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January 09, 2011 |
| Salvation for Israel | ||
In the previous lesson from the first part of Isaiah chapter 45 we saw God talking directly to Cyrus, king of Persia. He tells Cyrus that all of Cyrus's conquests have succeeded because God has been with him. God tells Israel that Cyrus will allow them to go back to Jerusalem and will start the rebuilding of the temple.
It's important to remember that Isaiah was given these words from God more than 100 years before Cyrus would conquer Babylon and send Israel back to their land. So, from Isaiah's perspective his words are about the future, but from Cyrus's perspective he sees his name in an old scroll and his achievements listed as well.
This lesson begins with God continuing to speak to Cyrus. But now God is speaking of the future of Cyrus. We believe that Cyrus came to know of the prophecies about him through Daniel after Babylon was conquered. At that time Cyrus had easily conquered the Medes and the northern races as far east as Babylon but he hadn't moved south yet.
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.'"
God tells Cyrus that he will conquer Egypt, Ethiopia (Cush)1, and Seba, another northeast African country of the time. We know they would be conquered because it was typical of conquering armies of the time to bring captive peoples back to their home countries in chains for display and ridicule. Cyrus was less interested in bringing back captive peoples than his predecessors had been, but he still may have brought back their royalty in chains. It's also possible that "in chains" is just a symbolic way of showing they would be conquered peoples.
Whatever the case, the words of the conquered peoples are important. They will credit their defeat by Cyrus to God. They will be so stunned by their quick defeat that they will believe it could only be the work of God.
This mention of Egypt, Cush and Seba closely parallels Isaiah 43:3 where God says that he will give Cush and Seba as a ransom for Israel. The point is that Israel will see a reduction in their captivity but Cush and Seba will see an increase.
"In 525 BC, Cambyses, son of Cyrus, becomes the first ruler from the East to defeat Egypt soundly. After Egypt's defeat at the Battle of Pelusium that year, the Egyptians relinquish their material goods, becoming subservient to the Persians for nearly 200 years."2
Now the scene changes. The speaker changes as well. We aren't certain who the speaker is but he is speaking to God about Israel.
15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,
the God and Savior of Israel.
16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;
they will go off into disgrace together.
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.
In the other chapters in this section of Isaiah God refers to himself as Israel's Rock and as other titles. Here he refers to himself as Israel's Savior. But he also brings up what we saw in most of the chapters in this section the reason why Israel was taken into captivity idolatry. He says Israel will understand that reason and those who made the idols will be ashamed of what they have done.
In verse 16 we see that this shame will come in the future but it isn't clear just how far in the future, but we get a hint of it with the words "they will go off into disgrace together". In verse 17 we see "everlasting salvation" and "ages everlasting". From this we know this is an end-times reference, a time still in our future.
"For all of God's people for all time, this verse should be an encouragement. Though we may be greatly persecuted and ridiculed by the people of this wicked world, we will have eternity to be glad that we have chosen the Lord to be our Savior. Those who have chosen to persecute and ridicule God's people will have eternity to regret the salvation and blessings that they could have had if they had been willing to commit their way to the Lord."3
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.
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.
We have seen God displaying his credentials to Israel in other chapters in this section. Here we see it again as he makes it clear that he and he alone is God and the creator of everything. In other chapters we saw him say that there was none before him and there will be none after him.
By saying it was formed "to be inhabited" it's possible that Isaiah is referring not just to the earth but to Israel and Jerusalem, which lay in ruins during the Babylonian captivity.
In saying "spoken in secret" and "land of darkness" he is saying I did not speak so you could not hear me and I am not someplace where you could not see me. Quite the opposite, God said "Seek me and you will find me"4. These verses are very similar to what Jesus will say 600 years later, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
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.
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.
Again God declares his credentials but not through his creation as before, but now through his knowledge of the future. In fact he uses this prophecy of Cyrus and Israel's return to Jerusalem as the evidence to prove it. He goes further to challenge others to get together and try to do what he has done here. In this way he establishes that there is no other like him. And for those that might want to try, elsewhere he refers to himself as the one "who foils false prophets"5.
We also see idolatry mentioned again. God's repetition of this here and in the other chapters of this section can only mean that he wants to make sure that idolatry ceases in the people of Israel. He is probably giving so much emphasis to this because Israel has now spent 70 or more years as captives in an idolatrous nation. They have never lived in Israel, they never knew the temple, and they have forgotten large parts of God's law.
22 "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
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.
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.
God makes a key statement here that is part of our understanding of the end-time. All people that ever lived will come to know God and will acknowledge him as God. They will know that only he has strength and those who were his enemies in life will be put to shame.
25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD
and will make their boast in him.
We also need to be careful how we understand verse 25. It could not be saying that all the descendents of Israel will get a free pass into eternity. That would contradict other parts of the Bible. The reference is more likely to spiritual Israel which would include Christians. This interpretation agrees with chapter 40, where the wilderness described is the spiritual wilderness that Israel would become by the time of Jesus.
1, God says that we will find him if we look for him. What ways has God made available for people to find him in our time?
2. God shows his credentials here so that Israel will be comforted and strengthened for their return to their land. What are the credentials?
1 http://calvarychapelgb.com/isaiah/Isaiah45.htm
2 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Winter 2011, Unit 2, January 9, Introduction, B
3 http://calvarychapelgb.com/isaiah/Isaiah45.htm
4 Isaiah 55:6, Hebrews 11:6, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13
5 Isaiah 44:25