ISAIAH - CHAPTER 45 - EVERLASTING SALVATION
ISAIAH – Chapter 45 – EVERLASTING SALVATION
October 14, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
The last verse of chapter 44 is the first time in which Cyrus is expressly named by Isaiah.
44:24-28: “Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and He that formed you from the womb, I am the Lord that makes all things, that stretches forth the heavens along, that spreads abroad the earth by Myself…that says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You will be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. (45:1-2): Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.”
Cyrus means “possess thou the furnace”. The Persians called the sun or rays of the sun, “cyrus”.
He began his reign about 559 B.C. This prophecy was delivered some 150 years before he ascended the throne. These verse vividly describe his victories as the renowned hero of Persia; his whirlwind career, subduing the nations before him, loosing the loins of kings and opening before him the hundred brazen gates of Babylon, cutting asunder the bars of iron.
“Lift up the everlasting gates,
The doors wide open fling
Enter, ye nations who obey
The statues of our King.”
Cyrus is a type and shadow of the Greater that was to come---the true anointed King, the great Shepherd of the nations---whose mission was “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
“Asunder burst the gates of brass,
The iron fetters fall;
And gladsome light and liberty,
Are straight secured to all.”
The gates of brass and iron will yield to His might, and the world’s treasure-cities, palaces, temples, shrines, pagodas, home and households; with all their priceless souls will be captured at His will and redeemed for His glory. It will be the blissful fulfillment of the words ---“All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindred of the nations shall worship you.” (Psa. 22:27)
45:3: “I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel.”
Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that Cyrus discovered Isaiah’s scroll and “when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was written.”
Cyrus’ proclamation was issued shortly after Daniel had read the handwriting on the wall, in which it was declared that Babylon would fall to Persia, and which came to pass that same night! Perhaps Daniel showed to Cyrus the prophecies which were thus fulfilled.
In reality and historically Cyrus was a heathen king.
There are three reasons why God chose and favored this heathen king: (1) That he might acknowledge the true God; (2) to perform God’s pleasure toward Judah; (3) That the nations might know that He is God.
45: 4-6: “For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there Is none else. There is no God beside Me. I girded 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 the Lord, and there is none else.”
Isaiah predicted the simultaneous rebuilding of Jerusalem and downfall of Babylon.
44: 26-27 “I am the Lord…that confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; that says to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof. That says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers.”
Jerusalem would be inhabited and built. The decayed places (desolation, drought, destruction, and waste) would be raised up. But to the deep (depths of the sea, abyss – the Euphrates, upon which Babylon was built) He said, “Be dry (lose moisture, wither in vigor or strength—the loss of the anointing, the river of life). I will dry up your rivers.
Then Isaiah describes Cyrus (44:28-45:13) “He shall build My city and shall let go My Captives”
Cyrus is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ:
- “He is my shepherd” – Jn. 10.
- “And shall perform all My pleasure” – Jn. 8:29.
- “His anointed” – Acts 10:38.
- “Whose right hand I have holden” – Heb. 10: 12-13
- “Subdue nations before Him” – Ps. 2; Phil 3:21.
- “Loose the loins of kings” – 1 Jn. 3:8
- “Open before him the two leaved gates” (of Babylon) -Rev. 3: 7-8.
- “Make the crooked places straight.” (Heb. 1:9).
- “I will go before you.” (Mk. 16: 15-20)
- “Break in pieces the gates of brass – Jn. 5:22
- “Cut in sunder the bars of iron” Heb. 2: 14-18
- “Give thee the treasures of darkness.” Matt. 27:45
- The Hidden riches of Secret places (Mk. 1:35; Col. 2:3)
- “Called thee by name.” (Matt. 1:21)
- “I have surnamed thee. (Acts 2:36).
- “I girded thee.” (Neh. 8:10; Heb. 12: 1-2).
- “I will direct all his ways.” (Prov. 3: 5-6; Rom 8:14).
45:7: “I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.”
There was belief by Zoroaster and the Persian Magi that there were two supreme, co-ordinate, co-eternal, yet antagonistic principles which ruled the world. The one, the author of all good; the other, the author of all evil. The first was the representative of light, and the other of darkness.
