ISAIAH 45 “The Captive Judeans Are Encouraged To Gather
Themselves Together And Come Out”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at how that the Lord continued to encourage the captive Judeans in Babylon 100+
years after the time of Isaiah’s writing, and in the previous chapter the Lord
finally revealed that the man who would deliver His people from Babylon is to
be named, ‘Cyrus’
1.1.1.
We saw in these verses that
the Lord continued to encourage His people by telling them
1.1.1.1.He has chosen and formed them
1.1.1.2.They need not fear what will happen for the Lord will be with them and
deliver them
1.1.1.3.The Lord asked His people to again consider who among men and nations
is like Him, who can accurately foretell the future before it happens?
1.1.1.4.The Lord told His people that He will reveal the foolishness of the
wise men and diviners when He performs that which no one on the face of the
earth could have or would have considered would happen with the captive remnant
of Judea
1.1.1.4.1.We saw that as we study the scriptures, our faith is always bolstered
when we see not only that the Lord has accurately prophesied the future but
also the way in which He has brought the things that He has prophesied to pass
always being by the most improbable of means
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to see that the Lord is again putting Himself and His reputation on the
line by declaring that indeed Cyrus will come and deliver the captive Judeans
who will be living in Babylon some 100+ years after Isaiah’s writing
1.2.1.
The Lord again seeks in this
chapter to make it as clear as possible that He is declaring the future before
it occurs so that all men can see that He alone is God and that there is no
else like Him, and there never will be
1.2.2.
These captive Judeans are
encouraged by the Lord to gather themselves together and to come out of
1.2.3.
As we have mentioned before,
Israel has been called to be the Lord’s witnesses, and when the Lord delivers
them in a mighty way after prophesying that He would do this at least 100+
years before, then the general calling is going to go out from the Lord for all
men to be encouraged to come to the Lord and to be saved
2.
VS 45:1-4 - “1 Thus 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: 2 “I will go before you and make the rough
places smooth; I will shatter the doors
of bronze, and cut through their iron bars.
3 “And I will give you the treasures of darkness, And hidden wealth of
secret places, In order that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of
Israel, who calls you by your name. 4
“For the sake of Jacob My servant, And
2.1.
We saw in the previous chapter that the Lord
had finally told us the name of the man, ‘Cyrus,’ who would liberate his people
who would be captive in
2.2.
We are struck in verse 1 with how that Cyrus
is called by the Lord, ‘His anointed,’ a title which normally is reserved for
the king of Israel, and the Messiah when He comes to reign as king over
Israel. However, in the wisdom of God
this title fits because king ‘Cyrus’ shall be the agent through whom the Lord
works to restore His captive people to be able to return to their land, restore
their temple and city, and rebuild their wall and cities.
2.3.
The Lord promises ‘Cyrus’ that He will go
before him and allow him to conquer all of the peoples and nations which he
will subdue, and that the Lord will also give to him ‘the treasures of darkness
and hidden wealth of secret places.’
When the Lord does these things for ‘Cyrus,’ the Lord reveals here that
‘Cyrus’ will know that it is the Lord who has called him by his name and chosen
him and given him a title of honor.
2.3.1.
In our last study, I pointed out that
Josephus, the Jewish historian in Jesus’ day, wrote that after Cyrus had
conquered Babylon that Isaiah was read to him and when he saw that the Lord had
designated him to be the one to return the captive Judeans that he did so.
2.4.
All of the fortunate happenings in Cyrus’
life that had allowed him to be successful in conquering nations and peoples
had happened to him by the grace of God, for the Lord reveals here that the
Lord had done these things for Cyrus even though he had not known the Lord.
2.4.1.
Sadly, even though Cyrus did see that he had
been prophesied to return captive
2.4.1.1.There
are some people who even though they have had the Lord reveal Himself to them
and bless them in so many ways, they still prefer to stay in darkness rather
than come to the light and find Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and
find eternal salvation through Him.
2.5.
We see evidence in these verses that in fact
the Lord, as He promises the church in Philidelphia in Rev. 3:8, is able to
open a door which no one can shut!
3.
VS 45:5-7 - “5 “I am the Lord, and there is
no other; Besides Me there is no
God. I will gird you, though you have
not known Me; 6 That 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, 7 The
One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating
calamity; I am the Lord who does all
these.” - The
Lord tells Cyrus that He alone is the Lord and that besides Him there is no
other, and that through these things which the Lord is foretelling concerning
Cyrus men will come to know that He alone is God
3.1.
