Isaiah 45: Sovereign

Theological Proposition/Focus: God, the Creator of all things, upholds, directs, and governs all crea-tures, actions, and things, from the greatest to the least, by his wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. In his ordinary provi-dence, God makes use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them at his pleasure.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must place our confidence in God and his sovereign plan.

Introduction:

Setting the Stage:

Isaiah is one of the greatest prophets in all of the Old Testament, if not the greatest. The book of Isaiah is a literary treasure trove filled with profound christology and some powerful descriptions of God and his creation.

Secular scholar's have challenged Isaiah because his prophecies are too good

However, the evidence in-favor of Isaiah is overwhelming.

Body

Even when you don't know better, God is still sovereign (45:1-7).

Image: living in denial.

Have you ever met someone who is in denial about something? Someone who refuses to accept the facts about a situation. Some of you know that I am a big Broncos fan and I really believed that all the problems would be fixed if we brought in a great quarterback. I even lasted five weeks into the regular season. But now, I will admit, I was in denial about how bad the Broncos were. Now understand, just because I didn't believe the Broncos were that bad does not mean they were not that bad, they were still really bad. You can deny something all you want but that does not change the facts of the situation. I want to tell you that even when you don't know better, even when you don't believe it, even when you deny it, God is still in control.

God's sovereignty means that God owns and directs as God desires (1-3).

God, more than 150 years in advance named a future King, Cyrus the great, of Persia. This King according to God would accomplish the will of God. The term anointed here is used and was more commonly used of a Jewish King or Priest. However, this gentile man was chosen by God for this task. God had anointed him.

Josephus, in "The Antiquities of the Jews" book 11 chapter 1 actually states that Cyrus upon reading the book of Isaiah was filled with a desire to fulfill the prophecy and therefore called for the Jews to go back and rebuild their temple. Take a second and think about that. God directs our world and does so to such a degree that Cyrus the Great recognized there was something going on and wanted to be part of that something.

I venture that the parents of Cyrus (Cambyses I King go Anshan and Mandane Princess of Astyages) had no idea that there decision to name their son Cyrus was in perfect alignment with God's plan. I venture that when Cyrus invaded Babylon he had no idea that he would be God's instrument to return his people to their land. You see,

God's sovereignty does not require that you recognize God (4-5).

Look at verses 4 and 5. We see that God called Cyrus by name. God was not just specific, he was incredibly specific. Actually, Scholars have used this passage to argue that Isaiah 45 must not have been written by the prophet Isaiah because there is no way anyone could have predicted Cyrus with such accuracy. I want to tell you right here and now that God could have. Why, because God is unlike any other. God is sovereign and we cannot understand just how involved he is in our life. Mover, he doesn't need us to recognize his work in order to be at work.

God's sovereignty sets Him apart from everything else (6-7).

At the time of Cyrus, God was not universally recognized as God but he should have been. Today, people do not recognize the uniqueness of God. However, one day they will. You see, we are all racing toward a time when we will see just how much God has sovereignly supervised his world. People will know there is none besides God. People will know the God of the universe.

Here is something interesting to consider. As I stated, Josephus claims that Cyrus impressed with the prophecy chose to fulfill the prophecy. In fact, according to Ezra 1:1-4, Cyrus claimed that the God of the heavens ordered him to rebuild the temple. However, Isaiah 45:5 states that Cyrus had not acknowledged God. This means that despite being used by God and even reading Isaiah Cyrus still failed to truly acknowledge God.

As creator, God has the right of sovereignty and desire to bless (8).

God is the creator and he desires for the world to experience his blessing. This metaphoric picture of God's blessing raining down is actually a prophetic picture of how God will bless in his millennial kingdom. As people follow God's standards he will pour down his blessing on the earth and salvation will spring up as people everywhere know the Lord. God desires to bless and has the right to bless

Even if you disagree, God is still sovereign (45:9-14).

After the last point, you might be thinking what do you mean God can use me even if I don't know. That's not fair. Or maybe you are thinking how could God use a wicked person that doesn't seem right. To this God responds pretty bluntly stating that Even if you disagree, God is still sovereign.

Like a potter, God alone has the privilege of decision (9).

In verse 9 the audience (Israel) apparently complains. They are probably complaining about all the negative experiences that Isaiah has prophesied. Why do we have to go through this? Why must we be carried away to Babylon and wait until Cyrus to be returned to the land. This just isn't fair God. Why must we go through this?

Isaiah further reminds the people that a pot does not get to question the ability of the potter.

Simply put, clay does not know if it is part of a beautiful pot or a broken pot. So why should the clay suggest that the potter is doing something wrong?

Like a parent, God knows best (10-11).

The picture here is of a sibling questioning his parent's decision to have another child.

The sibling has no right, authority, or reasonable grounds to question the family planning of the parents.

Like an engineer, God has a bigger purpose in mind (12-13).

Image: Insignificant pieces have a purpose.

Have you ever taken something apart, put it back together, and had pieces left over? What about forensic de-engineering? I love to take apart a pen, look at all the pieces and think about how each piece fits together to make the pen work. God as creator is the ultimate engineer and he has carefully engineered each and every aspect of his creation.

Ultimately, verse 14 reminds us that God is working to redeem the world and one day the entire world will acknowledge God's rule.

The final product is a redeemed world, right now we are sitting on the assembly lines looking at parts go by and asking, I wonder what that does?

Intermission 1: The Sovereign is Savior (45:15-17).

The path of idolatry leads to shame and disgrace (15-16).

Verse 15 summarizes the passage. Even though it seems like God is sometimes hiding he is actually the Savior.

The idea in verse 16 is that while God's ways do not always make sense and seem to be hidden. He is at work and those who have doubted God's works and responded by making their own gods to replace the real God will one day be put to shame.

The path of the LORD leads to salvation (17).

This passage is here about Israel but we need to understand that God is Salvation.

Something we need to understand theologically is that God is in the business of redemption.

I am convinced that everything we see is slowly being woven into a grand story of redemption.