October 12, 2005 Isaiah 45:1-7
1 “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
Throughout the ages there has been a type of monasticism that has crept up in almost every society in a variety of ways. The Buddhists have their monks as well as the Catholics, who try to separate themselves from the evils of the world by living apart from mankind in separate communities. The Mennonites and Amish also attempt to live apart from the world in different ways - with the clothing they wear and the modern conveniences they choose not to use. Paul himself said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?. . . “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” Yet Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.” In other words, there is no way you can completely separate yourself from immoral people, because they are everywhere.
There has to be a happy medium, right? Several years ago my wife and I caught one of our children chewing on a piece of gum. This seemed rather peculiar, since neither of us gave our child the gum. That’s when we realized that the gum had been taken off of the ground. It’s one thing to try and pick up some chewed gum in order to clean it up, but you certainly don’t want to start chewing on it. There’s a happy medium between the two - between living with it and living in it.
Imagine then that you were the almighty and omnipresent God. By your very nature, you would have to live in everything that you created. God’s Word says in Romans 11:36 that, “from him and through him and to him are all things.” God is not just found in the majestic heights and lights of heaven. God is also keeping the deepest depths of hell burning. This may sound strange, but He exists in the devil as well as His angels, because He is God. This is really something that is beyond our comprehension. Who would want to in everything? Yet God lives in the brain of Dennis Rader - God gives it the power to work. That doesn’t mean He approves of such behavior and thought. That needs to be CLEAR. But His very nature causes Him to permeate even the most evil of evil - even Satan himself.
Think about it then, if you were God, and you were living in the world with murderers and perverts, what would you do? Most every one of us would probably be so disgusted with it that we would choose to just destroy it and get rid of it. Just this past week a dog left a huge pile of manure on my sidewalk. I walked by it several days in a row. I didn’t even want to look at it, so finally I pushed it off onto my grass so I wouldn’t have to any more. That’s what most of us would do with evil. But with a little more work I could have picked it up and put it in my garden, letting it serve as fertilizer. This is what God decides to do with some evil. Instead of just destroying it all, He decides to use some of it in His garden. An example of this is in the story of Cyrus. As we look at how God uses Cyrus, we’ll be reassured that -
There is No Other LORD
I. Only the LORD would allow evil
Cyrus was a Persian king who ruled over a hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words. He was not a believer. At best he was a king who liked to recognize all kinds of “gods” and pay respect to all of them. In spite of this, Isaiah said in vs. 1, “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places.” Notice what the LORD calls Cyrus, “his anointed.” In the verses just prior to this God also calls Cyrus his “shepherd.” Usually only the kings and priests were anointed by God. Yet God decided to call this heathen king “his anointed shepherd.” As His anointed, God took hold of Cyrus’ right hand and allowed him to defeat Babylon. You need to realize that Babylon had an outer wall surrounding the city that is said to have been 42 miles long and 86 feet wide. It also had an inner wall 75 feet high and 32 feet wide, with 100 bronze gates that protected the city. Yet with the Lord of history leading him, Cyrus was able to divert the Euphrates river and enter the city on the empty riverbed and capture it together with all its riches. God predicted He would do all of these things through and with this unbeliever.
You would expect God to have nothing to do with evil and just destroy it immediately. Yet time and again in the history of the Bible you see God actually working with it. Consider Pharaoh. Here he was a complete hard head. This guy didn’t want to give anything to Moses or God’s people. When Moses first asked to go worship he not only doubled the work load but he also stopped providing the people with straw. But God didn’t destroy him immediately. Think of Judas as well. Earlier on in Jesus’ ministry Jesus said to the disciples in John 6:70, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” Instead of destroying Judas, He allowed him to continue on. Job provides another example. Satan comes before God and requests to have his way with him. Instead of telling Satan to go to hell, after Satan requests to have his way with Job God says to Satan in Job 1:12, “everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.” All of these examples provide clear proof that even though God is in charge He still allows evil to occur and even ordains when and how it will happen. Verse seven of today’s text clearly says, I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. That’s hard for many to swallow, because it would seem to implicate God as the author of evil. Yet even though God allows it and still gives it the power to operate, He still blames Satan and people for their own evil. This shows us how the LORD is definitely unique in His approach. There is no other LORD.
II. Only the LORD can use evil for good
It’s easier to swallow in the case of Cyrus. He is what we might call a “good bad guy”, at least in the eyes of the world. Cyrus’ coming to power had great implications to the Jews. Ezra chapter one states,
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
Cyrus was the catalyst - the shepherd - who enabled the Jews to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem and even paid for it after they were in captivity for 70 years in Babylon. The Jews would not have been able to do this had they been stuck under Babylonian rule. Therefore, God anointed Cyrus to get them out. Even though he was an unbeliever, he was really good to the Jews. Some even speculate that Cyrus was shown these predictions in Isaiah, was impressed with them, and wanted to live up to them. Isaiah writes, “I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.”
Today’s text gives us three reasons as to why God works with evil and allows evil to be evil. The first reason was as a testimony to Cyrus. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. As Cyrus lived among the Israelites and may have heard about the wonders that occurred in Egypt and what not, I’m sure he was cynical of the old stories of grandeur, wondering if they were only folklore. When Cyrus witnessed and experienced the success of overtaking the invincible Babylon, all of those doubts were put to rest. He would know that the Lord God of the Israelites was powerful indeed as he sped into Babylon with no problem at all. With that impression, Cyrus would then have a real respect of God as being unique in comparison to all of his other gods.
