Isa 45:1 “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
Isa 45:2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
Isa 45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Isa 45:4 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.
Isa 45:5 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,
Isa 45:6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
Isa 45:8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
Isa 45:9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
Isa 45:10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’
Isa 45:11 “This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
Isa 45:12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.
Isa 45:13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.”
The Lord, the Only Savior
Isa 45:14 This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans— they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'”
Isa 45:15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.
Isa 45:16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together.
Isa 45:17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.
Isa 45:18 For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Isa 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.
Isa 45:20 “Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.
Isa 45:21 Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
Isa 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
Isa 45:23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
Isa 45:24 They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.'” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.
Isa 45:25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD and will make their boast in him.
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
Isa 45:1 “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
To his anointed, to Cyrus. The thought of ch. 44 continues without a break (see ch. 44:28). The title “anointed,” Heb. mashiach (Messiah), was applied by the Hebrews to both the high priest (Ex. 30:30) and the king (1 Sam. 24:6). See on Ps. 2:2. Christ (Gr. Christos, “anointed”) was anointed by the Holy Ghost for His work in behalf of fallen man (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; see on Matt. 1:1). Ancient writers speak of Cyrus as a man of singular nobility and uprightness of character.
The gates. The Greek historian Herodotus relates that on the night of Cyrus’ capture of Babylon the city gates along the Euphrates were not closed. A festival was in progress, and people were to be permitted to cross the river at will.
Isa 45:2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
The Lord would prepare the way for Cyrus to perform His work. The language of the verse is figurative.
Isa 45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Cyrus came into possession of vast hoards of treasure when he took Sardis in Asia Minor, capital of Croesus, the fabulously wealthy king of Lydia, and again when he captured Babylon. In his success Cyrus was to recognize the hand of the Lord.
Isa 45:4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do not acknowledge me.
It was God’s will that the Jews return to their land after 70 years, but Babylon was evidently unwilling to release them. God therefore raised up the Persians and made Cyrus His chosen instrument for the liberation of the Jews.
Isa 45:5 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,
Cyrus lived in a land where few, if any, recognized the Lord. But God ordained the course of events so that Cyrus would have an opportunity to recognize Him as the Supreme Ruler and as the One who had appointed him his mission (see on Ezra 1:2).
Isa 45:6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.
May know. Through the influence of Cyrus men everywhere would hear of the Lord, who had appointed him.
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
I form the light. It was about the time of Cyrus, or soon thereafter, that Zoroastrianism became the religion of Persia. Its great deity was Ahura-Mazda, the god of light and life, who was in constant conflict with the wicked hosts of darkness under Ahriman. God made known to Cyrus, and through him to the world, that He was the world’s Creator, the true God of light.
Isa 45:8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
Isaiah pictures righteousness descending from heaven as a gentle rain, bringing life and refreshment to the barren earth (see Ps. 72:6; Hosea 6:3; Joel 2:23).
Isa 45:9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
Quarrel with their Maker.The context clearly addresses this warning to Cyrus. God has called him to the performance of a specific task, and it can be well with him only if he cooperates with the divine plan.
Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’
Cyrus, here represented by a piece of pottery, was not to complain because of the role God ordained for him. God had raised him up for a particular purpose, and except for the guiding hand of God he would never have become the great leader that he was. Inasmuch as God had made him what he was for a particular purpose, Cyrus was obligated to fulfill his appointed mission.
Isa 45:10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’
Cyrus was not to be resentful or rebellious against the role marked out for him. It is interesting to imagine the reaction of Cyrus to the counsel here given, when these words of Isaiah were read to him by Daniel (see PK 557).
Isa 45:11 “This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to
come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
A stranger has no right to interfere with the way a man orders his household, and in the same way it is inappropriate for Cyrus to question the dealings of God with His people Israel. He is under no obligation to give men an account of the reasons for His deeds. What He does is for their best good, and that is all they need to know.
