“I will go before you”

Article for October 18, 2026

Isaiah 45:1 1Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

This is incredible in a couple of ways.  Isaiah is prophesizing about Cyrus who would not be born 150 years or more after Isaiah had made this prophecy.  Think about this, as people doubt the validity of God and His ways.  God gave information to Isaiah about a man who would help rebuild Jerusalem and its temple and this man is not a Jew.  This is hope for Isaiah and for all who hear the words of the Lord through Isaiah.

The other way this prophecy is incredible is that this foreigner is a Jesus like character.  Not that Cyrus is as good as Jesus, but that Cyrus will help bring the people Isreal out of captivity.  At this time Isaiah is part of the Babylonian captivity and is trying to give hope to his people that Isreal will have a future again.  Their promised land is again within their reach.  In other words, God has not thrown His people Israel under the horse pulled cart.

Cyrus will even fund the rebuilding of the temple and help in replacing all the paraments that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen or destroyed.  Something that the people Israel will, for a short while, be thankful for.  Now all the gates that were closed to the Jews will be opened and the people of Israel will be allowed to put their own government back together.

Isaiah 45:2–3 2“I will go before you  and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, 3I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

Cyrus was not the one in charge.  God certainly put Cyrus in a position to help His plan to bring back His people to their promised land.  God was behind Cyrus in all of his endeavors so that Cyrus knew who gave him the victories that made him king of Persia.

Knowing that it was the God of Israel who gave Cyrus his victories prompted Cyrus to build a temple to this God of Israel.  However, Cyrus also paid tribute to the Babylonian God Marduk.  So as one who recognized and believed the one true God, he did not necessarily convert to Zionism, the Jewish faith.

So then, the treasure spoken of here is a treasure that is from those who do not believe or follow the God of Israel, and it is this treasure that will be used to purchase what is needed to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.  This shows us that God is in control and He uses different means to an end of His choosing.

Isaiah 45:4 4For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. 

By name that God has chosen.  God had renamed Abram to Abraham, Sari to Sara, and Jacob to Israel and those who were captive by Egypt, God renamed them to belong to Him.  By now many of the knowledge people had about God were in writings or in the word of mouth.  Though God still spoke to them through the prophets it is the prophets that spoke of God and of God’s edicts yet to come.

Many of the remnant of Israel were now spread about the kingdoms of those conquering Israel and other surrounding kingdoms.  Word getting around had to be slow and each territory may have had their own prophet as there were more than one at a time.

Isaiah 45:5–6 5I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Now the Lord is making Himself known to those who will listen to Isaiah and the other prophets.  God makes it well known that He is the one who equips all who follow Him even if they have forgotten Him.  It is almost as if God is saying here I am follow me for I am your provider from the past, in your present, and in your future.  There is no other God no matter where you might look, there is none but the God who brought His people out of all of its captivities.

We think about how many time God saved His people Israel as we put our faith in Him that He will also continue to save us.  Every time we fall God is there to pick us back up hoping each time that we recognize what He is doing for us.

Isaiah 45:7 7I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

He is the Lord of salvation and He has never given up on His people He called out of the many captivities they had fallen into.  God is not going to give up on any of us no matter how many times we fall.  Remember God sent His Son to suffer and die for our sins so that sin and the law has no hold on us.  If God gives up on us then Jesus died in vain.  But that God never gives up, we can put all of our faith in that salvation is the hand of God’s love for all of us.  Amen.