who would belittle our life and belittle the earth, and deprive us of our inspiration and high purpose. Rather let us take the large view of all things, in every stone see a possible child of Abraham, let every flower give us thoughts too deep for tears, let every act be solemn as a prayer, let every dream hint a revelation, let every deliverance symbolise the mighty redemption of the soul by blood. And let us often think how our life came to be what it is. Saying, “I had but five loaves, but two small fishes, to start with, yet I have never wanted food. I had but a thimble, and the rill of water was very thin and small, yet I have never known the pain of thirst. I was welcomed with but poor hospitality into the world, few prayed for me, few cared yet I have been preserved, nurtured, trained, stablished, and prospered abundantly.”
What is the interpretation of this? Shall we listen to a man who says, “Luck,” “fortune,” “chance,” haphazard”? Rather listen to the man who says, “By the grace of God thou art what thou art. This is the Lord’s doing, and it shall be marvellous in thine eyes.” So would we speak to many a Cyrus who does not know what he is doing in life. There are many persons who are called “naturalists,” “rationalists,” “humanitarians,” “heterodox thinkers,” “outsiders,” “wanderers,” “aliens,” and the like. No no. Let us not call them such names with any hint of calumny in the tone: though they are atheists, perhaps they do not mean it And when we encounter a man who has no faith in God, let us tell him that his denial amounts to nothing as a matter of fact. He has a life to account for, an inspiration to explain, a secret to read he himself is ghostly, if not a ghost. And which is more likely to be right, the man who says, “It is all nothing,” or the man who says, “There is a meaning in this, deep, pathetic, infinite. We die to live”? The latter speaker has a voice that finds its way into my heart’s heart, and that charms my life’s life with a very subtle and tender music. Call no man common or unclean. Cyrus, God girded thee, though thou didst not know him. Atheist, God watered thy garden, though thou didst blaspheme his very name. Rationalist, God surnamed and blessed thee in many a crisis of thy life though thou hadst no blessing in return. So would we speak to men, lest they be discouraged and distressed beyond healing.
How glorious the idea that the time will come when the sources of our inspiration will be revealed and we shall know in whose kind and mighty arms we have been clasped and locked. God will reveal himself at last; the anonymous element in life shall one day have its proper name. I have often wondered what it was: I knew that there was an anonymous element in my life, and I tried to give it a name: I called it “Chance,” and “Luck,” and “Molecular Motion,” and “Protoplasm” and “Mystery.” I wanted to give it a name why? why trouble about it? Aye, why? I called it “unknowable,” “unthinkable,” “inscrutable.” Why did I find these long words for it? Why not say “Psha vanity a veering wind: I will never think about it more”? How was it that I could not so emancipate myself from that spiritual presence? I called it by long names, but as my words lengthened my necessity broadened, and I could not take the measure of it by any names of my own dreaming. The boldest guess left me dissatisfied, I felt that I did not touch the grand secret of all things.
One day the answer will come, the riddle will be read, the scattered mist will gather itself up into shape, the shape will brighten into a face, great arms will be stretched out, and we shall know then that all the while God was our Father though we knew it not. We yearn for the day of revelation; oh that it would dawn upon all the earth! Then should the whole world be a church, and space too small for the thunder of our swelling psalm.
Prayer
Almighty God, it is our joy to know that thou givest power to the faint, and to them that have no might thou dost increase strength; the bruised reed thou wilt not break, smoking flax thou wilt not quench. Thou dost gather the lambs in thine arms and gently lead those that are with young. Thou art patient and gentle beyond all motherliness, and as for thy love, it hath no measure; it is as thy mercy, enduring for ever, and all mankind shall speak of thy goodness when the world is enlightened with thy glory. Thou dost wait for us on the hard road: thou dost not chide us beyond our strength; thou dost tarry and linger long like a good shepherd waiting for the flock that cannot move quickly. This have we known ourselves and it is no mystery to us, for every day thou dost nourish us and cherish us and wait for us and expend upon us the love that redeemed the universe. Thou art so mighty and yet so gentle. The voice of the Lord is powerful: thy voice divideth the names of fire, and yet it is a still small voice; finding out with infinite tenderness the broken heart, the wounded spirit, the weary pilgrim, and speaking music to those that have no hope. Thy voice indeed is like the voice of many waters: when thou dost speak in thy judgment thou dost make the cedars of Lebanon skip like lambs, yea Lebanon and Sirion like young unicorns. Still thy voice is tender, and gentle thou dost attemper the wind to the shorn lamb; though thy mighty tones divide all the thickets of Kadesh, yet doth the Lord give strength unto his people and bless his saints with peace. Is it not in thy power alone to give peace? What have we but a truce in the midst of war if we have not thy will wrought in us as it is wrought in thy host above? Thine is an unspeakable peace, a peace which passeth understanding; not as the world giveth dost thou give unto thy children when thou dost breathe upon them the benediction of peace. Great peace have they that love thy law. Oh that we had hearkened unto thy commandments, walked in the ways of thy statutes: then had our peace flowed like a river and our righteousness like the waves of the sea. Thou knowest our frame, thou rememberest that we are dust: thou wilt not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able: with every temptation thou dost make a way of escape. Pity us in our littleness. When our infirmities gather themselves together into a great humiliation and press us down to the dust with infinite distress, then let the Lord’s almightiness be our defence and the power of the Lord the sanctuary wherein we rest. We are weary men, we are all tired, we feel outworn, and overdone, the world is too much for our little strength. So we come to thee, the Almighty, for renewal of power, the Allwise for the rekindling of the lamp of our wisdom. Jesus knows what weariness is, and he, great High Priest, is no stranger to pain. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, having been himself in all points tempted like as we are. Jesus of Nazareth, Christ of God, Man wearied with his journey, sitting on Jacob’s well do thou look upon us, a company of weary travellers, sitting here awhile that we may obtain quietness and get our breath again: that we may by the study of thy word and the worship of thy name be better prepared for the discipline of life and for the burdens we have to bear. O come to us spare us every one breathe into our needful hearts all the promises that can sustain and inspire, and make the mighty thundering of thy word soft and gentle and tender, lest it break us by its infinite power when thou dost mean to recover our strength and to make us still hope in thee. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Precious Promises
Isaiah 45-47
In the fifty-fifth chapter we come upon the beginning of many exceeding great and precious promises. However long we may be detained by imagery that is hardly explicable, or by prophecies that appear too remote to be of use to ourselves, we are ever and anon refreshed with doctrines and promises which have a direct reference to our deepest necessities and purest desires. We need more than a grand Bible, as we need more than a high heaven to gaze upon. The heaven which we see would be of little use to us but for the earth which it blesses with its warmth and light: so the grander portions of the Bible might dazzle us by their brilliance or astound us by their mysteries, but we need the sweet promises, the tender words of special grace, medicaments prepared for the heart’s disease by the divine Physician. When we are most familiar with the spiritual portions of the Bible we are best prepared to survey within their proper boundaries the portions which lie beyond our verbal exposition. Who would distress himself because of the wildernesses of the earth when he has gardens around him which he can immediately and successfully cultivate? Who would feel so overpowered by the number and glory of the stars as to fail to light a fire on his own hearthstone or a lamp by which he can illuminate his own house? Yet it is true that men have so acted in many instances with regard to the Bible. They have been professedly overwhelmed by its majesty, stunned by its ineffable grandeur, and bewildered by the sublimity of its mysteries, so much so that they have neglected its commandments and declined to appropriate its promises and benedictions. It is furthermore noticeable that many of the tenderest words ever spoken by God to man were spoken in Old Testament times. The prophecies of Isaiah abound in tenderest sentiment. We shall now cull illustrations of this fact, and thus inspire and sustain ourselves by the recollection of the covenants and the oaths by which Almighty God has bound himself to defend and succour his people in all generations. It should always be noticed that God’s promises are addressed to human necessity. God does not call upon us first to be strong, and then to be blessed; he recognises our weakness and offers us strength; he looks upon all our poverty and loneliness, and proffers us the riches and companionship of heaven. God’s ministry, therefore, is always a ministry of condescension. God cannot talk to us as to equals; his voice must always come from above, and ours must always be the upturned ear and the expectant vision. It is necessity that prays; it is fulness that sings.
The first promise that we have ( Isa 55:1 ) is the promise of “waters.” A great appeal is addressed to those who are athirst. Thus the Lord accommodates his ministry to human necessity. When men are thirsting for water he does not offer them sublime visions of the future, or stately ideas concerning the economies and dominions of time. He would say to men, Let us, in the first place, supply your need; until your thirst is quenched your mind cannot be at rest; until your bodily necessities are supplied your imagination will be unable to exercise itself in high thoughts. The promises of God are addressed to our necessities for more than merely temporary reasons. There is a whole philosophy of government in such appeals. Only at certain points can we profess to understand God, and those points touch our need, our pain, our immediate desire; when we are quite sure that God gives us water for our bodily thirst we may begin at least to feel that there is a possibility that he may not neglect the more burning thirst of the soul. God approaches the spirit through the body. The God who grows corn for our hunger may also have bread for our spirit’s cry of weakness. We cannot estimate the blessing of water because we live in a land that is full of rivers and fountains; those only who live in desert countries know what it is to suffer from want of water. A gospel in one country may be no gospel in another. It is nothing to those who live in tropical climes to promise them warmth; but what a promise would that be to many who are shivering in the bitterest cold.
Not only is there a promise of water, there is a promise of a higher blessing still. May we not call it the all but ultimate blessing, the all but crowning benediction, forgiveness?
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” ( Isa 55:6-7 ).
The blessings promised in the Scriptures are always more of less conditional. Here, for example, is a condition of time, “while he may be found,” and again, “while he is near.” What these words mean in all their depth and breadth no man can tell, but he would be a superficial reader who does not detect in them a tone of pressure and of importunate urgency. We cannot tell how long the Lord will tarry at the door, so we should arise at once and open it. We know not but that in one moment the Lord may separate himself from us by the measure of the whole universe; we should therefore put out both our hands that we may at least grope after him, and show by that very sign that we are anxious to lay hold upon him. Then again, there are conditions on the part of men: the wicked man is to forsake his way, the unrighteous man is to forsake his thoughts, the sinner is to return unto the Lord, put himself in an attitude of coming back, that is, of coming home. This is the Gospel doctrine of repentance before the time. In the Old Testament we often have the word “return;” in the New Testament we have the word “repent;” both words may involve, practically, the same profound and vital meaning, that meaning being that the soul is utterly to change its course, to reverse its purposes, to reconstruct its motive, and to begin a new, a better, and a grander life. Sweet is the promise which follows this return on the part of the sinner the Lord will have mercy upon him, and our God will abundantly pardon. The last words may be rendered, The Lord will multiply to pardon; that is, he will not pardon as if with niggardliness or reluctance, but will add pardon to pardon, forgiveness to forgiveness, as wave chases wave over the face of the deep. Lest men should be overwhelmed by this great promise, or should be perplexed by its mystery, and deterred by the very extent of the offer, the Lord proceeds to reason, saying
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” ( Isa 55:8 ).
Thus the Lord will have the working according to his own will; he will not adopt another level; he will not accommodate himself to the usual standards of time; he will set up his mystery amongst the affairs of life as he has set up his tabernacle amongst the dwellings of men. As that tabernacle can never be confused or mistaken for an ordinary dwelling-place, so the mystery of the divine action is to be distinguishable above all philosophies and apart from them, as a new thing in the earth, new because it comes up from eternity, and startles as with sudden light and glory all the dimness of earth’s poor twilight. It is as if the Lord should say, Do not hesitate to accept the promise because you cannot understand my action; do not put away from you heavenly blessing because you have not earthly explanation; remember that a divine worker must have divine motives and purposes, and that in proportion to the divinity of the worker is the mystery of his whole action; receive this by faith, and prove your faith by the outstretching of your hand, that you may claim the pardon which is written in blood and laid upon the altar of the Cross.
The Lord now returns from purely spiritual blessings to give the assurance that he is not only the source of forgiveness but the source of the harvests which enrich and gladden the earth:
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater” ( Isa 55:10 ).
That is a revelation of nature intended to be a type of a higher revelation still. Everything on earth is made into a ladder by which we may scale higher meanings. The rain is not a self-contained blessing; it is a type, a symbol, a hint of a larger benediction. The seed which is given to the sower and the bread which is enjoyed by the eater signify more than is conveyed by merely literal meanings; there is a seed with which the soul is to be sown, and there is a bread on which the spirit is to feed. The Lord makes, however, another and most beautiful application of the imagery, for he applies it to the success of his own word.
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” ( Isa 55:11 ).
So the Lord himself is to reap a great harvest upon the earth, a harvest of living souls, a harvest of redeemed and rejoicing spirits. The rain and the dew may represent the gracious influences which prepare the heart for the reception of the heavenly seed or the word of God. The sower is none other than the Son of man, and the harvest is the Lord’s own inheritance. How the Lord rejoices in the prospect of abundant harvesting. Jesus Christ is not satisfied with a small return; he wills that the whole earth may be brought to accept his dominion and own the righteousness and blessedness of his sceptre. How can God be ultimately disappointed? How can he who made the world for himself ever turn it over to the dominion of another? When God made man in his own image and likeness, it was that man might enjoy divine companionship and represent divine purposes. How long all this may take in accomplishment none can tell; the years are many to us, and we are weary because of the slowness of their lapse; in our souls we often sigh the question we dare not definitely articulate, saying in our very sighing, O Lord! how long? Canst thou not cut through this flow of weary time and bring in the eternal Sabbath? We have the promise, and we long for its fulfilment; we cannot but believe in its fulfilment because thine own mouth has spoken the holy words. Bless us with thine own patience, or we shall fall into despair, and in our despair we shall blaspheme against thy throne.
The great principle of evolution or progress is constantly affirmed in the Bible. It is notably affirmed in these words:
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” ( Isa 55:13 ).
The Lord promises honour to obedience.
“For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” ( Isa 56:4-5 ).
Some men have had this testimony, that they pleased God, that is to say, God looked upon them and derived pleasure from his survey, so simple was the motive, so candid the action, so beneficent the spirit, that he saw in the advancing saint a type and symbol of his own holiness. God promises permanence of blessing. The men who please him are to have a place in his house, and within his walls they are to have a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters; none shall take them out of the place to which God assigns them; they shall dwell in an inviolable temple; their home shall be a sacred sanctuary, where the angels come whose windows open upon eternal spheres, and from whose elevation can be heard supernal music. Thus blessing upon blessing is given to earnest souls, as if God could never give enough; it is we who must declare our vessels are exhausted, for God’s great benefactions can know no end.
Chapter fifty-seven opens with a most gracious and precious promise:
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness” ( Isa 57:1-2 ).
The words may have been written in presence of the actual persecution inaugurated by Manasseh. The writer may have seen one prophet after another cruelly destroyed. Several prophets have vexed their souls even to death on account of the evils by which they were surrounded and overwhelmed. It was given to the prophet to see, even in the removal of the righteous, a deliverance from a fate unrelieved by a single gleam of light. If in this life only we had hope we should be of all men most miserable. Unless we interpret the littleness of time by the greatness of eternity we should be overwhelmed by daily distress. “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The world is never to be looked at in its solitariness, as if it were one world only, a poor unrelated wanderer in the infinite spaces. Time has a relation to eternity, earth to heaven, the present to the future; and unless we grasp all the elements that are involved in the unity of life, we shall continually be distracted and our spirits will be darkened by despair. When the good man dies we should say, he has escaped the evil of life; when the merciful man dies we should say, he has entered into peace. The “bed” referred to in the second verse is the grave. The Christian does not terminate his thought by the grave, for he lives in the light of a larger and nobler revelation. The grave is no longer a bed, a final resting-place; it is but a point to halt at; the spirit has gone beyond the boundaries of the tomb, and is already rejoicing in the dewy morning of eternal day. Thus we are lifted up in contemplation, thus we are strengthened in faith, thus we are ennobled in all intellectual thought, by coming into contact with the spirit and revelation of Jesus Christ. The grave is no longer a boundary line; it is but a transient shadow soon to be driven away by the rising light. Beyond it lies the garden of the Lord; one inch beyond, and all heaven glows in infinite summer.
We next come upon the greatest spiritual promises that can be offered to the souls of men. We see those promises the more clearly by reason of the contrast in which God the Giver and Author of these promises establishes himself. Thus
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” ( Isa 57:15 ).
