Isaiah 45:11
Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
Isaiah 44-45 is a revelation of God's purpose and promises for Israel, a covenant record of what He has done for His people and what He will do for them as they follow on to know Him. It presents the Lord as the Holy One of Israel and their Maker, holding authority over things to come and over the work of His hands, with His sons and His people themselves as that work. The verses around it declare that He made the earth and stretched out the heavens, and His creative work did not depend on pre-existing matter, for all things came into existence at His command.
The chapter declares that God alone foretells what is to come, redeems His people, and gives salvation, righteousness, and strength. That revelation displays a greatness of love and compassion that requires stretched faculties of mind to comprehend. His people are therefore to seek wisdom and understanding about what is to come and about His purposes from Him rather than turning to finite human beings, looking to Him and trusting His purpose.
They are invited to ask Him about what is to come concerning His children and to bring their requests concerning His work. Because He is the Creator, they can approach with bold, earnest faith and expect Him to hear and to give what they need, with urgency and confidence matching the value of the blessing sought. The chapter should be put in form and brought into schools as a valuable study, better than romance or fable, with lesson books containing its loftiest themes of thought, for it contains pure, excellent language and elevating, ennobling principles.
It tells of the city being sought whose Builder and Maker is God, teaching that heaven is home and citizenship is above, that lives must not be devoted to a world soon to be destroyed, and that the Word of God must be revealed in living characters. The Lord's work is earnest and decided, above deceit and hypocrisy, so His true shepherds do not praise and exalt man but come with a plain word from the Lord as the Holy One of Israel, bearing His message whether men will hear or forbear. If men despise God's Word and trust in oppression, hypocrisy, and worldliness, they must declare God's denunciations against them to arouse them to repentance. If men are too proud to repent and confess their errors and to turn to God and seek His favor, the Lord will remove His light from them and leave them to walk in the way they have chosen.
The passage is given as encouragement to be appreciated, calling for more missionary work and more missionary spirit in the churches, so that God's name is glorified by His use of His people even in the highways and hedges.