Isaiah 45

Notes

Ver. 1-3. I, the Lord, will assist Cyrus, and enable him to overthrow far greater armies than his own. I will dispirit and weaken his opposers; procure him entrance into Babylon and other fortified cities; remove all obstructions out of his way; and give him the wealth of the Lydians, Chaldeans, &c. 5, 6. I will make him strong and active, and will fit and dispose him for these great undertakings. 7. Comfort and calamity, prosperity and adversity, are overruled, in all their circumstances, by my power and wisdom. 8. I will bestow such plenty of favours upon you, through the righteousness of my Son, and in equity of procedure, as if they rained from heaven, or burst forth in floods, or grew in crops out of the earth. 9-11. Instead of presumptuously quarrelling with my procedure, humbly ask of me whatever information or blessings you or my church need, and you shall have your request granted. 13. I have qualified Cyrus to manifest my righteousness, truth, and goodness in the punishment of the Chaldeans, and the gratuitous deliverance of the Jews. 14. Part of the wealth of the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Arabians, &c., shall be bestowed upon the temple at Jerusalem; and multitudes of them shall humbly join themselves to the gospel church. 19. Not in the manner of the heathen oracles or idols, but in the most public and plain manner, and for your real advantage, I have promised what is true, and commanded what is just and good. 20-25. Ye who have escaped in the devastation of countries, inflicted to punish their abominable idolatries, and who can produce nothing to support the cause of your idols, know that I, the alone God and Saviour, have foretold these things. Renounce all your idols; believe in and acknowledge me as your only, almighty, and effectual Saviour; thus shall ye be graciously delivered from sin, and all the miseries which it entails, and advanced to everlasting happiness.—I have sworn, and will most faithfully perform my promise, to manifest myself the true God, and lead men of all nations to accept gladly my worship: and they shall, each one for himself, heartily receive, and solemnly acknowledge, that all their righteousness, for justification, was performed by me, and all their strength, for the performance of duties, is conveyed from me. Even to me shall all sinful ones come; and all the finally impenitent shall be overwhelmed with misery and ignominy. In a state of union to my person and through my righteousness, shall all who accept Jesus Christ have their sins pardoned and their persons accepted; and in me shall they rejoice and boast.

Ver. 1. The entry of Cyrus into Babylon arose, first, from the neglect of closing the river-gates on a night of festival; and secondly, from the opening of the palace-gates to inquire into the cause of the tumult, whereupon the Persian soldiers rushed in and slew the emperor, Da. 5. 30. C.

Ver. 8. 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above;' and as 'righteousness' is eminently the work and gift of God, through Jesus Christ, its heavenly origin and commission to the earth, as the only seed of salvation, are here beautifully described.—Note, Every dispensation of Providence, whether it come in light or in darkness, has but one end—the manifestation of the righteousness of God, which ever was of old, as it now is, and ever will be, through faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe—even upon all that believe the testimony of God, and rest upon his faithfulness, mercy, and power. C.

Ver. 11. Command ye me. How can the creature command his Maker? Observe, he is first to ask the Holy One, consequently by the Holy Spirit, Ro. 8. 26; and concerning sins, consequently by addressing a Father; and thus, not striving against his Maker, but bowing to his Redeemer, the march of providential events moves onward at the prayerful command of the believer. C.

Ver. 13. Who is this? It has been applied to Cyrus—but he was not 'raised up in righteousness;' and though overruled to fulfil God's purposes, God could not be said to 'direct all his ways;' neither did he build the city of Jerusalem, but aided merely to the laying of the foundations of the temple. Is not the whole rather a description of Messiah, the Adam of the foregoing verse, who, when sent forth upon earth, made of a woman, was manifested in creature-condition and servant-form—truly raised in righteousness, Spirit-led in 'all his ways,' the builder of the 'New Jerusalem,' and the free-grace deliverer of 'the captives' of sin and death? Ep. 4. 8. C.

Ver. 15. God is essentially invisible, manifest only in providence, but hid as it were behind second causes;—manifest in his silent word, but hid from the wise and prudent;—'manifest in the flesh,' but hid behind 'the form of a servant,' or 'seen of angels' in glory, but hid from all but the eye of faith and hope. C.

Ver. 20. This summons refers to a time still future, when 'in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory,' ver. 25. By the word escaped, it indicates that the return of the Jews will be as much against the will of oppressing nations as was the exodus from Egypt; and by the reference to 'graven images,' that idolatry will still be prevalent amongst an ignorant people 'perishing for lack of knowledge.' C.

Ver. 23. When this verse is compared with Ro. 14. 8-12, the reader finds (ver. 8) that we live or die unto the Lord: he also finds (ver. 9) that this Lord is Jesus—we all then find ourselves 'at the judgment-seat of Christ;' and thus (ver. 11, identical with Is. 45. 23) we find ourselves before that tribunal, fulfilling this prophecy and bowing to Jehovah, confessing to God. And surely it is impossible to weigh these things and continue to deny that Jesus is 'God manifest in the flesh.' C.

Reflections.—God, for the welfare of his church, often casts down the great and mighty, and raises up the weak and obscure. Uncertain are all the enjoyments of this world: it is therefore proper that they all be used for the glory of God and in kindness to his people. But let me never forget Jesus, who hath ascended up on high and led captivity captive, and hath received gifts for men, even the rebellious, that God the Lord may dwell among them. Let him order all my crosses and my comforts as he pleases. And while I look up for his abundant blessings, let me never strive with him. Who hath hardened himself against God his Maker and prospered? Let me be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make my requests known unto God. Depending upon his infinite mercy, power, and faithfulness, let me expect whatever liberty, provision, honour, victory, or salvation he has promised. In the firm faith of the gospel, published to all the ends of the earth, let me, let thousands, with holy boasting, avow that in Jesus, the man who is Jehovah's fellow, we have righteousness and strength. But God forbid that we should incur the guilt, the shame, the ruin of such as are incensed against a divine Saviour!