Isaiah 45 Commentary
Who predicted long ago what would happen? The prophet is asking the same question that we have met several times in the opening chapters of the second partition of Isaiah. He is not looking for an answer but rather a faith response from Israel and the nations.
Was it not I, the LORD, the God who saves his people? Again, the prophet is not presenting a logical solution to an impossible puzzle. Who has looked at this fact and conceived it in his spirit?
The word ‘prediction’ may carry the thought of try-and-error in today’s language. The scripture says more. The Creator God planned it; the Creator God has executed it. The Sovereign LORD determined the course of events and informed Isaiah about them – the same voice of the physical Isaiah who interacted with King Hezekiah more than a century before these events.
Won’t the nations listen and heed? There is more for them to wait for – a time will come when every knee will bow down and every tongue confess the name of the LORD. In the New Testament, the LORD is named Jesus Christ. Philippians 2 verse 10.
We would guess the scripture is talking about the Son’s government, Immanuel, the Branch, or lately, the Servant. Dare not trivialize the Son’s government! The saint won’t be foolish forever; he was right about the importance of salvation, after all! It is a moment of submission and obedience; a moment of subjection and complete rule in righteousness. The saint cannot wait! And Isaiah’s listeners, it is fixed in steel and concrete – impossibly rigid.
In the meantime, let the saint look at the events and appreciate the hand of the LORD. In seemingly less spiritual events, the LORD’s hand is still in control. The characters or actors may not even be aware but the LORD is pulling the strings. Cyrus is simply a tool in the hand of the LORD.
Let the saint respond with a ‘yes LORD’. Let your will be done. Let not clay speak back to the Potter. God forbid! The Creator God remains sovereign and tightly in control of life’s outcomes. The scripture invites the nations to investigate these facts!
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