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There is a challenge in the passage of Isaiah chapter 45 that records
the raising up of Cyrus, which forms the basis of the present section.
Addressing Cyrus, the Lord said:
`I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me: I
girded thee, though thou hast 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. I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these
things' (Isa. 45:5-7).
The Lord, however, is not only Sovereign in His mighty dealing with
such as Cyrus, He is not only Sovereign in the disposal of peace and
calamity. He is Sovereign also in the realm of Salvation, and consequently
we find the echo of the words `none else', `I create', `I form' in the
section before us, and not only so, but here the great theme is the glorious
plan of salvation, intimately linked, as it is in the whole Bible, with the
doctrine of purposeful creation. The subject matter of this passage falls
into two main groups `Creation' (Isa. 45:18) and `Salvation' (Isa. 45:20 -
22); in both of these it is stated of the Lord, that He is God and none else.
The passage opens and closes with the `shame' that must overtake all
who make idols or are incensed against the Lord, and with the contrast
between Israel and these idolaters. Israel find `in the Lord' everlasting
salvation, righteousness and strength, justification and glory (Isa.
45:16,17,24,25). The whole is rounded off by two declarations spoken `in
righteousness', `not in vain', and which `shall not return'. The structure
therefore is as follows:
Isaiah 45:16-25
A
16,17.
a
Makers of idols -- ashamed and confounded.
b
Israel saved `in the Lord'.
B
18.
Creation
c
The Lord created the heavens.
d God Himself formed the earth.
None Else
e He established it.
e He created it not in vain.
d He formed it to be inhabited.
c
The Lord
None else.
C
19.
Speaking righteousness `not in vain'.
B
20 -22. Salvation
eg
Escaped of the nations.
h A god that cannot save.
None Else
f
i
Ancient declaration.
j
No God beside Me.
i
Just God and Saviour.
j
None beside Me.
e g Ends of the earth.
h God
None else
Saves.
C
23.
The Word in righteousness `shall not return'.
A
24,25.
a
All that are incensed
Ashamed.
b
Israel justified `In the Lord'.
Were the human mind entirely logical it would be impossible to believe
that an `evolutionist' could at the same time be a `believer' in our Lord
Jesus Christ, but it is perhaps a blessing, the nature of things being