Isaiah the Prophet has already forecast the coming Babylonian Captivity. Way back during the reign of King Hezekiah … Isaiah 39:5-7. (I hope you remember! We studied this last week.) “Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to BABYLON: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of BABYLON.” This was spoken over a hundred years before the events transpired!
Now in today’s Text (Isaiah 41:1-7) God foretells the coming of a King who will overthrow Babylon! So we are now pushing two hundred years … history being foretold that far in advance! This King’s name is Cyrus, who is not specifically mentioned until later in Isaiah.
In verse 1 God “challenges” the nations/islands of the earth. The words are framed in legal terms, like a “lawsuit!” GOD IS IN CONTROL OF HIS WHOLE WORLD, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND POLITICALLY! “Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.”
God Almighty next “calls” Cyrus (a heathen king, mind you) to his task. Places him in position to eventually topple Babylon! “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely.” Isaiah 41:2-3, “righteous” in the sense of being used by God. A “war machine” indeed.
Then comes verse 4, one of several in Isaiah where God calls Himself by a specific Term/Title. “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.” Wow!
Did you “get” that?
God is “I AM!”
God is “the FIRST and the LAST!”
He is, indeed!
This coming King ((Cyrus) is so powerful the earth panics! “The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.” Verse 5 of our Text!
So what do they do, in self-defense?
They foolishly build more idols! To protect them from any Persian (King Cyrus’ Land) aggression!
“They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.” Isaiah 41:6-7
Literally, they are constructing their own gods and goddesses! Carpenters and goldsmiths! Hammering and sodering!
The “import” of today’s Lesson is (once again) the unparalleled, unexceeded Power of our great God!
This is Psalm 75:6-7 in action … “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But GOD is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
And why the Persians? Why Cyrus? Why this specific time?
They toppled Babylon so that the Jews could go “home” (from captivity there) 70 years after they were enslaved and deported!
God’s “Machine” always operates right on time.
Oh yes, He is sovereign! He is King! He is Lord!
And (by the way) He is STILL in control today!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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