Isaiah chapter 45
Cyrus will liberate them, continued. The LORD is sovereign over creation. Gentiles will come to faith in the LORD God. The LORD evangelizes the Gentiles.
CYRUS WILL LIBERATE THEM, CONTINUED
VERSE 1. The LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
Cyrus. This refers to Cyrus II of Persia. He is commonly referred to as Cyrus the Great.
He was the king of Persia from 559 to 529 BC.
He liberated the Jewish people. He permitted them to return home, to rebuild the temple, and rebuild Jerusalem.
VERSE 2. “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of bronze in pieces and cut apart the bars of iron.
I will go before you. The LORD God will go before us. He will blaze the trail.
make the rough places smooth. John the Baptist made a highway in the desert. That meant he prepared the people to accept the message of the Lord Jesus. Read more »
break the doors of bronze. For us, the LORD God will shatter bronze doors. He opens doors.
cut apart the bars of iron. The LORD God will hack through iron bars. He sets us free.
VERSE 3. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.
NAB translation. I will give you treasures out of the darkness, and riches that have been hidden away, That you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Book of Isaiah and from the entire Bible.
I will give you. The LORD God always has more. There is always more of him, more blessings, more favor.
When we receive these blessings, it feels as though they were pulled out of hiding.
treasures … riches. For many people, the Bible is a treasure that has been hidden from them. They’ve not read it.
Once they begin the journey of reading the Bible, they are in for a lifetime of discovering treasures and riches.
That you may know. The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
VERSE 4. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have given you a title, though you have not known me.
I have called you by your name. The LORD God knows us by name.
VERSE 5. I am the LORD, and there is no one else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me,
VERSE 6. that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else.
So that they may know. The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
VERSE 7. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I am the LORD, who does all these things.
VERSE 8. Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.
righteousness … salvation. These two are linked together, as if they are a package deal.
THE LORD IS SOVEREIGN OVER CREATION
VERSE 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?’
Shall the clay ask him who fashions. The Bible envisions God as a potter, and we believers as clay. Are you pliable in the hands of God? Will you let him form you into the person he desires? Read more »
VERSE 10. Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you given birth to?’ ”
VERSE 11. The LORD, the Holy One of Israel and his Maker says: “You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands!
VERSE 12. I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. I have commanded all their army.
VERSE 13. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” says the LORD of Hosts.
GENTILES WILL COME TO FAITH IN THE LORD GOD
VERSE 14. The LORD says: “The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you, and they will be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains. They will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else. There is no other god.
Egypt … Ethiopia … Sabaeans. The news of the One God is expanding to include people from foreign nations.
The LORD God is evangelizing them, and there are results. They are converts from Gentile nations.
The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
God is in you. In the Old Testament era, the temple in Jerusalem was the House of God. But in our New Testament era, the LORD God dwells within his people. Read more »
We are God’s modern-day temple. Our ability to earn a living is itself a gift from the LORD God. Ultimately it is he who has accomplished all we have done. Read more »
VERSE 15. Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’ ”
you are a God who has hidden yourself. Some translations say “you have a secret God.” The LORD God is not visible to us.
Jacob saw the LORD God face-to-face. But after that, nobody was permitted to see the face of God. Not even Moses. No one was permitted to see him and live. Read more »
VERSE 16. They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
VERSE 17. Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.
NLT translation. But the LORD will save the people of Israel with eternal salvation. Throughout everlasting ages, they will never again be humiliated and disgraced.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Book of Isaiah and from the entire Bible.
they will never again be humiliated and disgraced. This is a lovely promise. But it was not fulfilled.
In the centuries to come, the Jewish people will indeed be humiiated and disgraced, many times. The two most famous instances are the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, and the Holocaust.
What do we make of that? How do those historical realities impact our interpretation of this promise from the LORD God?
VERSE 18. For the LORD who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am the LORD. There is no other.
who formed it to be inhabited. The world exists for us.
VERSE 19. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
THE LORD EVANGELIZES THE GENTILES
VERSE 20. “Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
VERSE 21. Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, the LORD? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me.
There is no one besides me. The LORD is one. He is God alone. He is the one God and Father of all. Beside him there is no other God. There is none like him. Read more »
VERSE 22. “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
BBE translation. Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have salvation, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.
Look to me. We are to direct our gaze to God.
be saved, all the ends of the earth. The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
VERSE 23. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
to me every knee shall bow. This is echoed in the New Testament:
Romans 14:11. For it is written, “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’ ”
VERSE 24. They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in the LORD.’ ” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him will be disappointed.
NLT translation. The people will declare, “The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength.”
The LORD is the source. These Jewish people do not see their righteousness as something they earned from their own religious works. Rather, they say their salvation is from the LORD God.
VERSE 25. All the offspring of Israel will be justified in the LORD, and will rejoice!
ISAIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, True Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.