Isaiah 45, Cyrus

At the end of the previous chapter, Cyrus was revealed as the king who would come to judge Israel and the other nations. 

In the writings of Josephus (first century AD),  Antiquities XI, Book 5, Josephus claims that Cyrus read the prophecies of Isaiah.

Isaiah 45:1-3, I summon you!

“This is what the LORD says to his anointed,

    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of

to subdue nations before him

    and to strip kings of their armor,

to open doors before him

    so that gates will not be shut:

I will go before you

    and will level the mountains;

I will break down gates of bronze

    and cut through bars of iron.

I will give you hidden treasures,

    riches stored in secret places,

so that you may know that I am the LORD,

    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

It is God, YHWH, who summons Cyrus to power, to serve as a judgment of the nations. The summoning of Cyrus is a supernatural act, God acting on a mortal human, for God's purpose. This is not due to some righteousness in the actions of Cyrus. Indeed, as Grogan points out, in the Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus attributes his victories to the god Marduk. (In Ezra 1, Cyrus attributes his decision to the God of Israel. In the culture of the ancient Near East, it was common to believe -- and give attribution to -- many gods.)

Isaiah 45:4-6, No other God but YHWH

For the sake of Jacob my servant,

    of Israel my chosen,

I summon you by name

    and bestow on you a title of honor,

    though you do not acknowledge me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

    apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

    though you have not acknowledged me,

so that from the rising of the sun

    to the place of its setting

people may know there is none besides me.

    I am the LORD, and there is no other.

The actions of YHWH are not due to some conflict between the gods -- as YHWH is the only God and the only Creator. Despite the Babylonian belief in many gods, Isaiah repeats the assertion that all of these activities, the raising and deposing of kings, is in the hands of just one God.

Isaiah 45:7, Creator of light and darkness

I form the light and create darkness,

    I bring prosperity and create disaster;

    I, the LORD, do all these things.

From the first verse of the Bible, it is God who creates light and darkness. He then can create prosperity and disaster.

Isaiah 45:8, Salvation, spring up!

“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;

    let the clouds shower it down.

Let the earth open wide,

    let salvation spring up,

let righteousness flourish with it;

    I, the LORD, have created it.

God is the source of salvation and righteousness; He sends them down like rain. Motyer translates the second line as "let the very clouds drizzle righteousness!"  In a desert land, a steady drizzle is a wondrous thing; in a world of oppression and injustice, a drizzle of righteousness is desperately needed.

Isaiah 45:9-10, Quarrelsome pieces of clay

“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,

    those who are nothing but potsherds

    among the potsherds on the ground.

Does the clay say to the potter,

    ‘What are you making?’

Does your work say,

    ‘The potter has no hands’?

Woe to the one who says to a father,

    ‘What have you begotten?’

or to a mother,

    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

Isaiah anticipates the Jewish complaint, "If we have sinned, why are we punished by one who is more wicked than us?" But those who quarrel with God are like pieces of broken pottery quarreling with the potter, quarreling with the One who puts them together.

In this metaphor, the clay challenges the potter, Why have you made me so? Jeremiah gives a clear parable in Jeremiah 18:1-10 of God being the potter working with clay. This becomes a favorite metaphor for the prophets, showing up here and in Isaiah 29:16 and Isaiah 64:8. In the New Testament, Paul quotes this passage in Romans 9:19-21.

Isaiah 45:11-13, I made the stars -- and Cyrus

“This is what the LORD says—

    the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

Concerning things to come,

    do you question me about my children,

    or give me orders about the work of my hands?

It is I who made the earth

    and created mankind on it.

My own hands stretched out the heavens;

    I marshaled their starry hosts.

I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness:

    I will make all his ways straight.

He will rebuild my city

    and set my exiles free,

but not for a price or reward,

    says the LORD Almighty.”

God made the earth and heavens, the starry hosts ... and He made Cyrus. They are all part of His plan.

Isaiah 45:14, Egypt, Cush, the Sabeans, all bow down

This is what the LORD says:

“The products of Egypt 

and the merchandise of Cush,

    and those tall Sabeans—

they will come over to you

    and will be yours;

they will trudge behind you,

    coming over to you in chains.

They will bow down before you

    and plead with you, saying,

‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other;

    there is no other god.’”

Verses 14 and 18 are long verses that begin with "This is what the LORD says." Here various tribes and nations will bow down to Cyrus.

In Isaiah 43:3-4, the people of Egypt, Cush and Seba are captured in place of Judah; here those same people come to Judah for salvation.

Isaiah 45:15-17, Disgrace for the idol makers

Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,

    the God and Savior of Israel.

All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;

    they will go off into disgrace together.

But Israel will be saved by the LORD

    with an everlasting salvation;

you will never be put to shame or disgraced,

    to ages everlasting.

Those who make idols will be disgraced, but Israel will be set aside for salvation.

Isaiah 45:18, He who created the heavens

For this is what the LORD says—

he who created the heavens,

    he is God;

he who fashioned and made the earth,

    he founded it;

he did not create it to be empty,

    but formed it to be inhabited—

he says:

“I am the LORD,

    and there is no other.

In parallel stichs, God is declared as the one who created the heavens and made the earth, who created it to be inhabited. A purpose is given to Creation.

Isaiah 45:19, Not secret

I have not spoken in secret,

    from somewhere in a land of darkness;

I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,

    ‘Seek me in vain.’

I, the LORD, speak the truth;

    I declare what is right.

God says that He has spoken clearly, not in secret.

Isaiah 45:20-21, None but YHWH

“Gather together and come;

    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.

Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,

    who pray to gods that cannot save.

Declare what is to be, present it—

    let them take counsel together.

Who foretold this long ago,

    who declared it from the distant past?

Was it not I, the LORD?

    And there is no God apart from me,

a righteous God and a Savior;

    there is none but me.

God's claim to uniqueness in power and in Creation is repeated here.

Isaiah 45:22-25, Turn to me

“Turn to me and be saved,

    all you ends of the earth;

    for I am God, and there is no other.

 By myself I have sworn,

    my mouth has uttered in all integrity

    a word that will not be revoked:

Before me every knee will bow;

    by me every tongue will swear.

They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone

    are deliverance and strength.’”

All who have raged against him

    will come to him and be put to shame.

But all the descendants of Israel

    will find deliverance in the LORD

    and will make their boast in him.

After the ravages of Cyrus, all the ends of the earth are invited to turn to God and be saved. "Every knee will bow," says God. In the New Testament, in Philippians 2:10-11, future knees bow down and future tongues worship Messiah Yeshuah.

Some Random Thoughts

We mortal broken humans are portrayed in verse 9 as shattered piece of pottery, lying in a trash heap of other broken pieces, complaining about the potter who made us. This is a vivid picture and, in my experience, fairly accurate.