Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 45:1 Thus says Yahweh to His anointed, to Cyrus- Is. 45:1-7 concern Cyrus and really should be read as part of Is. 44. The critics struggle with God predicting someone by name ahead of time. But there are other examples of people being named by Divine prophecy before birth: Isaac (Gen. 17:19); Solomon (1 Chron. 22:9); Josiah (1 Kings 13:2). Isaiah had been told to “bind up the testimony, seal the teaching” (Is. 8:16), until the people ask whom they should ask to understand (Is. 8:19), at which time the call will go out “To the teaching and to the testimony!” (Is. 8:20). This may mean that the people would not understand Isaiah's words, read and study them as they might- until the fulfilment came. They would have wondered about this mysterious "Cyrus"- until it was fulfilled. Just as the Lord said that His prophecies about His death and resurrection would not be understood until they came true. And that is how much Divine prophecy is. Striving over its interpretation ahead of time, seeking to work out time lines of fulfilment, is largely futile.
Whilst "anointed" is a term used of anyone anointed, especially the kings of Israel, clearly Cyrus was also Yahweh's intended servant and "Christ" to deliver His people. He took over as it were from Israel who were the failed servant. He too failed, and the exiles didn't respond to his decrees to return to the land rebuild the temple; and so the Servant prophecies came true in the suffering servant of Is. 53, the Lord Jesus, who achieved a far greater restoration of the Kingdom and eternal salvation for all in Him. God's choice of the gentile Cyrus as His people's saviour may seem at variance with Jer. 31:21 "Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me". But we see here how God's purpose is flexible and has various potential iterations. In terms of salvation, they all failed- but came to glorious realization in His Son.
Whose right hand I have held- God had offered to hold the right hand of His servant Israel, but they had refused (Is. 41:13; 42:6). Now He attempts to do the same with Cyrus, the next iteration of His servant. The kings of Babylon were said to “take the hand of Bel” (also known as Marduk). Yahweh is saying that He in fact has taken the hand of this king. Constantly the Marduk cult is deconstructed. Cyrus’s son, Cambyses, is recorded as having supposedly done this. But again the Marduk cult is deconstructed; for Cyrus did not so much as take Yahweh's hand, as Yahweh took his hand. There is a juxtaposition of impressions here. Holding the right hand of a person suggests they are feeble (Is. 42:6). And so Cyrus for all his might was but a feeble person empowered by Israel's God.
To subdue nations before him, and strip kings of
their armour; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be
shut- see on Is. 40:3,4. Isaiah 40-55 is packed full with
allusion to the Marduk cult. All that Marduk claimed to do and be, Isaiah
explained as actually true, and solely true, of Yahweh God of Israel. The
descriptions of Cyrus as having been anointed etc. are allusions to the
way Cyrus was held to have been anointed and raised up by Marduk. Yahweh
is saying that actually He, and not Marduk, had done this. The Abu-Habba
collection in the British museum actually has an inscription that claims
Nabonidus dreamt that Marduk raised up Cyrus (See P.A. Beaulieu, The
Reign Of Nabonidus King Of Babylon (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1989) p. 108). Isaiah’s point is that actually it was the God of Israel
who had done this. The references to Yahweh taking Cyrus by the hand,
anointing him, pronouncing his name and giving him a throne (Is. 45:1,8)
are almost word-for-word what Cyrus claimed about Marduk in his ‘Cyrus
Cylinder’.
Cyrus was a potential Messiah figure. Cyrus was the anointed one, the
‘Christ’ of God. Anointing is especially associated with being
anointed as a king in the Davidic line (1 Sam. 2:10,35; 2 Sam. 22:51; 2
Sam. 23:1; Ps. 2:2). Could it be that God was willing for Cyrus to become
Israel’s King?
"Strip kings of their armour" is AV "And I will loose the
loins of kings" or Heb. ‘Looses the girdle of the strong.’ There was a
literal fulfilment 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, "Then the king’s
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).
Isaiah 45:2 I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth-
This is the language of Is. 40 concerning the preparation for the coming
of the Messianic saviour and reestablishment of the Kingdom in Zion. But
Cyrus failed to fulfill this. The
language changes from "I" to "you". We as it were overhear God speaking to
the heart of Cyrus. This is a profound insight. God seems to be saying
that He
will make the rough way smooth for the exiles, LXX "I will level the
mountains"- when in Is. 40 He had asked
they do
this themselves by repentance. But He is now trying to force through His
plan to save them, by saying that He
will prepare the way Himself. He
would as it were force open the gates of Babylon to let them out.
I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron- Herodotus (1.179) claims Babylon had 100 massive gates, 25 on each of the four sides of the city, all, as well as their posts, of brass.
Isaiah 45:3 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
your name, even the God of Israel- Babylon's treasures are
specifically noted in Jer. 51:13 "Abundant in treasures". The location of hidden treasure in
conquered cities was typically attributed to magicians and wise men. But
here, to Yahweh. God's mention of Cyrus' name 150 years beforehand was
intended to be the clear proof to all that His prophetic word would really
come true. But :4 seems to see his 'naming' as not so much a case of
predicting his name, but giving him a name in the sense of a purpose and
intended path of character and behaviour. But he ultimately failed in
fulfilling this. "That you may know" is
the language of :6, wishing that Israel "may know". It alludes to how at
the exodus from Egypt, Yahweh acted so that both His people and the
Egyptians would "know that I am Yahweh” (Ex. 6:7; 7:5). The 'knowing'
clearly means in practice 'to convert to'.
