God Alone (Isa 45:8-25)

We all live and build our lives on certain foundational truths. Jesus Himself picked up on this at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7:24-27). Only time will tell what kind of foundations we build our lives on. This passage in Isaiah forces us to think about who or what we build our lives on.

(A) God sovereignly redeems Israel through Cyrus (Isa 45:8-13)

In Isaiah 45:9-10, we how God is being questioned here, and the context helps us to understand why this is so. In Isaiah 45:1, we read of how God has anointed Cyrus and will use him to achieve his plans. Now, Israel has had a bad experience with foreign kings. Their reigns are often invasive, and comes with great war. Yet God is saying that He will use another foreign king to achieve His purposes. 

Thus in Isaiah 45:9-10, the people were specifically questioning his authority, and criticised the quality of His work (“your work has no handles”). They also question him as one questions a ignorant father or mother.

In response, God makes a declaration in Isaiah 45:8, and fulfils it in Isaiah 45:11-13 to address this tension. In Isaiah 45:8, God is promising salvation and righteousness, though their circumstances might not seem this way. God declares that He will do it, for He is “the LORD of hosts” (Isa 45:13). Thus, Nebuchadnezzar is nothing compared to God. God can easily remove him by using Cyrus. In God’s eyes, He can easily stir Cyrus up in righteousness and make his ways level (Isa 45:13a). What Cyrus will do is right by God’s standard. Cyrus will do God’s work by building His city and set the exiles free not for price or reward (Isa 45:13b). Ezra 1:7-10 shows us how this was fulfilled as every gold and valuable item was brought back to Jerusalem. Cyrus does not profit from this act, and in fact, some may see it as a loss. 

These verses show us how God uses unlikely situations to achieve His plans. Do we feel like God has abandoned us? These verses challenge us to consider and see how God could also be working for our good in the midst of difficult situations and circumstances. 

(B) God’s Trustworthiness destroys Idolatry (Isa 45:14-21)

Various speakers speak of God and idols in different ways in Isaiah 45:14-21. Firstly, we see how the foreign nations acknowledge that there is no other God and He is indeed with His people (Isa 45:14).

Secondly, the writer of Isaiah acknowledges that God “hides himself”, and is a God who works differently from us (Isa 45:15). At the same time, He does not confound or put those who trust Him to shame (Isa 45:17). In contrast, those who put their faith and trust in idols are put to shame and confounded and seem to go in confusion (Isa 45:16). Whatever they put their trust in is futile.

Lastly, God reveals Himself. From Isaiah 45:19, we see that He does not speak in secret, and neither does He call the offspring of Jacob to seek Him in vain. He answers His people when they seek Him! He speaks what is true and declares what is right. God is righteous and He saves (Isa 45:21). In contrast, idols overpromise, but underdeliver (Isa 45:20)

Everything He is saying is not new. God is clear on what He has said. What He says He will do, He does. Thus, the people don’t need to question what He is doing, or whether He will do it. We see how Ezra 1 fulfils some of the prophecy here. This is also a God who is also knowable and not confusing. What He says is understandable. 

How, then, do we approach God’s word? What would it look like if we took God seriously, through HIs word? How does that change our work — when God says we are to work heartily for God, not for men? Or for our money — to give cheerfully? Or of our time — when Ephesians 5:15-16 tell us to make the most of our time? There’s a lot of God’s word to take seriously. How will our life be different? 

(C) God’s Salvation extends to the whole world (Isa 45:22-25)

At the end of Isaiah 45, God also addresses the ends of the earth — to all peoples (Isa 45:22). He tells them to turn and be saved (Isa 45:22a). This is a call to them to turn from their idolatry. 

Isaiah 45:23b is later quoted by Paul in Philippians 2:9-11. Paul uses this to describe Jesus, who was exalted after humbly obeying God the Father, even to death on the cross. Thus, we are meant to see that this prophecy in Isaiah 45:23 is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Peter, in Acts 4:12, picks up on this, and tells the Jews that there is no other name through which they can be saved. 

This is a gospel call. God calls the nations here in Isaiah 45, and this is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in whom all the nations are saved. Today, if you are a Christian, recognise that you too, are a recipient of this salvation to the nations, revealed and planned by the God who is knowable.

What does this salvation mean for every individual who receives it too? Isaiah 45:24-25 teaches us that salvation means that only in the LORD do we find our righteousness and strength. What do we find our justification and glory in? What are our idols? Today, let us turn away from our idols and to turn back to Him. 

What grounds us? Isaiah 45 remind us that it is God alone. There is no other God like Him. HIs word is true, reliable and clear, that we may place our faith and trust in Him. This God is not confined in history. He is still true and living today, and the same call of salvation is for us and available to us today. 

What would it mean for you to take God at his word today? What idols is He calling you to turn away from, and to find your confidence in Him and Him alone?