Isaiah · chapter 45 of 66
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Isaiah 45 announces that the Lord calls Cyrus, king of Persia, by name as his anointed, opening doors before him so that Israel's exiles may go free. The chapter insists that the Lord is the Creator of all and that there is no other God, invites the ends of the earth to turn to him and be saved, and declares that every knee will bow to him.
Isaiah 45 belongs to the second part of the book (chapters 40-55), which comforts a people who will live in exile in Babylon. After chapter 44 announced that Cyrus would carry out the Lord's purpose, this chapter develops that promise into a statement about who rules history: the God of Israel, not the idols or the empires.
The chapter opens with a word addressed to Cyrus, whom the Lord calls his anointed. God promises to take him by the hand, subdue nations before him, open gates and give him hidden treasures. He does this so that Cyrus will know the Lord is the one who calls him by name, and above all for the sake of Jacob his servant and Israel his chosen one. Cyrus does not yet know the Lord, but God will use him. In verse 7 the Lord presents himself as the one who forms light and creates darkness, who makes well-being and creates calamity: nothing lies outside his sovereignty. In verse 8 he asks the heavens to rain down righteousness and the earth to bring forth salvation.
Verses 9 through 13 rebuke anyone who quarrels with his Maker, as if clay told the potter he did not know what he was doing. God says that he made the earth and raised up Cyrus in righteousness, and that Cyrus will rebuild the city and let the exiles go without payment or bribe. Verses 14 through 17 show nations acknowledging that God is with Israel and that there is no other god. The Lord is called a God who hides himself, yet also Israel's Savior, who gives an everlasting salvation. Makers of idols will be put to shame.
Verses 18 through 25 are a universal invitation. The Lord, Creator of the heavens, did not make the earth to be empty but to be inhabited, and he did not speak in secret. He summons the survivors of the nations, who carry wooden idols, to recognize that he alone declares what is to come. He offers them: turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. He swears that every knee will bow and every tongue swear loyalty, and that in the Lord are righteousness and strength.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord calls Cyrus his anointed, a foreign king who does not yet know him, and promises to take him by the hand and open doors before him. It is striking that God uses a pagan ruler to accomplish his purpose for Israel.
The Lord declares himself the one who forms light and creates darkness, who brings well-being and calamity. Against the idea of rival gods in conflict, the text affirms that he alone rules over everything and that nothing happens outside his sovereignty.
The Lord invites all the ends of the earth to turn to him and be saved, because there is no other God. The invitation is not limited to Israel: it reaches every person and every nation.
The Lord swears that every knee will bow before him and every tongue pledge allegiance. The apostle Paul takes these words in Philippians 2:10-11 to speak of the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He calls him his anointed, and promises to take him by the hand and open doors before him. — Isaiah 45:1
Answer: For the sake of Jacob his servant and Israel his chosen one. — Isaiah 45:4
Answer: That he forms the light and creates the darkness, and that he makes well-being and creates calamity. — Isaiah 45:7
Answer: Clay telling the potter that he does not know what he is doing. — Isaiah 45:9
Answer: He will rebuild the city and let the exiles go without payment or bribe. — Isaiah 45:13
Answer: All the ends of the earth. — Isaiah 45:22
Isaiah 45 reminds believers that God does not depend on leaders who acknowledge him to carry out his purpose. Cyrus did not know the Lord, and yet he was his instrument. In a Sunday school class you can talk about how to pray for those in authority and trust that God works in history even when a government seems far from him.
The chapter also confronts the temptation to argue with God when his ways make no sense to us. The picture of the clay and the potter does not silence honest questions, but it calls for humility. And the invitation of verse 22 is a task for the church: if God invites all the ends of the earth, a small group can ask who is near us that has not yet heard that invitation.
Isaiah 45 shows the Lord as the only God, sovereign over kings and creator of all, who invites every nation to salvation. Chapter 46 continues the contrast: the idols of Babylon will have to be carried, while the Lord carries his people.
In the Old Testament, anointed describes someone set apart by God for a task, such as a king or a priest. Here Cyrus receives the title for the mission of freeing Israel, not because he is a believer: the text says he does not know the Lord. Isaiah names Cyrus long before his reign, which many readers see as a sign of God's knowledge of history.
The Hebrew word translated calamity or disaster refers to the crises God permits or sends as judgment, not to moral sin. The verse contrasts well-being and disaster, light and darkness, to affirm that the Lord governs everything and there is no rival power. It does not say that God is the author of sin.
The apostle Paul takes the words that every knee will bow and every tongue confess in Philippians 2:10-11 and applies them to the exalted Jesus Christ. In this way the New Testament presents Jesus as the Lord before whom Isaiah says all creation will pay homage.