Isa 45:12 I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.
God created both the world and its inhabitants and must have had a beneficent purpose for so doing. Cyrus may not understand the divine purposes, but that is no excuse for a failure to carry out the role assigned him (see v. 13).
Isa 45:13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.”
In verses 1–12 God has been addressing Cyrus directly, in the second person. Now, as He turns to speak to His own people of His purpose in their return to Judea, He refers to Cyrus in the third person. This is the purpose for which Cyrus was exalted by God (see on Ezra 1:1–4).
Isa 45:14 This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans— they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'”
That is, the products of labor, the wealth.
God now addresses His own people, in anticipation of their return from captivity (see on v. 13). As vs. 1–12 outline the will of God for Cyrus, so vs. 13–25 constitute a statement of God’s purpose in restoring the Jews to their homeland.
Not only were the Jews to be restored to their own land; they were intended to become a great nation, honored by all the other nations of earth. For the role of Israel upon the return from Babylonian captivity, see also Ps. 68:31; 72:10; Isa. 60:1–11.
Isa 45:15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.
Although the ways of God are not always apparent to men—He may at times seem to hide Himself from them—He will in due time manifest Himself in mercy and blessing.
Isa 45:16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together.
Isa 45:17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.
It was God’s purpose that, upon the return from Babylon, Israel should be loyal to Him, thus making possible the fulfillment of all the glorious promises of old.
In course of time, however, Israel again forsook the Lord, forfeited His blessing, and was replaced in the divine plan by the Christian church. Accordingly, all the promises made to literal Israel belong to the church. So, Paul states, “All Israel shall be saved,” and he defines Israel as the church (see on Rom. 11:26) That is, “forever and ever.”
Isa 45:18 For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Creation was a purposeful act, not merely an end. Sin has postponed the realization of that purpose, but though postponed for a time it will ultimately be achieved. God’s infinite purposes know no haste and no delay (see DA 32).
Isa 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.
Not only was creation a purposeful act (see on v. 18); God’s choice of Israel was also.
As God raised up Cyrus, not simply that he might become a great ruler, but that he might play a part in the divine plan, so God had raised up Israel—and was now releasing them from captivity—that His eternal purpose might be realized through them (see on Ex. 9:16; Dan. 4:17).
Isa 45:20 “Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.
The Jews, freed by Cyrus to return to their homes, were to gather together and thank God for deliverance, acknowledging the evidences of His love and His power. They were to acknowledge, also, the folly of idolatry.
History reveals the fact that the Babylonian captivity effectively cured the Jews of idolatry, even though only a relatively small number of them went back to Palestine.
Isa 45:21 Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
This challenge is addressed to those who worship idols. Let them, if they can, set forth convincing proof of their divinity (see on chs. 41:22, 23; 43:9; 44:7).
A righteoust God and a Saviour. Justice and mercy are the principles that determine all of God’s dealings with men. Satan charged that these qualities are incompatible, and that God is not merciful to His creatures in the exercise of divine justice, nor was He just in His exercise of mercy. The plan of salvation was designed to prove this charge false. (see on Ps. 85:10).
Isa 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
Turn to me, Look to me. The story of Charles Spurgeon. During the sermon this verse was repeated over and over. Charles looked, was changed and became one of the greatest preachers.
Isa 45:23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
All will eventually acknowledge God’s justice and mercy (see on v. 21). For the fulfillment of these words, see on Rom. 14:11Phil. 2:10, 11; Rev. 5:13; cf. Rev. 15:3; 19:1–6.
Isa 45:24 They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.'” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.
No man can be righteous without Christ, for of ourselves we have no righteousness (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 7:18). For a righteousness character we are wholly and completely dependent upon Him (see on Rom. 8:1–4; Gal. 2:20).
Isa 45:25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD and will make their boast in him.
To be justified means to be acquitted, or pronounced innocent (see on Rom. 5:1). It was to make this experience possible for us that Christ died.