The fifty-seventh chapter ends with a declaration which shows that amid all the goodness and graciousness of the divine way the standard of righteousness is never lowered, never is the dignity of law impaired. Read these awful yet gracious words: “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” ( Isa 45:1 ). If we thought that God was about to lose righteousness in sentiment, we are thus suddenly with a very startling abruptness brought back to the remembrance of the fact that wickedness is infinitely and eternally hateful to God, and that peace and wickedness are mutually destructive terms. The wicked man may create a wilderness and call it peace, but real contentment, benignity, resignation, or harmony, he can never know in wickedness. Herein we find the testimony of the divine presence, the assertion and glory of the divine law. God does not take away peace from the wicked in any arbitrary sense. Wickedness is itself incompatible with peace: the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt The unrest is actually in the wickedness; the tumult does not come from without, it comes from within; whenever a man touches a forbidden tree, in that day he dies. He may find momentary pleasure in the fruit which he has stolen, but no sooner will he have appropriated that fruit than the very tree itself withers away, and the whole garden is as a blighted landscape. If any man who is out of harmony with God claim to have peace he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Peace is obtainable in one way only, and that is by the divinely revealed way of repentance, confession, contrition of heart, and unreserved and grateful trust in all the mystery of the priesthood of Christ Unity with Christ means peace. It does not mean that the peace is superimposed upon a man as a crown might be set upon his head; it means that in his heart there springs up holy harmony with the divine nature, an assurance and consciousness of rest because the whole motion of the life is in movement with the purpose and law of heaven. We cannot buy peace, we cannot sell peace, we cannot lend one another peace; we can only have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer
We are fearfully and wonderfully made: truly how great and how little is man: yet thou hast made him in thine image and likeness, thou mighty and loving Maker. Now we are so triumphant, and anon so dejected; new brighter than any summer day, now more desolate than winter. Thou hast put a song in our mouth, and yet there is sorrow in our heart, which spoils the music. Our life, how changeful! without consistency; now sunny, now cloudy; now on the hill-top, now in the deep valley; now planting flowers, now digging graves. Vanity of vanities! surely all is as a veering wind; there is none abiding, there is only One eternal; as for men, their breath is in their nostrils, they die whilst they say they live. Yet how wondrous art thou to the children of men, in all care and love, in all pity and redeeming compassion! Thou dost care for each one; there is none neglected, there are no orphans; all men say, Our Father in heaven. This is thy purpose; if they do not say it now they will say it some day, brighter than any that has yet dawned upon the hills of time; glad will be that day, brightest of mornings will be that morning. We pray for it, we live in its anticipation, and when men chide us because of our hope we say, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. We bless thee for what revelation of thee we have seen. Sometimes we look upon thee as righteous and terrible; at other times as fatherly, approachable, all love, always welcoming us to thy smile and protection: but whether we see thee in the one aspect or the other we know that thy way is right, thy purpose is love, and thou wilt, by way of the Cross, bring men to restoration, pardon, sonship. Verily, by way of the Cross! Other way there is none; that way is open; it is filled with angels of love; we are continually invited to walk therein and find the dying yet living Christ, the priestly Sacrifice, the Intercessor and the Victim in one. We have seen him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, and we have given our whole love to him. Other king shall not reign over us. He is to us Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the All-in-all; and to him we give our heart, our mind, our soul, our strength, our hand, our whole being: if he will take it we shall thus be enriched evermore. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVII
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH
The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.
Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.
In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.
In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.
In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.
The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.
In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.
In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.
In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.
In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).
The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7
In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:
1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.
2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.
3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .
In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.
In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.
The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .
The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”
So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?
In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?
2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?
3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?
4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?
5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?
6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?
7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?
8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?
9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?
10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?
11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?
12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?
14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?
15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?
16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?
17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?
18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?
19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?
20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?
21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?
22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?
23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?
24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?
25. Where is the great invitation and promise?
26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?
27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?
28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?
29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?
30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?
31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XIX
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 11
Isaiah 43-45
The theme of these three chapters is the conflict with the forces of idolatry outside of Israel and arrayed against Israel. The special theme of Isa 43:1-44:5 is, “The Free Grace of Jehovah Brings Redemption.”
Jehovah, speaking to Israel in Isa 43:1 , contrasts the curse spoken of in the closing part of the preceding chapter with his free grace of protection. He says, “But now thus saith Jehovah.” Then follows a statement of his relation to Jacob. He was Israel’s Creator, Former. Redeemer, and Caller. He created Israel, i.e., brought Israel into being, and when Israel was chaotic, he formed it into an organized nation. When Israel was in bondage to Egypt, he redeemed it, and throughout its history he has called it by name and with special favor he has nourished it.
“Waters,” “rivers,” and “fire” in Isa 43:2 mean troubles of various kinds through which Israel must yet pass. It is a back reference to the Red Sea incident and the crossing of the Jordan, and a prophecy literally fulfilled in the case of the Hebrew children in the furnace of fire. But it has a strong and impressive symbolical meaning. They were yet to pass through the floods and fires of persecutions in their captivity, and dispersion which was to come later on in their history.
Jehovah had saved Israel from Pharaoh, from the Amalekites, from Jabin, from Midian, from the Philistines, from Zerah, and from Sennacherib. The term. “Saviour.” is quite a favorite with Isaiah in these last chapters of his book. The prophet had his eyes fixed on the deliverance of Israel from the rouble captivity of sin and of Babylon and thus he saw Jehovah not only as their Saviour in the past but their future Saviour as well. The thought is extended in the expression, “I have given Egypt as thy ransom,” which means, “In my counsels I have already assigned to the Persians, as a compensation for letting thee go free, the broad countries of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba.” This was fulfilled when Cambyses, the son of Cyrus effected the conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia about 527-6 B.C. This is a marvelous prediction and for its fulfilment, goes far beyond the date of this part of Isaiah assigned by the critics.
In the prophecy of Isa 43:5-6 Isaiah saw a greater dispersion than the one of his day and also a greater gathering than the return from the captivity. Though there was a primary fulfilment in the restoration from Babylon, that does not by any means fulfil the conditions herein set forth. They were to come from the north and the south, the east and the west. But no such gathering of the Jews has yet been witnessed. We look to the future for the glories of this prophecy.
In Isa 43:8-13 we have a challenge to the nations to try their hand on prophecy, either old or new, and to set forth the claims of their gods against Jehovah. He challenges them to produce the evidence in their case or acknowledge the truth as revealed by Jehovah. Israel is Jehovah’s witness, and also his chosen Servant. Therefore the conclusion is that they have no god; that Jehovah is the only true God. Not only his predictions prove him superior to the other gods, but his power to bring them to pass is beyond all power to hinder.
Israel was Jehovah’s witness (Isa 43:10 ), thus:
1. Israel was Jehovah’s witness to the truth of the proposition that he was the only God as shown in the records of its history. A look at the records proves them to be genuine and in them are found the many predictions and their fulfilments which are unquestioned. These may be mentioned: the overthrow of Jeroboam’s altar at Bethel by Josiah, David’s descendants on the throne of Judah, the long continuance of the house of Jehu, and many others. These are outstanding witnesses of the power of Jehovah to predict the future, as no other god can do.
2. Israel is yet one of the most powerful witnesses for the truth of revelation. No other nation has been so preserved in its dispersion. But all this is found in the prophecy concerning Israel. The proposition of the “Jew” is the one unanswerable argument for the inspiration of the Bible with all infidels. On all other questions they can find a fairly satisfactory answer to themselves but they cannot get by the “Jew.” He is the one unanswerable argument for the truth of our religion to the skeptic. “That Jew, that Jew; what shall we do with that Jew?”
The “servant” of Isa 43:10 is an added witness and is distinct from Israel though of Israel. This refers to the Messiah, the true servant of chapter Isa 42:1-7 whose work was largely witnessing for the Father. He is called the “Faithful Witness” (Rev 1:5 ; Rev 3:14 ), who “came into the world that he might bear witness of the truth” (Joh 18:37 ).
The counterpart to this picture of Israel’s redemption as stated in Isa 43:14-21 is the destruction of Babylon, with several correspondences between this deliverance and the deliverance from Egypt.
There are several of these back references here. “The way in the sea,” “path in the mighty waters,” “the chariot and horse,” “the army and the mighty man” are references to the incidents of the Exodus from Egypt and correspond to the power of Babylon and the way in the desert by which God will deliver them from Babylon. The “rivers in the desert” is a reference to the supply of water by Jehovah on the journey from Egypt to the Holy Land. But this deliverance is to be so much greater than the former one they are asked not to mention that one at all: to blot it out of their memory. But did the return from Babylon under Zerubbabel and Joshua fulfil this prophecy? It could not be claimed that this return was sufficient to fill out such an outline. But when we consider the typical aspect of this event as it related both to Israel and Babylon we get the spiritual deliverance of Israel from Babylon. This is impressively pictured in Revelation where the Israel of God is delivered from the mystical Babylon. So in its far-reaching application, the future of Israel so eclipsed the past that they were not to remember the former things.
In Isa 43:22-28 the Lord reproves Jacob for his sin and shows that Israel had never done anything to merit this deliverance but on the other hand, his father, Abraham, and his teachers, the priests and prophets, had all gone out of the way and there was no reason for his deliverance except for Jehovah’s own sake, purely an act of grace.
The passage (Isa 44:1-5 ), is set over against the closing verses of Isa 43 to which it really belongs as a conclusion, and in which Jehovah states that he had profaned the princes of the sanctuary, i.e., the priesthood had been deprived of its function, as a part of the punishment of Israel’s sin, and that he had made Israel a curse and a reviling. In the opening verses of Isa 44 the prophet again strikes the joyful note of promise: that the thirsty land should be refreshed; that the Spirit would be poured upon the seed of Jacob, and there would come the blessings of a matchless prosperity, at which time the Gentiles would come to take the name of Jacob and Israel.
“Jeshurun” in Isa 44:2 is one of Israel’s proper names. It is found in only four places, viz: Deu 32:15 ; Deu 33:5 ; Deu 33:26 , and here in Isa 44:2 . Of these proper names given to Israel it is well for us to note some of them in this connection. “Hebrew” is derived from Heber, the ancestor of Abraham. “Jacob” marks them as descendants of the patriarch by the same name. “Israel” marks their militant character, as soldiers for God. So when we speak of them from the standpoint of their origin, we say, “Hebrews”; when we take the standpoint of the founder, we say, “Jacob”: when we refer to their militant character it is “Israel”; when we think of their standard of moral excellence, it is “Jeshurun, the upright.”
The promise here of the outpouring of the Spirit connects back with Joe 2:28 ; Isa 32:15 , and is enlarged upon in the promises of John the Baptist and Christ, and has its fulfilment in Act 2 .
The import of Isa 44:5 is that Israel in that day will be so flourishing that the Gentiles will not be ashamed to own her, but rather, they will seek to take the name of Jehovah and his people. One will say, “I am Jehovah’s; another, “I am of Jacob”; and another, “I am of Israel.”
The special theme of Isa 44:6-23 is the “Contrast Between the Living God and Powerless Idols.” The prophet introduces this theme (Isa 44:6-8 ) by exalting Jehovah as king and redeemer of Israel, and the one eternal living God, who founded Israel and revealed himself to him as his impregnable Rock. The prophet then shows the shame of idol makers. The ones who make them are “confusion,” or “darkness”; there is no profit to their idols; their own witnesses, the idols, do not know; they expect something from them; the failure affects the whole guild of idol makers; all their efforts working together cannot save them from the fear of Jehovah. Their utter failure is their shame.
The whole process of image-making is here reviewed. First comes the making of the adz, or graving tool. The smith works and hammers, and is hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. Then follows the carpenter, lining off the idol and shaping it with various tools into the form and beauty of man. But these idols must be made of cedars or other trees, which have to be planted, which also have to be watered by the rain from Jehovah, the purpose of which is to be burnt by man. But the idol maker divides the tree, making part into a god, taking part to burn for warming himself, and cooking his food. Then bowing down before his handmade god he worships it, prays unto it and says, “Deliver me; for thou art my god.” A strange god is such a contrivance as this!
The reason for all this perversion is summed up in one sentence in Isa 44:20 , thus: “A deceived heart hath turned him aside.” The paragraph, as a whole, throws much light on their condition. They do not know because God “hath shut their eyes.” But they once could see and turned away from the light. Then God turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind (see Rom 1:18-32 ). This is the judicial blindness that comes to those who have the light and reject it. Such is the condition of the heathen world today, except where the gospel has been proclaimed. One of the greatest results of gospel light is the destruction of idols. The Jews are also under judicial blindness today because they rejected the Messiah when he came. The lesson for us is a missionary one. There is but one thing that can dispel the ignorance here described, and that is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is in line with Paul’s commission, to open the eyes of the Gentiles, that they might turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, etc.” (Act 26:16-18 ).
The cheering message to Jacob and Israel in Isa 44:21-23 is the message of forgiveness and redemption, with a call upon all nature to rejoice in the salvation of Jehovah, “for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob and will glorify himself in Israel.”
The special theme of Isa 44:24-25 is “The Mission of Cyrus.” Jehovah here introduces himself, and the introduction is in this form: “Thus saith Jehovah,”
1. Thy redeemer;
2. That formed thee from the womb;
3. That maketh all things;
4. That stretcheth forth the heavens alone;
5, That spreadeth abroad the earth (by myself) ;
6. That frustrateth the signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad:
7. That turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
8. That confirmeth the work of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers;
9. That saith to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof;
10. That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;
11. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure;
12. Even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and of the Temple) Thy foundation shall be laid.
Some of this language is plain enough but several of these items need special comment. In the sixth item occur the words, “signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad,” which is a reference to the prognostications of the astrologers and soothsayers, that pretended, falsely, to have a knowledge of future events.
In the eighth item occur the words, “servant” and “messengers.” “Servant” refers to Isaiah himself and “messengers” to the prophets generally. This means that God attested his prophets in their work just as he did the Lord and his apostles in their work, bringing to pass their predictions.
In the tenth item the words, “Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers,” refers to the action of Cyrus in drawing off the water of the Euphrates when he took Babylon.
In the eleventh item are found the terms, “Cyrus” and “shepherd,” a term applied to Cyrus with the statement, “and shall perform all my pleasure.” The occurrence of “Cyrus” here is very largely responsible for the theory of two Isaiahs, which is amply discussed in the introduction. Suffice it to say here that the giving of Cyrus’ name in this passage is not inconsistent with God’s method of revelation. For instances of names given beforehand by inspiration, see introduction. “Shepherd” here applied to Cyrus places him above the ordinary Oriental monarch in his mission. Cyrus was under a special commission of the Almighty, though he was, in a large measure, unconscious of divine direction. He may have had this prophecy pointed out to him, as Josephus claims and his statements in Ezr 1:2 indicate. In doing the pleasure of Jehovah Cyrus was executing the orders of the unseen hand behind his throne and of the Great Governor of the universe, who exalts kings and deposes them at his own will.
The prediction concerning Jerusalem in the twelfth item is a marvelous prophecy, the fulfilment of which is as certain and definite as history can possibly make it.
The message of Cyrus (Isa 45:1-7 ) was that he was to be especially anointed to subdue the nations before him, as Hazael and Jehu were anointed for their work. He was to take Babylon and liberate Jehovah’s people, build their temple and establish them in the land. The purpose herein expressed was threefold: (1) That Cyrus himself might know that it was Jehovah who had called him by name; (2) That Israel should reap the benefit and advantage of his labor; (3) That the whole world might be taught the unity of God.
It seems most probable that there is a reference in Isa 45:7 to the dualism of Zoroastrianism, which advocated two external principles, light and darkness which were perpetually at war with each other. This verse seems to have supplied a corrective to that error, making God the Creator of all things.
The final aim of all God’s providential acts (Isa 45:8 ) was that of the kingdom of heaven and therein righteousness and salvation, should be planted upon earth. The two words for righteousness in this verse are different. The first is rather the norm, or the principle of righteousness; the second, the embodiment of this principle and character and conduct. The living principle descends from heaven and the quickened earth shoots forth “trees of righteousness.”
