Cyrus Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45:1 "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, 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;"

Cyrus was the founder of the last great Persian empire. Daniel found favor in his eyes. (Daniel 6:28)

After he conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem (Judah) and establish again a nation. It is foretold here in Isaiah.

v2 "I 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;"

We saw it when the Lord fought for Israel as they came into Canaan. Now, he is doing the same thing with Cyrus to bring them back home again after their captivity.

v3 "And 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."

Besides opening the way for Cyrus, the Lord also finances the war with treasures yet unseen.

Again, Isaiah tells of the folly of the worship of idols in this chapter. He discusses the utter, may I say silliness of making something then bowing down to worship it.

In the case of the only true God, he was not made but instead made all that we see and all the other things we wonder about that we cannot yet see.

v12 "I 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."

In the comparison between God and the graven images, there is no contest. (Only love for his people could explain why he bothered to explain.)

v18 "For 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."

The amazing part of these words in Isaiah is that the LORD told what was going to happen in the order that it happened. He did it before hand so that Israel would know he was God.

v22 "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else."

We still live in a world where many seek everything but God to worship. Perhaps it is rebellion against someone who has ultimate authority and the power to enforce it. It is much easier to worship something that can be covered or turned off than to worship someone who is in power over us. It will happen willingly or by force. Someday, the world will recognize that the LORD is in charge and rightfully so.