"That
you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you
by your name" suggests it was God's intention that Cyrus should come to
know His Name. Although there is no expression of intention, Is. 41:25
carries the same hope: "I have raised up one from the north, and he has
come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on My name". Is. 45:3
clarifies that it was God's
intention
that he should do this, although Cyrus failed. As it is His so often
dashed hope and expectation of so many men.
Isaiah 45:4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My chosen, I have
called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known
Me- LXX suggests that despite all this Divine intention, Cyrus
refused relationship with God by refusing to 'know' Him: "For the sake of
my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect, I will call thee by thy name, and
accept thee: but thou hast not known me". The Divine hope was that
Cyrus would accept the Holy One of Israel (Is. 41:25 "I have raised up one
from the north... one who calls on My name... ) although initially
Cyrus is the one God had called who knew Him not (Is. 45:4 "I have called
you by your name... I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me").
Although Cyrus initially didn't know God's Name, he would come to a point
when he did "call on My name". That was the hope, but it seems it didn't
happen. We could read Is. 45:4 "yet you have not known Me" as a Divine
lament that Cyrus did not respond to Yahweh and enter personal
relationship with Him. It is repeated again in Is. 45:5.
Just as God has the names of people written in
His book, which names will later be blotted out. They were known by name,
but refused to respond.
Israel are "My chosen". The reason why there are no accusers against us, not even our own sins, is
because we are “God’s elect” (Rom. 8:33). The supreme chosen one of God
was of course the Lord Jesus, “My elect
/ chosen, in whom My soul delights” (Is.
42:1). And yet
here
later on in the servant songs of Isaiah, “mine elect”
or "My chosen"
clearly refers to the people of Israel (Is. 45:4; 65:9,22). The true
Israel of God are therefore those counted as somehow “in” the elect one,
the singular servant of God, Messiah Jesus. Those baptized into Him are
therefore His elect. And how do we know we are “God’s elect”? If we are
baptized into Christ, “mine elect”, then for sure we are. And further, we
have heard the call of the Gospel, we have been called- so, we are God’s
elect, His chosen ones. Of course the objection can be raised that the
whole idea of calling or election may appear unfair. Indeed, the Greek
word for “elect” can carry the idea of ‘the favoured / favourite one’.
There is no ultimate injustice here. The chosen One is the Lord Jesus,
beloved for the sake of His righteousness, His spirit of life. Those who
respond to the call to be “in Him” are counted likewise. And all this is
the way, the method used, in order for God to be the one who counts us as
right in the ultimate judgment- for “It is God that justifies”.
Isaiah 45:5 I am Yahweh, and there is none else. Besides Me, there is no
God- The preceding verse has spoken of Cyrus' failure. It could be
that this was related to his refusal to jettison his belief in the Persian
gods of good and evil, refusing to accept that Yahweh could really be in
control of all.
This language (and in :6,12) alludes to the Babylonian god Marduk; the point being that Yahweh and not the god of Babylon is supreme. See on Is. 40:25. The Jews only totally quit idolatry some time later; they liked to think, as we also tend to, that we can serve the gods of our world in the name of Yahweh worship. But Yahweh is presented as supreme, and Marduk as nothing.
I will strengthen you, though you have not known Me- LXX "I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me" continues the theme of lamenting that Cyrus refused relationship ['knowing'] with God, even though he was Divinely strengthened to do His will in restoring Judah. "Strengthen" is as AV "girded", and is in contrast to how he was intended to “loose the loins of kings” in Is. 45:1.
Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the
west, that there is none besides Me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one
else- This was fulfilled in a limited way when Cyrus
proclaimed throughout his empire, from east to west, that the Jewish
exiles were to return home (Ezra 1:1). But "that they may know"
suggests intention rather than deterministic prediction. See on :5. This was the intended outcome of the restoration
which Cyrus was used to effect. But the returned exiles didn't make Yahweh
known; instead they mixed with the surrounding nations, as Ezra, Nehemiah
and the restoration prophets make clear. And so these things are all
reapplied to the final work of the Lord Jesus. As will be developed on :7,
Yahweh's existence as the sole God means there is no room for the idea of
a personal cosmic Satan being, nor for the equivalent ideas amongst the
Persians, which the Jews were accepting.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and
create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things-
Yatzar, to
give "form" to previously existing matter, and bara, to
"create" from nothing the chaotic darkness, were all from God. Yahweh
alone had given
light and success
to Cyrus, and darkness, "evil" or
calamity to
Babylon. The words translated "form" and
"create" are extensively used in Isaiah regarding God's forming / creation
of Israel and all His people (Is. 43:1,7,21; 44:2,21,24; 45:11; 49:5). The
new creation both reforms existing material and creates from the nothing
of the chaotic darkness of human life. The whole range of experience, from
light to darkness, from peace to evil / calamity, is "for our sakes" as
Paul would put it. It is in order to create us as His people, as His new
creation. Creation and redemption / salvation are mentioned together
throughout Isaiah. The blind see light out of darkness- that is salvation
(Is. 21:17-21). All this creation of light / darkness, peace / evil, is
all part of the salvation process for God's people.
