| October 24, 1999 | I Will Strengthen You | Isaiah 45:1-7
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Especially: "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,"
In our text we have a wonderful example that our God is a god of all things. He is a god over all people, and nations, and power, and even over time. His mastery even over time is witnessed to by the fact that our text contains a detailed prophecy of future events which were fulfilled exactly as God had said.
In our text we have a wonderful portion of the writings of the Prophet Isaiah to consider today. Isaiah did his ministry work from 740BC to about 681BC, that is around 700 years before Christ's birth as a human baby. The events that were written about are events in the future from Isaiah's point of view. The fulfillment would be in 539BC, that is almost 200 years later.
Much would happen in the world in those 200 years. In the time that Isaiah was speaking and writing, the world he lived in was dominated by the Assyrian Empire. They posed a terrible threat and were cruelly oppressing and conquering kingdoms all around the Middle East. A portion of what Isaiah wrote was a prediction that the Assyrians would conquer the northern kingdom of Israel. Remember, what was originally one kingdom under kings Saul, David and Solomon, later split into two: the northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah. Isaiah lived in the kingdom of Judah, in Jerusalem, but he wrote God's Word of warning to the people of the kingdom of Israel. They were under the threat of the Assyrians.
God fulfilled this prophecy in the year 722BC when the Assyrians did conquer and carry off the kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians were so strong at that time that they threatened every other nation. No one could imagine that they would fall from their powerful position, yet that is exactly what God revealed to Isaiah in our text as Cyrus would be given power. Cyrus was to be leader of the Persian Empire.
However the decline of the Assyrian Empire was not all that was required by our text. In those many years there would be another empire to arise, the Babylonian Empire. This mighty empire would be the one to destroy the Assyrians. The Babylonians would take power and in a hundred years they would conquer and exile the Southern Kingdom of Judah and especially the city of Jerusalem. This was what was coming for Israel and Judah, but nobody knew anything about it, outside of the words of God's prophets, especially Isaiah. The Assyrians would fall, the Babylonians would rise, then the Babylonians would fall and the Persians rise with Cyrus the first leader. This was all part of God's plan revealed long before it took place.
The Lord shows that he certainly had big plans for Cyrus. He was going to use him to carry out His will. God would demonstrate His grace to His people through Cyrus. First, God shows the judgment for the terrible sins of the people of Israel and Judah with their defeat and exportation by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Now, God wants to show grace, deliverance, and salvation to a faithful group who still look to the Lord with hope. He wants to show His love to the remnant and this is going to be done through the Persians and their leader Cyrus.
So the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to write in Chapter 44, just preceding our text, about this grace from our Lord, who even calls Himself "Redeemer." He promises this grace through Cyrus. Isaiah writes:
"This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,' who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,' who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." '" (Isaiah 44:24-28)
God promises the restoration of what was in the land before His judgment was enacted and this is fulfilled through Cyrus. I invite you to read the last chapter of Second Chronicles to see how it was fulfilled.
Now, consider for a moment just who this Cyrus was. He would be a Persian living several hundred miles from Jerusalem. He knew nothing of the God of heaven and earth, that is the God of the people of Israel. The Persians worshipped their own pagan gods which were false idols of no power. However, in God's plans laid out for Cyrus He would use him for His own purposes. This demonstrates God's power to work through people whom He choses and directs to do His will. God used an unholy, pagan ruler, Cyrus to accomplish His goals. God calls Cyrus His shepherd. Cyrus didn't know he was going to be the Lord's servant.
Isaiah wrote: "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of." Cyrus was to be the Lord's anointed one, that is one marked and chosen to serve a particular purpose. That word "anointed" has the same root as "messiah," and we might then see that in Cyrus is a shadow of the Messiah to come, Christ, the Lord's anointed and chosen one. In a small way, Cyrus serves as a look forward to Christ or as Bible scholars say Cyrus is a "type" of Christ.
More relevant to Cyrus is how God turns around the unbelievers and even those who oppose Him so that they might serve Him. It is an example of how God uses evil things to bring about good. You might ask: "How can God use the evil of this world?" How can He use the violence in schools and on the streets? How can He use the devastated farm economy? How can He use divorce and suicide and death?
Our Lord can certainly use all these evil things to draw us closer to Him. He can use evil to encourage us to seek shelter from this evil in the only source of true goodness - our Lord. He can use evil to bring about good and thereby demonstrate His power.
This is indeed what happened with Cyrus. The Lord took hold of Cyrus by Cyrus' right hand, symbolizing his power. In other words, the Lord provided Cyrus with his power. Indeed, the Lord would do these things for Cyrus: "to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places..." The Lord will do all this, and He has one purpose in mind: "so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." The Lord does this so Cyrus might come to know Him and that other people would come to know Him too.
In fact, the Lord had called Cyrus by name, mentioning his name in the prophecy given 200 years before it was fulfilled. The Lord used the name Cyrus before there was one with that name alive, and probably even before his grandparents were living. God made and fulfilled this prophecy to proclaim His mighty works. He said: "For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me." See, even though Cyrus was not a believer, God called him to believe.
When we read of Cyrus being called by name, we ought to think of the time when each of us was called by name. We were called by God in our baptism. God called us by name to be His children. We were called to be obedient to the Lord. We were called to be faithful and to allow the Lord to nurture us with His Word and His Holy Supper.
Now, we must ask if we are like Cyrus in failing to acknowledge the Lord? Do we fail to give Him credit for all the blessings of our lives? Do we fail to behave as His obedient children? Are our lives instead often filled with rebellion from God? Yes, like Cyrus, we fail to acknowledge the one who calls us by name. We fail to give Him the honor and glory and obedience He deserves.
God made some promises through Isaiah to the man who would be born by the name of Cyrus. Our God is one who keeps His promises. In that assurance, we can take great comfort as we read of God's promised grace in our text: "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other." Did you hear how God there promised: "I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me." This is grace. Though we don't deliver, though we fail to acknowledge our God the way we should, He still promises to strengthen us.
This grace is a wonderful part of our God. It is in His nature to be forgiving and strengthen us even if we fail to acknowledge Him. He identifies grace as a basic part of who He is by saying, "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God."
In the previous chapter of Isaiah, chapter 44, God also promised this same wonderful grace. "Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:21-22) How wonderful to hear that our offenses are swept away. He has indeed redeemed us.
This all comes through the one whom Isaiah also predicted. He would come as a man later than Cyrus. However, in the same way, God would raise up the man, Jesus Christ, also true God, to be our Redeemer. Like Cyrus, God will go before Him, to be "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.'" As with Cyrus, doors and gates would open before Christ, though they would lead to the place of the skull. There on a cross, the power of God is exerted to subdue our sins and cut through our trespasses. Jesus' death there would break down the doors keeping us from heaven. There we would receive: "the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."
We receive the treasure of free forgiveness and everlasting life. It is a treasure hidden from the world who has rejected it, but shown to us through God's grace. It is only through this grace that we can really come to know that He is the Lord. It is only through the wonderful gospel that we can know that He has called us by name.
This same god promises to be with us now as we live our days in this life, knowing Him as a gracious and forgiving God. We still have His promise that He will go before us and He will strengthen us. We gain strength even in the face of evil around us and sin in our own lives, by knowing forgiveness and the future deliverance. We live today knowing that we are heading home. We are led home by the one who goes before us, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.