Major Prophets · Chapter 45 of 66

Isaiah 45

God addresses Cyrus, His anointed instrument, promising to subdue nations and open gates before him so the world may know the LORD is God. God alone forms light and darkness, making peace and calamity. He rebukes those who quarrel with their Maker, affirms He created the earth to be inhabited, and calls all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved, for to Him every knee shall bow.

What happens in Isaiah 45

God speaks to Cyrus, calling him his anointed, whose right hand He holds to subdue nations, open gates, and give hidden treasures, so Cyrus and the world will know the LORD, the God of Israel, who names him though Cyrus does not know God. God declares Himself the only God, who forms light and darkness and makes peace and calamity, and calls the heavens to rain down righteousness. Then He rebukes any who strive with their Maker, like clay arguing with the potter.

Affirming He created the earth to be inhabited, not in vain, God insists He is the only Savior and did not speak in secret. He summons the survivors of the nations to abandon powerless idols and turn to Him: look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. He swears by Himself that to Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, and in the LORD all Israel's seed will be justified.

Isaiah 45 in context

This chapter contains one of Scripture's boldest claims: God names Cyrus, a pagan Persian king, as His anointed, the very word for messiah, chosen to free the exiles and rebuild Jerusalem, though Cyrus does not know Him. To exiles doubting God's control, this asserts His sovereignty over world empires and history.

The chapter also universalizes salvation, calling all the ends of the earth to turn to the one God, and looks toward a day when every knee bows to Him.

Main themes of Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45 (KJV)

1Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 8Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. 9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? 11Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. 14Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. 15Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 16They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. 17But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 18For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. 19I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Verses to carry from Isaiah 45

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:”Isaiah 45:5

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”Isaiah 45:22

“I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”Isaiah 45:23

Reflection

God rules even the rulers who do not know Him, weaving pagan Cyrus into His plan of rescue. If He governs empires, I can trust Him with the powers and circumstances I cannot control. And His call reaches me personally: look unto me, and be saved. Salvation is not achieved but received by turning my eyes to Him.

A prayer from Isaiah 45