Isaiah 45-47

What’s Happening?

God proves to exiled Israel that he is in control of history by telling them what will happen in the future. The prophet Isaiah tells his exiled people in Babylon that God is sending a Messiah to save them. The title “Messiah” was reserved for Israel’s kings, priests, and prophets, God’s chosen leaders of his chosen people. But the identity of this Messiah God will choose is so shocking, it borders on heresy. God declares that a Persian king named Cyrus will be his Messiah (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). Cyrus is a pagan who does not acknowledge God, yet he is who God chooses to use (Isaiah 45:4). God will prove he is in control of everything when his claim that a future pagan king will free his people comes to pass. 

One of the things God says will happen before it happens is Cyrus defeating Babylon and rescuing Israel (Isaiah 44:28; 45:13). God will use Cyrus to humiliate Babylon’s idols, magic, and astrology, and so expose their emptiness (Isaiah 47:1-15). Yet Cyrus will not accomplish this through his own strength, but through God who chose him (Isaiah 45:5). Every victory Cyrus achieves—taking nations he didn’t fight for, walking through city gates he didn’t topple, claiming spoils he didn’t earn—is a fulfillment of what God announced in advance (Isaiah 45:2-3). This is God’s testimony to Cyrus and to the nations that there is no God but him (Isaiah 45:7-8, 13-14).

Not only does God promise to raise up a Messiah from outside Israel, he also promises to save the nations outside Israel. And he will prove to the nations that he is the only true God in the same way he will prove it to Israel. God will tell the world what will happen before it happens (Isaiah 45:21). God is the only god who predicts things before they happen, and God is the only god who can actually make them happen. When these nations see God act in this way, they will realize the foolishness of their idolatry and turn to the God of Israel who alone rules history (Isaiah 45:14, 18). When the nations see how superior God is to their idols, every knee will bow to him and declare he alone is God (Isaiah 45:23-24). 

God asks all people to compare their false idols to him (Isaiah 46:5). Idols weigh down their worshippers and need to be carried everywhere they go (Isaiah 46:1). But Israel’s God will lift his people up and carry them out of exile (Isaiah 46:3-4, 11-13). Idols cannot move and cannot rescue. But Israel’s God moves freely through all time and space and promises to move toward them in deliverance long before they were even exiled (Isaiah 45:15-25; 46:10, 13). God proves that he is in control by telling the world what will happen before it happens. 

Where Is the Gospel?

The ultimate proof of God’s control was not in him promising his Messiah Cyrus, but in promising his true and final Messiah, Jesus. 

As there was no comparison between Israel's God and the nation’s idols, Jesus is likewise beyond compare. Idols cannot move, speak, touch, or act. But Jesus moved toward his exiled people. Jesus spoke words of life and truth (John 6:63,68). Jesus touched the sick and healed them (Mark 1:41-42). Jesus acted with mercy and kindness. Idols are given life by their makers—humans. But Jesus, the maker of all humans, gave up his life (2 Corinthians 5:15). 

To show he controlled history, Jesus predicted to his disciples how he would die before it happened (Matthew 16:21). Just like Israel’s exile, Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t an accident but was part of God’s predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). From the beginning of creation every prophecy, promise, prototype, and parable pointed to our final Messiah Jesus who would die and rise to save us from exile (Genesis 3:15; Luke 24:25-26). Israel could trust God because he promised the Messiah Cyrus a few years before he came. We can trust God all the more because he promised the Messiah Jesus from the beginning of the world. 

Trusting in anything besides Jesus is like trusting in an idol—you will end up carrying all the weight yourself. But Jesus carries your burdens on himself. We hold up idols, but Jesus holds us. Jesus is not a still, lifeless idol or a distant powerless deity. He is the God who is in control of history and who orchestrated everything to die for us. This is why every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the one true God (Philippians 2:8-11). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who declares the end from the beginning. And I pray that you would trust Jesus, the one true God who planned to save you before the world began.