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“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:
² I will go before you
    and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
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.
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.
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,
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.
⁷ I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

Before moving on, I thought it would be appropriate to quote Barry Webb, with reference to Cyrus:

‘The captives from Judah must have been particularly startled by the title his (God’s) anointed (1). In Hebrew it is massiah (messiah), a title normally reserved for Saul, Israel’s first king, and for the kings of the line of David who followed him. It refers to the human king who is the LORD’s chosen representative, the one who stands at the very centre of his purposes for his people and for the world…Cyrus was only a temporary ‘messiah’, used by God for a very specific task at a time when the house of David was in total disarray. It is the Servant whom we met at the beginning of chapter 42 who stands at the centre of God’s longer-term plans for his people, not Cyrus, and Isaiah will eventually relate the ministry of this Servant to the ‘faithful love promised to David’ (55:3)…In short, God was going to use Cyrus to put his people back in Jerusalem, so that from there, the place he had chosen to be the centre of his kingdom on earth, the truth about him might become known everywhere. In the longer plan of God, of course, it was to Jerusalem that Israel’s true Messiah, the Son of David, eventually came to fulfil his mission, and it was from there that the gospel went out to the whole world.’ (‘Isaiah’, pp183,184).

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.
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,
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.
⁷ I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

God has the right to use anyone He chooses. Cyrus did not know the Lord, but he was known by Him, and called to a particular purpose. God knew where he was and put His Hand on him, and moved him into position on the world’s chess-board.

Proverbs 21:1 says:

”The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
    he guides it wherever he pleases” (New Living Translation).

We know that in the U.K. we will go to the polls before the year is out. It’s the same for the U.S.A also. We may (or, I appreciate, may not!) feel rather distressed when we consider the options. But I can almost guarantee you that if you saw Cyrus’ name on the ballot sheet you would not be happy. We need to remember that the Lord raises up rulers and He puts them down. He is the sovereign Lord of history (7). We may have little, or no understanding of how God is going to use some seemingly ungodly person. Obviously, He sees the much bigger picture.

What we can say for certain is that we are meant to pray for our political leaders, and recognise that they can be converted:

”The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Saviour God wants us to live.

 He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.” (1 Tim.2:1-7: ‘The Message’).

“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:
² I will go before you
    and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
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.

Apparently, as conqueror of Croesus and Babylon, Cyrus was to acquire incalculable wealth.

I often think about Hudson Taylor’s famous dictum: “Depend on it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

I discovered that he went on to say:

”He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.” Hudson Taylor.

Verse 3a points to God’s provision. I am not wanting to suggest that you can have all your selfish, materialistic desires satisfied. But, if God calls you to be somewhere, and to do a particular thing, He will provide for you to be able to do His will. Depend on it! God knows where all the hidden wealth is, and He can get it to you just when you need it. You may find yourself surprised – shocked even – at His bounty.

Chuck Smith said it well: ‘Where God guides, God provides.’

“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:…

This thought is picked up and echoed in Revelation 3:7:

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

Paul writes, in Colossians 4:2-4:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 

I regularly pray for Jilly and myself that in our lives, and in the places where God takes us:

• we may shine for Jesus, and because of Him;
• we may smell of Jesus – carrying the fragrance, the aroma of Christ;
• and that we will speak about Jesus, as He gives us opportunities. To this end I pray for ‘open doors’ – as Paul did in writing to the church at Colossae

“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:
² I will go before you
    and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
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.
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.
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,
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.
⁷ I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

It’s not about what your right hand can do, but who is holding it! (see verse 1).

”I will strengthen you…” (5b).

Cyrus, this great, mighty, fearsome ruler, is, to my mind, pictured almost like a child with a parent. The youngster, learning to ride a bike, is proud of his/her achievement, but they may not be aware of mum/dad just behind them, holding the bike steady.

Certain things are going to happen ”before” Cyrus (v.1b – note the repetition); but the repeated emphasis in the passage is on ”I, I…I will…I am…” (and I’ve tried to highlight this above). By far, the greater truth is on how God will use this man and work through him.

There are important lessons for us here too. Effective ministry is not so much me doing for God, as God doing through me. If that was true for a Cyrus who did not know God, it is certainly the case for we who do know Him.

 ”Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸ I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” (Rom.15:17-19). Here is Paul, fully involved in preaching the gospel, but recognising that the real ‘accomplishments’ of his ministry are the Lord’s.

