Tue, 13 June, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Isaiah 45:1-7

¹ Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
² “I will go before you
and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶ that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Isaiah, writing more than a century before Cyrus came to power, tells that God has chosen Cyrus as His instrument. Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, is a man who does not know or follow God. Yet he is God’s anointed servant to serve God’s purpose in the life of Israel.

What do we learn from this?

Once again we see that God works all things according to His plans. He even uses pagan kings to accomplish His purposes. His plans are so set that more than a hundred years before, He can even name the person who will execute them.

Nothing hinders God from doing what He wants to do. He can arrange it so that even those who do not acknowledge His rule will freely choose to do exactly what He would have them do. God is in control of all, from the rising and falling of nations, to the rising and falling of the smallest bird, all is under God’s control.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Notice that God calls Cyrus His anointed. Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia is God’s anointed. Cyrus will accomplish God’s purpose by rescuing His people from captivity and returning them to the land of Israel.

In rescuing the Israelites, Cyrus is a picture of the greater Anointed One who was to come to rescue all of God’s people from the captivity of sin. Jesus Christ is The Anointed one (Hebrew: Messiah, Greek: Christ) who was appointed by God the Father to save His people from their sins.