The "peace" Isaiah's prophecies present is the peace of Jerusalem; which God had created, at least potentially. We note that the contrast is not between good and evil, as we might expect; but between peace and evil. This is because it is specifically "the peace of Jerusalem" which is in view here. The light / darkness refer to the darkness of Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonians, and the darkness of the exile (Lam. 3:2,6). Indeed the word translated "evil" or "calamity" in :7 is specifically used about these things (Jer. 21:10; 42:10; Zech. 8:14), and Yahweh's formation / creation of the evil that would befall Jerusalem (Jer. 18:11; 26:3; 36:3). The "evil" of the Babylonian exile was not the triumph of the Babylonian gods; it was all of Yahweh the God of Israel. Jeremiah finally grasped Is. 45:7 when he admits in Lam. 3:38 "Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?". He says this in the midst of so much consternation that 'evil' / calamity had clearly come from God. Isaiah frequently describes the Jews in Babylon as being in a dark dungeon, to be brought out to the light of Zion. This too ultimately had been brought about by Yahweh. The Servant would be made / created as a light to bring God's people out of the darkness, which He Himself had made: "[God will] make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison" (Is. 42:6,7). The creator of light and darkness can thus also transform darkness into light: "I will make [s.w. create] darkness light before them" (Is. 42:16). Babylon was commanded by God to "go into darkness" (Is. 47:5) as Jerusalem's light arose. All this was God's "creation" of light and darkness. God indeed said "Let there be light" and there was, He commanded the light to shine out of darkness; but we are led by Is. 45:7 to realize what is only implicit in the Genesis account: The pre-existent darkness at creation was also created by God. For as He says in Isaiah, He alone is God and creator, of absolutely everything. God's creation of darkness and of "Leviathan", the supposed god of chaos and darkness, is specifically stated in Ps. 104:20,26: "You create darkness, and it is night... and Leviathan, whom You created". It's hard to appreciate the radical, unusual, paradigm breaking force of these statements to ancient peoples. The darkness, the sea, the supposed monsters of chaos brooding there... whether they are or are not actually there... were all created by Yahweh, the same God who creates "peace" for eternity, for His people.
There seems significant evidence for believing that the idea of a personal
devil first entered Judaism through their contact with the Persian
religions whilst in captivity there. Rabbinic writings don't mention a
personal satan until the Jews were in Babylon, and the references become
more frequent as Persian influence upon Judaism deepened. This is why the
monumental passages in Isaiah [e.g. Is. 45:5-7], addressed to the captive
Jews, point out the error of the Persian idea that there is a good God in
tension with an evil god, Oromasden the god of light and Ahrimanen
the god of darkness. Classically, the devil is understood to be a
being with horns and a pitchfork. If we research why this should be
the case, we soon find that the Bible itself is absolutely without any
such images of satan or the devil. But we do find these images in pagan
mythology- Pan, Dionysius and other pagan gods were depicted as having
horns, long tails etc. In the British isles, let alone ancient Rome and
Greece, there were traditions of 'horned gods' being the source of evil-
e.g. the Cernunnos amongst the Celts, Caerwiden in Wales, etc. In so many
ways, apostate Christianity adopted pagan ideas and brought them into its
theology. These horned gods, with forks and long tails, became adopted
into a false Christianity as 'the devil'. But the Bible itself is
absolutely silent about this- nowhere is there any indication that satan
or the devil is a personal being with horns etc.
Isaiah’s statement that Yahweh creates both good and evil / disaster,
light and darkness, is not only aimed at criticizing the Babylonian
dualistic view of the cosmos. It also has relevance to the false ideas
which were developing amongst the Jews in Babylon, which would later come
to term in the false view of Satan which most of Christendom later
adopted. According to the Jewish Apocryphal writing
The Visions of
Amram, human beings choose to live under the control of one of
two angels. Amram has a vision of the two opposing angels who have been
given control over humanity (4Q544 frg. 1, col. 2.10–14 [Visions of
Amram-b] = 4Q547 frgs. 1–2, col. 3.9–13). The good angel supposedly has
power “over all the light”, whereas the evil angel has authority “over all
the darkness”. Thus the idea of dualism – which is so attractive to all
people – was alive and well amongst the Jews; and thus Is. 45:5–7 was also
aimed at the developing Jewish belief in Babylon in a dualistic cosmos.
Of especially significant influence upon Judaism were the Persian views of Zoroastrianism. This was a philosophy which began in Persia about 600 B.C., and was growing in popularity when Judah went to Babylon / Persia in captivity. This philosophy posited that there was a good god of light (Mazda) and an evil god of darkness (Ahriman). The well known passage in Is. 45:5–7 is a clear warning to the Jews in captivity not to buy into this – Israel’s God alone made the light and the darkness, the good and the “evil”. He alone had the power to give “the treasures of darkness” to a man (Is. 45:3), even though such “treasures” were thought to be under the control of the supposed ‘Lord of darkness’. But Isaiah is in fact full of other allusions to Zoroastrian ideas, seeking to teach Judah the true position on these things. See on Is. 9:6.
Apart from seeking to justify themselves, the uninspired Jewish authors
were struggling with the issue we all do- how can a good and kind God do
negative things? But they took the easy way out, presuming to rewrite His
word in order to pass blame into a Satan figure of their own imaginations.
