Isaiah 45:6
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
God spoke this word to Cyrus by name more than a hundred years before he was born, to strengthen him for his appointed work of freeing the captives and restoring the temple even though he did not know Him, so that people from the rising of the sun to the west would learn that there is no God beside the Lord. It declares that the Lord alone is God with no rival or other divine power, a just God and Saviour who invites all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved and find righteousness and strength in Him by His creative power. This worldwide knowledge comes through the people He has separated from the world and chosen as His witnesses, as they go forward in faith in the strength of the Lord God Almighty, lift up His law, and let their light shine by honest conduct and good works so others believe and glorify the Father. It therefore calls His people not to turn to finite man for wisdom but to seek wisdom from Him, and not to let time pass without more missionary work and missionary spirit to carry that knowledge outward even into the highways and hedges. He will at last prove before a world transgressing His holy law that He is God and beside Him there is none else, for He alone is God over all kings and rulers and to change His law is His right alone, so His Sabbath memorial of creation remains binding as the test today.
Cyrus Prophecy and Context
This is God's own message addressed to Cyrus the Great, written more than a hundred years before his birth. He was strengthened for his work even though he did not know God, so that people from the rising of the sun and from the west would learn that there is no God besides the Lord. His success was placed under God's direction in order that the nations would recognize the Lord's unique sovereignty.
Daniel knew these prophecies about Cyrus, and Daniel's deliverance from the lions together with his respected ability as a statesman gave Cyrus a favorable mind toward Daniel's God. At the time God had said the temple at Jerusalem would be rebuilt, He moved upon Cyrus as His agent to read and discern these prophecies about himself. Seeing them moved Cyrus deeply to fulfill his God-given mission to set the Jewish captives free and help them restore the temple of Jehovah.
The verse belongs to God's full revelation of His purpose for His people in Isaiah 41-45. Isaiah 45 reveals the greatness of God's love and compassion in pure, excellent, elevating and ennobling language with the loftiest themes of thought. It tells of the city whose Builder and Maker is God, teaching that heaven is home and citizenship is above and lives must not be devoted to a world soon to be destroyed. It is better than romance or fables, to be comprehended by stretching the faculties of the mind, and to be put in form and brought into schools as a valuable study and lesson book with the Word revealed in living characters.
Isaiah 45:1-8 calls for awakening out of sleep. It exposes lack of love, patience, forbearance and confidence as most displeasing to God. It calls for heeding the messages God has given, opening the door of the heart to faith that works by love and sanctifies the soul, being born again, and cherishing Christlike love for one another in the church and in every institution.
The Lord Alone Worldwide
The Lord alone is God and there is none beside Him, with no rival and no other divine power, and this is to be known from the rising of the sun and from the west throughout the world. This declaration belongs to the full revelation of His purpose for His people in Isaiah 41-45. He directed the success granted to Cyrus so that the nations would recognize His unique sovereignty, even though Cyrus himself had not known Him.
The surrounding words present Him as a just God and Saviour inviting all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved. In Him alone are found righteousness and strength, springing forth by His creative power, and Israel is justified in Him and gives Him glory. The progress of His kingdom displays His infinite wisdom and power until the earth is filled with His glory.
Because He alone is God, His people must not turn away from His wisdom to look to finite man for wisdom, but must seek wisdom from Him. He alone is God over all kings and rulers on the earth, and to change His law is His right alone. The man of sin thinks to change times and laws and to set up a human sabbath to show supremacy above God, but he cannot change God's law, and the Sabbath sanctified and blessed by God as His memorial of creation remains binding and stands as the test today, with rejection of God's holy memorial deciding the fate of Christians.
Witnesses Who Make Known
The worldwide knowledge that there is no God besides the Lord, from the rising of the sun to the west, comes through the people He has separated from the world and its customs and maxims by truth and chosen as His peculiar people. That separation fits them to act as His chosen servants and witnesses in the earth. Even though their path is not plain and easy, they look to God in faith and go forward in the strength of the Lord God Almighty. Going forward in His strength, they lift up and uphold His law in the earth and testify to His truth.
They make Him known by letting their light shine through honest conduct and good works. His own acts of declaring, saving, and showing His power also make known across the earth that there is none beside Him. By this witness others are led to know and believe that He alone is God and to glorify the heavenly Father. As they strive to uphold His law, He proves able to work for them and makes them fully able to go up and possess the promised land.
The verse declares that the Lord alone is God, with no rival or other divine power, and that this truth is to be known everywhere from east to west. It shows what God has covenanted to do with His people and the encouragement He has given them that His name will be glorified from the rising of the sun to the west. That covenant and encouragement call for appreciating what He has done and will do. They call for not letting time pass without more missionary work and more missionary spirit in the churches to carry that knowledge outward, even into the highways and the hedges.
God will prove before a world transgressing His holy law that He is God and beside Him there is none else. He has borne long with the deceptions of men claiming piety, being provoked by their impieties yet inflicting less punishment than they deserved. The proof will come in terrible denunciations of sinful practices. Those denunciations are made more awful by the restraint He has placed upon His own prerogatives and power.