As we have been seeing here in the book of
Isaiah, the Bible is the only scriptures of all the religions of the world that
has verifiable prophesies in it. There
are thousands of prophesies in the Bible, and the fulfillment of many hundreds
of these prophesies can be verified by those who are willing to honestly
inquire into God’s word.
3.2.
In these prophesies of Isaiah which foretell
that the people of Judea would go into captivity in Babylon and then that a
ruler named Cyrus would be there deliverer and allow them to return to their
homeland, the Lord was putting His reputation on the line for all of the world
to see. We know that it is a fact of
history that Isaiah’s writings preceded the captivity of Judea by 100+ years,
and that the Persian ruler Cyrus came on the scene some 170+ years after
Isaiah’s writing, and that he did in fact allow captive
3.2.1.
Did you know that the main reason for the
liberals believing that there had to be multiple Isaiahs who wrote the book of
Isaiah is because they don’t believe that the Lord could foretell the future
concerning Cyrus, as it is so clearly seen that He has done? The liberals surmise that another Isaiah had
to have written these verses some 170 years after Isaiah of Jerusalem, son of
Amoz, wrote initially. However, this
view would make the word of God unreliable in the first place since the Lord
clearly states that He has said these things before they have come to pass, and
He has even sworn and placed His reputation on the line in doing it!
3.3.
In verse 7 there is a hidden truth that many
people have a hard time understanding or accepting. It is hidden in this phrase telling us that
the Lord forms light and creates darkness, and causes well-being and creates
calamity. In returning captive
3.3.1.
Some have seen the Lord making a further
point in this verse for Cyrus’ sake. The
Persian’s, as we saw in our last study, were monotheists but they believed in
two entities of equal power always battling it out, one good and one evil. There is speculation by some that the Lord is
attempting to reveal to Cyrus that there is just one God, creator of all, and
that though He has allowed evil to exist in this world for a time, no evil
angel or being is equal to the Lord in power and influence.
3.4.
In Daniel chapter 5 we read the story of how
the Lord prophesied through the hand writing on the wall, and Daniel’s
interpretation of it to the king, of the overthrew of the kingdom of Belshazzar
in Babylon whose kingdom was given over to the Medes and Persians. From that group, Cyrus eventually arose as
conqueror.
3.5.
In Ezra 1:1-9,
we read of how that Cyrus the Persian allowed and even helped the captive
Judeans to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple, “1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to
fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all
his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,2 “Thus says Cyrus king of
Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth,
and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.3
‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him
go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the
God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.4 ‘And every survivor, at
whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver
and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the
house of God which is in Jerusalem.’” 5
Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and
the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and
rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.6 And all those about them
encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle,
and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering.7 Also
King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which
Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his
gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of
Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of
Judah.9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29
duplicates.”
4.
VS 45:8 - “8 “Drip down, O heavens, from
above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear
fruit, And righteousness spring up with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.” - The Lord calls upon the heavens to bear
witness to His righteousness and the earth to open up and salvation bear fruit
4.1.
Since the righteous Lord has created the
heavens and the earth, and thus in the creation accounts from Genesis when each
thing was created it was testified that it was good, the Lord calls for His
creation to reflect the righteousness of its creator.
4.2.
The Lord calls for the earth to open up and
for the salvation of the Lord to bear fruit.
The Lord has promised to bring salvation to His captive people, Judea,
in
4.2.1.
Salvation brings righteousness to those who
are saved for it has a moral transforming power in people’s lives.
5.
VS 45:9-10 - “9 “Woe to the one who quarrels
with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are
you doing?’ Or the thing you are making
say, ‘He has no hands’? 10 “Woe to him
who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”” - The Lord pronounces a ‘woe’
to the one who quarrels with his Maker
5.1.
Isaiah brings out here how that the one who
forms a vessel for use of clay is so much greater than the vessel that is
formed, that it is inconceivable that the thing formed should question the one
who formed it. We humble vessels made
from the very dust of the earth are so inferior to the One who created us, that
we have no right to question the wisdom or will of our creator.
5.1.1.