These uninspired Jewish writings from between the Testaments repeatedly
seek to rewrite Biblical history and statements in order to accommodate
the Persian ideas. Is. 45:5-7 is clear: "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". But 4 Ezra 2:14 changes this to: "I have
left out evil and created good, because I live, says the Lord". We have a
stark choice- the inspired text of the Bible, or uninspired Jewish
interpretations seeking to justify the adoption of pagan myths about
Satan.
Isaiah 45:8 Distil, you 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 with it. I, Yahweh, have created
it- Is. 45:1-7 concern Cyrus and really should be read as part of Is.
44.
Because of the decree of Cyrus, the land of Israel could have opened and
brought forth the Lord Jesus (“Yah's salvation”). The LXX gives the
picture of cosmic joy meeting the joy of the earth beneath, resulting in
the gift of the Spirit, part of the new covenant offered to the exiles in
Jer. 31 and Ez. 20, resulting in righteousness and spirituality within the
people left on the earth / land of Israel: "Let the heaven rejoice from
above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth,
and blossom with mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the
Lord that created thee". The new creation envisioned was to be of
spiritual characteristics. Judah refused all this, and it has been applied
to those in Christ today (2 Cor. 5:17).
"Let the earth open" reminds us that when the earth opened before
it brought forth destruction (Num. 16:32; 26:10; Ps. 106:17). Now it opens
to bring forth salvation. We have here a worked example of how Yahweh
creates both evil and good (:5).
Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker- a clay pot among the
clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask Him who fashions it, ‘What are
you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’-
"Maker" is the word for
"potter" and hence the reference to potsherds. R.V. "a potsherd among the
potsherds of the earth!". Cyrus would become just another broken vessel
and become like all the others who had failed to respond to the potters'
hand. And Isaiah repeatedly states that it was the Jews who had been made
or formed by God; yet they resisted the call of His Kingdom, and thus
struggled against their own glorious destiny and God's hand striving to
save them. So we could render "Woe unto him that contends with the power
that formed him; the potsherd with the moulder of the clay".
The Jews of Isaiah’s day would have had big problems with the idea of a
pagan king like Cyrus becoming the King of Israel and being Yahweh’s
special “servant” and even Messiah; see on Is. 45:1. Folk have the same
problem and resistance to the idea today. But passages like Is. 45:9-13,
Is. 48:14-16 and much of the material that follows the servant songs, are
in fact seeking to answer objections to this- e.g. by saying that God is
the potter and men are mere clay, and He will raise up precisely whom
He wishes- even pagan Cyrus- to be His man, the arm of His salvation,
at least potentially.
Isaiah 45:10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the
father of?’ or to a mother, ‘To what have you given birth?’- We note
how God likens Himself to both father and mother. I noted on :9 that the
context here is the Jewish objection to God raising up a 'son' like
Gentile Cyrus to be the deliverer. And this challenge echoes down to our
day, where we may have a gut level dislike to those clearly raised up to
be Yahweh's servants. It is not for us to thus speak to God about His
children and servants.
Isaiah 45:11 Thus says Yahweh the Maker and Holy One of Israel: You can
ask Me about the things that are to come, concerning My sons, and you
command Me concerning the work of My hands!-
In
the context of God lowering Himself to plead with a proud and apostate
Israel, God invites them to "command Me": "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel... 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"
(Is. 45:11,12 AV). Note the two uses of "command" and "hands". God
commands the stars, His hands created them; but
command ye me concerning My works,
and I will answer you. We can
command
God and His
hands will answer. The humility of
the creator shows He is the creator. But we can perhaps more easily
interpret this in the context of :10 along with GNB: "The LORD, the holy
God of Israel, the one who shapes the future, says: "You have no right to
question me about my children or to tell me what I ought to do!".
However, probably this is an allusion to the
court case God is facing over whether He can save His weak and sinful
people from Babylon. He challenges His accusers, those who disbelieve, to
ask Him further about His plans for Israel. We assume there is silence.
And then in :12 Yahweh goes on the attack, as it were, reminding His
accusers that He is the creator of the earth / land and man upon it, and
He can as easily re-establish His Kingdom in that land and inhabit it with
His people. He is the "maker" of Israel (:11) as well as of the earth and
heavens (:12).
Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even My
hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their
army-
See on :5,11. The creation of the earth / land in view is specifically the
new creation of His Kingdom restored in the land of Israel, the
eretz
promised to Abraham. He had created that land and had returned "man", His
people, upon it. The same power which commands the stars (LXX) commanded
each of the exiles to return. They were moved around from captivity to
Judah just as the stars are moved. We see here again how "stars" represent
Israel, a theme seen early on in Joseph's dreams.
Verses 11-13 are full of God's personal pronouns, "I... Me". Indeed we could translate: "Ask Me about My sons! And about the work of My hands, command Me. I, I made the earth and humankind upon it I created. I, My hands stretched the heavens, and all their host I commanded. I, I stir him up in righteousness, and all his ways I will make straight". The double "I" construction is remarkable. The point is so heavily laboured, that God Almighty Himself in person is so personally involved in the salvation of His people. This is not the abstraction of atonement theory, not a tick box nor equation that results in human salvation, with God setting it up and taking a back seat until judgment day. He, He Himself, personally, is absolutely and passionately working in us towards our salvation. Israel refused so very much, and so does every man who denies the working of God within him unto salvation.