The second reason God raised of Cyrus makes good sense to us. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. God had promised long ago that a greater Messiah - Anointed One - would be born of the chosen race of Jews in Bethlehem. In order to make good on His promise, He had to return a remnant back to the Promised Land, and reestablish the Temple for them to worship at, where the Savior could fulfill the laws of God and listen to the Word of God. So God ordained that He would anoint Cyrus - the leader of their captors - to accomplish this purpose. The same might be said of Judas. Jesus knew he was being driven by a demon. Yet Jesus allowed him to continue on in his greed, to the point of betraying him with a kiss. Why? He had to get to the cross - to be anointed with our sins and God’s wrath - so that He could redeem us from our sins. So he used Judas’ own greed to do so. Even when God allows evil to be evil and perform evil, He does it FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE - to somehow accomplish their salvation.
The third reason God decided to use Cyrus is also laid out in today’s text. Verses five and six state that, I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. As God used this foreign king Cyrus to accomplish the redemption of His people in a return to the Promised Land, it would be hard for anyone to deny His sovereign power. The same is said of Pharaoh. Why did God allow such a hard head to rule over His people? Exodus 9:16 says, “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Every time that Pharaoh hardened his heart, it gave God more and more opportunity to flex His muscles and openly display His unique power to the world. As the Egyptians witnessed the drowning of their army and the Moabites and Ammonites saw the pillar of fire and cloud accompanying the Israelites - everyone would know about the Israelites’ LORD. He was no powder puff God. By using a powerful heathen king to accomplish His purpose, God was once again showing how much power He really had. This is why our unique LORD allows evil and uses evil - to proclaim His Name and save His people.
III. Worship the LORD for His uniqueness
It may seem strange for the holy God to use evil. Yet a part of us likes to try the same thing. For instance, some kids like to pick kids in their class to be friends with, who they know are going to lead them to do things that are not respectful to their parents or their teachers, yet they try to be friends with them nonetheless. College kids convince themselves that even though they are joining a sorority where there is a lot of drinking and sex, that somehow they will be able to influence a few of those heathens to come to the Lord without being mixed up in the behavior themselves. We try to take the same approach as God - to use evil for good. Most of the time we end up just as evil.
Whenever we are confronted with evil, God does not tell us to flirt with it.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
1 Timothy 6:10-12 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Don’t even think that you could use evil for our good. You may like to convince yourself that you have more power - that you are strong enough to somehow surround yourself with unbelievers and convert them all. Yet Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” Those who thought they would never give in to the sexual temptation find themselves with their pants down. Those who swore that they would never stop coming to worship, find themselves too busy to come. Why? Because they were too arrogant and the world did affect them. You are not God.
There is only one Person who can handle dung without smelling like it. That is the LORD. He is so holy, so Almighty, so wise, that He can even exert His power over evil and use it for good - without ending up evil Himself. Only God could have the power to influence Cyrus into returning His people without paying him so much as a dime. Here God was able to make this ugly heathen into a wonderful deliverer for His people. It’s kind of like looking at the water. No matter how filthy it is underneath, when the sun shines on it it still glitters and shines. That’s how powerful God is - He can even make Cyrus shine without getting His hands dirty.
The ultimate example is Jesus. Here this holy God was born in a filthy cattle stall - surrounded by sinners who are under the control of Satan - in a world of hatred and unbelief. Jesus came in contact with Pharisees, lepers, demon possessed, and not a one of these people infected Him in any way. Every time He left the scene, He came out shining all the more - having used these filthy sinners to let His glory shine in different ways. With just a touch He changed a woman who was bleeding from childhood into a beautiful specimen of health. This all worked out according to plan, until of course Jesus agreed to allow His holiness be corrupted. What a terrible feeling it must have been for the Holy God to allow the sins of the world to invade His body and soul - as the corruption of the world was put on Him on the cross. For that one moment, Jesus had to suffer on the cross for the sins of the world. Not only did He touch our filth, He was bathed in it and buried in it. Yet three days later, Jesus left our filth in the grave! Once again, our Holy God was not only able to handle garbage but to be buried in it - and STILL come out PERFECT! What a unique LORD we have!
There’s a lot that’s been going on in our world that has probably caused most of us to wonder to ourselves, “what in the world is God doing?” When you see about a hundred and seventy thousand die with the Tsunami, thirty thousand die in Pakistan, and a thousand more die in New Orleans, it seems like everything is getting out of control. When you see child molesters get away with horrible crimes and listen to Oregon vote for the “right to die” along with the right to have sex in public, it makes you wonder if God is really in charge. This passage in Isaiah is especially hard to swallow when Isaiah says, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.” It seems like the LORD is some sort of a sick individual.
At times like this we need to remember what God says in vs. 15 of this chapter. “Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel.” What does that mean? Think about it. God hides Himself. He doesn’t display His power in regular ways - just in thunderstorms and majestic mountains and in obvious miracles. He hides Himself in a crib, on a cross, and even by working through people like Cyrus and Judas. In these evil and weak things it seems that God is the most distant. But in these hidden ways, through these things which make it appear that God is losing or absent - God is actually working to save us. Somehow, through the Tsunamis and hurricanes and all the evil He allows, He is calling His people to repentance and faith. Instead of destroying evil, our one of a kind LORD uses it for our spiritual good.
When you speak of a person as a “one of a kind” or “unique”, it can be in a bad sense or a good sense. Today’s text keeps repeating a theme. Throughout it God says, I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. In a sense, God is saying, “Take it or leave it.” Some people try to recreate God or change His words into a god that makes sense to them. You may not like the fact that God uses evil, but what choice does He have in an evil world? If He didn’t, we would not exist. If God just destroyed evil, you and I would be in hell. In mercy, God forgives us of our evil every day. God’s Holy Spirit lives in us and uses our sinful bodies every day. This is the way God works - mercifully and patiently to the spiritual good of His people. Instead of destroying evil, He uses it for good. Take it or leave it. This is who the LORD is. A True One of a Kind. There is no other. Amen.
