Isaiah 45:9-13

b. OBEDIENCE

TEXT: Isaiah 45:9-13

9

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

10

Woe unto him that saith unto a father, What begettest thou? or to a woman, with what travailest thou?

11

Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.

12

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.

13

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts.

QUERIES

a.

Who is God warning not to strive with his Maker?

b.

Why does God challenge, ask me of the things that are to come?

PARAPHRASE

Cursed is the man who contends with Me about what I have just predicted! Men are creatures, not Creatorsthey are like earthenware pots and have been formed. They are not Formers! Now, shall the clay (man) say to him that fashions it (God), What do you think you are doingYou can-'t do that!? For man to tell God He cannot do what He says He will do is as foolish as an unborn son telling his father and mother they cannot bring him forth in birth. This is what Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Sovereign Creator says: Will you dare to question Me about what I intend to do in the future? Do you presume to tell Me what I can and cannot do with My covenant children? I am the Omnipotent Creator of everything that is! I created the earth and I created man; I created the heavens and all the heavenly beings, and everything that exists is at My command. As I predicted, because of My own righteous purpose, I raise up Cyrus and I will personally make all his ways successful. He will build My city, Jerusalem, and he will free My people from their captivity. He will not do it because he has been paid to do so; he will do it because the Lord Jehovah of hosts has spoken!

COMMENTS

Isaiah 45:9-11 PRESUMPTION: God knows His former prophecy that Cyrus, a pagan emperor, is to be His anointed servant to deliver God's people, will meet with incredulity. It would not be easy for a Jew to accept the idea that a pagan monarch could be God's anointed! That Jehovah, God of Israel, would ever give success to a goyim (Gentile) was unacceptable (cf. Habakkuk 1:12 to Habakkuk 2:5; Luke 4:16-30). But the rejection of God's word is moral rebellion and inexcusable. God has demonstrated in the past that He may do anything He wishes to do. He has demonstrated that when He speaks it comes to pass. Those who thus contend with Him are like kheres (earthenware pots) talking back to their yatsar (former) (cf. Isaiah 29:16; Jeremiah 18:1 ff; Romans 9:20; Isaiah 10:15). God pronounces woe on such presumption. It is insolent disobedience to question God's word as if to say, God, what do you think you are doing by anointing a Gentileyou can-'t do that! The phrase, He hath no hands implies the skeptic is charging God with ineptitude, as if God is going to make a mess of things by anointing Cyrus. Actually, it is the skeptic who is absurd. For a man to advise God is as ridiculous as an unborn child telling its parents they cannot conceive it or bring it to birth. The two verbs shealvuni (ask) and tetsavvuni (command) are imperatives. This may be translated as either command or question. We have chosen to understand it as a rhetorically satirical question from God to the skeptic. You dare to question Me about My prophecies? You presume to command Me what to do about My redemptive program for My covenant people? And all this presumptive meddling in God's preannounced program is an attempted remonstrance with God about things that have not yet come to pass!

Isaiah 45:12-13 PROCLAMATION: God reiterates His sovereignty. He is omnipotent and omniscient. He is so by right of His Creatorship. He made earth, man, heaven, angels and everything that exists. Everything that exists is at His commandeven a Gentile emperor! But more significantly, Israel is His to command. God's prophecy of deliverance by Cyrus is a command to Israel. Her proper response is obediencenot presumptive skepticism. What God is going to do with Cyrus is on account of God's righteousnessnot Cyrus-' goodness. The Lord plainly states that Cyrus shall be His servant to rebuild Jerusalem and to free the captive Jews. There were four decrees by Persian rulers authorizing the Jews to return, rebuild and reinstitute their commonwealth (see our comments in Daniel, College Press, pgs. 347-348). Cyrus made the first decree in 536 B.C. and it is recorded in Ezra 1:2-4. The astounding thing about this statement of Isaiah (Isaiah 45:13) is that it was made approximately 150 years before the fact! This is proof positive of the supernatural character of the book of Isaiah! It is also of great significance that Isaiah predicts the motivation for Cyrus-' freeing of the Jews and his part in rebuilding their nation will not be for price nor reward. Cyrus will not have to be paid off, or bribed. The Jews will not be released for ransom. Zechariah's prophecy reveals that God will keep the world at peace so the Jews may rebuild their temple and their citiesnot by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord, (cf. Zechariah 4:5-14). It is nothing short of amazing that a powerful emperor like Cyrus would free his captives without a struggle and by his own imperial edict. It would be totally unexpected behavior in a world ruler of those days. To allow some 100,000 people, who in 70 years had become an integral part of the economic, political and social system of the empire, to pick up and leave suddenly would cause unimaginable problems. But as uncommon and unimaginable as it may have seemed then, it happenedjust as it was predicted. God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and the Jews were returned to Palestine. No great army overpowered Persia; no exchange of money took place; there was not even a summit meeting of diplomats working out a release of the captives. Only the amazing power of the fulfillment of the Word of God being demonstrated!

Note the following things about the return from the captivity:

a.

It was begun in 536 B.C., exactly 70 years after the first captivity of Judah in 606 B.C. This exact 70 years was predicted by God's prophets (cf. Jeremiah 25:11-12; Daniel 9:2)!

b.

It was instituted by Cyrus, emperor of Persia; He was predicted to be the instigator of the return 150 years before he was born, (Isaiah 45:1-13)!

c.

The release of the Jews from Persia would in no way profit the emperor Cyrus. There would be no pay-off. As a matter of fact, Cyrus decreed that people of his realm should contribute to the financial needs of the Jews to help them rebuild their nation (cf. Ezra 1:1-4)!

d.

Not only were the Jews released from captivity, they were charged by the Persian emperor to reinstitute their commonwealth. This meant they were to return to self-governing nationhood (cf. Ezra 7:11-26)!

When Isaiah was making this prophecy of the release of the exiles by the hand of Cyrus, the people of Judah had not yet been taken captive! In fact, their captivity was yet some 50 years away! The point is that Isaiah's people are refusing to believe they are going away into captivity. How much more incredible to believe they will someday be released and returned to their land by an unborn, uncrowned emperor of an unformed empire. One only has to read the book of Jeremiah (esp. Jeremiah 27-28) to understand the stubborn incredulity of the people of Judah about their subjugation to Babylon. The prediction of the prophets that God's covenant people would be taken into exile was almost totally unacceptable to the populace. The prophets who told God's truth were considered traitors!

Mankind, on the whole, changes little in its attitude toward God's promises that the kingdoms of this world are doomed. Few believed Jesus when He predicted the destruction of Jerusalemnot even the disciples (cf. Matthew 23:37 to Matthew 24:28); not many believed the predictions of John the apostle that Rome would fall (cf. Revelation 6-20; esp. ch. 17-18); and there will continue to be scoffers, following their own passions and saying, -Where is the promise of his coming?-'. (cf, 2 Peter 3:1-13). But the word of the Lord is sure! The return of the Jews by Cyrus proves it! Let us heed Isaiah, Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? (Isaiah 45:11). God will do as He has said, and no one (not even Cyrus) will deter Him! God has spoken! Man's only intelligent, hopeful response is obedience. Even when God's declarations are prophetic and, as yet, non-existent man must believe and act accordingly!

QUIZ

1.

Why the emphasis on the sovereignty of God's predictive word here?

2.

How are the scoffers characterized in this passage?

3.

When did Cyrus let Israel return to its homeland?

4.

Why is the return of the Jews so amazing? (name four features).

5.

How is God's prophecy of deliverance by Cyrus a command to the Jews?

6.

Is there a lesson to be learned today from this prediction of the return?