Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the LORD, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
The above passage is a great summary of the entire book of Isaiah. God has chosen Judah, from the ends of the earth:
Isaiah 41:9 (ESV)
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
Isaiah’s prophecy is a such a wide ranging voice from God. Some prophecies are nothing but doom and gloom (see Nahum). Some are about the prophet and/or the prophets conversation with God (see Jonah and Habakkuk). Some about the present and far distant future (see Daniel). But Isaiah is about both the discipline of Israel and/or Judah and the blessings of Israel and/or Judah. It is also about how God will use other nations to accomplish either the discipline or the blessing. Such is the above passage. The “Cyrus” mentioned, above, is mentioned as the “shepherd” who will fulfill God’s plan. Cyrus is a future king of the Medes and Persians. Isaiah is prophesying that this king will be a tool for God. This is how the book of Isaiah informs us about how God is going to do something for His people by using those who are not His people. Gos is in charge of the nations. In chapter 45, we will read next week, we read that Cyrus is call God’s anointed. The entire book of Isaiah is a story of God providential rule over the affairs of mankind. We can sit and worry, today, about this ruler and the next. We can fret about who will lead one country or another. But the book of Isaiah teaches us that God has this in complete control. He did during the time of Isaiah and He does now.
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