Cyrus Has Been Called In Order To Assist God's Servant, His Chosen One (Isaiah 45:1-8).
‘Thus says Yahweh to his anointed,
To Cyrus whose right hand I have held,
To subdue nations before him,
And I will ungird the loins of kings,
To open the doors before him,
And the gates will not be shut.'
God speaks of Cyrus as ‘His anointed'. That was a description usually reserved from a royal point of view for the Davidic house, but the idea of ‘anointing' is regularly used for setting apart to service and this is therefore little different from Assyria being set apart as His rod (in Isaiah 10:5), (or Nebuchadnezzar as His servant in Jeremiah 27:6). It is simply stressing that his activity results from God having set him apart for this service. Compare how He could set aside and ‘anoint' Hazael, king of Syria, in a similar way (1 Kings 19:15-17). It was not an indication of Cyrus' submission, but of Yahweh's sovereignty.
One point of this stress on Cyrus as His ‘anointed' is that the one who should have been His ‘anointed', the scion of the house of David, had failed Him. Indeed we might see that as explaining why he is called the Anointed One. The insider had failed, and so God had to look to an outsider. Thus until the coming of Immanuel He had to look to other Israel for His instrument. It was an indication that Immanuel was yet to come.
‘Whose right hand I have held.' The picture is not of a little child being led, but of a strong hand giving help and assistance in a difficult task. He is strengthening Cyrus' strong right hand.
Cyrus' rapid conquests are now depicted as being due to Yahweh. God subdues nations before him, and makes kings surrender as they put off their armour. He opens up every door, including those of king's palaces, a sign of his being welcomed, and ensures that no gates are closed before him. When the gates banged shut it was a sign of the arrival of a hard siege, but Cyrus was to be spared that.
“I will go before you,
And make the rugged places (that which is upraised) plain,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze,
And cut in two the bars of iron.
And I will give you the treasures of darkness,
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that it is I, Yahweh,
Who call you by name, even the God of Israel.”
It is Yahweh Who gives Cyrus his wonderful victories. It is He Who goes before him, and makes the hard going easier, who breaks down the strong doors that guard the way, and destroys the locks and bolts that prevent access. He gives him the treasures hidden away in dark places, in inaccessible places, in hidden places, in underground vaults, in caves, and wherever men keep their treasures. And He does this so that Cyrus is made aware of the fact that Yahweh, Who has called him by name to do this work, is in action. ‘Making the rugged places plain' can be compared with Isaiah 40:4. He is Yahweh's ambassador.
This does not signify an expectancy that Cyrus will be ‘converted'. ‘Knowing that God is Yahweh' often signifies an awareness that a divine power which is not understood is at work (Exodus 14:4), while being ‘called by name' signifies rather the authority of the caller over the person of the one who is called by name (compare Isaiah 40:26; Esther 2:14).
‘That you may know that it is I, Yahweh, Who call you by name.' For this phrase compare Exodus 14:4. There the Egyptians were to ‘know that He was Yahweh' when they were destroyed at the Reed Sea, but there was certainly no thought of conversion there. It was simply that what they experienced would make them realise that they were up against something bigger than they had expected or could cope with, something which they did not understand, something greater than they had anticipated. See also the use in 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Kings 19:19; Ezekiel 21:5. In the same way will Cyrus ‘know that it is Yahweh' because he will experience powerful victories such as he had never dreamed of, and be aware of a supernatural power at work even though he does not know its source. He may give credit to Marduk, or Sin, and to Yahweh as well when addressing Israel (Ezra 1:2) but he has been made aware of a power greater than himself. Without knowing it he has been made aware of Yahweh. Of course had he responded it might well have resulted in his conversion. But that is not the point at issue.
Behind this thought is that because he is aware that behind his success is the power of more than just his own favourite gods he will support the worship of Yahweh, which in fact he did, although not exclusively.
The treasures he will obtain are clearly his reward for doing Yahweh's will in restoring Jerusalem and the Temple and subduing the nations. We can contrast here how Abraham refused to accept a reward for what he did (Genesis 14:22-23). But Abraham was Yahweh's servant, not His external appointee. God is debtor to no man.
“For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen,
I have called you by your name, I have surnamed you although you have not known me.
I am Yahweh and there is none else, beside me there is no God.
I will gird you though you have not known me,
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
That there is none beside me. I am Yahweh and there is none else.”
It is now made clear that Cyrus was not called for his own sake. He was called for the sake of Jacob, Yahweh's servant, and Israel, Yahweh's chosen. He was thus raised up to further the work of the chosen Servant of God. The reason for his anointing was not because he himself was ‘a chosen one', but because God was setting him apart to act on behalf of those who were God's chosen one.