Isaiah 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make
straight all his ways-
The idea may be that Cyrus was called to be righteous, to know Yaweh's Name. The "righteousness" in view may simply be an allusion to the ideas found on the Cyrus Cylinder, claiming Marduk had raised by Cyrus in righteousness. Whereas God is saying that it is He and not Marduk to whom these claims really applied; see on Is. 44:28. Yahweh commands the stars (:12) and so there should be no difficulty believing that He could command Cyrus to deliver His people.
LXX suggests this was more of a command, which he failed to obey fully: "I have raised him up to be a king with righteousness". He was to be the king of righteousness but wasn't. And it was a prophecy reapplied to the Lord Jesus. For the picture of ways being made straight is that of Is. 40 about the preparation of Messiah's path to the restored Zion.
He shall build My city, and he shall let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says Yahweh of Armies- For no human benefit at all to Cyrus. This is as clear a prophecy as any could wish. God categorically stated that Cyrus would be raised up by Him in order to release the captives in Babylon, and to enable the building of Jerusalem (Is. 45:12); all because God had formed the land [AV “earth”] of Israel to be inhabited and not to be left without His people dwelling upon it. And this happened; the captives were released (although most preferred to stay put in Babylon), and the building of Jerusalem was enabled (although the work was not done very enthusiastically by Judah, and they preferred to build their own houses rather than Yahweh’s).
Isaiah 45:14 Thus says Yahweh: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of
Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and
they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in
chains and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you:
‘Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god-
But the Egyptians and Ethiopians didn’t come and fall
down before Judah, as the Queen of Sheba had before Solomon. Nor did they
accept Yahweh as the only God, and ditch their idols. The idea was that
the Jewish exiles in the lands of the South would return, and their
captors would come with them, wishing to invert what had happened by
showing themselves to now be servile to the Jews and their God. But instead, the
returned Jews worshipped the idols of Egypt, and married their women (Ezra
9:1). And thus Israel were ashamed and confounded in the future
(cp. :17). So the essence of these things is reapplied to the conversion
of the Gentiles in the last day.
There are other references to the [potential] conversion of
Egypt. "Princes shall come out of Egypt.
Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God" (Psa. 68:310; and Is.
19:18-22: "In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that
speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts...
In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of
Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border... When they cry to the Lord
because of oppressors, he will send them a saviour and defender, and
deliver them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and
the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice
and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. And
the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to
the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them"
(ESV). Likewise of Ethiopia and Sheba: "From beyond the ruins of Ethiopia,
my suppliants, even the daughters of my dispersed, shall bring mine
offering" (Zeph. 3:10). "The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts"
(Ps. 72:10). This potential conversion of Egypt never happened at the
time, just as the exiles didn't all return nor was the Kingdom
re-established, and neither did Cyrus act as intended. It's not the
prophecy was falsified, but rather that God's statements are ofen
statements of intention and potential; but His prophecies are not
deterministic, railroading men to conversion in spite of their free will.
This is the answer to those who misunderstand some statements in the Bible
as implying universal salvation. We note that people from these very areas
were converted at Pentecost (Acts 2:10,11), along with the eunuch from
Ethiopia.
We could read the "you" here as Cyrus, the subject of the context. Although we could read :13 as saying that Cyrus was not given any reward for what he was to do. In any case, Egypt was conquered by the Persians only under Cambyses, not Cyrus. So the intended reward of "Egypt" wasn't given to Cyrus; perhaps because he failed to fully act as the servant was intended to.
Men falling down before Israel saying "‘Surely God is in you; and there is none else'" is transferred to the function of the true Christian in 1 Cor. 14:25. In this case, those "in" the suffering servant become the servant, rather than natural Israel at this point.
Isaiah 45:15 Most certainly You are a God who has hidden Yourself, God of
Israel, the Saviour’-
This could be seen as the interjection of Israel in objection to God's statements. It would be one of many examples in Isaiah of where a voice speaks, without introduction. Is. 40 is the clearest example. Yahweh's "I am..." is met by their response "[But] You are...". We could read God as responding in the next verses, not least in His statement that He will save Israel (:16,17). It's as if He stolidly continues in His quest for their salvation, despite their objections that God has hidden Himself. We will discuss on :19 how God responds to this by stating the obvious- that He has not spoken nor worked in some obscure way that needs interpretation and deciphering. The Bible, God's plan of salvation, is not a riddle to be solved. God is not hiding from man, playing hard to get, but openly revealing Himself. LXX gives "For thou art God, though we did not know it, O God of Israel the Saviour".
