Isaiah 44 Cyrus My Shepherd

Cyrus, the Persian does not first appear in Isaiah 45, where we saw him earlier. He actually shows up a chapter earlier. Isaiah 44:24-28 begins the consideration by building on God’s relationship with Israel. Notice the intimate conversation.
    24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone, 25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back And turning their knowledge into foolishness, 26 Confirming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’
    And I will raise up her ruins again. 27  “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’ And I will make your rivers dry. 28 It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

We may not cover the entire passage this trip. We will not explore every word, although they are packed with meaning. Most of them are familiar. “The Lord,” means simply the Superior of all. “Redeemer” is the One who has bought us. “...the One Who formed you....” Pretty clear. Even our beginning. The “stork myth” did not originate in the Bible. Then He rehearses the same items a second time. This is all in one verse.

Verse 25 sets the stage for later thoughts. God confounds other prophets. “Fail, fools, draw back, turning knowledge into foolishness,” are the phrases He uses to describe earthly prognosticators. It sounds like the guy telling us how to win the lottery. Until someone figures out the code used to program the “random” picks, it is all speculation. (Incidentally, random number generators are not “random.” They have some defined, even if unfathomable, algorithm that directs them how to randomly generate numbers. They may be unpredictable without the code, but if someone has the code, he will get the same number. Another reason not to bet on the lottery. It is literally “fixed.” It may well be that no one knows what will come up, but somehow, somewhere, the code can be used to generate identical values. And if the “lottery guys” decide to win one themselves, they can–or not, depending upon the whim of the minute. Save your money for tossing pennies. At least some skill is involved. But I digress.)

On the contrary, the Lord can and does make predictions that are remarkably, specifically, and unfalteringly accurate. Every prophesy in the Scripture has either come true or will come true. And He asserts that here, again.

Notice verse 26 is a dual prophesy. “Jerusalem, inhabited, and cities of Judah, built.” Implied in this is that Jerusalem, which is where they are as Isaiah prophesies, will become uninhabited then repopulated. The cities will be decimated and then rebuilt. The entire country is subsumed in the final phrase of the verse. It happened.

Verse 27 is a veiled prophesy against Babylon. Those who know the story of Belshazzar’s defeat  at Babylon knows that the Medes and Persians diverted the river and marched under the walls to conquer the city. Read v. 27 carefully. God predicted how Babylon, who at that time was on the verge of breaching the walls of Jerusalem, would itself be overthrown a few years hence. God is never described as He does His opponent: “Fail, fools, fall back, turn knowledge into foolishness.”

And again in verse 28, the Lord names His “servant.” Cyrus, My shepherd.” And notice the prophesy about Cyrus. He, in fact, becomes a prophet in his declaration that the Jews return to Israel, the city be rebuilt, and the foundation will be laid for the temple. It happened.

We can be staggered at the accuracy of the proclamation, (538-537 BC) as the city was indeed rebuilt, but the walls were deferred until Nehemiah returned a few years later. Ezra and Zerubbabel finished the temple in 516 or 515 BC. This pause in the construction is even foreseen in the prophesy.

Cyrus was indeed a shepherd, a servant of the Lord. Remember, Isaiah prophesied this about 150 years before the fact. Is this Book alive, or what?

He is my Lord, my Redeemer, and my Maker in the womb. And we are just beginning, again, to study this book from over 2700 years ago. It is as fresh as the day Isaiah finished rolling up the scroll.