‘I have called you by your name, I have surnamed you although you have not known me.' Yahweh has called him by name so as to exercise His authority over him, and has surnamed him to show that he must do the will of Yahweh, even though he does not know Him. To surname means to give a name or title. It may refer directly to the fact the He has called him ‘My shepherd' and ‘My anointed'.
And that will of Yahweh is that, girded by God, provided for and strengthened and borne along, he might assist Yahweh's chosen Servant, with the result that through their witness all nations, from east to west, might be made aware of Yahweh and Who and What He is, and that they might know that there is no other God apart from Yahweh, that He alone is God. For this was the Servant's mission.
Note the sequence of the phrases. The third and sixth line, completing each set of three, emphasise that ‘I am Yahweh and there is none else', in other words that there is no other God apart from Yahweh. Between the first two lines and the fourth and fifth line there is progression. In the first two it is stressed that he has been called for Jacob/Israel's sake, because they are Yahweh's servant and chosen one, in the fourth and fifth it is stressed that God has girded him so that he can be an unwitting witness to the nations, not by his own witness, but by preserving those who are Yahweh's witnesses. In both cases the aim is to bring out that Yahweh is the only God, and there is no other beside Him. In line three ‘I am Yahweh and there is none else' leads the way, in line six it completes the description. ‘Beside me there is no God', and its equivalent, complete line three and introduce line six. There is a beauty of pattern and symmetry as so often in Isaiah.
“I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create disaster (evil),
I am Yahweh who does all these things.”
Yahweh is not only the only God, He also controls all things. Forming the light and creating darkness is a reminder of Genesis 1:2-5. He is the Creator of all that is, of the very basis of creation, and He continues to sustain that light and also to produce darkness. Without light and darkness life could not go on. He continues to maintain the world as a place full of contrasts, from one extreme to another, both good and ill, and He especially continues with His work of forming light and creating darkness in a spiritual sense, so that some respond to His light, and others turn away to darkness.
‘I make peace and create disaster.' As with the previous phrase the contrast must be seen as that of opposites. He makes peace and creates unpeace. Harmony and wellbeing is what God desires for the world, and He seeks to ensure its continuance; disaster (compare Job 2:10) destroys that harmony, and yet He has created that too. For the one makes men seek God because of contentment and prosperity, the other through trial and suffering. And God takes responsibility for all because as the Creator He is finally responsible for all. He is the One Who does all these things.
For different uses of the root for ‘evil' compare for example Genesis 19:19, ‘some disaster'; Genesis 28:8, ‘were unsatisfactory, did not please'; Genesis 31:52, ‘do harm'; Genesis 37:20, description of a savage beast; Genesis 40:7, of looking ‘sad'; Genesis 41:3, of being ‘ill-favoured': Genesis 44:29 ‘sorrow' that results from the evil of misfortune; Genesis 44:34; Genesis 47:9; Genesis 48:16, ‘evil, misfortune'; and so on. It does not necessarily refer to moral evil, although it can do so.
The nations interpreted such things as these as resulting from warring and disputes among the gods. Yahweh excludes the gods and takes full responsibility for it all. No one is involved but Him (compare Isaiah 44:24).
“Drop down you heavens from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness,
Let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation,
And let her cause righteousness to spring up together,
I, Yahweh, have created it.”
We now have an illustration of how God forms the light and ‘makes peace'. He calls on the heavens to pour down righteousness, and the earth to open and result in deliverance. The first thought here is of a fruitful heaven and earth. The rains pour down at God's command, the reward of righteousness, the earth opens up, to produce abundant fruitfulness, bringing deliverance to man, and vindication to His people (compare Isaiah 32:15).
But in the light of Isaiah 44:3-5 it goes beyond that. It speaks of God's transforming power in producing life and salvation in men's hearts, of the pouring out of His Spirit, of the establishing of righteousness and the vindication of His people by they themselves being made righteousness. There can never be vindication without resulting righteousness. Those who are ‘saved' are reborn from above (compare Isaiah 55:10-11 where the word which signifies ‘bring to birth' is actually used). Here in full glory is His purpose for His Servant.
‘That they may bring forth salvation.' ‘They' being the heavens, the skies and the earth. ‘Her' then reverts to the earth. They bring forth the fruit of righteousness. and deliverance for man. It is total deliverance for His own.
‘I Yahweh have created it.' Yahweh has brought it about from nothing. It is all His doing quite apart from the working of the world and natural events. In His sovereignty He personally intervenes to produce a situation that would not otherwise have happened. Cyrus can have his part in encouraging the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple, but only God can perform the miracle that rebuilds the hearts of men.