The prophet shows the folly of striving with one’s Maker (Isa 45:9-13 ). It would be absurd for the clay in the hands of the potter to say, “What makest thou?” or the unborn babe to question and find fault with its parents. So in this wonderful thing that Jehovah is about to do, he assured Israel that it is done in righteousness, and his purpose in Cyrus is the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of the exiles. In Isa 45:13 Jehovah says, “I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways.” This refers to Cyrus as an instrument of God’s righteous purposes, but the question arises here with respect to his character and his attititude toward religion. The character of Cyrus has been admitted by both ancient and modern writers to have been singularly noble. There is none like him in the ancient world. The explanation of it all is found in this passage in Isaiah. He was God’s “anointed.” He had a special vocation from the God of Israel, was raised up by him in righteousness, was loved by him and chosen to perform his will on Babylon. As to his attitude toward the religion of Jehovah, it was friendly, but there is no evidence, positive, that he ever embraced it or even became a monotheist. In Ezr 1:2-4 he talks like a believer, but this may have been due to his acquaintance with this prophecy, rather than any personal acquaintance with Jehovah. In addressing Cyrus (Isa 45:4-5 ) Jehovah says, “I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”
The far-reaching effect of the work of Cyrus (Isa 45:14-17 ) was to be that -the heathen, put to shame, should confess Jehovah to be the Saviour of Israel. Isa 45:15 shows the mysterious ways of God’s providence, and Isa 45:17 is an expression of the highest faith in Israel’s everlasting salvation by Jehovah.
After declaring himself creator and the only God, Jehovah Bays (Isa 45:19 ), “I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I, Jehovah, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” The exposition of this text presents some exceedingly broad views of the government of God. The prophet viewed the children of Judah here as captives in Babylon, with their city and temple destroyed, and Babylon the world empire and the invincible, as holding them. This caused many difficulties in the way of this text, which seemed to make vain the commandment to seek his face. First there was the seeming invincible power of the world empire, Babylon. This Jehovah was taking care of through his own unconscious instrument of power, Cyrus, whom he raised up, endowed, and prepared. Secondly, their own degraded condition was a most serious difficulty in the way of building a nation. But Jehovah would put away their sins and restore the nation for his own name’s sake. (For a full discussion of this text see the author’s sermon, “Encouragement to Prayer,” in Evangelistic Sermons, p. 183.)
Jehovah here challenges all the nations, that have escaped, to try their hand with their gods and see if they can match this proceeding of Jehovah, and after again asserting that he is the only just God and Saviour, he throws out the broad invitation to all the earth to come and be saved, in view of the decrees which had gone forth by the oath of God, that every knee should bow and every tongue confess. Here, then, back of all human exertion, and back of all kaleidoscopic presentations of seemingly chaotic views of men and purposes, is the great purpose of God, to bring this whole world under the domination of his Son, Jesus Christ (see Phi 2:5-11 ).
In a little chapel, a primitive Methodist chapel, an exceedingly ordinary building, there is in one of the pews on the right hand side of the church from the pulpit, a tablet which says that right under that tablet, Aug. 6, 1850, Charles H. Spurgeon heard an ignorant preacher, who seemed to occupy the pulpit that day by accident, read this forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, and heard the words, “Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved,” and he was saved right then and there. This is an illustration of the power and application of this broad invitation. Surely it is not in vain to seek God.
QUESTIONS
1. What the general theme of these three chapters?
2. What the special theme of Isa 43:1-44:5 ?
3. How does Jehovah here in Isa 43:1 express his relation to Jacob, or Israel?
4. What the meaning of “waters,” “rivers,” and “fire” in Isa 43:2 ?
5. When had Jehovah been Israel’s Saviour, what the meaning of “I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead” and when was this prophecy fulfilled?
6. What the fulfilment of the prophecy of Israel’s gathering in Isa 43:5-6 ?
7. What the challenge by Jehovah in Isa 43:8-13 and what the results as herein forecast?
8. How was Israel Jehovah’s witness and who the servant in Isa 43:10 ?
9. What is the counterpart to this picture of Israel’s redemption as stated in Isa 43:14-21 ?
10. What back references do we find here to the former exodus from Egypt and how is this exodus to compare with that?
11. How is this deliverance of Israel shown to be purely of grace?
12. What new contrast in Isa 44:1-5 ?
13. Who was Jeshurun and what the significance of the different names of God’s people in the Old Testament, when was the promise here of the outpouring of the Spirit fulfilled, and what the import of Isa 44:5 ?
14. What the special theme of Isa 44:6-23 ?
15. How does the prophet introduce this theme (Isa 44:6-8 )?
16. How does the prophet then show the shame of idol makers?
17. What the prophet’s sarcastic description of the process of idol making (Isa 44:12-17 ) and what the point of ridicule?
18. What the reason for all this perversion as here assigned by the prophet (Isa 44:18-20 ) and what the lesson?
19. What the cheering message to Jacob and Israel in Isa 44:21-23 ?
20. What the special theme of Isa 44:24-45:25 ?
21. How does Jehovah here introduce himself and what the interpretation of each item of introduction?
22. What the message to Cyrus (Isa 45:1-7 ) and what the purpose expressed?
23. What the interpretation of Isa 45:7 ?
24. What the final aim of all God’s providential acts (Isa 45:8 )?
25. How does the prophet show the folly of striving with one’s Maker (Isa 45:9-13 )?
26. What the character of Cyrus and his relation to the religion of Jehovah?
27. What was to be the far-reaching effect of the work of Cyrus (Isa 45:14-17 )?
28. What encouragement to prayer in this connection (Isa 45:18-19 ) and what the difficulties to be overcome?
29. What the outcome and application of all this discussion about Cyrus?
30. What great preacher was converted by accepting this great invitation and what the circumstances of his conversion?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Isa 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Ver. 1. To his anointed, ] i.e., To his appointed and enabled one, to subdue many nations. Xenophon, in his first book De Cyropaed., gives us a list of them. Cyrus subdued, saith he, the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, Sacians, Paphlagonians, Maryandines, and many other nations. He also had dominion over the Asiatics, Greeks, Cyprians, Egyptians, &c. He vanquished, saith Herodotus, a what country soever he invaded. And what wonder, when God himself, as here, “held,” or “strengthened his right hand,” and “loosed the loins of kings” that were his adversaries – that is, disarmed and disabled them; for it is he alone who strengtheneth and weakeneth the arm of either party. Eze 30:24 Et nemo vir magnus sine afflatu divine unquam fuit, saith Cicero. b God transferreth kingdoms, and setteth up kings. Dan 2:21
To open unto him the two leaved gates.
a Lib. i.
b De Nat. Deor., lib. ii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah Chapter 45
Here Jehovah deigns to explain why He called the Eastern deliverer of His people by name. “Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held fast, to subdue nations before him; and r will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the elevated places plain, I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that r Jehovah who call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name; I surnamed thee, though thou didst not know me” (vv. 1-4).
The challenge of Jehovah which begins with ver. 5 does not appear to be a mere repetition of what begins in Isa 44:6 , but in a very interesting way it meets the special evil into which those fell who under Cyrus overthrew Babylon and its idolatrous vanities. For the Persians were famous for their dualistic scheme of good and evil, light and darkness, Ormusd and Ahriman. What can be more pointed in view of the utter confusion of this scheme than the words that follow? “I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else, there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else, forming the light, and creating darkness; making peace, and creating evil: I Jehovah do all these [things]. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I Jehovah have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! [Let] the potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto a father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?” (vv. 5-10).
If Jehovah reprove with woe upon woe all striving with Himself and fault-finding with His ways, how graciously He calls on His people in the very next verse to ask Him of things to come about His sons, and to command Him concerning His sons, and the work of His hands! “Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts” (vv. 11-13). He Who made heaven and its host, earth and man upon it, was the raiser up of Cyrus to build His city and liberate His captives, “not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts.” The haughtiest of the Gentiles should yet own God to be in Israel, as enemies of Christ once owned the power of the Spirit in the church.
Then when the last idol-makers perish to confusion, Israel shall be saved in Jehovah with an everlasting salvation. “Thus saith Jehovah, the labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sebaim (Sabeans), men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine, they shall go after thee; in chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, [saying], Surely God [is] in thee; and there is none else, no [other] God. Verily thou [art] a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. They shall be ashamed, yea, confounded, all of them they shall go into confusion together [that are] makers of idols. [But] Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded unto the ages of ages.” Jehovah, the Creator, had not spoken in secret nor bid the seed of Jacob seek Him in vain; He speaks righteousness. “For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens God himself that formed the earth and made it; he that established it, not a waste he created it; he formed it to be inhabited I [am] Jehovah; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I [am] Jehovah speaking righteousness, declaring things that are right” (vv. 14-19).
The closing appeal is exceedingly direct, urgent, and triumphant. “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together ye [that are] escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god [that] cannot save. Declare, and bring [them] near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? [who] hath told it long ago? [Have] not I Jehovah? and there is no God else besides me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none besides me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and there is none else. J have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Only in Jehovah, shall [one] say, have I righteousness and strength: to him shall [men] come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory” (vv. 20-25).
The commentators clash as to the “escaped of the nations” (ver. 20). But the conjecture of Mede is far from the mark, for he puts the expression along with Rev 21:24 . He ought to have known that “the nations of them that are saved” would be the inverse of Isaiah’s phrase, rather than a parallel. But it is a bad reading, probably from a scholium of Andreas, and contrary to every authority of value, all of which have simply “the nations.”
Our prophet widens the salvation in these concluding verses: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” So in the next verse, “unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” This extends beyond “all the seed of Israel who shall be justified and glory in Jehovah.” It is clearly applied to the Lord Jesus by the apostle Paul in the largest extent, and with the utmost depth of its meaning (Rom 14:1 ; Phi 2:9-11 ).
It is indeed a triumphant result for Israel. An everlasting salvation is assured them when they recognize in the Christ Jehovah, to Whom every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear in that day. No glorying shall be in the creature thenceforth. The idols are no gods, but wood or stone, or other material of man’s device, with demons behind all, as the apostle teaches. God is a just God and a Saviour: how true now in the gospel! how manifest when the vanities of man are demolished by the shining forth of the glory of the Lord!
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 45:1-7
1Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right hand,
To subdue nations before him
And to loose the loins of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
3I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have not known Me.
5I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
6That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
7The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these.
Isa 45:1 anointed This is a title in the OT used for several kinds of people.
1. for King Saul, 1Sa 12:3; 1Sa 24:6
2. for the people of God, Hab 3:13
3. for the Patriarchs, Psa 105:15
4. for the priests, Lev 4:3; Lev 4:5; Lev 4:16
5. for the Coming One, Dan 9:25; Psa 2:2
It is used as a Messianic title developed during the inter-biblical period. The term Messiah (see Special Topic: Messiah ) comes from the Hebrew term Anointed One. Cyrus being called by this term shows that election in the OT was primarily for service, not salvation.
by the right hand See Special Topic: Hand .
to loose the loins of kings This refers to loosening the sash, which either implies a man’s garments were free-flowing which made it difficult to move, or the sash may have held weapons and they, therefore, dropped to the ground (cf. Isa 45:5).
Isa 45:2
NASBrough places smooth
NKJVcrooked places straight
NRSV, TEVlevel the mountains
NJBopen gateways
The NRSV is literal (cf. Isa 49:11). It is also found in the DSS and LXX. Mountain may be a metaphor of problems or fears (cf. Isa 40:4; Isa 41:15; Isa 42:15).
shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars These are all metaphors to show that God will cause Cyrus to succeed in his conquest over the walled cities of Mesopotamia and Palestine. It is interesting that the historian, Herodotus, 1.179, mentions that the city of Babylon had over 100 brass gates.
Isa 45:3 treasures of darkness This is the hidden wealth of the empires of Mesopotamia and the Near East.
Isa 45:4 For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one Here we have the first of two reasons why God used Cyrus: (1) the restoration of His chosen people and (2) He wanted the people of Israel to be a light to the world, Isa 45:6. Israel was not a light so God used Cyrus (cf. Eze 36:22-38).
Though you have not known Me God used Cyrus even though he did not know Him. There is a play on the word know in Isa 45:4-6. In Hebrew the term know speaks of intimate personal relationship (cf. Gen 4:1), not only cognitive knowledge. There is no merit on Cyrus’ part that God should choose him, but God used him for divine purposes (see Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan ).
SPECIAL TOPIC: KNOW (USING MOSTLY DEUTERONOMY AS A PARADIGM)
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other This is an affirmation of monotheism (cf. Isa 44:24; Isa 45:6-7; Isa 45:14; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:21-22, see Special Topic: MONOTHEISM .
Besides Me there is no God This is another way of referring to monotheism (cf. Isa 44:6; Isa 44:8; Isa 43:11).
I will gird you This means arm you. The weapons were worn on the girdle (cf. Isa 45:1). This is the opposite of Isa 45:1 d.
Isa 45:6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me Here again is the astonishing prophecy that God chose Cyrus for the same purpose that He chose Israel, which was to reveal Himself to all the world so that all the world might come to know Him.
Isa 45:7 This verse has caused much consternation among commentators because it seems to make God the creator of evil. Basically, what is seen here is the denial of a dualism in the universe. This may reflect the Persian influence of Zoroastrianism, but we are uncertain of Cyrus’ relationship to this developed dualism. This verse is basically saying that there is only one causality in the universe (cf. Ecc 7:14; Amo 3:6 b). God is in control of all things. He uses evil for His purposes! This is another way of affirming monotheism.
Isa 45:7 is a series of Qal PARTICIPLES relating to God’s creating activities put in contrasting pairs.
1. forming – BDB 427, KB 428
2. creating – BDB 135, KB 153
3. causing – BDB 793, KB 889
4. creating – BDB 135, KB 153
5. doing – BDB 793, KB 889
Be careful of taking one verse out of a poetic context and using it as the basis of a doctrinal statement. Genre and context are crucial in proper interpretation!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Cyrus. See App-57.
loose the loins. Idiom for weakening. Compare Job 12:21. The opposite of “girding” (Isa 45:5).
open before him the two leaved gates: i.e. of Babylon, as described by Herodotus.
not be shut. They were found open, and Gobryas and the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 45
Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings ( Isa 45:1 ),
You remember I told you he prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar’s knees will be smited together. “His loins were loose,” the Bible says, “his knees smote one against another” ( Dan 5:6 ). And God here predicted, “I’m going to loose the loins of the kings.” It happened to be Belshazzar.
to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut ( Isa 45:1 );
Now, in the city of Babylon, which, of course, was considered to be impregnable against his enemies, had walls 300 feet high, eighty feet thick, that encircled the city fifteen miles square, the outer wall, the moats, the river Euphrates flowing through the midst of the city, the big wide thoroughfares going from one end of the city to the other, blocking it off into the fifteen major square mile areas. And where the walls, where the river Euphrates flowed through, they built walls along the upper bank of the river Euphrates. And they had at these fifteen major intersections where these roads crossed the river Euphrates, they had built these bridges across the river Euphrates and they had these great gates in the wall that they would open for the concourse of the people through the streets of Babylon. But at night, the gates would be shut and barred.
Now when Cyrus came with the Medo-Persian army and began his siege of Babylon, Belshazzar felt so secure within the city that in more or less defiance against Cyrus and the Medo-Persian army, he ordered this great feast, where for months they were feasting, drinking, partying because they felt so secure within this great fortress of the city of Babylon. Now Cyrus in studying the situation realized that there was no way that they could assault the walls, 300 feet high. No way could these walls be assaulted. So he devised upon a scheme of building diversion channels for the river Euphrates. And they went upriver to divert the channels or divert the river Euphrates into these channels. And then on this particular night, which so happened to be the night that Belshazzar ordered the golden vessels that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, on this night they turned the river Euphrates into the channels and the soldiers came through on the banks of the river under the wall. But then they had the problem of these great gates and the wall that was there along the river Euphrates. But for some reason, probably because the soldiers were so drunk from the parties, they had not locked the gates to these walls that night. And so the troops of Cyrus were able to come through these gates that were open and were able, of course, to conquer the city of Babylon that evening.
Now, again, notice what God said concerning Cyrus, “I will loose the loins of the kings to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.” That was 200 years or not quite, a hundred and eighty years, hundred and ninety years before the event took place, God speaks of it, naming Cyrus as the king that would be involved. Calling him by his name.