We are nothing without the anointing!

who carries out the words of his servants
    and fulfils the predictions of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
    of the towns of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,”
    and of their ruins, “I will restore them,”
²⁷ who says to the watery deep, “Be dry,
    and I will dry up your streams,”
²⁸ 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.’”

The introduction of Cyrus at this point in the narrative is quite abrupt and shocking.

Why?

After all, we have been introduced to him before (41:2). So in one sense it isn’t a surprise. But, on the other hand, we have just heard the most scathing attack on idolatry, and now we discover that God is going to carry out His decree, through a pagan, idolatrous king. But the fact that God uses someone does not mean He agrees with every detail of their lifestyle. He is free to use those we don’t necessarily approve of, and we should not draw wrong conclusions from their being chosen as His instruments.

‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.
⁹ ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9.

Cyrus was going to conquer Babylon and allow the Jews to return to their land (44:28;45:1). He founded the Persian Empire, which defeated Babylon in 539 B.C (Dan.5:30). The next year he would issue his famous decree, allowing the Jews to return to their land and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1:1-6).

Many liberal scholars cannot accept that Isaiah, inspired by God, was actually able to name Cyrus 150 years before He existed. But then you have to ask, ‘What kind of God do they believe in?’ The God of the Bible is the eternal God, to whom all time is present and who knows all things. If we accept His reality why would we stumble over such prophetic utterances.

A few pages further on, we come to the magnificent 53rd chapter. It was written around 700 years before the time of Jesus, yet its depiction of His crucifixion is so graphic, Isaiah might well have been an eyewitness at the foot of the Cross.

Isn’t God’s Word simply marvellous?!!

‘This is what the Lord says –
    your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:

I am the Lord,
    the Maker of all things,
    who stretches out the heavens,
    who spreads out the earth by myself,
²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets
    and makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise
    and turns it into nonsense,
²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants
    and fulfils the predictions of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
    of the towns of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,”
    and of their ruins, “I will restore them,”
²⁷ who says to the watery deep, “Be dry,
    and I will dry up your streams,”
²⁸ 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.’”

There is a clear emphasis in these verses on God’s powerful Word.

Verse 26a is about GOD’S ACCURATE WORD. We are face to face with fulfilled prophecy again.

John Piper writes, in ‘A Peculiar Glory’: ‘His predictions are certain, not mainly because he foresees without error, but because he executes without fail’ p.233.

Biblical prophecy is accurate not only because God sees history in advance, but He oversees history. He is Sovereign over it. ‘History is His Story.’

Verses 26b-28b show us GOD’S CREATIVE WORD. My mind travels back to Genesis 1 where God said (decreed it) and it happened. ‘Just one WORD from the King changes everything!’

God spoke through His prophets concerning the repopulation of Jerusalem, and at the right time He brought it about. We might say He spoke it into existence (just as He did with the universe itself).

Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this;
    shout aloud, you earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
    you forests and all your trees,
for the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    he displays his glory in Israel.

Jesus taught:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16.

Peter writes:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9.

As with Israel in the Old Testament, so it is the call of the church in the New to shine. This we do by reflecting Jesus, who is ‘The light of the world.’ I think of our calling in terms of being ‘moons’. We have no light of our own, but we reflect the rays of the One who is ‘the Sun of Righteousness’ (Malachi 4:2). It is because we are in a definite relationship with Him that we are enabled to be ‘lesser lights’ (see Genesis 1:16). It is his glory on display in us. That’s why when people see our good deeds the result is that they glorify God. They are experiencing something God-given, and not man-made.

Thought: Am I a quarter-moon, half-moon, three-quarter moon, full moon – or just a sliver?!

Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this;
    shout aloud, you earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
    you forests and all your trees,
for the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    he displays his glory in Israel.

I have been enormously helped, at times, by the writings and teaching of Dr. R.T. Kendall. I think it would be fair to say that no book by him impacted me more than ‘Thanking God’.

Barry Webb points out that although, in this verse, creation is called upon to praise ‘…surely, of all created things, it is those made in God’s image who ought to praise him most, and, of them, the redeemed most of all. And those who do will find that the battle is won; it is impossible for idolatry to get a foothold in a joyful, praising heart.’ ‘Isaiah’, p.1821.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

”The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reasons for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long.” – Warren Wiersbe

”Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do.” – Tim Keller