Sovereign Lord Over All
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Isaiah
42. An
expository study of Isaiah, chapter 45
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| Cyrus the Great |
Isaiah’s
ministry, by a powerful inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has given to readers for
2,700 years, around the globe, clear insights into the nature of God. From the
day of his divine calling, he came to know the Holy One of Israel and that has
been his emphasis throughout the book. He also powerfully portrays Him as
Sovereign Lord over all the earth.
Cyrus and sovereign choice
I repeat what we
learned in the last chapter; God named Cyrus over 150 years before he was
born. If you are a child of God, you probably are aware of the fact that God
had His hand upon your life before you knew Him. Did you know that He has
worked in past generations to bring you into being? Ah, the Bible teaches us that
“he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world…” (Eph.1:4). No wonder Jesus knew the little man’s
name, when He saw him in the tree. “Zacchaeus,”
He called. He even knew the name of another little man… the rabid,
hate-inspired Pharisee on his way to Damascus to wreak havoc with the church.
He shouted to him from the blazing glory of His presence, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” A few verses later, we
see that Christ had chosen him: “He is a
chosen instrument of mine” Jesus taught us that He calls His own sheep by
name.
The apostle
nails this precious truth down in his teaching to the Corinthians and the
Galatians: “If anyone loves God, he is
known by God” (1 Co.8:3) and “now
that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God” (Gal.4:9).
Would you try to tell me that the Omniscient God is ignorant of anything? It
goes without saying that His knowledge of us preceded our knowledge of Him. The
knowledge of God is infinite and eternal. Don’t try to reason it out and,
certainly, don’t stumble over yourself trying to argue against it… bask in the
truth of it! That’s why it is written.
“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose
right hand I have grasped.” This is the
behind-the-scenes truth, already proclaimed to God’s people, before it begins
to shake the world, as we read in chapter 41. Paul said that we are children of
the day and the thief in the night does not surprise us (1 Thess.5:4,5). As we
have been noting, in the 19th Century, Spurgeon and Ryle already
knew what would take place over a half-century later on May 14, 1948 and onward
into the Millennium. God had revealed it to them in His word.
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| The Cyrus Cylinder, British Museum |
God goes before
Cyrus to subdue nations, “to loose the
belts of kings”, to open doors, and to put His foot in them, so they cannot
be closed (v.1). Before Cyrus arrives, God brings down the exalted places, the
doors of bronze and the bars of iron (v.2). The testimony is consistent; He did
the same for His church in Philadelphia (Rev.3:8). Rejoice in it, church,
though you are not Cyrus, king over a powerful nation. Christ’s strength is
manifested in the fact that you have little strength and that makes His power
all the more glorious!
God makes the
darkness light. It is in the deep darkness that His light shines the brightest.
All this is done for Cyrus, before he knows Him and it is done exactly for that
purpose that He may come to know Him. “That
you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name”
(v.3). He wants this king to recognize that He is the God of that little
nation, which lies in the grips of Babylonian captivity. This world power is
being harnessed, in order that He may accomplish His purpose for them. This is
outstanding, Bible truth concerning our God. Don’t let it pass you by! Grasp
it!
God moves the
entire political world for the sake of His people, through whom He reveals
Himself, not only to the earth’s population, but to principalities and powers
in heavenly places. The inspired word is summarized in verse 4: “For the sake of my servant Jacob and
Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know
me.” Now do you see the divine principle I have been trying to show in my
faltering way through these verses?
In a mutinous
world, given over to false gods, the God of Israel will show this pagan king
that He is unique. He is the only true and living God. “I equip you, though you do not know me” (v.5). Before Cyrus has
any contact with the one Lord, we learn that the world-renowned Persian Empire,
of which we all have studied in our World History classes, did not come into
power by the strength of its armies or its leadership. It was not due to
circumstances that arose in its day. Working invisibly, without the knowledge
of anyone involved, including that of Cyrus their king, putting all the pieces
in place, arranging circumstances and fortifying the Persian armies, was the
almighty and all-wise God, Lord of heaven and earth.
From the days of
Egyptian power, God has been working in empires, so that through their commerce
and contact with many nations, they will tell of the mighty acts of God that
they have seen, “that people may know,
from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I
am the Lord, and there is no other” (v.6). He will do it again through Persia and we may read about it in the
books of Esther and Daniel, along with other books of the Bible, written at
that time.
Sovereign rights
As in the last
chapter and throughout the Bible, rain is used to illustrate spiritual
blessing: “They shall be showers of
blessing” (Ez.34:26), and verse 8 makes the point very clear: “Let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit.” The
rains bring down blessings from heaven, while the earth must be open to receive
it. There must be a breaking of fallow ground (Jer.4:3; Hos.10:12), which
speaks of a softening of the heart and repentance, in order to receive that
which God provides. It is our responsibility to cooperate with heaven.
God continues to
demand Creator’s rights and reveal His position with mankind from that point.
The Bible illustrates this relationship in both the Old and New Testaments. God
has absolute right over His creation and it is basic for everyone to recognize that
he is a created being. It is high treason and useless to rebel against our
Maker. Verse 9 also shows man’s attempt to improve on creation: “Your work has no handles”. To try to
alter our physical features or any part of our created being is another form of
rebellion. Then, He speaks of the next step of insubordination, which is
parental rebellion against the two, who brought us into the world. God commands
that we honor our fathers and mothers (v.10). Fatherhood is another area of
relationship between God and man.