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, I will cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places ( Isa 45:2-3 ),
Of course, he gained the tremendous wealth of the Babylonian Empire.
that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name ( Isa 45:3 ),
Now God’s bragging a little bit. “I’ve called you by your name.”
am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though you have not known me ( Isa 45:3-4 ).
Interesting indeed that God names the king who will give the decree for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem after their Babylonian captivity. God calls him, “My shepherd.” And, “You’re the one that is going to release My people from their captivity. I’ve subdued the nations before you. I will open the gates, the leaved gates,” and so forth. And God calls him by name and gives out the detail. That’s why God said, “Hey, if you’re gods, tell us something before it happens so that when it happens we’ll really know that you may know that I am God. There is none like me; I am the Lord. I frustrate the tokens and so forth. I confirm the word. And I say of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd and will perform My pleasure.”
No way, no way could this be written except by divine inspiration of God. No way Isaiah could know this. No way Isaiah could call the guy by his name except God who dwells outside of our time domain, looking into the time domain, speaks to a man within the time domain because He knows outside of the time domain the things that are going to be. He is able to tell him what is going to be the names of the people and the events and how they are going to transpire. And so we have here a message from an extraterrestrial source that is outside of our time domain. God speaking to man. The eternal God declaring things before they happen that we might know that He is God when we see them happen. Marvelous prophecy.
And, of course, the Bible critics when they get again something like this they just say, “Well, there were two Isaiahs and this one was written after the event. Quite obvious.”
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though you have not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, I create darkness: I make peace, I create evil ( Isa 45:5-7 ):
Now this verse has caused a lot of problems to people where God said, “I create evil.” And the problem is caused probably in the translation of the Greek of the Hebrew word ra, which word in Hebrew means sorrow or wretchedness or adversity or calamities or afflictions. Now it was unfortunately translated evil, but we know that God did not create evil. But He did create the calamities and the afflictions that would come upon those who did evil. So it’s just an unfortunate translation. The Hebrew word is ra, which means sorrow or wretchedness or calamity or adversity or affliction. It has never been translated sin.
I the LORD do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him who strives with his Maker! ( Isa 45:7-9 )
Now, God has told us all that He has done, all that He is. And then He says, “Woe.” Isaiah says, “Woe unto the man who strives with his Maker.” Man, to strive with God has to be the height of folly. Woe unto the man who is striving with God. And yet, how many people do strive with God. They fight with God. They run against God. They try to run away from God. “Woe unto him who strives with his Maker.”
Why would a man strive with God? Because he has the wrong concept of God. That’s the only reason I can conceive a man striving with God, because he has the wrong concept of God. If you had a true concept of God, you wouldn’t want to strive with Him because you know that what God has for your life is the very best that could ever happen to you. Why fight it? God said, “My purposes towards thee are good, not evil” ( Jer 29:11 ). Why fight it? But woe unto him who is fighting with God, because he is fighting against his own good. And there are people who do strive with God. But if they win, then they’ve really lost. God says, “My Spirit will not always strive with man” ( Gen 6:3 ). But people strive against the Spirit of God and the work of God’s Spirit in our hearts, in the rejecting and the refusing of Jesus Christ. “Woe unto that man who strives with his Maker.” The woe of God’s judgment will come upon the man who wins in that strife. If you refuse God, if you refuse to submit your life to God, oh, what judgment and woe is destined upon your life. But how foolish it is to fight with God. “Woe to him who strives with his Maker.”
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What are you making? or to thy work, He has no hands? ( Isa 45:9 )
Here’s a bit of clay on the table and it’s spinning. The potter’s getting ready to shape it. And so he begins to mold and the clay begins to, “Hey, what are you making out of me?” You see, the clay has no power over its own destiny. It’s in the hand of the potter what the clay is to be. And in the same token, we really have no power over our destiny. Our lives are as clay in the hand of God. He has the capacity to form of us whatever He wants. But woe unto the man who strives with his Maker, who begins to challenge the work of God in his life. “I don’t want to be that. I don’t want to do that. Why are You doing that?” You see, God has a purpose and a plan for you that you can only discover by yielding to God. The potter has in his mind that which he wants this bit of clay to become. The clay of itself is pretty worthless. It’s so common, one of the most common elements in the earth today-clay. But the clay has the capacity for infinite value according to the ability of the potter.
Now if the potter is capable, he can take a worthless bit of clay and make it into something of great worth and great value. Now who can deny the ability of God, the Master Potter, to take our lives which are so common, and yet to make something uncommon of us. Something of great value and worth as He makes me a vessel that He might use for His purpose. So God has in mind that which He wants my life to be. I can only discover what God has in His mind by yielding my life to God. But He shows the folly of the clay objecting to the potter or trying to direct the potter.
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What have you begotten? or to the woman, What have you brought forth? Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. For I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness [talking of Cyrus], and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for a price or for a reward, saith the LORD of hosts ( Isa 45:10-13 ).
He’s going to do it. Not for a price, not for reward, not for bribery, but I’ve raised him up for that purpose. God formed him for that purpose.
Now the Lord in verse Isa 45:11 challenges us to ask Him concerning things to come. “Command ye the work of My hands, concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me.” Now this doesn’t mean as it has been interpreted by men today that we have the power to command God to do things that we want done upon the earth, that through prayer we can command God to perform certain things. To consider God as a glorified Santa Claus in the sky is a wrong concept of God completely. And to think of prayer as an agency to get my will done is the wrong concept of prayer completely. The real purpose and thrust of prayer is to get God’s will done. You see, if I use prayer to get my will done, then I would be governing the universe. I would be guiding and directing the affairs of my life and the lives of men around me. I would be in control. The clay would be determining its own destiny. That’s not what it’s all about. The real purpose of prayer is to get God’s will done and to submit my life to God and to come into harmony with His purposes for me, because His plans for me are far wiser than mine could ever be. His knowledge of the situation is far greater than mine. And it would be sheer folly for me to try to command God to do things as I see and as I think they ought to be done. I could botch up this whole world in ten minutes with that kind of prayer. Not to get my will done, to do the work of the Father.
So God declares to Cyrus, “I’ve raised him up.”
Thus saith the LORD, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabaeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God [beside yours]. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end ( Isa 45:14-17 ).
God going to cast off Israel? Never! World without end God is going to be dealing with them. The everlasting work of God and salvation of God to these people. You say, “But I don’t like the Jews.” That’s tough. God does. And God has promised to work with them.
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else ( Isa 45:18 ).
Now there are some who use this particular scripture to support what is known as the gap theory. That is, that between verses Isa 45:1 , and Isa 45:2 of Genesis, there does exist a gap of an indeterminate period of time. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Now between that statement and the next, which declares, “And the earth was without form, and void,” there are many Bible scholars who believe that there is an indeterminate period of time between those two verses. In that indefinite period of time, God created the angels, including Satan, and during that period of time Satan rebelled against God and against the authority of God. So that in verse Isa 45:1 of Genesis, you have the original creation declared, “In the beginning God created (bara), the heavens and the earth.” They would translate verse Isa 45:2 , “But the earth became wasted, and desolate; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved or brooded over the face of the waters.”
By seeing this indefinite period of time between verses Isa 45:1 , and Isa 45:2 of Genesis, they can then rationalize all of the fossils that are dated back to several million years. Makes no difference because of this indefinite time period that they see existing between verse Isa 45:1-2 of Genesis. And this is one of the verses that they use to prove this idea. There are many verses, this being one of them as God declares concerning His creation of the earth, “I created it not in vain.” Or, “I did not create it without form and void.” Now for God to create something without form and void does seem to be inconsistent with the creation of God, because God looked upon the days of His creation and He saw that it was good.
And so for God to create something without form and void would be inconsistent with the nature of God’s creation which is good. And God saw all of the things that He created and they were good. So when God created the earth, they believed that in the original creation, that He created the earth to be inhabited and that it was inhabited by what we would call prehistoric beings. That Adam became the first of man after man in the present form. But it is quite possible that prior to Genesis, and these recreative acts of God, that there were other beings that inhabited the earth in prehistoric times. And that as the result of perhaps Satan’s fall, for they do theorize that it is possible that Satan actually was the ruler over the earth in this period of indefinite time between verse Isa 45:1-2. As God, and we will get to it in Ezekiel, said concerning Satan, “I have set thee in Eden,” or “I have set thee in Eden. Yes, I have set thee in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious… I have set thee in the garden of God. Every precious stone was for thy covering, the onyx, the carbuncle, sardius and so forth. And thou was perfect in wisdom, perfect in all of thy ways until the day that iniquity was found in thee” ( Eze 28:13 , Eze 28:15 ). And then he speaks of his being cast out, cast down and so forth. So this is one of the verses. God said, “I didn’t create the earth vain. I didn’t create it without form. I created it to be inhabited.” And thus the argument for the gap between verses Isa 45:1 , and Isa 45:2 of Genesis.
There are… Pember’s Earth’s Earliest Ages is probably one of the best presentations of the gap theory. And he presents quite an argument in his book, Earth’s Earliest Ages by Pember. There are others such as Dr. Morris in his book, The Genesis Record, which does not believe that a gap does exist between verse Isa 45:1-2 of Genesis. He has difficulty determining when the angels were created and when Satan fell. Because it wasn’t long after man was in the Garden of Eden that Satan in his fallen form came and tempted him. So if Morris’ theory is correct that it all happened just 7,000 or 6,000 years ago, and that within this short span of time everything was created, and Satan has fallen and everything else, then there are difficulties with Morris’ theory even as there are difficulties with the gap theory.
But either one of them in my mind are credible. You say, “But if we were only created 7,000 years ago, how do you explain all the fossils and all this kind of stuff that we’ve carbon dated?” Well, there could be a mistake in carbon dating, or how old was Adam when God created him? Day that God created Adam and breathed His breath of life into Adam, how old was Adam? He must have been one day old. But if he was one day old, he had the skeletal form of an adult. He no doubt had teeth and he had muscle coordination. So when God created Adam, He would have to create him as an adult, which means that he would already have age-dating factors built in. You look at his teeth and you say, “He’s got the teeth of a thirty-year old.” There would be the age-dating factors that were built in, though he was one day old. There were age-dating factors built in. God could very well have created the earth with age-dating factors built into the thing. All of the fossils, He could have just created them all just to confuse men. How big is your God? If He created man with age-dating factors, then He could very well have created the earth with age-dating factors. The universe with age-dating factors. So we’ll leave that for the more learned men to worry about.
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare the things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save ( Isa 45:19-20 ).
People are ignorant that do these things.
Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; and there is none beside me ( Isa 45:21 ).
Now, the Bible is a revelation of God. Men may develop their concepts of God, but they’re wrong. Because men in developing his concept of God makes a god after his own image, after his own likeness. He has an anthropomorphic concept of God. But God has declared Himself, God has revealed Himself and the Bible is God’s revelation. And here we have this glorious, awesome description of God as He declares Himself to us. He said, “Look unto Me,” for He said, “I’m a Savior; there is none like Me. I’m a just God.”
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and it shall not return ( Isa 45:22-23 ).
God said I have sworn this, the word is gone out, it’s not going to return. It’s going to happen. Why?
every knee is going to bow, every tongue shall swear ( Isa 45:23 ).
Now Paul tells us in Philippians, “Let this mind be also in you, which was in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, and thought it not something to be grasped to be equal with God, humbled Himself or emptied Himself and took on the form of a man and came in likeness as His servant. Was obedient even unto death, the death of the cross. Wherefore God has also highly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ( Php 2:5-11 ). God said, “I have declared it. I’ve sworn by Myself.”
Now in Hebrews it says because God can’t swear by any higher; He has to swear by Himself. Now, he says when a man takes an oath he takes an oath by something greater. But when God takes an oath, God wants to declare a truth, He can’t swear by anything greater so He has to swear by Himself. But in order that it might be confirmed by an oath that shall not be broken, God does swear by Himself. And whenever you get this in the scripture, you know you’re getting into something that is more positive than anything else in life or in the world. It shall be. It cannot be broken. It shall come to pass. The day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father. But for many, that day will be too late for their own salvation, tragically. They may curse Him now. They may swear by His name now in a profane way, but the day will come when every knee shall bow. God said, “I have sworn it.”
Surely shall one say, In the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed ( Isa 45:24 ).
Oh, what a shame for those who have spoken against Jesus Christ in that day. Heavy, heavy.
In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory ( Isa 45:25 ).
Powerful, powerful, powerful stuff.
Father, we thank You for the certainty of Your Word. We stand in awe before Thee, O God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth and everything that is in them. Who have declared the former things and also have declared to us the things that shall yet come to pass. Lord, we bow our knee before Thee tonight and we confess that Thou alone art God. There is none beside Thee. Who is like Thee, O God? Great and majesty and in power and in glory. Truly Lord, honor and dominion are Yours. Praise and worship is to be given unto Thee. O God, open our lips that we might praise Thy name. Open our hearts that we might, Lord, just worship Thee in spirit and in truth. And help us, O Lord, to yield ourselves unto Thee as unto the Master Potter, knowing that Your ways are best for us. And thus, may we yield our lives to the touch of Your Spirit that You might make of us that which You would have us to be. Vessels, Lord, that are for Thy glory. Bringing praise and glory unto Thy name. O Lord, Thou art God. We worship Thee. In Jesus’ name. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 45:1-4. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servants sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Long before the period of Cyruss birth, this prophecy was written by Isaiah, and surely it must have flashed solemn conviction upon the heart of the king when he came to read words like these, in which his very name was mentioned, and all his exploits and successes, with which he vanquished his enemies, captured their strong places, and cut the gates of brass in pieces. Our God has all things present before him. To him there is no future. All things are in one eternal now with him, and hence he tells to his prophets the things that shall be.
Isa 45:5. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
It is a wonderful subject the providential government of God over princes and potentates that know him not how he raised up Cyrus on the behalf of his people, that they might be delivered; and though Cyrus did not know it, yet was he, as it were, an instrument in the hand of God moved according to the divine will.
Isa 45:6-7. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
It was to correct the Persian mistake into which Cyrus had fallen of a duplicate deity one power creating light and another power creating darkness. No, says Jehovah, I am God alone.
Isa 45:8-9. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!
As many do in these days. Tongue-valiant men, who dare accuse the Most High and arraign him at their bar.
Isa 45:9. Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Let them strive with their equals, but who is he that shall come into conflict with the eternal God?
Isa 45:9-10. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
Quarreling with God is waste of time, is audacity and presumption. It must end in disaster to us, for the Lord is Lord of all.
Isa 45:11-13. Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him
That is Cyrus.
Isa 45:13-14. Up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee: in chains shall they come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
No other God. The day shall come in which this shall all be true, when men shall relinquish their idols, and believe in that one great invisible God, the maker of all things. For the present we see not this.
Isa 45:15. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
Throughout these long and weary years, man has forgotten or blasphemed his Maker, and God has sat still and borne it in the majestic patience of his infinity.
Isa 45:16. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Isa 45:1-3
Isa 45:1-3
This chapter is a continuation of the revelation in the previous chapter. This is a prophecy concerning Cyrus of the Medo-Persian Empire, and how God delivered into his hands many nations, the wealth he procured, and how all his enemies were subdued (Isa 45:1-3); to whom Cyrus was indebted for all those wonderful victories (Isa 45:4-6); God reveals himself as the one true and only Deity who made light and darkness, refuting the absurd theory of the Persians that there were two gods, one of the good, and the other of the evil (Isa 45:7-8); the foolishness of those who question the mysterious providence of God in his relationship with his children (Isa 45:9-12); the remainder of the chapter has references to the absurdity of idolatry, a few allusions to the dark, lying oracles of the pagans, and certain passages which refer to the deliverance of God’s people by Cyrus, but which are to be more fully fulfilled in that glorious salvation by the Messiah, which, it is declared, shall be of universal extent and everlasting duration (Isa 45:13-25).
Isa 45:1-3
“Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.”
“To his anointed …” (Isa 45:1). The ceremony of anointing was used in the elevation of Jewish kings; but no similar ceremony was known among the pagans; and some have wondered what is meant here. It means that Cyrus was consecrated to carry out the purpose of God in the release of the Jews and termination of their captivity. We agree with Dummelow that the “surname” God gave Cyrus refers probably to “Anointed (Isa 45:1) or to Shepherd (Isa 44:28).
