In these verses, Isaiah appealed to the things that God had done to show
why He alone would be able to deliver His people from their oppression and
captivity. Using His covenant name Yahweh, He declared that He was not only
their Redeemer but also the One who had formed them as a nation.
He had earlier contended that there was
and never would be anyone like Him. What He said about Himself, and what He
declared that He would do in the future, would all substantiate His claim of
being the only true God. He made it known that He was not only the one who had
formed Israel as a nation but also was the Creator of heaven and earth. It was
He who had made all things. As Creator, He alone stretched the wide expanse of
heaven and spread the broad space of the earth. In verse 25, Isaiah said
that God was the One who had caused the divination of the diviners to fail. He
alone could frustrate the works of the diviners by annulling their
prognostication and prediction, making a fool of them. He made their perceived
knowledge to look foolish. Meanwhile, in verse 26, He affirmed and stood behind
the words of His prophets ensuring that what they had declared would be
confirmed and authenticated.
Pointing to the future, He assured the Jews of His intention to restore Jerusalem, their beloved city, as well as the other cities of Judah. He would reinstate orderliness to the ruins and chaos that had resulted from the Babylonian's oppression. Amazingly, Isaiah even identified ahead of time who God would use to initiate the restoration of Jerusalem. Interestingly, here in verse 28, this Persian monarch was specifically identified by name. This was about 150 years or so before he arrived at the scene. And despite being a Persian monarch He would be God’s instrument to initiate the restoration of His people in exile. God called Cyrus His shepherd, to carry out His plan and be used to initiate the restoration of Jerusalem and rebuilt the foundation of the temple in that beloved city.
Let us put on our thinking cap and think for a while. How could Isaiah name Cyrus so specifically? How did he know with such accuracy the details of a man who did not exist 100 over years before his prophetic words? When Isaiah prophesied all these, the kingdom of Persia did not even exist. Whatever may be our conclusion, one thing is clear. Only God alone could provide the information to Isaiah with such accuracy. This accuracy solidifies the truth that the Bible is God’s Word and that God alone is the true God. He alone knows and holds the future, yours and mine as well. So trustworthy is He that we can safely and confidently abandon ourselves and submit to His Lordship over our lives. He is worthy of it all!
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