Isaiah 45:3, commentary and pictures

More than a century before he was born, Cyrus is called by name as God's anointed, whose right hand God would hold to subdue nations before him. God promised to go before him to open gates that would not be shut, to make straight what was crooked, to break gates of brass and cut bars of iron, and to give him wealth stored in dark and secret places. The prophecy foretold in literal detail the manner of Babylon's capture and fall, fulfilled when the Persian army entered unexpectedly into the heart of the capital by the channel of the river whose waters had been turned aside and through inner gates left open and unprotected in careless security. The hidden riches of darkness were given so that Cyrus would know that the Lord who called him by name is the God of Israel.

The coming of the army of Cyrus before the walls of Babylon was a sign to the Jews that deliverance from captivity was drawing near. Its literal fulfillment gave abundant evidence that God was shaping the affairs of nations in their behalf and was preparing the way for the release of the captives. The promise is inseparably linked with Cyrus's commission as God's shepherd to perform His pleasure by ordering that Jerusalem shall be built and that the foundation of the temple shall be laid. He was raised up in righteousness with his ways directed to build God's city and to set the captives free without price or reward. In the same way God directs rulers and events to carry out His purpose, as when Caesar Augustus became an agent in bringing about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the city of David.

The verse stands in Isaiah 41-45, where God very fully reveals His purpose for His people, and those chapters should be prayerfully studied. That revealed purpose directs God's people to God rather than to finite man for wisdom. It reminds them that they are His redeemed servants whom He will not forget, and calls them to look to Him and be saved, for He is God and there is none else. The verse is connected with God's judgment on Egypt for refusing to let Israel go, with "I have called thee by thy name" identified with that judgment.

The verse shows what God has covenanted to do for His people and calls them to awaken, heed His messages, open their hearts to faith that works by love and sanctifies the soul, and follow on to know the Lord by trusting what He has done and will do. The promises are encouragement to be appreciated and acted on. They are meant to arouse God's people to more missionary work and missionary spirit in the churches while time remains, with the Lord God of heaven using them so His name is glorified even in the highways and hedges.

The verse reveals the greatness of God's love and compassion in a way that requires stretched mental faculties to comprehend. It belongs in schools as valuable study formed into lessons and lesson books with the loftiest themes of thought, better than romance or fables. It presents the Word of God in living characters in pure, excellent language with elevating, ennobling principles. It tells of the city being sought whose builder and maker is God, showing that heaven is home and citizenship is above and that lives must not be devoted to a world soon to be destroyed.