Is. 30:20 describes the reestablished Kingdom as a time when Judah's repentant eyes would "see" the God who had taught them through the sufferings of defeat and exile (see note there). Their eyes would no longer be blinded, they would see and perceive the 'hidden' God who had tried to teach them through all their afflictions. Meaning will finally be attached to event, and the problem of evil resolved finally. God had as it were 'hidden' Himself during the exile (Is. 45:15; Mic. 3:4); but now He would be revealed to them. Just as Cain was exiled to the east of Eden (which I have suggested was the eretz promised to Abraham) and been hidden from God's eyes in his exile (Gen. 4:14; Dt. 31:17,18; 32:20 s.w.), so with Judah. The hidden things belong to God and only some are now revealed to us, but in the day of exile's end, all those things, the meaning attached to the events, will at last be revealed (Dt. 29:29 s.w.). Then there will be no need for Jeremiah's Lamentations and struggles about the exile, all developed in the story of the suffering Job, who felt God hidden from him (s.w. Job 3:23; 13:24) just as God was to hide His face from Zion at the time of the Babylonian invasion (Jer. 33:5) and exile (Ez. 39:23,24). Therefore all human attempts to see the hidden God were doomed to failure, as Job was finally taught (Job 34:29 s.w.). But the glorious truth of Is. 30:20 is that finally, the Divine teacher will not be hidden any more and our eyes shall see Him and His ways, as Job did at the end (Job 42:5). And yet Isaiah and his family / school of prophets did look or see the hand of the God who was hiding Himself from Judah (s.w. Is. 8:17). At the restoration, there was to be no need for Judah to feel that their way was "hid from Yahweh" (Is. 40:27 s.w.) any more, as it had been during the exile "for a little moment" when God hid His face (Is. 54:8). Their eyes would see / perceive. But tragically, the exiles didn't; God reflected that "I hid me... and he went on proudly in the way of his heart" (Is. 57:17). Their sins continued to hide His face from them (Is. 59:2; 64:7). See on :19.
Isaiah 45:16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them.
Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together-
"Disappointed... confounded" are the
words used earlier by Isaiah concerning the idolaters amongst the Jews
(Is. 1:29; 20:5; 30:5),
confirming our previous suggestions that the polemics against idol makers
are in fact aimed at the Jewish exiles, rather than Gentiles. The
Jews in Babylon were idolaters, and that is why they refused to respond to
the salvation made possible through Cyrus.
LXX
"All that are opposed to him shall be ashamed and confounded, and shall
walk in shame: ye isles, keep a feast to me". This walking in shame is
applied to the rejection at the last day of those who have refused the
things of the Lord Jesus and trusted in the equivalent of "idols" in their
generation (Rev. 16:15). It
Isaiah 45:17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation-
I suggested on :16 that the idol
makers were Jews in Babylon and not Gentiles generally. "Israel will be
saved..." could be a definition of "Israel" as the true Israel of God. Or
it could be another example of where God condemns His people, but then
goes right on to protest His love for them and intention to save them (see
on Is. 44:1). Ultimately, God's people will not be "disappointed
nor ashamed" even though they had been due to their idolatry (the same
words are used of them in this connection in :16).
The "eternal age" of the Kingdom of peace could have come at that time, with the Messianic son of Isaiah as the father of that eternal age (see on Is. 9:6). But it didn't. An eternal Messianic kingdom could then have been established; Judah were urged to repent and allow it to happen in Is. 26:4. And the same potential was there for the exiles who returned from Babylon (Is. 45:17; 65:18). And the "father" of that could have been a Messianic figure who arose in Jerusalem. But these potentials have been reapplied and rescheduled to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus to be established in Zion in the last days.
You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting- Or, "ashamed". See on :14,16. Yahweh had promised support for them if they returned to the land; He would preserve them on the way. Consider Is. 50:10: “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice [s.w. Ezra 1:1 re the proclamation of Cyrus] of his servant [i.e. Cyrus, Is. 45:1], that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God”. Yet Ezra was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers to guard them on the journey only because he had earlier told the king that Yahweh would be with them (Ezra 8:22), as if he really did want the support but was ashamed to ask for it. He disallowed Isaiah’s prophesy that the restored Israel would never be ashamed [s.w. Ezra 8:22; 9:6] nor confounded (Is. 45:17; 49:23; 54:4). Nehemiah accepted such support when he came up from Babylon (Neh. 2:9).
The same Hebrew words for “ashamed [and] confounded” in :16,17 occur in Ezra 9:6,
where as a result of Ezra realizing that Judah had married the local women
and broken covenant with Yahweh, he admits: “I am
ashamed and
blush [s.w. ‘confounded’] to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our
iniquities are increased....”. The words of Is. 45 could have had their
fulfilment in the time of Cyrus; the surrounding nations could have come
and worshipped before Judah, and the whole earth quit their idols and look
unto Yahweh as a just God and a saviour. But Judah would not. Judah in the
new temple would not “defile” Yahweh’s Name any more (Ez. 43:7,8); but
they were lazy to keep the uncleanness laws, they did defile
Yahweh by touching dead bodied and then offering the sacrifices (Hag.
2:13,14 s.w.), just as Israel previously had been defiled by touching the
dead bodies of their kings and then offering sacrifices (Ez. 43:7); but
now, Judah thought they were above God’s law, and therefore did exactly
the same things which had caused the temple to be destroyed in the first
place. The promise that Yahweh would dwell in the new temple was
conditional on them not touching dead bodies (Ez. 43:9); but Hag. 2:13
makes it apparent that they did this very thing at the time of the
restoration.
Isaiah 45:18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who
formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it in
vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is no other-
Yahweh speaks of the returnees as if they were a new creation, created by
Him along with the heavens and earth of the temple which He had stretched
out in Zion (Is. 43:7; 44:2). He did not form this new land / heavens of
the kingdom and temple of Israel in vain- He created it to be inhabited
(Is. 45:18). But the Jews acted like the old creation. And the promise of
new creation was deferred until the time of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). Judah for
the most part declined to inhabit / dwell in the new heavens and earth
[the same word in Is. 45:18 is frequently used re. how the returnees
dwelt in
the cities of Judah]. And we too can take the simple encouragement- that
God has created His Kingdom, with all the careful planning involved, so
that it should be inhabited. He is not playing hard to get, nor
indifferent to the progress of His plans. He wants us to be there.