“Subdue nations …” (Isa 45:1). “Xenophon gave the following list of nations conquered by Cyrus: The Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and the Babylonians. The significant thing about this list of nations is that Cyrus himself acknowledged in his decree that Jehovah had indeed given him all of those nations (Ezr 1:2).
Another important implication of this first verse is inherent in the name of Cyrus as God’s anointed. Archer pointed out that, “Cyrus stands as a type of Jesus Christ; and many of the promises to Cyrus have their spiritual fulfillment in the life and ministry of Our Redeemer.
“No one but an omniscient Being could have predicted 150 years before they occurred, that such events would take place; and these verses are one of the many prophecies which demonstrate in the most particular manner that Isaiah was inspired of God.
“I will break in pieces the gates of brass …” (Isa 45:2). Some of the most inconsequential, nit-picking, picayune objections to this prophecy are registered in the writings of Cheyne. He made light of the prophecy of Cyrus as follows:
“The prophet does not say `a child shall be born, Cyrus by name,’ but assumes his existence, and predicts that he, rather than some scion of the house of David would be the instrument of the Jews’ deliverance … He assumes rather than predicts the existence of Cyrus; and he omits to mention by how many years, if any, his announcement preceded the birth of the Deliverer!
The reason God’s prophecy omitted the prophecy of the birth of Cyrus was that his ancestry was not important, as it was in the instance of God’s predicting the birth of Josiah some three hundred years before the event (2Ki 13:2), because Cyrus was not of the house of David. Like another great Type of the Son of God, Melchizedek, Cyrus stands historically as a solitary individual, and as an object of wonder, exactly as does Melchizedek. God’s wisdom is displayed in this far more effectively than any mention of when or of whom Cyrus was born could possibly have done it.
Furthermore, when Cheyne also cited the fact that the brass gates of Babylon were not broken in pieces, as prophesied here, but were made useless by the drying up of the Euphrates, as an instance “of the non-fulfillment of prophecy, it appears to this writer that cavil reached some kind of a climax! The true meaning of the prophecy was not that Cyrus would literally break into pieces the 100 brass gates of Babylon, but that they would afford him no greater difficulty than if they had been so destroyed. “Herodotus tells us that Babylon had twenty-five massive brass gates, supported by brass frames, on each of the four sides of the city, one hundred brass gates in all. Critics only exhibit their own frustration by such criticisms as these.
“I will give thee the treasures of darkness …” (Isa 45:3). The exact fulfillment of this came in the vast quantities of pure gold and other valuables that Cyrus took from the kings whom he conquered, of whom, especially, was Croesus, the wealthiest monarch of all antiquity. “The Roman historian Pliny stated that Cyrus in the conquest of Asia obtained 34,000 pounds of pure gold, besides many other treasures. Archer has given an estimate of the value of that in dollars, as calculated about 1960; but of course it would be about eight times as much in 1990, due to the inflation of the price of gold. The figure that Archer gave is $630,000,000, taken from the wealth of Croesus alone!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The fifth of these messages of Jehovah is a charge to Cyrus. First of all, it utters to him the promises of God which are intended to be his strength in carrying out the divine purpose. These all emphasize the ability and activity of Jehovah. He next declares the purpose for which His servant is called and equipped. It is a twofold purpose. First, for Israel’s sake; and, second, in order that the world may know that He alone is God. He then declares His power to be universal, and the charge ends with a protest against objections which may be made to the appointment of Cyrus.
The sixth message is a brief one (verses Isa 45:14-17), in which Jehovah again declares His purpose for His people. It is that the peoples shall submit themselves, and that Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation.
The seventh and final message (verses Isa 45:18-25) declares His purpose for the ends of the earth. His original purpose was that the world should be inhabited. His purpose for His own people was that they might seek Him, and manifest His righteousness. His purpose for all the peoples is their salvation. Comparing Himself with idols, He declares that in right relation to Him salvation may be found, and in no other way.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Jehovahs Chosen Instrument
Isa 45:1-13
Cyrus is one of the noblest figures in ancient history. His character became a model for the Greek youth in strength, simplicity, humanity, purity, and self-restraint. We have seen that Jehovah had assured His people that Jerusalem would be restored, Isa 44:26. They probably expected a repetition of the Red Sea and the Exodus. But God does not repeat Himself; and their deliverance from captivity was to be achieved through the victories that made Cyrus master of Babylon. See Ezr 1:1-4.
Gods plans are achieved through individuals, whom He equips and raises up for their specific work. There is much in all our lives that we cannot account for, and which is due to the girding of the Almighty. We do not always recognize the real sources of our lives. They are hidden in God. He girds us though we do not know Him. Let us not gird ourselves in our own strength, but stretch forth our hands unto Him, sure that He will neither fail nor forsake. See Joh 21:18. They who thus utterly yield to God are bidden in the exercise of a daring faith to command, that is, to claim, His saving power.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
EXPOSITORY NOTES ON
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
By
Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.
Copyright @ 1952
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago
ISAIAH CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
THE COMING OF CYRUS FORETOLD
“Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me” (verses 1-4).
THIS is the passage preeminently given by unbelieving critics as proof that the Isaiah who wrote the first part of the book could not have written these words. But as we have already said, that is simply discounting the whole question of inspiration. If we believe, as every Christian should, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, that the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but that holy men of GOD spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, there is no more difficulty in understanding that GOD could foretell the rise of King Cyrus and what he would do for His people than it was to foretell the coming of the Lord JESUS into the world, and the redemption that He would accomplish; His first coming and His second coming and the effects, both of His rejection and of His final acceptance by the people of Israel.
All this was foretold ahead of time, and so in the same way, GOD through Isaiah foretold the rise of Cyrus.
Cyrus the Persian was the nephew of Cyraxares, king of Media. Media and Persia were, as a rule, very closely related. They sprang from the same stock; it was through these kingdoms united together under the leadership of Cyraxares and Cyrus that eventually Chaldea was conquered and Babylon became one of the chief cities of the Persian Empire until its eventual complete destruction.
Secular history gives fuller information about its conquest. Herodotus has much to say of it, and other ancient records relate that Cyraxares and Cyrus in alliance marched against Babylon, and
Cyrus eventually took it by turning aside the waters of the Euphrates into another channel, and so came in on the river-bed under the two-leaved gates, the gates of the river itself. That is what is indicated here. GOD foresaw all this. Cyrus was no mere legendary figure. The majestic rifled ruins of his magnificent tomb still stand at Pasargardae in Iran. The original inscription concluded: “Who founded the Persian Empire and was King of Asia . . . Therefore grudge me not this monument.”
One reason why Cyrus and the Persians befriended the people of Israel was that the Persians like the Israelites were monotheists. They did not believe in idolatry. They did not worship idols, but abhorred them. They worshiped GOD under the symbol of the sun, and also believed in a great power they called Ahriman. Ormazd was their name for GOD.
Ahriman was the name for the power of darkness. Some people think of them as dualists as though they believed in two great gods, the god of light and the god of darkness. But it seems more likely that they really believed in one true and living GOD, but with a great Adversary seeking to impede the carrying out of GOD’s counsels. A people believing in one GOD, symbolized by the sun (they did not actually worship it) would look with favor upon Israel, when they found that they did not worship idols.
It was because of idolatry that Israel were carried captives to Babylon, its source, but this cured them of idolatry. Soon after their arrival they found that death was the punishment there of refusal to worship an image (Dan 3:14, 15). Undoubtedly, here and there, there have been Jews who have been idolaters because of ignorance, but the nation itself learned to abhor idolatry from what they saw in Babylon. There they suffered for seventy years until its fall under the awful conditions of that idolatrous kingdom. Never again have they been an idolatrous people.
To this day, they abhor idols of any description. That is one reason why the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, and other branches of the Catholic Church, have had difficulty in impressing the Jews, because if a Jew looks inside one of their churches, to him it is just a heathen temple. Here are all kinds of icons and images, and people burning incense and candles and bowing down to them. To the Jew that is abhorrent. He hates and detests it.
It is only when pure Christianity, apart from all that, is presented in loving-kindness to the Jew that any impression is likely to be made upon him. Through the centuries there have been Jews who have been converted to Romanism, but frequently that conversion has been a mere pretence to escape persecution. With outward conformity to the Church of Rome, their hidden services were carried on in the synagogue worship as of old.
But where there is a real new birth and a Jew becomes a true Christian, he turns away from all this idolatry because it is something that his very soul abhors.
But GOD’s reiterated warnings and pleadings are not unneeded. There will be a supreme test for Israel which is yet to come during the great tribulation. The son of perdition shall arise to oppose and exalt “himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2Th 2:4). He will persuade men to make an image, and will have power to give life to it, that the image shall both speak and
cause that as many as would not worship the image should be killed (Rev 13:14, 15). Many in fear of death will fail, with terrible results (Rev 14:9-11); others will be victors over the image and will glorify GOD’s holy name (Rev 15:2-4). Again let us repeat, GOD’s continued warnings and pleadings in Isaiah are not unneeded.
GOD foretold the rise of King Cyrus. He was to open the way for the remnant to return to Jerusalem. But, of course, this was to be but a partial return. There are those who insist that all the prophecies connected with the return of Israel have been fulfilled already and, therefore, we are not to look for any future fulfillment of them, but GOD says in this very book of Isaiah, “I will set my hand a second time to recover my people,” and that is what He has already begun to do, as they gather back as a people to their land.
Following this revelation in regard to King Cyrus, GOD comes back to the subject that had occupied Him before, emphasizing man’s littleness, his frailty and his lack of merit, and His own majesty and power and glory, in contrast to the idols to which the people had turned. He continues, and it is:
“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (verses 5-7).
That is very striking in connection with the Persian beliefs. In their sacred writings, the Zend-Avesta for instance, they gave the primary place to Ormazd, the god of light, the one true living GOD. And Ahriman occupies a very large place as the supernatural foe of GOD, in constant conflict with Him. One is the GOD of light, the other is the evil spirit of darkness. One is the GOD of peace and the other the spirit of war. One is the GOD of goodness and the other the spirit of evil. So here in answer to this, GOD, as though addressing King Cyrus, says “I am the one true and living God . . . beside Me there is no other. I create peace and I create evil. I create light and I create darkness. There is no other power that can share omnipotence with Me.”
“I create peace and I create evil.” What does that mean? Extreme high Calvinists insist that GOD has foreordained everything that takes place on the earth; therefore that man should sin, in order that He might have opportunity to display His redemptive grace. But that is not what is involved here when He says, “I create peace and I create evil.” It is evil in the sense of calamity. In other words, if there is a thunderstorm and great damage is done, GOD says, “I take full responsibility for it”; if everything is fair and beautiful GOD says, “This is from Me” ; if there is a great earthquake, GOD is behind that. Whatever it is, “I the Lord create peace, I create evil.” And so we read, “Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amo 3:6).
GOD takes the responsibility for everything that occurs, but it is not always that He is working directly Himself, but that He permits others to work. For instance, He permitted Satan to try Job. But the point here is that there are not two great powers in the universe in conflict with each other, both of whom are god, a good god and an evil god; but there is one GOD, though there is
an evil power working against Him.
“Woe unto him that stirreth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? . . . Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (verses 9, 20-22).
What a marvelous declaration! GOD making Himself known in those Old Testament times as a just GOD and a Saviour, a GOD who will deal in absolute righteousness with the sin question, and yet who Himself has found a way consistent with His own infinite holiness and the righteousness of His throne, whereby He can be the Saviour of the sinner who turns to Him in repentance and faith. A just GOD and a Saviour!
Long ago in Greece such wise men as Socrates and Plato argued one day as to forgiveness of sin. Socrates turned to Plato saying, “It may be that GOD can forgive sins but I do not see how.”
That is remarkable! This pagan philosopher to a very large extent had his eyes open to divine realities. “It may be that GOD can forgive sins, but I do not see how.” What did he mean by that?
If GOD is the moral Governor of the Universe and if GOD is a righteous Judge, and all men are to come before Him to be judged for the deeds done in the body, how can He forgive sins? It is not in the province of the judge to forgive criminals but to pronounce sentence upon evil-doers and see that sentence carried out.
How then could a righteous GOD forgive sins? A way back here in Isaiah, who lived two centuries and a half before Socrates, GOD declares in Israel that He is a just GOD and a Saviour. And in the Epistle to the Romans written nearly five centuries after Socrates, we are told how GOD can be just and the Justifier of him that believeth in JESUS.
This is a wonderful gospel passage: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
Now GOD is revealed in the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and these very same words can be used in connection with Him, because He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” “There is none other name,” says Peter, “under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” “Look unto Me . . . all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
What does it mean to look unto Him?
GOD has used such simple terms to show people how easily we may come into direct contact
with Him through grace. And yet difficulty is made out of the plain words “believe” and “look.” To “look” here simply means to turn our eyes to the only One who can help us, He who bids us to look. It is the Person that makes all the difference.
We do not look at ourselves, we know our helpless condition, but turn an expectant, obedient gaze on Him. “Look unto Me . . . for I am God, and there is none else.” The invitation is world-wide and with blessed results – “be ye saved.” Heb 12:2 gives the glorious Person too, “Looking unto Jesus.” Isaiah doubtless refers to the dying, serpent-bitten Israelites in Num 21:8, 9, who lived when they fixed their earnest gaze on the brazen serpent lifted up by Moses.
Chapters 45-48 are part of one section embracing chapters 40-48, in which we have the Lord’s controversy with idols. He emphasizes His own power and majesty. In one of his printed lectures Col. Robert G. Ingersoll dwelt on this. He said, “What a boaster this GOD of the Bible is! How often He talks about Himself and what He has done and can do!” One can understand an ungodly man saying this, but who in all the universe has a right to boast save the GOD who created it? And why does He set forth His own glory and His own majesty and His own power? Why does He emphasize His own wisdom and His own strength and ability? It is that men may realize the importance of living in touch with Him and the uselessness of turning to anyone else.
~ end of chapter 45 ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
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Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Isa 45:2
I. Man must go. Each man is accomplishing a journey, going through a process. The only question is-How? Man may go, either with God or without Him. Whether we go with God or without Him, we shall find crooked places; we had better clearly understand this, lest any one should turn round after he has walked the first mile of Christian life, and say he expected there would have been no such places in all the course. Life is crooked; we ourselves are crooked; there is nothing in all human experience of which we can certainly say, This is perfectly straight. God Himself often inserts a crook in the lot. We should regard the text as a warning. There are crooked places.
II. The text is also a promise. “I will go before thee.” God does not say where He will straighten our path; He does not say how; the great thing for us to believe is that there is a special promise for us, and to wait in devout hope for its fulfilment. He who waits for God is not misspending his time. Such waiting is true living-such tarrying is the truest speed.
III. The text is not only a warning and a promise, but also a plan. It is in the word before that I find the plan, and it is in that word before that I find the difficulty on the human side. God does not say, I will go alongside thee; we shall go step by step: He says, I will go before thee. Sometimes it may be a long way before us, so that we cannot see Him; and sometimes it may be just in front of us. But whether beyond, far away, or here close at hand, the great idea we have to live upon is that God goes before us. (1) Let us beware of regarding the text as a mere matter of course. There is an essential question of character to be settled. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” (2) Let us beware of regarding this text as a licence for carelessness. Let us not say, “If God goes before me, and makes all places straight, why need I care?” To the good man all life is holy; there is no step of indifference; no subject that does not bring out his best desires. “The place whereon thou standest is holy ground” is the expression 6f every man who knows what it is to have God going before him.
Parker, City Temple, 1870, p. 4.
References: Isa 45:2.-Pulpit Analyst, vol. i., p. 166; Preacher’s Lantern, vol. ii., p. 381.
Isa 45:5
God has a definite life-plan for every human person, girding him, visibly or invisibly, for some exact thing, which it will be the true significance and glory of his life to have accomplished. What a thought is this for every human soul to cherish! What dignity does it add to life! What instigations does it add to send us onward in everything that constitutes our excellence! We live in the Divine thought. We fill a place in the great everlasting plan of God’s intelligence. We never sink below His care, never drop out of His counsel. But the inquiry will be made, supposing this to be true, how can we ever get hold of this life-plan God has made for us, or find our way into it?
