Chapter 45 Yahweh Will Raise Cyrus To Do His Will, To Restore Jerusalem and Enable All Exiles To Return From Wherever They May Be.
The point of raising the name of Cyrus before the attention of his readers is that the house of Cyrus is to inaugurate the new beginning. That is why God had ‘anointed' him (set him apart for a sacred task). As far as God is concerned that will be his main purpose. Cyrus is then outlined as carrying out God's further purposes in the world, by conquering nations and subduing them so that he may experience Yahweh's power and be aware of the supernatural power behind his success (He will know that God is Yahweh). He is to be rewarded with the treasures of the nations.
We know indeed from history that Cyrus was making a world more amenable to responding to the truth. He gave no particular god special prominence, but favoured all. He wanted them all on his side. He brought them all to the same level and would, as a result, encourage exiles to return to their own land to worship their own gods. This would then enable all exiles from Israel who wished to, to do so (Isaiah 45:13; compare Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 43:5-6).
But it should be noted that there is nowhere any specific mention of Babylon, or of a Babylonian captivity, in the passage. Rather the individual emphasis, if there is one, is on African countries, Egypt, Cush and Seba (see Isaiah 43:3), the countries who had been God's ransom for Israel, but would now (at some stage unknown) be given to Israel. Those who had been made to serve God's purpose under Assyrian belligerence, would now be rewarded by being brought to Yahweh. (It is noteworthy that Egypt, Assyria, Tyre and Cush have all been seen as candidates for God's future blessing, but that there is no such suggestion for Babylon - Isaiah 18:7; Isaiah 19:23-25; Isaiah 23:18).
The importance of Cyrus II for Israel cannot be overstated. Not only was he to make possible a new era in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple, but he would also lay the foundation for the acceptance of God's true message by men. For instead of forcing his own gods on people he encouraged them to worship their own gods, and revealed a tolerance in religion that changed the way that things were seen. Indeed he himself was willing to worship any god who was prominent in any of the conquered nations, and give it credit. While not the ideal, and certainly not satisfactory for God's people, this could only give a better opportunity for truth to finally prevail as men's minds became more open to considering other religions than their own.
Note that the chapter is united around the phrase ‘I am Yahweh and there is no other' or equivalent phrases (Isaiah 45:5-6; Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 45:18; Isaiah 45:21-22). This is of course the very opposite of Cyrus' view. And yet paradoxically he did much to finally establish the fact of Yahweh's uniqueness without realising it.