If "the earth" is 'the land' of Israel and "the Heavens" refer to the temple (see 1 Kings 8:30; 2 Chron. 30:27; Ps. 20:2,6; 11:4; Heb. 7:26; 2 Sam. 15:15 etc.) then God is saying that if the temple and land remained uninhabited, His creation of them would be in vain- hence His plan of restoration. The references in Isaiah's prophecies of the restoration to God being the creator of Heaven and earth would therefore be reminders that it was equally in His power to create the new Heavens and earth of the people of Israel/the temple.
Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of
darkness. I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’. I, Yahweh,
speak righteousness. I declare things that are right- The idea of the
first sentence may be that He had not spoken this word to the exiles in
"the land of darkness", Babylon or ruined Judah, just for the sake of it.
It was not "in vain", the prospect of the Kingdom was attainable. Perhaps
this is God's response to the complaint in :15 that He was hiding Himself.
He is urging the exiles as He urges us- that His promise of eternal
salvation is for real, He has promised it to us in "truth" ["right"] and
for all our sin and dysfunction and separation from His ultimate
perfection of holiness, His righteousness is not impugned by His wonderful
offer to us. "I declare things that are
right" could as well be rendered "I give direct answers". It is
Israel who complain He is a God who hides Himself; He replies that in fact
the opposite.
God denies that He spoke in "a place of the land of darkness", alluding to how the pagan responses were usually given from some dark cave, like the famous oracle at Delphi. This surely connects with Jer. 2:31: “Have I been a wilderness unto Israel, a land of darkness?”. God’s revelation to man has not been like a dark, trackless desert, but a light in which men might walk towards an assured goal. Any complaint that His word is hard to understand isn't really valid- it reflects a refusal to understand the obvious good news of His salvation and Kingdom. In the same way, "I said not... "Seek me" in vain", in chaos (tohu), (as in Is. 45:18, the land was not created "in vain"). He did not reveal His plan of salvation and set up the prospect of His Kingdom without hope of result. Life, Bible reading etc. is not a hopeless wander through a confusing wilderness. When Yahweh invited men to “Seek me”, He meant that He could and would be found (Jer. 29:13). Hence :22 "Look to Me and be saved". "I spoke openly to the world... in secret have I said nothing" (Jn. 18:20). "This commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off" (Dt. 30:11).
Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who
have escaped from the nations- The 'bringing / assembling' and
'drawing near / gathering' of the exiles (s.w. Is. 43:5) would have been
primarily fulfilled at the restoration (same words in Neh. 1:9). But most
of the exiles remained in the lands of their captivity, just as people
resist the Gospel's call today. They had to themselves bring and gather
themselves (Is. 45:20; 49:18; 60:4), so that God would confirm this by
bringing and gathering them (Is. 43:5; Jer. 31:8; Ez. 34:13; 36:24; 37:21;
Zech. 10:10). And so today with all who wish to be in God's Kingdom; our
desire to be there and first moves towards it will be confirmed many times
over by God's work through His Spirit. The LXX and GNB suggest that
the group in view are the minority of the peoples of the Babylonian empire
who were to repent and turn to Yahweh: "people of the nations, all who
survive the fall of the empire" (GNB). They were intended to join the
repentant exiles in a restored, multiethnic Kingdom of God in Judah. This
possibility of course didn't happen, human impenitence was to such an
extent, and so it looks forward to the final establishment of the Kingdom
in the last days.
Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save- Again idols are characterized by being unable to save; Yahweh's ultimate salvation of man from death is what makes Him God. The implication is that the remnant who did return from Babylon took idols with them- exactly matching how the Israelites took their idols with them through the Red Sea in their 'return' to Canaan (Ez. 20), and carried the tabernacle of Moloch as well as that of Yahweh. They are challenged in a court case, to present their arguments for doing so, and to justify their disbelief that Yahweh alone could save them He insists that He is a just God and Israel's Saviour (:21).
Isaiah 45:21 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together-
'Bring your strong arguments'.
This is legal language, inviting any opposed to God's purpose with Jacob
to present their hard evidence in court.
But
Isaiah’s lengthy prophecies of the restoration must be compared against
the sad reality of what actually happened. The prophecies exude a
wonderfully positive and joyful spirit, which contrasts with the defeatism
of the returnees. And one cannot help but wonder whether we as individuals
and therefore as a community have really lived the life of joy which the
NT promises for those who truly believe. Is. 45:20-21 is an example:
“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of
the nations [i.e. Babylon and all the 127 provinces of Persia]... Tell ye,
and bring them near; yea, let them
take counsel together”. These are
the very words used to describe how the local opposition ‘took counsel
together’ to frustrate the work of the Jews (Neh. 6:7). Yahweh is
exultantly saying: ‘Let them do it... let them get on with it, nothing can
prosper against you and your work!’. But instead, the Jews took the
opposition so seriously.
Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Saviour; There is no one besides Me- Justice and salvation were not part of the idol worship systems or theologies. And those idols had no histories of prophetic statements and intentions. The whole metaphor of 'redemption' shows that there was a justice in God's salvation. Israel were in debt to Him because of their sin, He didn't quietly forget the debt, rather did He as their redeemer pay the price for their redemption. As it were, to Himself. There is therefore an ethical legitimacy to salvation; He is "a just God and a Saviour". Ps. 85:10 makes the same point, that "Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other". This ethical legitimacy is a big theme of Romans, which is a conscious development of the arguments of Is. 40-66. Thus Rom. 3:26 argues of how "That He might be just, and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus". Justification is just. It is not a turning of a friendly blind eye to sin.
Isaiah 45:22 Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am
God, and there is no other- LXX "ye that come from the end of the
earth", as if referring to the exiles returning from the boundaries of the
eretz
promised to Abraham. They were to look to Yahweh in
repentance, "turn to Me" (LXX) in repentance; and if they looked, then the
blindness of their eyes would be removed by God's Spirit acting in their
hearts, according to the promise of the new covenant. But they continued
to look / turn to other gods, and so Yahweh's face remained hidden from
them because they were not looking to Him (s.w. Dt. 31:18), turning or
'looking' to Yahweh the back and not the face, so that He would remain
hidden from them (:15; Jer. 32:33 s.w.).
The altar "Jehovah-Nissi" connected Yahweh personally with the pole /
standard / ensign of Israel (Ex. 17:15). Yet nissi is the Hebrew
word used for the pole on which the brass serpent was lifted up, and for
the standard pole which would lift up Christ. Somehow Yahweh Himself was
essentially connected with the cross of Christ. “There is no God else
beside; a just God and a Saviour (Jesus)... look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth” (Is. 45:21,22) is evident allusion to the snake
on the pole to which all Israel were bidden look and be saved. And yet
that saving symbol of the crucified Jesus is in fact God Himself held up
to all men.
Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone out of My mouth in
righteousness and will not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall take an oath-
God could swear by no greater and so He swears by Himself, by His own life, or as He says often, "As surely as I live" (Heb. 6:13, 16); this, therefore, is the most solemn assurance that He does indeed desire the salvation of His people.
Heb. "righteousnesses", an intensive plural.
God's intention is that His people shall bow to Him at the last day and be
accepted at His final judgment. That word will not return to Him void. It
will achieve fulfilment; just as He formed the new heavens and earth to be
inhabited. His plan for the Kingdom will not be in vain. The Divine hope was that the repentant
exiles would enter the new covenant, and take an oath to Him. But they
didn't, and so these things are reinterpreted with reference to the work
of the Lord Jesus, and believers bowing before Him.
Rom.
14 quotes these words about how the new Israel will come from all nations
to the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus at the last day.
There's one thing which the sheer height of the Lord's exaltation
leads us to. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him... that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord... wherefore... work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:9-12). These words are alluding to Is.
45:23,24: "...unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength". We
all find humility difficult. But before the height of His exaltation, a
height which came as a result of the depth of the degradation of the
cross, we should bow our knees in an unfeigned humility and realization of
our sinfulness, and thankful recognition of the fact that through Him we
are counted righteous. We will be prostrated in the day of judgment before
Him, and yet will be made to stand. We therefore ought not to judge our
brother who will likewise be made to stand in that day- to his Master he
stands or falls, not to us.
In Phil. 2:10, the Lord Jesus is said to have been given power over all
beings in heaven, earth and the nether-world. The Romans understood the
world to be divided into these three spheres of the cosmos. But this
passage is based upon Is. 45:23, which says that God has total supremacy
(see on :5-7)- and this has been granted to His Son. As I understand it,
Paul is reasoning that if God is all powerful, and if that power has been
given to the Lord Jesus, then whatever cosmology there is around, e.g.
belief in a nether-world, well, in that case, Jesus has all power over
that as well. The same argument applies to demons. If they exist, well the
essence is that they are well and truly under the Lord’s control and
aren’t essentially powerful. Paul doesn’t so much ridicule the idea of a
nether-world, rather he takes the view, as Jesus did in His dealings with
the demon issue, that God’s power is so great that their existence is
effectively not an issue.
Isaiah 45:24 They will say of Me, ‘There is righteousness and strength
only in Yahweh’. Even to Him shall men come-
These will be the
thoughts of us each as we are bow before the judgment seat of the Lord
Jesus, which is in view in :24. Then we shall appreciate as never before
the meaning of imputed righteousness.
And all those who were
incensed against Him shall be disappointed- The Samaritans could have provided a fulfilment of all this, just as
the prideful Assyrians were before.
Isaiah 45:25 In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and
shall glory-
"Be righteous", because they access the
righteousness that is "in" Yahweh alone (:24). And that worked out through
the Lord Jesus, "Yahweh our righteousness" (Jer. 23:6). This phrase "All
the seed of Israel" is surely alluded to by Paul when he concludes with
awed intensity: "And so all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. 11:26). He has in
view natural Israel as well as spiritual Israel.
Is. 45:20-25 calls for the Jews to return from Babylon and come unto Him in Zion; but the majority remained in Babylon, and so these words were delayed in fulfilment; Rom. 14 quotes them about how the new Israel will come from all nations to the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus at the last day. But had Jewry returned from Babylon as they had been asked, they would have come to their Messiah there and then. "All the seed of Israel" suggests the ten tribes also were intended to return; but they too preferred their exile to restoring the Kingdom in Zion.
Previous Chapter