I. Observe, first, some negatives that are important, and must be avoided. They are these: (1) You will never come into God’s plan if you study singularity; for if God has a design and plan for every man’s life, then it is exactly appropriate to his nature; and as every man’s nature is singular and peculiar to himself-as peculiar as his face or look-then it follows that God will lead every man into a singular, original, and peculiar life, without any study or singularity on his part. (2) As little must we seek to copy the life of another. No man is ever called to be another. God has as many plans for men as He has men; and therefore He never requires them to measure their life exactly by any other life. (3) We are never to complain of our birth, our training, our employments, our hardships; never to fancy that we could be something, if only we had a different lot and sphere assigned us. God understands His own plan, and He knows what we want a great deal better than we do. (4) Another mistake to be carefully avoided is, that while we surrender and renounce all thought of making up a plan, or choosing out a plan, for ourselves, we do not also give up the hope or expectation that God will set us in any scheme of life, where the whole course of it will be known or set down beforehand. No contract will be made with Him, save that He engages, if you trust Him, to lead you into the best things all the way through.
II. More positive directions for coming into the plan God lays for us may be found (1) in God’s character; (2) in our conscience; (3) in God’s law and His written word.
H. Bushnell, The New Life, p. 7.
References: Isa 45:5.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 204. Isa 45:7.-W. Page, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 6; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 183. Isa 45:7-13.-C. Short, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 4.
Isa 45:15
We have to consider the truth that God’s hiding of Himself is in order that He may be better known, and that His great end in all is that all the ends of the earth may look to Him and be saved.
I. This is true of the material universe. Matter in its dullness and insensibility hides God. Its crassness and opacity keeps the thought of God out of our minds. We lose God in the multitudinousness of the forms He presents to us. We are delighted with the picture, and never rise beyond. In the vastness of nature we often seem to lose ourselves rather than to find God. And yet this matter, so often felt as a concealing of God, is truly a revealing, a manifestation, of qualities in God which otherwise would have been hidden from us. How could God’s almighty power have been made plain to us except through matter? Space and bulk and force illustrate power, and illustrate it the more clearly in proportion to the denseness, dullness, crassness of the material acted upon. The variety which may seem to hide God reveals the inexhaustibleness of His resources. Minuteness reveals the greatness of His care.
II. It is true of law, which is found everywhere in the material universe, that while it seems to hide God, it yet manifests Him in a higher way. The existence of law does not really hide God. On the contrary, it reveals Him in a grand and elevating way. What lessons it teaches of the Divine love for order, of the unity of God’s mind, and His unchangeableness! What an impression it gives of the entire absence of caprice in His nature, and His absolute reliableness! How grandly it shows the subordination of all things, even the minutest, to one vast purpose! What a glory this universal supremacy of law casts over the moral law! And how gloriously it illustrates and harmonises with the Cross of Christ, which is the great vindication and triumph of law!
III. It is true of the means and agents employed by God that in them He hides Himself, yet reveals Himself in a higher way. God hides Himself behind truth and behind man. Yet what a revealing there is of God in this hiding of Himself, in thus keeping Himself out of sight, that truth may have free play, that souls may be trained and disciplined to the utmost, that men may be put to the highest possible use, and may be great and hallowed to each other!
IV. God hides Himself behind delay and disaster, and yet reveals Himself through these in a higher way.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 94.
References: Isa 45:15.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 75. Isa 45:18-25.-C. Short, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 120. Isa 45:19.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix., No. 508; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 236.
Isa 45:21
I. “A just God and a Saviour.” The grand truth is manifestly this-that there is in God an everlasting harmony between the just and the merciful. He is just, not in opposition to salvation, but because He is a Saviour. He is a Saviour, not in opposition to justice, but because He is justice seeking to save. Let us ask, What is God’s justice, and what His salvation? (1) God’s justice is not merely the infliction of penalty; God’s salvation is not merely deliverance from penalty. Justice in God is something far grander than the mere exercise of retribution; it is the love of eternal truth, purity, righteousness; and the penalties of untruth, impurity, unrighteousness, are the outflashings of that holy anger which is founded in His love of the right, the pure, and the true. God’s salvation is a deliverance from penalty; it is a salvation from the miseries of sin, and the agonies inflicted on the soul by the remorse of conscience. But it is also the deliverance from evil,-salvation from the cruel lusts of wrong; from the bondage of unholy passions growing into the giant life of eternity; from the deep degradation and horrible selfishness of sin. (2) The law, the revelation of justice, came to lead men to God the Saviour. To save men from evil two things are requisite: (i) the sense of immortality; (ii) the sense of sin as a power in life. These the law awakens. (3) Christ, the revelation of God the Saviour, came to glorify God the Just.
II. We infer two lessons from this great truth. (1) The necessity of Christian endeavour. (2) The ground of Christian trust.
E. L. Hull, Sermons, 1st series, p. 131.
References: Isa 45:22.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 234; Ibid., Sermons, vol. ii., No. 60; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 277; J. A. Spurgeon, Penny Pulpit, No. 351; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 3rd series, p. 40; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 116; M. G. Pearse, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., No. 372. Isa 46:4.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 237; Ibid., Sermons, vol. ii., No. 81.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 45
The Word of Jehovah to Cyrus, to Israel and to the Ends of the Earth
1. Thus saith Jehovah to Cyrus (Isa 45:1-13) 2. Thus saith Jehovah: Israel shall be saved (Isa 45:14-17) 3. Thus saith Jehovah to the ends of the earth: Every knee to bow (Isa 45:18-25) Cyrus is called in this chapter Gods anointed (Messiah). Jehovah called him by name, but it was for the sake of Israel. But it is well to bear in mind that Cyrus, Gods instrument, called and prepared to make the restoration of a remnant possible, is likewise a type of Christ, through whom alone the promises of God to the nation can be accomplished.
Note the statements Israel shall be saved in Jehovah with an everlasting salvation (Isa 45:17). All the ends of the earth will be saved (Isa 45:22). Then idolatry will be rebuked (Isa 49:9-20). But notice the order. First Israel must know salvation and as a result the ends of the earth will look and be saved. The most precious gospel truths found here are well known.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
anointed
The only instance where the word is applied to a Gentile. Nebuchadnezzar is called the “servant” of Jehovah Jer 25:9; Jer 27:6; Jer 43:10 This, with the designation “My shepherd” Isa 44:28 also a Messianic title, marks Cyrus as that startling exception, a Gentile type of Christ. The points are:
(1) both are irresistible conquerors of Israel’s enemies. Isa 45:1; Rev 19:19-21
(2) both are restorers of the holy city Isa 44:28; Zec 14:1-11
(3) through both is the name of the one true God glorified Isa 45:6; 1Co 15:28.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
to his: Isa 13:3, Isa 44:28, 1Ki 19:15, Jer 27:6
whose: Isa 41:13, Isa 42:6, Psa 73:23
holden: or, strengthened, Eze 30:21-24
to subdue: Isa 41:2, Isa 41:25, Ezr 1:1, Jer 50:3, Jer 50:35, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:20-24, Dan 5:6, Dan 5:28-30, Dan 7:5, Dan 8:3
to open: All the streets of Babylon, leading on each side to the river, were secured by two leaved brazen gates, and these were providentially left open when Cyrus’s forces entered the city in the night, through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated; otherwise, says Herodotus, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, as in a net, and all destroyed. The gates of the palace were also imprudently opened to ascertain the occasion of the tumult; when the two parties under Gobrias and Gadatas rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. Nah 2:6
Reciprocal: Jdg 3:12 – and the Lord 1Sa 10:7 – God 1Ki 1:34 – Zadok 2Ki 9:6 – I have anointed 1Ch 14:15 – for God 2Ch 36:22 – the Lord stirred Ezr 1:2 – he hath charged Ezr 4:3 – king Cyrus Ezr 5:13 – General Neh 7:67 – their manservants Est 4:14 – whether Job 8:20 – help the evil doers Job 12:19 – General Psa 18:34 – teacheth Psa 107:16 – General Psa 144:10 – salvation Isa 5:27 – neither Isa 10:6 – will I give Isa 13:2 – go into Isa 13:4 – the Lord Isa 21:5 – arise Isa 43:14 – For Isa 45:4 – I have even Isa 45:13 – raised him Isa 46:11 – Calling Isa 48:14 – The Lord Isa 51:18 – that taketh Jer 25:9 – Nebuchadrezzar Jer 25:14 – many Jer 34:22 – I will command Jer 43:10 – my servant Jer 47:7 – the Lord Jer 50:9 – I will raise Jer 51:30 – her bars Jer 51:53 – from Jer 51:58 – high gates Eze 29:20 – served Eze 30:24 – I will Dan 2:39 – another kingdom Dan 6:28 – and in Dan 8:4 – pushing Dan 10:1 – Cyrus Mic 2:13 – breaker Nah 3:13 – the gates Hab 2:7 – they Act 12:10 – which Rom 9:17 – I raised
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 45:1. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, &c. Cyrus is called the Lords anointed, a title usually given to the kings of the Jews, who were Gods immediate deputies, not because material oil had been poured upon him when he was made king, as was the case with most of them, but because he was raised up, and ordained by the divine counsel, to perform Gods good pleasure, and furnished for that purpose with the necessary endowments; among which must be reckoned his singular justice, his reverence toward the divine nature, his prudence, fortitude, and distinguished clemency and humanity: to all which, and many other of his excellent qualities, his historian, Xenophon, bears testimony. Whose right hand I have holden Or strengthened as may be properly rendered; whom I will powerfully assist, teaching his hands to war, as the phrase is Psa 18:34, supporting and directing his right hand, and enabling him to surmount all difficulties, and to overcome all opposition. To subdue nations before him The nations conquered by him, according to Xenophon, were the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, the Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phnicians, Babylonians. He moreover reigned over the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sac, Paphlagones, and Mariandyni. All these kingdoms he acknowledges, in his decree for the restoration of the Jews, to have been given him by Jehovah, the God of heaven, Ezr 1:2. And I will loose the loins of kings I will weaken them, and render them unprepared and unable to oppose Cyrus. The eastern people, wearing long and loose garments, were unfit for action or business of any kind, without girding their clothes about them: when their business was finished, they took off their girdles. A girdle, therefore, denotes strength and activity; and to unloose the girdle is to deprive of strength, to render unfit for action. To open before him the two-leaved gates The gates of Babylon, within the city, leading from the streets to the river, were providentially left open in the night when Cyruss forces entered the city through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated: otherwise, says Herodotus, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and taken as in a net, and all destroyed. And the gates of the palace were opened imprudently by the kings orders, to inquire what was the cause of the tumult without, when two parties of Medes and Persians rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. See Xenoph. Cyrop., 7. p. 528; and Bishop Lowth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 45:1. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden; a figure of Christ, the anointed of the Father. This anointing equalled Cyrus with David. Before him God would loose the loins of kings by taking away their strength. In addition to what is said of the fall of Babylon, chap. 13, 14. and 21., and to what occurs in Jeremiah 51., we are here called to contemplate the character and conduct of Cyrus, a choice instrument which God drew from the treasures of his providence to chastise the tyranny and crimes of the east. He was anointed of God as a minister of vengeance to guilt, and as a protector of the oppressed. This anointing consisted of a spirit of wisdom, virtue, courage, perseverance, and emulation, to reign conformably to the dream said to accompany his birth, that a branch was seen to grow out of the bosom of his mother which overshadowed Asia. Whether this dream, mentioned by Xenophon, be true or false, Cyrus really reigned over Asia, from the Indus to the Hellespont, now the Dardanelles.See him, thus animated for his work, leave Media with about thirty thousand Medes and Persians. See the Lord upholding his right hand by an angel, that he might neither err in counsel, nor fall in battle. With this little army, he reduced the king of Armenia to the homage he owed the Medes; and so conquered Tigranus his eldest son by the kindness of restoring his princess, that he followed him in all his wars. Gobryas, an hereditary prince of Assyria, whose only son had been assassinated by the king, to procure revenge, introduced Cyrus into Assyria, who by one battle, which was a confusion of chariots rather than a fight, took the kingdom. Crsus, whose kingdom included Lydia, Ionia, and Ephesus, with all his wealth to the amount of more than a hundred and twenty millions sterling, fell into his hands with equal ease. The Arabians, the Cappadocians, the Bactrians, the Sac, the Paphlagones, the Indians, the Mariandyni, are enumerated also among his conquests. Thus he made a circuitous route before he returned, and gave Babylon an eternal fall.
To kings and princes he was a father, and they were proud to serve under his banner; for God ungirded all their loins. To the priests he was a real friend, and gave them the tenths of all his spoil, before either he or his army took their share. To the poor and the oppressed he was a benefactor, and bettered their condition. To the army his largesses were great; for he raised them to wealth and honour, and gave them lands. The conquests therefore he made by his humanity exceeded those he made by the sword; and they appeared to the more advantage, because his conduct was contrasted with the cruelties of the Assyrian conquests, and the bloody career of Nebuchadnezzar. Hence, not only India, but Egypt, Cyprus, and other states fell under his sceptre. Babylon however he could not take by arms. The Lord therefore, according to this prophecy, opened to him the gates of brass, which were one hundred, or a hundred and twenty in number. During the night of a Babylonian festival he turned the Euphrates into his trenches, and thence into its flood-channels; and though the river was two hundred and fifty paces broad, and about twelve feet deep, yet it so diminished the stream, that the cavalry marched in at both ends of the river. Finding the gates which led to the quays open, they advanced directly to the palace, and put the whole to the sword, drunk as they were. Carnage on all found in the streets continued for three days. Thus proud Babylon paid blood for blood, and disgorged the wealth of plundered nations into more worthy hands. This account has been carefully translated from Xenophon, with a few thoughts from Herodotus, who says this was the first time Babylon had been taken; but the sacred writings affirm in fact, that the Assyrians had been masters of the city.
Isa 45:3. I will give thee the treasures of darkness. Jeremiah observed that Babylon was abundant in riches: Jer 51:13. Xenophon, after enumerating the treasures which Cyrus found, adds, that he discovered an image of gold forty cubits long. This, without much doubt, was the image of Nebuchadnezzar, which stood sixty cubits high, the pedestal being twenty four cubits. Dan 3:1.
Isa 45:4. I have even called thee by thy name. The Lord saw it proper to be more explicit here, and call Cyrus by name, that he might be the more impelled to obey the commands of the Lord God of heaven and earth, in rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem.
Isa 45:8. Drop down, ye heavens from above. The Messiah seems here to be invoked, in all his fulness of grace and truth. No man would dispute the correctness of St. Pauls assertion, that Christ the second Adam was the Lord from heaven. The prophet saw here the flourishing condition of the Jews after their return from captivity, and more especially the grace and glory of the christian church.
Isa 45:9. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth. Some critics contend here, that the clay is plastic, and receives the action; yet this clay in the next words is accused of criminally striving against its Maker. Surely we may magnify the power of grace, without the forcing of figures. The words are a rebuke to the Jews for striving against heaven, ever murmuring and complaining that God had not prevented their captivity and ruin, by which the need of emancipation would have been superseded. Every sinner who strives against God, as Pharaoh, as Zedekiah, as Caiaphas did, with all their associates and unbelievers, shall surely perish. This also appears to be the sense in which St. Paul understood the text, in Romans 9.
Isa 45:14. The Sabeans, men of stature. See on Job 1:15.
Isa 45:15. Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself. Princes act on the great theatre of the world, and do their pleasure. Meanwhile, it is God who sends the Assyrian, as the rod of his anger, against a hypocritical nation: chap. 10:5. He bids the willing Jews also expel the Christians from Jerusalem, hiding himself in a beclouded providence; but it is with the grand design of spreading the gospel throughout the Roman world. So here; a divine and secret impulse moved Cyrus to be the shepherd of Israels scattered flock. The Lords way is in the sea, his paths in the mighty waters, and his footsteps are not known.
