The God Who Uses Unlikely People
What’s Isaiah 45 about?
This is the chapter where God calls a Persian king His “anointed one” – the same word used for Israel’s messiahs. It’s shocking, revolutionary, and reveals how God’s sovereignty works through the most unexpected people to accomplish His purposes for His people.
The Full Context
Picture this: Jerusalem lies in ruins, God’s people are scattered across Babylon, and hope feels like a distant memory. It’s around 540 BC, and the Jewish exiles have been wondering if God has abandoned them entirely. Then along comes this prophet – likely a disciple of the original Isaiah – with the most audacious message imaginable: God is about to use a foreign, pagan king to set them free.
This passage sits at the heart of what scholars call “Second Isaiah” (chapters 40-55), written during the Babylonian exile. The author is addressing a community that’s lost everything – their land, their temple, their sense of identity. But rather than offering simple comfort, the prophet presents a radical vision of God’s sovereignty that extends far beyond Israel’s borders. The literary structure builds to this stunning revelation: Cyrus the Persian isn’t just a political convenience for God – he’s actually God’s chosen instrument, His mashiach (anointed one). This challenges everything the exiles thought they knew about how God works in the world.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
The Hebrew here is absolutely electrifying. When God calls Cyrus His mashiach in Isaiah 45:1, He’s using the same word that designated David and Solomon as His chosen kings. This isn’t casual language – it’s theologically explosive.
Grammar Geeks
The Hebrew mashiach literally means “anointed one” – someone set apart by having oil poured on their head. But here’s the kicker: there’s no record of Cyrus ever being literally anointed with oil in Israelite fashion. God is using covenant language for someone outside the covenant community.
But look at what God does with His own name in Isaiah 45:5-6. He declares “I am Yahweh, and there is no other” – not once, but repeatedly throughout the chapter. The divine name appears with stunning frequency, as if God is pounding home the point: “I am the one doing this, and I can use anyone I choose.”
The verb forms matter too. When God says “I will go before you” in Isaiah 45:2, the Hebrew suggests ongoing, personal involvement. This isn’t a distant deity pulling strings – this is Yahweh walking ahead of Cyrus like He once led Israel through the wilderness.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
Imagine being a Jewish exile hearing this message. Your world has been turned upside down. Everything you believed about God’s faithfulness seems to have crumbled with Jerusalem’s walls. And now this prophet is telling you that your liberation will come through a Persian king who doesn’t even know your God?
Did You Know?
Cyrus was famous throughout the ancient world for his religious tolerance. Unlike the Babylonians who destroyed local temples, Cyrus actually restored them and sent displaced peoples back to their homelands. His policies were so revolutionary that some scholars call him the world’s first champion of human rights.
To the original audience, this would have been both shocking and strangely hopeful. Shocking because they’d never imagined God working through a gentile ruler in such an intimate way. But hopeful because Cyrus’s reputation preceded him – here was a king known for freeing captive peoples and rebuilding their sanctuaries.
The exiles would have also caught the deeper theological implications. If God could anoint a pagan king, then His sovereignty wasn’t limited by their circumstances or their failures. Even in exile, even through foreign rulers, Yahweh was still working out His purposes for His people.
Wrestling with the Text
Here’s where things get fascinating and a bit uncomfortable. Isaiah 45:7 contains one of the Bible’s most challenging statements: “I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, Yahweh, do all these things.”
That word “calamity” (ra’) is the same word used for moral evil elsewhere in Hebrew. Is God saying He creates evil? The ancient audience would have understood this as a direct challenge to Persian dualism – the idea that there are two equal and opposite forces, one good and one evil, battling for control of the universe.
Wait, That’s Strange…
Why would God emphasize His role in creating both good and bad experiences right in the middle of promising deliverance? Because the exiles needed to understand that even their suffering hadn’t been outside God’s control or purpose.
But there’s another wrestling point: How do we reconcile God’s use of Cyrus with His justice? The Persian Empire wasn’t exactly known for its moral purity. Yet God calls this pagan king His anointed one and promises to go before him in battle.
The text seems to be teaching us that God’s sovereignty is far more complex and comprehensive than our tidy theological categories. He can work through flawed people and imperfect systems to accomplish His perfectly good purposes.
How This Changes Everything
This passage revolutionizes how we think about God’s work in the world. It’s not just about Israel anymore – it’s about Yahweh as the God of all nations, working through history itself to accomplish His purposes.
The implications are staggering. If God could anoint a pagan king to deliver His people, then no situation is beyond His ability to redeem. No leader is outside His influence. No circumstance can thwart His ultimate plans.
“God’s sovereignty isn’t limited by our understanding of how He should work – it’s demonstrated through His willingness to work in ways that completely surprise us.”
For the exiles, this meant hope in the darkest hour. For us, it means recognizing that God is always at work, even through people and circumstances that seem completely secular or even opposed to His kingdom.
But here’s the beautiful paradox: while God uses Cyrus for His purposes, He does so in a way that reveals His character. Isaiah 45:13 emphasizes that Cyrus will rebuild Jerusalem and free the exiles “not for price nor reward.” God’s justice and mercy shine through even a pagan king’s actions.
Key Takeaway
God’s sovereignty is so complete that He can accomplish His purposes through anyone – even those who don’t acknowledge Him. Your circumstances, no matter how impossible they seem, are never beyond His ability to redeem and use for His glory.
Further Reading
Internal Links:
External Scholarly Resources:
- Isaiah 40-66 by John Goldingay
- The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 by Joseph Blenkinsopp
- Isaiah by Barry Webb
Tags
Isaiah 45:1, Isaiah 45:7, Isaiah 45:13, mashiach, anointed one, Cyrus, sovereignty, exile, redemption, Yahweh, divine names, Persian Empire, Babylonian exile, restoration
