Lectionary Thoughts: Isaiah 45:1-7

The BCP OT reading for today is from Isaiah 45:1-7:

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him— and the gates shall not be closed: I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things.

These verses relate to Cyrus, the king of Persia who in 538BC allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon. It is striking that the LORD refers to Cyrus as His "anointed," which of course is the word that will come to mean "messiah" around the time of Christ (it would be anachronistic to translate it that way at this time, however). God is thus saying that he is using Cyrus as His king to accomplish military purposes. What is striking is thus 1) that God is using a foreign ruler instead of someone from Israel and 2) that God is involved in the affairs of nations other than Israel. The first is more striking to us than the second, although the second might also have been striking to an ancient Israelite.

The second paragraph is as strong as any monotheistic statement in the OT, in fact stronger than most. In most of the OT, other "gods" protect and advocate for other nations. But here there are no other gods. God interestingly is even said to create darkness.

When we appropriate these verses for today, certainly we would affirm just as and perhaps even more vehemently than this passage that there is only one God. We might add further that, yes, He did create everything, including darkness. That He is in control of the nations is also no surprise to us. There is no nation, no country, no interest group, no faction, no person that stands outside His sovereignty.