Isa 45:19. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. The holy oracles were not muttered among the shades, nor from subterranean caverns like the incantations of the wizards, the sibyls, or pythonesses of the heathen. 1Sa 28:8. Isa 8:9; Isa 19:3. The sacred oracles seek no concealment, but on the contrary, court examination and enquiry, both at the hand of enemies and friends, and are fully capable of sustaining the strictest scrutiny. When the righteous Lord promulgated his holy law, and entered into covenant with his people, it was not done in a corner, but on the top of a mountain burning with fire, in presence of thousands of the people, and accompanied with the ministration of innumerable angels. The predictions delivered by the prophets were not addressed to a small handful of people, dwelling in some remote or obscure part of the earth, but to a people distinguished above all others by the peculiar favour of providence, and situate in the very centre of the ancient world, amidst all the learning and science of Greece and Rome. When the gospel was promulgated the disciples received a commission from the Lord, that what they had heard of him in secret they were to proclaim on the house top; and the miracles and signs and mighty deeds wrought in confirmation of their testimony were done in presence of great multitudes, and before their bitterest adversaries. So far from speaking in secret, in a dark place of the earth, as did all the pretenders to divination, to signs and lying wonders, the lively Oracles have evermore sought the utmost publicity, and challenged the severest tests of truth. Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Pro 8:1-3. And of the ministry of the apostles it is declared, that their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. Rom 10:18. How grand and distinguishing therefore is the character of divine revelation, when contrasted with the guile, the artifice and affected mysteries of every species of false religion.
REFLECTIONS.
From this most luminous prophecy we may learn that the kingdoms of the earth are the Lords, and he giveth them to whom he will. When the oppressors have had their day, and abused their trust, God most righteously suffers them in turn to be oppressed.
The Lord we see exerts his arm in the visitations of his providence, principally with a view to the preservation of his elect, or praying people, who sigh for the wickedness of the world. God called Cyrus by name, for the sake of Jacob and Israel; and that Cyrus, on reading these prophecies, which Daniel carefully showed him, prophecies written a hundred and fifty years before he was born, might know that there is no God besides the God of Israel; that he rules from the rising to the setting of the sun; and that he creates the light and the darkness, the good and the evil of the world. Good and evil therefore are not gods, as the Persians erroneously supposed.
The Lord next promises a happy state of religion, after the return from captivity. Drop down, ye heavens, from above: and consequently, that the Jews should be still and quiet under the afflictions of providence, and not strive with their Maker, who according to his promises would assuredly pour down covenant blessings on their heads. Yea, Cyrus should release the captives, and build the city and sanctuary of the Lord. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sabea, came to him in chains. Of their spoil he made an offering to the Lord for the building of his temple; and acknowledging the truth of this prophecy, he says, The Lord had commanded him so to do. Babylon and all its idols should then be ashamed and confounded. All the lying oracles were struck dumb, and all the impious altars thrown down, while Israel was saved with a glorious salvation. Yes, the Lord who created the heavens and the earth, has never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain.
The Lord having punished Israel for violating his covenant, and punished Babylon for its cruel oppression, as the Hebrew prophets had most astonishingly foretold, all the surrounding nations which had survived the calamities were called upon to assemble, and investigate all these most singular occurrences, and to acknowledge that JEHOVAH was just in punishing Israel and Babylon; that he was their Saviour at the expiration of the seventy years, and that there was no God in heaven or earth besides him.
Having made it the golden rule of our comment on the prophecies to say, that the sacred seers referred all their sorrows and all their joys to the Messiah, we cannot but add, that as God redeemed and restored Israel by Cyrus, so he has ransomed the nations by Christ Jesus. Hence the conversion of the whole gentile world to the faith and worship of the Lord Jesus is here expressly foretold. The ends of the earth, even the remotest isles and nations of the gentiles, are called to look to him for salvation. In his person and work he is just such a Saviour as they need. The glory of his gospel is qualified to shame away the darkness of superstition, being everyway worthy of God to reveal, and of man to embrace. Sinners, look up to him at the right hand of the Father. You are weak, but he is strong; you are poor, but he is rich; you are defiled, but he has opened a fountain; you are dying men, but he has opened immortality and life by his resurrection from the dead. Sinners, look up to him, and with a confidence that cannot look in vain; for God has sworn, and St. Paul repeats the words, that every knee shall bow to him. Yes, for mercy or for judgment the heavens and the earth shall bow; therefore take your choice, and that without delay.
Here is also a promise of righteousness from the Lord, for all our righteousness is impure. As he justified his people from the reproaches of the heathen, so Jesus will justify you freely by his grace. He was made a sin-offering for you on the cross, that you might be made the righteousness of God in him. Your sin shall be purged by his blood, your persons shall be acquitted at his bar, you shall inherit all the privileges of adoption by union with your head, you shall glory in purity of heart, and in all the wonderful works of the Lord.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 44:24 to Isa 45:8. Yahwehs Commission to Cyrus.Yahweh reminds Israel of His power as sole Creator of the universe. What He created He still controls, so that He falsifies the predictions deduced by the soothsayers from the omens, and makes the diviners look foolish, while He fulfils the predictions of His servants (read plural), the prophets. He it is who has decreed the restoration of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the cities of Judah. The hindrances are compared to a flood, which He will dry up (Exodus 14). He it is who calls Cyrus the shepherd of His people. To Cyrus, whom He has anointed for this commission, whom He supports in his career of victory, delivering to him all fortified cities, He has promised that He will go before him, smoothing difficulties from his path. Brazen gates and the iron bars that strengthen them He will shatter. He will give him the treasures hoarded in secret chambers, Babylons spoils of conquest. Yet not for his own sake, but for Israels, has Yahweh called him, though he knew Him not, and given him a title of honour. He, the only God, will gird Cyrus with strength, but kings who oppose him He will disarm, that all men may know He is Yahweh, sole controller of the fates of mankind. Let the heavens flood the earth with righteousness: from the womb of the earth let deliverance and prosperity spring forth, and let the earth produce the triumph of His people.
Isa 44:24. is: rather was, i.e. at the creation.
Isa 44:25. liars: render, soothsayers.
Isa 44:28. Oriental rulers often styled themselves shepherd of the nation.
Isa 45:1. loose the loins of: i.e. ungird, and consequently disarm.
Isa 45:7. peace: render, prosperity.create: delete as repetition from preceding clause.[If a dualistic doctrine is tacitly attacked here, whose doctrine was it? J. H. Moulton (Early Zoroastrianism, p. 220) says it was that of teachers essentially akin to the Magi. He adds: The existence of such a dualistic tendency within the field from which he drew his observations does not prove any nexus between the Magi and Babylon, unless in their accepting Babylonian ideas as they accepted Persian. But the dualism in question may quite well have been Magian and not Babylonian at all.evil: calamity, not moral evil.A. S. P.].
Isa 45:8. Drop down: transitive, having same object as pour down.righteousness: victory.together: render, also.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to {a} Cyrus, whose {b} right hand I have held, to {c} subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
(a) To assure the Jews of their deliverance against the great temptations that they would abide, he names the person and the means.
(b) Because Cyrus would execute the office of a deliverer, God called him his anointed for a time, but after another sort than he called David.
(c) To guide him in the deliverance of my people.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The instrument of redemption 45:1-13
This section begins with God’s promise to Cyrus (Isa 45:1-8; cf. Psalms 2; Psalms 110) and concludes with a vindication of God’s right to use whom He will (Isa 45:9-13).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
God’s promise to Cyrus 45:1-8
The promise to Cyrus was, of course, for the benefit of the Israelites who wondered how God would restore them to the land as He promised.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Yahweh shockingly referred to Cyrus as His "anointed" (Heb. mashiah), a title normally reserved for Israel’s prophets, priests, and kings. One exception is Hazael whom Elijah was to anoint as King of Aram (cf. 1Ki 19:15-16). Hazael was also the Lord’s anointed. It also refers to the Messiah. The Israelites thought of their anointed leaders as those whom God uniquely raised up to accomplish His purposes. By calling Cyrus His anointed, the Lord was teaching them that He was the Lord of all the earth, not just Israel. He could and would use whomever he chose to deliver His people.
"Sometimes we forget that God can use even unconverted world leaders for the good of His people and the progress of His work." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 51.]
"Traditionally, the ruler of Babylon took the hand of Bel in the New Year’s festival. Assyrian rulers coveted this affirmation of their authority. Here Yahweh claims that he has seized Cyrus by the hand (Isa 42:6) and strenghtened [sic] his hold on his realm." [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 156.]
Cyrus’ election for this task was not due to anything in himself (cf. Rom 9:16). The Lord had taken him by the right hand, as a parent does with a small child, and would enable him to conquer and subdue those nations and kings whom he would.
"Since Israel in exile had no king, Cyrus functioned in a sense as her king (the anointed one) to bring about blessing." [Note: J. Martin, p. 1099.]
"Cyrus is the only Gentile king who is called God’s ’anointed.’ Since this is the translation of the Hebrew word which we spell in English as Messiah, Cyrus is in a sense a type of the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ. . . . The only intended resemblance is in the fact that Cyrus was the anointed one who delivered the people of Israel from their captivity. As such he points us to the greater Anointed One who saves His people from their sins." [Note: A. Martin, Isaiah . . ., pp. 77-78. See also Archer, p. 641.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22
CHAPTER IX
FOUR POINTS OF A TRUE RELIGION
Isa 43:1-28 – Isa 48:1-22
WE have now surveyed the governing truths of Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22 : the One God, omnipotent and righteous; the One People, His servants and witnesses to the world; the nothingness of all other gods and idols before Him; the vanity and ignorance of their diviners, compared with His power, who, because He has a purpose working through all history, and is both faithful to it and almighty to bring it to pass, can inspire His prophets to declare beforehand the facts that shall be. He has brought His people into captivity for a set time, the end of which is now near. Cyrus the Persian, already upon the horizon, and threatening Babylon, is to be their deliverer. But whomever He raises up on Israels behalf, God is always Himself their foremost champion. Not only is His word upon them, but His heart is among them. He bears the brunt of their battle, and their deliverance, political and spiritual, is His own travail and agony. Whomever else He summons on the stage, He remains the true hero of the drama.
Now, chapters 43-48 are simply the elaboration and more urgent offer of all these truths, under the sense of the rapid approach of Cyrus upon Babylon. They declare again Gods unity, omnipotence, and righteousness, they confirm His forgiveness of His people, they repeat the laughter at the idols, they give us nearer views of Cyrus, they answer the doubts that many orthodox Israelites felt about this Gentile Messiah; chapters 46 and 47 describe Babylon as if on the eve of her fall, and chapter 48, after Jehovah more urgently than ever presses upon reluctant Israel to show the results of her discipline in Babylon, closes with a call to leave the accursed city, as if the way were at last open. This call has been taken as the mark of a definite division of our prophecy. But too much must not be put upon it. It is indeed the first call to depart from Babylon; but it is not the last. And although chapter 49, and the chapters following, speak more of Zions Restoration and less of the Captivity, yet chapter 49 is closely connected with chapter 48, and we do not finally leave Babylon behind till Isa 52:12. Nevertheless, in the meantime chapter 48 will form a convenient point on which to keep our eyes.
Cyrus, when we last saw him, was upon the banks of the Halys, 546 B.C., startling Croesus and the Lydian Empire into extraordinary efforts, both of a religious and political kind, to avert his attack. He had just come from an unsuccessful attempt upon the northern frontier of Babylon, and at first it appeared as if he were to find no better fortune on the western border of Lydia. In spite of his superior numbers, the Lydian army kept the ground on which he met them in battle. But Croesus, thinking that the war was over for the season, fell back soon afterwards on Sardis, and Cyrus, following him up by forced marches, surprised him under the walls of the city, routed the famous Lydian cavalry by the novel terror of his camels, and after a siege of fourteen days sent a few soldiers to scale a side of the citadel too steep to be guarded by the defenders; and so Sardis, its king and its empire, lay at his feet. This Lydian campaign of Cyrus, which is related by Herodotus, is worth noting here for the light it throws on the character of the man, whom according to our prophecy, God chose to be His chief instrument in that generation. If his turning back from Babylonia, eight years before he was granted an easy entrance to her capital, shows how patiently Cyrus could wait upon fortune, his quick march upon Sardis is the brilliant evidence that when fortune showed the way, she found this Persian an obedient and punctual follower. The Lydian campaign forms as good an illustration as we shall find of these texts of our prophet: “He pursueth them, he passeth in safety; by a way he (almost) treads not with his feet. He cometh upon satraps as on mortar, and as the potter treadeth upon clay. {Isa 12:3} I have holden his right hand to bring down before him nations, and the loins of kings will I loosen,” (poor ungirt Croesus, for instance, relaxing so foolishly after his victory!) “to open before him doors, and gates shall not be shut” (so was Sardis unready for him), “I go before thee, and will level the ridges; doors of brass I will shiver, and bolts of iron cut in sunder. And I will give to thee treasures of darkness, hidden riches of secret places.” {Isa 45:1-3} Some have found in this an allusion to the immense hoards of Croesus, which fell to Cyrus with Sardis.
With Lydia, the rest of Asia Minor, including the cities of the Greeks, who held the coast of the Aegean, was bound to come into the Persians hands. But the process of subjection turned out to be a tong one. The Greeks got no help from Greece. Sparta sent to Cyrus an embassy with a threat, but the Persian laughed at it and it came to nothing. Indeed, Spartas message was only a temptation to this irresistible warrior to carry his fortunate arms into Europe. His own presence, however, was required in the East, and his lieutenants found the thorough subjection of Asia Minor a task requiring several years. It cannot have well been concluded before 540, and while it was in progress we understand why Cyrus did not again attack Babylonia. Meantime, he was occupied with lesser tribes to the north of Media.
Cyrus second campaign against Babylonia opened in 539. This time he avoided the northern wall from which he had been repulsed in 546. Attacking Babylonia from the east, he crossed the Tigris, beat the Babylonian king into Borsippa, laid siege to that fortress and marched on Babylon, which was held by the kings son, Belshazzar, Bil-sarussur. All the world knows the supreme generalship by which Cyrus is said to have captured Babylon without assaulting the walls, from whose impregnable height their defenders showered ridicule upon him; how he made himself master of Nebuchadrezzars great bason at Sepharvaim, and turned the Euphrates into it; and how, before the Babylonians had time to notice the dwindling of the waters in their midst, his soldiers waded down the river bed, and by the river gates surprised the careless citizens upon a night of festival. But recent research makes it more probable that her inhabitants themselves surrendered Babylon to Cyrus.
Now it was during the course of the events just sketched, but before their culmination in the fall of Babylon, that chapters 43-48 were composed. That, at least, is what they themselves suggest. In three passages, which deal with Cyrus or with Babylon, some of the verbs are in the past, some in the future. Those in the past tense describe the calling and full career of Cyrus or the beginning of preparations against Babylon. Those in the. future tense promise Babylons fall or Cyrus completion of the liberation of the Jews. Thus, in Isa 43:14 it is written: “For your sakes I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down as fugitives all of them, and the Chaldeans in the ships of their rejoicing.” Surely these words announce that BabyIons fate was already on the way to her, but not yet arrived. Again, in the verses which deal with Cyrus himself, Isa 45:1-6, which we have partly quoted, the Persian is already “grasped by his right hand by God, and called”; but his career is not over, for God promises to do various things for him. The third passage is Isa 45:13 of the same chapter, where Jehovah says, “I have stirred him up in righteousness, and” changing to the future tense, “all his ways will I level; he shall build My city, and My captivity shall he send away.” What could be more precise than the tenor of all these passages? If people would only take our prophet at his word; if with all their belief in the inspiration of the text of Scripture, they would only pay attention to its grammar, which surely, on their own theory, is also thoroughly sacred, then there would be today no question about the date of Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22. As plainly as grammar can enable it to do, this prophecy speaks of Cyrus campaign against Babylon as already begun, but of its completion as still future. Chapter 48, it is true, assumes events as still farther developed, but we will come to it afterwards.
During Cyrus preparations, then, for invading Babylonia, and in prospect of her certain fall, chapters 43-48 repeat with greater detail and impetuosity the truths, which we have already gathered from chapters 40-42.
1. And first of these comes naturally the omnipotence, righteousness, and personal urgency of Jehovah Himself. Everything is again assured by His power and purpose; everything starts from His initiative. To illustrate this we could quote from almost every verse in the chapters under consideration. “I, I Jehovah, and there is none beside Me a Saviour. I am God”-El. “Also from today on I am He. I will work, and who shall let it? I am Jehovah. I, I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions. I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God”-Elohim. “Is there a God,” Eloah, “beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any. I Jehovah, Maker of all things. I am Jehovah, and there is none else; beside Me there is no God. I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of peace and Creator of evil, I am Jehovah, Maker of all these. I am Jehovah, and there is none else, God,” Elohini, “beside Me, God-Righteous,” El Ssaddiq, “and a Saviour: there is none except: Me. Face Me, and be saved all ends of the earth; for I am God,” El, “and there is none else. Only in Jehovah-of Me shall they say-are righteousnesses and strength. I am God,” El, “and there is none else; God,” Elohim, “and there is none like Me. I am He; I am First, yea, I am Last. I, I have spoken. I have declared it.”