When you think about how wise and powerful
the Lord must be to have created all that exists from nothing, then it makes no
sense to question the Lord’s wisdom concerning how He leads and guides our
lives, especially seeing as how when we consider why things occur in this life
that we cannot see what the future holds.
Only the Lord knows what the future holds.
5.2.
The second analogy that the Lord uses is that
of a child born of a parent questioning what its parent is bringing forth, or
perhaps why it was being conceived and born?
A child ought to just be glad to have been given the gift of life. God our Father has given life to us His
people, and procured undeserved eternal salvation for us His children. We have such a debt of gratitude that we owe
to the Lord that we ought to be willing to trust completely in Him and let Him
do with our life whatever He is wanting to do.
6.
VS 45:11-13 - “11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy
One of
6.1.
As I read these verses, I see that the Lord
is both challenging man to honestly investigate His promise to foretell the
coming of Cyrus and then to bring him onto the world scene to be His people’s
deliverer, as well as to ask Him who is the reservoir of all knowledge and
wisdom for knowledge and wisdom concerning the future.
6.2.
The Lord reveals His wisdom and power in the
things which He has created. He says
that ‘it is I who made the earth and created man upon it,’ plus He ‘stretched
out the heavens’ with His hands and ‘ordained all their host.’
6.2.1.
Having been a design engineer myself for
almost 20 years, I have a great appreciation of the intricacies of creating
even a relatively unsophisticated design that will work effectively and
flawlessly. Even the most
unsophisticated designs usually require a reiteration or two before they work
well enough. However, when we consider
even what little we know about the incredible intricacies of God’s creations it
should be completely apparent that the Lord must be infinitely wise to create
this world and universe and all of its millions of species of creatures, and to
do it in one try.
6.3.
The Lord tells us that not only will Cyrus
let the captive Judeans go free, but in verse 13 we see that Cyrus will
actually aid in the rebuilding of
6.3.1.
We already saw in Ezra 1:1-9 1 how that the
Cyrus made a decree to rebuild the house of the Lord and that the people were
ordered to give to the captive Judeans silver, gold, and livestock.
6.3.2.
2 Chronicles 36:22-23
tells of the proclamation that Cyrus made to rebuild the house of the Lord in
Jerusalem, “22 Now in the first year
of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth
of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he
sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing,
saying,23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has
given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a
house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His
people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!’””
7.
VS 45:14-16 - “14 Thus says the Lord, “The
products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains And will bow
down to you; They will make supplication
to you: ‘Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God.’” 15 Truly, Thou art a God who hides Himself, O
God of
7.1.
In these verses, the Lord is again declaring
the total domination that would occur at the hands of this man Cyrus the
Persian, whom the Lord has foretold would also deliver the captive Judeans from
Babylon.
7.2.
The people of Seba will then be taken captive
by Cyrus and his armies.
7.3.
These peoples of Seba will even recognize that
the Lord, the God of Israel, is with Cyrus as he conquers.
7.3.1.
They will declare on that day that victory
could not have come by anyone but the God of Israel Himself, and though He
hides Himself, that is He is invisible and His works are not always clearly
seen in what appears many times to be an ambiguous creation, the God of Israel
is the One who saves men.
7.3.2.
Perhaps when they see themselves taken as
captives while
7.3.3.
Perhaps when the peoples see that when they
are conquered and taken captive by Cyrus and that their idols cannot save them,
then they will be humbled and realize that it must be the God of Israel which
has caused the captive Judeans to find favor with Cyrus so as to be able to
return to their homeland and rebuild their city and land.
8.
VS 45:17-18 - “17
8.1.
For all of God’s people for all time, this
verse should be an encouragement. Though
we may be greatly persecuted and ridiculed by the people of this wicked world,
we will have eternity to be glad that we have chosen the Lord to be our
Savior. Those who have chosen to
persecute and ridicule God’s people will have eternity to regret they salvation
and blessings that they could have had if they had been willing to commit their
way to the Lord.
8.2.
The Lord reassures His people in verse 18
that when the Lord created the heavens and formed the earth that it was not to
no purpose, but rather He had a plan in mind, it was to be inhabited by
man. God has His plans which He is
executing and will execute concerning His people and mankind. These plans encompass not only this life and
the things of this life, but they reach all the way into eternity.
8.3.
In verse 18, again the Lord emphasizes that
He alone is God and that there is no other God.
9.