I, says Jehovah, am the author of both. This conflict and duality is reconciled in the cross of my Son. “I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I the Lord (Jehovah) do all these things”.
45:8: “Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created it.”
“Drop down”, says he, “ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; and then, earth is represented as opening her locked bosom to the receive the fruit bearing shower of a harvest of righteousness and salvation.
It is a sure salvation. It is a free salvation.
45: 9-13: “Woe to him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, what make you? Or your work, He has no hands? Woe to him that says to his father, What fathered you? Or to the woman, whom have you brought forth? Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker. Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command you Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price, nor reward, says the Lord of hosts.”
God warns Israel not to call in question His mode of action and choice of instrument by using a heathen king as their deliverer. Also, this would refer to the virgin birth of His Son. Since He is God, He can do as He pleases.
The Lord’s chosen shall let go the captives, neither for price nor reward”.
“How unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven’s easy, artless, unencumbered plan!”
45:14: “Thus says the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature; shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; they shall come after you; in chains. They shall come over, and they shall fall down to you, they shall make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no God.’”
That Jubilee trumpet sends its notes echoing around the world ’’Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth”. Men of all kingdoms (and the noblest specimens of human kind,) are described as coming to worship the Messiah. The diverse people of the earth are coming in the chains of loyal love and devoted obedience to worship the Prince of Peace. Sure this is a prophetic picture of “the fullness of the Gentiles.” It is the gospel’s silent principle of power, “the power of God unto salvation” dominating over all the other powers which had for ages ruled the world. “In chains they shall come over, and fall down before thee.”
I believe we can call this the glory train ---“the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents.” “I have sworn by myself”, says the divine Speaker; in words already commented upon, “to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess.”
45: 15-17: “Verily you are a God that hides Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded all of them; they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.”
EVERLASTING SALVATION – “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation” (or, with the salvation of ages, or eternities; and again, “you shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end).
“These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” An eternal salvation, a salvation for everlasting ages! Who can take in the magnificent reality from our little watchtower of earth of this measureless sea of bliss? After millenniums have passed, these will be just the beginning of an endless existence which commensurates with the lifetime of the Eternal God!
The charge bestowed at the foot the cross confers not a lease, but an everlasting freehold. “the righteous” are to be “righteous still;” “the holy” are to be “holy still.” There are no descending, no lengthening shadows on heaven’s dial. The sun shall no more go down. The apostle calls this “so great a salvation”. Its priceless blessings are “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The prophet is speaking this not only to the Hebrew captives in Babylon who are to take down their silent harps, but sends the notes of the heavens dropping down righteousness to all the ends of the earth.
45: 18-19: “For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it. He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I said not to the seed of Jacob, You seek me in vain. I the Lord speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.”
Again it is a righteous salvation. “I the Lord speak righteousness”. It is a salvation which has been secured in accordance with everlasting truth and everlasting morality. It is Jesus lifted up on the cross with His loving hands extended to embrace the world.
Let us never misinterpret the relation between justice and mercy. These two divine attributes do not represent two conflicting principles. They are in perfect harmony. Love can hold out her blissful scepter only when standing by the throne of justice. . Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other
45: 20-22: “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are escaped of the nations; they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god that cannot save. Tell you, and bring them near; yea let them take counsel together; who has declared from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no god else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me. Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.”
LOOK TO ME – look and live. It is a simple salvation, a free salvation, a righteous salvation and a sure salvation. Now it is stated it is the only salvation.
45: 23-24: “I have sworn by Myself. The word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength; even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed.”
“Only to Jehovah belongs salvation and power.” “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). Reject this method of redemption, and there is no other “sacrifice for sin.” Cut off this bridge of safety, and the gulf cannot be spanned. How many go about seeking to establish their own righteousness, and refuse to submit themselves to the righteousness of God which He has declared that He will freely rain down from the heavens.
There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
“All for sin cannot atone,
Thou must save, and Thou alone.”
45:25: “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”
Look unto Me! --
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
Trembling with guilt, oppressed with fear,
Unfailing refuge I have here.
The present, peace; the past forgiven;
The future ---vista views of heaven.
All that I need in thee I find.
Thou Great Redeemer of mankind!!!
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. I entered into the labor of Principles of Present Truth by: Kelly Varner and Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye by John Ross MacDuff.