It is of advantage to gather together so many passages-and they might have been increased-from chapters 43-48. They let us see at a glance what a part the first personal pronoun plays in the Divine revelation. Beneath every religious truth is the unity of God. Behind every great movement is the personal initiative, and urgency of God. And revelation is, in its essence, not the mere publication of truths about God, but the personal presence and communication to men of God Himself. Three words are used for Deity-El, Eloah, Elohim-exhausting the Divine terminology. But besides these, there is a formula which puts the point even more sharply: “I am He.” It was the habit of the Hebrew nation, and indeed of all Semitic peoples, who shared their reverent unwillingness to name the Deity, to speak of Him simply by the third personal pronoun. The Book of Job is full of instances of the habit, and it also appears in many proper names, as Eli-hu, “My God-is-He,” Abi-hu, “My-Father-is-He.” Renan adduces the practice as evidence that the Semites were “naturally monotheistic,”-as evidence for what was never the case! But if there was no original Semitic monotheism for this practice to prove, we may yet take the practice as evidence for the personality of the Hebrew God. The God of the prophets is not the it, which Mr. Matthew Arnold so strangely thought he had identified in their writings, and which, in philosophic language, that unsophisticated Orientals would never have understood, he so cumbrously named “a tendency not ourselves that makes for righteousness.” Not anything like this is the God, who here urges His self-consciousness upon men. He says, “I am He,”-the unseen Power, who was too awful and too dark to be named, but about whom, when in their terror and ignorance His worshippers sought to describe Him, they assumed that He was a Person, and called Him, as they would have called one of themselves, by a personal pronoun. By the mouth of His prophet this vague and awful He declares Himself as I, I, I, – no mere tendency, but a living Heart and urgent Will, personal character and force of initiative, from which all tendencies move and take their direction and strength. “I am He.”
History is strewn with the errors of those who have sought from God something else than Himself. All the degradation, even of the highest religions, has sprung from this, that their votaries forgot that religion was a communion with God Himself, a life in the power of His character and will, and employed it as the mere communication either of material benefits or of intellectual ideas. It has been the mistake of millions to see in revelation nothing but the telling of fortunes, the recovery of lost things, decision in quarrels, direction in war, or the bestowal of some personal favour. Such are like the person, of whom St. Luke tells us, who saw nothing in Christ but the recoverer of a bad debt: “Master, speak unto my brother that he divide the inheritance with me”; and their superstition is as far from true faith as the prodigals old heart, when he said, “Give me the portion of goods that falleth unto me,” was from the other heart, when, in his poverty and woe, he cast himself utterly upon his Father: “I will arise and go to my Father.” But no less a mistake do those make, who seek from God not Himself, but only intellectual information. The first Reformers did well, who brought the common soul to the personal grace of God; but many of their successors, in a controversy, whose dust obscured the sun and allowed them to see but the length of their own weapons, used Scripture chiefly as a store of proofs for separate doctrines of the faith, and forgot that God Himself was there at all. And though in these days we seek from the Bible many desirable things, such as history, philosophy, morals, formulas of assurance of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, maxims for conduct, yet all these will avail us little, until we have found behind them the living Character, the Will, the Grace, the Urgency, the Almighty Power, by trust in whom and communion with whom alone they are added unto us.
Now the deity, who claims in these chapters to be the One, Sovereign God, was the deity of a little tribe. “I am Jehovah, I Jehovah am God, I Jehovah am He.” We cannot too much impress ourselves with the historical wonder of this. In a world, which contained Babylon and Egypt with their large empires, Lydia with all her wealth, and the Medes with all their force; which was already feeling the possibilities of the great Greek life, and had the Persians, the masters of the future, upon its threshold, -it was the god of none of these, but of the obscurest tribe of their bondsmen, who claimed the Divine Sovereignty for Himself; it was the pride of none of these, but the faith of the most despised and, at its heart, most mournful religion of the time, which offered an explanation of history, claimed the future, and was assured that the biggest forces of the world were working for its ends. “Thus saith Jehovah, King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts, I First, and I Last; and beside Me there is no God. Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.”
By itself this were a cheap claim, and might have been made by any idol among them, were it not for the additional proofs by which it is supported. We may summarise these additional proofs as threefold: Laughter, Gospel, and Control of History, -three marvels in the experience of exiles. People, mournfullest and most despised, their mouths were to be filled with the laughter of truths scorn upon the idols of their conquerors. Men, most tormented by conscience and filled with the sense of sin, they were to hear the gospel of forgiveness. Nation, against whom all fact seemed to be working, their God told them, alone of all nations of the world, that He controlled for their sake the facts of today and the issues of tomorrow.
2. A burst of laughter comes very weirdly out of the Exile. But we have already seen the intellectual right to scorn which these crushed captives had. They were monotheists and their enemies were image worshippers. Monotheism, even in its rudest forms, raises men intellectually, -it is difficult to say by how many degrees. Indeed, degrees do not measure the mental difference between an idolater and him who serves with his mind, as well as with all his heart and it not for the additional proofs by which it is a difference that is absolute. Israel in captivity was conscious of this, and therefore, although the souls of those sad men were filled beyond any in the world with the heaviness of sorrow and the humility of guilt, their proud faces carried a scorn they had every right to wear, as the servants of the One God. See how this scorn breaks forth in the following passage. Its text is corrupt, and its rhythm, at this distance from the voices that utter it, is hardly perceptible; but thoroughly evident is its tone of intellectual superiority, and the scorn of it gushes forth in impetuous, unequal verse, the force of which the smoothness and dignity of our Authorised Version has unfortunately disguised.
1.
Formers of an idol are all of them waste,
And their darlings are utterly worthless!
And their confessors – they! they see not and know not
Enough to feel shame.
Who has fashioned a god, or an image has cast?
Tis to be utterly worthless.
Lo! all that depend ont are shamed,
And the gravers are less than men:
Let all of them gather and stand.
They quake and are shamed in the lump.
2.
Iron-graver-he takes a chisel,
And works with hot coals,
And with hammers he moulds;
And has done it with the arm of his strength. –
Anon hungers, and strength goes;
Drinks no water, and wearies!
3.
Wood-graver-he draws a line,
Marks it with pencil,
Makes it with planes,
And with compasses marks it.
So has made it the build of a man,
To a grace that is human-
To inhabit a house, cutting it cedars.
4.
Or one takes an ilex or oak,
And picks for himself from the trees of the wood
One has planted a pine, and the rain makes it big,
And tis there for a man to burn.
And one has taken of it, and been warmed;
Yea, kindles and bakes bread, –
Yea, works out a god, and has worshipped it!
Has made it an idol, and bows down before it!
Part of it burns he with fire,
Upon part eats flesh,
Roasts roast and is full;
Yea, warms him and saith,
“Aha, I am warm, have seen fire!”
And the rest of it-to a god he has made-to his image!
He bows to it, worships it, prays to it,
And says, “Save me, for my god art thou!”
5.
They know not and deem not!
For He hath bedaubed, past seeing, their eyes
Past thinking, their hearts.
And none takes to heart,
Neither has knowledge nor sense to say,
“Part of it burned I in fire-
Yea, have baked bread on its coals,
Do roast flesh that I eat, –
And the rest ot, to a
Disgust should I make it?
The trunk of a tree should I worship?”
Herder of ashes, a duped heart has sent him astray,
That he cannot deliver his soul. neither say,
“Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Is not the prevailing note in these verses surprise at the mental condition of an idol-worshipper? “They see not and know not enough to feel shame. None takes it to heart, neither has knowledge nor sense to say, Part of it I have burned in fire and the rest, should I make it a god?” This intellectual confidence, breaking out into scorn, is the second great token of truth, which distinguishes the religion of this poor slave of a people.
3. The third token is its moral character. The intellectual truth of a religion would go for little, had the religion nothing to say to mans moral sense-did it not concern itself with his sins, had it no redemption for his guilt. Now, the chapters before us are full of judgment and mercy. If they have scorn for the idols, they have doom for sin, and grace for the sinner. They are no mere political manifesto for the occasion, declaring how Israel shall be liberated from Babylon. They are a gospel for sinners in all time. By this they farther accredit themselves as a universal religion.
God is omnipotent, yet He can do nothing for Israel till Israel put away their sins. Those sins, and not the peoples captivity, are the Deitys chief concern. Sin has been at the bottom of their whole adversity. This is brought out with all the versatility of conscience itself. Israel and their God have been at variance; their sin has been, what conscience feels the most, a sin against love. “Yet not upon Me hast thou called, O Jacob; how hast thou been wearied with Me, O Israel I have not made thee to slave with offerings, nor weaned thee with incense but thou hast made Me to slave with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities”. {Isa 43:22-24} So God sets their sins, where men most see the blackness of their guilt, in the face of His love. And now He challenges conscience. “Put Me in remembrance; let us come to judgment together; indict, that thou mayest be justified” (Isa 43:26). But it had been age long and original sin. “Thy father, the first had sinned; yea, thy representative men”-literally “interpreters, mediators-had transgressed against Me. Therefore did I profane consecrated princes, and gave Jacob to the ban, and Israel to reviling” (Isa 43:27-28). The Exile itself was but an episode in a tragedy, which began far back with Israels history. And so chapter 48 repeats: “I knew that thou dost deal very treacherously, and Transgressor-from-the-womb do they call thee” (Isa 48:8). And then there comes the sad note of what might have been. “O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as the river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea” (Isa 48:18). As broad Euphrates thou shouldst have lavishly rolled, and flashed to the sun like a summer sea. But now, hear what is left. “There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked” (Isa 48:22).
Ah, it is no dusty stretch of ancient history, no; long-extinct volcano upon the far waste of Asian politics, to which we are led by the writings of the Exile. But they treat of mans perennial trouble; and conscience, that never dies, speaks through their old-fashioned letters and figures with words we feel like swords. And therefore, still, whether they be psalms or prophecies, they stand like some ancient minster in the modern world, -where, on each new soiled day, till time ends, the heavy heart of man may be helped to read itself, and lift up its guilt for mercy.
They are the confessional of the world, but they are also its gospel, and the altar where forgiveness is sealed. “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; turn unto Me, for I have redeemed, thee. Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” {Isa 43:25; Isa 44:21-22; Isa 45:17} Now, when we remember who the God is, who thus speaks, -not merely One who flings the word of pardon from the sublime height of His holiness, but, as we saw, speaks it from the midst of all His own passion and struggle under His peoples sins, -then with what assurance does His word come home to the heart. What honour and obligation to righteousness does the pardon of such a God put upon our hearts. One understands why Ambrose sent Augustine, after his conversion, first to these prophecies.
4. The fourth token, which these chapters offer for the religion of Jehovah, is the claim they make for it to interpret and to control history. There are two verbs, which are frequently repeated throughout the chapters, and which are given together in Isa 43:12 : “I have published and I have saved.” These are the two acts by which Jehovah proves His solitary divinity over against the idols.
The “publishing,” of course, is the same prediction, of which chapter 41 spoke. It is “publishing” in former times things happening now; it is “publishing” now things that are still to happen. “And who, like Me, calls out and publishes it, and sets it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come, let them publish. Tremble not, nor fear: did I not long ago cause thee to hear? and I published, and ye are My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? nay, there is no Rock; I know none”. {Isa 44:7-8}
The two go together, the doing of wonderful and saving acts for His people and the publishing of them before they come to pass. Israels past is full of such acts. Chapter 43, instances the delivery from Egypt (Isa 43:16-17), but immediately proceeds (Isa 43:18-19): “Remember ye not the former things”-here our old friend rishonoth occurs again, but this time means simply “previous events”-“neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; even now it springs forth. Shall ye not know it? Yea, I will set in the wilderness a way, in the desert rivers.” And of this new event of the Return, and of others which will follow from it, like the building of Jerusalem, the chapters insist over and over again, that they are the work of Jehovah, who is therefore a Saviour God. But what better proof can be given, that these saving facts are indeed His own and part of His counsel, than that He foretold them by His messengers and prophets to Israel, -of which previous “publication” His people are the witnesses. “Who among the peoples can publish thus, and let us hear predictions?-again rishonoth, “things ahead-let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, and let them hear and say, Truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah,” to Israel. {Isa 43:9-10} “I have published, and I have saved, and I have shewed, and there was no strange god among you; therefore”-because Jehovah was notoriously the only God who had to do with them during all this prediction and fulfilment of prediction” ye are witnesses for Me, saith Jehovah, that I am God” (id. Isa 43:12). The meaning of all this is plain. Jehovah is God alone, because He is directly effective in history for the salvation of His people, and because He has published beforehand what He will do. The great instance of this, which the prophecy adduces, is the present movement towards the liberation of the people, of which movement Cyrus is the most conspicuous factor. Of this Isa 45:19 ff. says: “Not in a place of the land of in Secret have I spoken, darkness. I have not said to the seed of Jacob, In vanity seek ye Me. I Jehovah am a speaker of righteousness, a publisher of things that are straight. Be gathered and come in; draw together, ye survivors of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry about the log of their image, and are suppliants to a god that cannot save. Publish, and bring it here; nay, let them advise together; who made this to be heard,”-that is, “who published this, -of ancient time?” Who published this of old? I Jehovah, and there is none God beside Me: a God righteous,”-that is, consistent, true to His published word, -“and a Saviour, there is none beside Me.” “Here we have joined together the same ideas as in Isa 43:12.” There “I have declared and saved” is equivalent to “a God righteous and a Saviour” here. “Only in Jehovah are righteousnesses,” that is, fidelity to His anciently published purposes; “and strength,” that is, capacity to carry these purposes out in history. God is righteous because, according to another verse in the same prophecy, {Isa 44:26} “He confirmeth the word of His servant, and the advice of His messengers He fulfilleth.”
Now the question has been asked, To what predictions does the prophecy allude as being fulfilled in those days when Cyrus was so evidently advancing to the overthrow of Babylon? Before answering this question it is well to note, that, for the most part, the prophet speaks in general terms. He gives no hint to justify that unfounded belief, to which so many think it necessary to cling, that Cyrus was actually named by a prophet of Jehovah years before he appeared. Had such a prediction existed, we can have no doubt that our prophet would now have appealed to it. No: he evidently refers only to those numerous and notorious predictions by Isaiah, and by Jeremiah, of the return of Israel from exile after a certain and fixed period. Those were now coming to pass.
But from this new day Jehovah also predicts for the days to come, and He does this very particularly, Isa 44:26, “Who is saying of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built; and of her waste places, I will raise them up. Who saith to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I will dry up. Who saith of Koresh, My Shepherd, and all My pleasure he shall fulfil: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded.”
Thus, backward and forward, yesterday, today and for ever, Jehovahs hand is upon history. He controls it: it is the fulfilment of His ancient purpose. By predictions made long ago and fulfilled today, by the readiness to predict today what will happen tomorrow, He is surely God and God alone. Singular fact, that in that day of great empires, confident in their resources, and with the future so near their grasp, it should be the God of a little people, cut off from their history, servile and seemingly spent, who should take the big things of earth-Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba-and speak of them as counters to be given in exchange for His people; who should speak of such a people as the chief heirs of the future, the indispensable ministers of mankind. The claim has two Divine features. It is unique, and history has vindicated it. It is unique: no other religion, in that or in any other time, has so rationally explained past history or laid out the ages to come upon the lines of a purpose so definite, so rational, so beneficent-a purpose so worthy of the One God and Creator of all. And it has been vindicated: Israel returned to their own land, resumed the development of their calling, and, after the centuries came and went, fulfilled the promise that they should be the religious teachers of mankind. The long delay of this fulfilment surely but testifies the more to the Divine foresight of the promise; to the patience, which nature, as well as history, reveals to be, as much as omnipotence, a mark of Deity.
These, then, are the four points, upon which the religion of Israel offers itself. First, it is the force of the character and grace of a personal God; second, it speaks with a high intellectual confidence, whereof its scorn is here the chief mark; third, it is intensely moral, making mans sin its chief concern; and fourth, it claims the control of history, and history has justified the claim.