VS 45:19-20 - “19 “I have not spoken in secret,
In some dark land; I did not say to the
offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’;
I, the Lord, speak righteousness Declaring things that are upright. 20 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the
nations; They have no knowledge, Who
carry about their wooden idol, And pray to a god who cannot save.” - The Lord tells captive Judea
that He has spoken in the open not in secret about what He is going to do in
delivering them through Cyrus, therefore He tells them that when the door opens
for their return they are to gather themselves together and come to their land
9.1.
As we have seen already, this generation of
Judeans living 100+ years after Isaiah’s writing will have never lived in their
land, never sacrificed in their temple, never lived under their Law as a
people, and they will need a great amount of encouragement to take the
dangerous trek that would take them at least 4 months over 500-900 miles to
return to their homeland.
9.2.
The Lord encourages the captive Judeans to
have the courage to return saying that the idols that the nations trust in and
pray to cannot save them, but the Lord He is God and He can perform anything by
His might and power.
9.3.
In these verses, I believe that the Lord is
also encouraging His people also that He has good plans for them. Even though their fathers and mothers had
sinned, and they had backslidden away from following the Lord, He still knew
them by their names and had called them for His purposes and to be His people.
9.3.1.
We have seen several times in our study of
Isaiah that the Lord disciplines His people but only so that He can then later
restore them after they have learned their lessons.
10.
VS 45:21-23 - “21 “Declare and set forth your
case; Indeed, let them consult
together. Who has announced this from of
old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A
righteous God and a Savior; There is
none except Me. 22 “Turn to Me, and be
saved, all the ends of the earth; For I
am God, and there is no other. 23 “I
have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear
allegiance.” - The Lord calls the nations together to
present their case in the courtroom of whether or not the Lord has indeed
declared these things to happen before they occur
10.1.
As was mentioned at the beginning of this
study, the Bible of all the scriptures of the world’s religions contains the
only verifiable prophesies, declaring thousands to occur before they
happen. Here the Lord calls the nations
to come and to declare their case about whether or not the Lord has or has not
declared these things ahead of time.
10.2.
As was mentioned in a previous study, in the
scriptures and particular the Old Testament prophets, the Lord promotes
Himself, and if any other creation did this he would be guilty of pride and
bragging. However, it is only fitting
that the Lord declare these things about Himself since each and everyone of His
claims of pre-eminence are true, and even logical when we consider just how
great, mighty, and wise the Lord really must be.
10.2.1.The
Lord says that He is the Lord, and there is no other God besides Himself, He is
a ‘righteous God and a Savior’ and there is none besides the Lord.
10.3.
The general call to salvation goes out to all
men in verse 22 as the Lord invites all men and women from all of the ends of
the earth to come to Him from salvation.
10.4.
In verse 23, we read that the Lord not only
tells us what is going to happen but He confirms that word even more by
swearing by Himself that this word concerning what will happen in the future
has gone forth from His mouth in righteousness (as all that He does is
righteous and good), and it will not return or come back.
10.5.
Interestingly, the Lord declares also in
verse 23 that ‘every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance.’ This is very similar to Paul’s declaration in
Philippians chapter 2 that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that
Jesus is Lord.
10.5.1.This
statement also demonstrates that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is
Jehovah, the God of Israel, of the Old Testament.
10.5.2.Sadly,
we also know from scripture that this bowing of the knee and confession of the
tongue will be too late for salvation for many who have rejected Christ as
their Lord and Savior in this life.
11.
VS 45:24-25 - “24 “They will say of Me, ‘Only
in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him shall be put to
shame. 25 “In the Lord all the offspring
of
11.1.
The testimony of the Redeemed:
11.1.1.The
captive Judeans who are a faithful remnant who has been rescued from
11.1.2.The
offspring of
11.1.2.1.In
Romans 5:1, we read that those who
come to Christ as their Lord and Savior by faith (not trusting in their good
works for righteousness) will be justified (made just as if they had never
sinned) and have peace with God, “1 Therefore having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
11.1.3.This
same offspring of
11.2.
The testimony of the Damned:
11.2.1.There
will only be anger at the Lord, but they will be put to shame. They had a chance to turn to the Lord and be
saved as the general call for salvation has gone out to the whole earth,
however it was their decision alone to be damned. They will be shamed because there will be no
one but themselves whom they can blame.