In the context of all that God is claiming in this
chapter, as well as previous ones, it seems to me evident that there is a flaw
in the translation of verse 11 in some of the best versions of the Bible and
harmful teaching has come as a result. He has been reproving man for
challenging and questioning His authority. It would seem now to be a direct
contradiction, if He would encourage Israel to question and even to command
Him. It is true that He has granted us wonderful intimacy and resulting
boldness in prayer. We have rejoiced, as we see it to be so in the lives of
Moses and Abraham, but we also notice a carefulness and reverence in their friendly
interchanges with God. Could it be right to pray, as a good friend related to me, that
he heard someone say in prayer, “I command you, God!”?
Since there is no punctuation in the original
languages of Greek and Hebrew, it is the responsibility of the translators to
insert it, according to the context of the account. In this case question marks
would totally change the sense of the verse and put it in line with the
context. I think it would best read, as we have it in the Amplified Bible: “Would you question Me about things to
come concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands [would you]
command Me?” Or, at least, it
could be as in the ESV: “Ask me of
things to come; will you command me…? In this way, the verse is simply
another reproof against Israel’s insubordination.
The same word, command, is used in verse 12 as in verse 11. Is the One who made
the earth and created man, who commands the starry host, to be commanded by His
creation? The entire book of Isaiah tells of the Lord’s right to do as He
pleases, so then, He continues to state His absolute sovereignty over earth and
heaven. On that basis, He claims it to be a righteous act to have stirred up
Cyrus and to make him his anointed servant in rebuilding the city of Jerusalem
and in freeing the captives. Could anyone rightly question or command God for
having done this? “What man shows him
his counsel? Whom did he consult…?” (ch.40:13-14). To emphasize that God is
behind this historic action, Cyrus will do his part without any personal
benefit to himself or his government… “not
for price or reward” (v.12-13).
Through God’s involvement, Cyrus will
plunder the Egyptians, the Cushites and the Sabeans in order to finance
Israel’s restoration. In their submission, they will recognize the hand of God
in their defeat. They will fulfill His purpose in acknowledging Him as the only
true Sovereign. “They will plead with
you, saying: Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him”
(v.14, see v.6).
“Truly,
you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” Opponents are right, when they speak of
God hiding Himself, instead of making an open declaration to all the world.
Even a disciple, Judas (not Iscariot), wondered why He would reveal Himself to
them, but not to the world (Jn.14:22). It is divine principle; it is His
nature. In the fact that He is the God of an insignificant nation and today is
the God worshipped by only a small minority of the earth’s population, and at
that, they are some of the weakest and simplest among it, He shows His nature.
In this sense, as someone has said, “The gospel is the world’s best kept
secret.” Even as it is declared around the globe, it is still a mystery to
earth’s mentality and to its mighty ones. However, the God of little Israel is
the mighty Savior of the world and there is salvation in none other (v.15). It
is before that God that men must bow… before the One who was made to be a
simple carpenter of Nazareth.
It is a great obstacle for human pride
to overcome and so the idolaters are confounded, confused and ashamed to
associate with Jehovah of Israel, the Christ from Nazareth, or the God born in
a manger (v.16). However this is the
God, who shames the world, before Israel and the Church, imparting eternal
salvation, to the Jew first, but also to the believing Gentile.
Those who trust Him will never be put to
shame, now or throughout eternity. After the proud masses of mankind are
punished with eternal damnation, the humble remnant, saved out of this “crooked generation”, as the apostle
Peter called it (Ac.2:40), will experience “eternal
salvation” (v.17). This is the God, who is revealing Himself to us through
Isaiah and we are learning to know His attributes.
Sovereign reign
The great God, who created the heavens,
formed the earth with a purpose. It is not just a beautiful planet, but is an
expression of the Creator. “He did not
create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!” (v.18) He speaks loudly and clearly to His people that there is a plan
concerning them. “I did not say to the
offspring of Jacob, Seek me in vain.” They have been chosen to know the
light of truth and what is right (v.19). A Bible has been placed in the hands
of anyone, who is seeking truth and by it to know the God of truth. Jesus said
that these are the ones, who come to the light and hear His voice (Jn.3:21;
18:37).
As we have seen in other parts of this
book, God extends an invitation to those who have escaped calamity among the
nations, to come near to Him. In fact, this is the strongest appeal so far to
the Gentiles to leave their foolish worship of idols and come to the true God
(v.20). He called to them in the Old Testament; He sent His disciples in the
New Testament to take the Good News to all the world. You who seek truth, there
is only One, to whom you can go. God is the God of ancient truth: “Who told this long ago? Who declared it of
old? Was it not I, the Lord?... a righteous God and a Savior: there is none
besides me” (v.21).
This God, who is revealing Himself to
the reader of the book of Isaiah, now unveils His great heart: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of
the earth! For I am God and there is no other” (v.22). Turn to me means to turn away from all else and that is a call to
repentance. Salvation comes to the repentant, whoever and wherever they may be.
However, this is a word that finds its final fulfillment in the millennial age.
This mighty declaration continues: “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were
incensed against him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be
justified and shall glory” (v.24-25). It
shall be said of me is a parenthetical phrase, meaning that people will
come to the realization that only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.
He is the fountain, the source. All His enemies will come to Him ashamed and
will bow the knee. Then, “all Israel
will be saved”, as Paul maintained in Romans 11:26.
Let Zechariah give us the details: “Two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and
refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will
call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people”;
and they will say “The Lord is my God” (Zech.13:8-9). “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him
whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him… The land shall mourn… There
shall be a fountain opened… to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zech.12:10,
12; 13:1). Through the Great Tribulation, Israel will be purified and finally
the remnant, the third that remains, will believe in Jesus of Nazareth and will
be justified. He will come to save them and reign over them from Jerusalem for
a thousand years. Now, the apostle John will bring this study to a conclusion: “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in
the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will
be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand
years” (Rev.20:6).
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