No. 41. >> Sometimes it is easy to see human history as out of control. But Isaiah 45:1 through 7 appears to contradict this view. How can we come to understand history as God sees it through these verses? >>DR. DANIEL L. GARD: Well, thank you for that question. I think you've hit something that's very important in our time. And that is to understand that no matter what seems to be going on in this world around us, that as chaotic as it might be that God is finally in charge. Let me read part of that text. Read with me, if you would, in Isaiah 45 beginning with the first verse. 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. I will go before you and will make level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze. And I will cut through bars of iron. 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. 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. 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. So that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, men may know that there is none besides me. I am the Lord. There is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. Again, it is very easy to look at the world and see the different events that occur both internationally and within our own communities. Within our homes, within our individual lives as somehow being of pure chance. Well, in fact, we read that God is very busy in ordering history. In order that his Gospel might always be proclaimed. Now, you notice who he speaks to in this particular text from Isaiah. Isaiah is prophesying some 150 years before the end of the Babylonian exile. Now, as I mentioned earlier in one of our earlier sessions, Babylon was the nation who conquered the southern kingdom, destroyed the temple, and took the captives. But by the year 539, the Israelites were allowed -- more properly the Judahites, those of the southern kingdom, were allowed to return home. But it was not by decree of the Babylonians. Because the Babylonians, the corrupt nation, had itself been conquered by another nation, which we know most simply as the Medo-Persians or simply as the Persians under their great king, Cyrus. Now, Isaiah speaking all these many decades prior to the rise of Cyrus, in fact, before his birth -- well over 100 years before his birth. Yet Isaiah names him. And speaks of Cyrus. Thus says the Lord to Cyrus. Now, most English translations will say his anointed. Well, the Hebrew text actually reads his Messiah, Cyrus. His anointed one. The one that he has appointed. Who God says: I have taken by the right hand. To subdue nations before him. To loose the loins of kings. To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. This is a very interesting term. Because Messiah in Hebrew is the same term that comes across to us in the Greek to Christos or the Christ. Now, in doing this, God through Isaiah is not referring to Cyrus as his Christ. But as one who has been anointed by God himself to do something. And this despite the fact that Cyrus didn't have a clue who God was. God says: You don't even acknowledge me. You don't know who I am. But I'm going to do this anyway. Now, the Babylonian captivity, which had taken place, again, with the destruction of Jerusalem in the earlier part of the Sixth Century had happened because specifically God had raised up the Babylonians. They, the Babylonians, became his instrument in punishing his people. Became his instrument in bringing about the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity. And now, in God's grace and mercy, another pagan king becomes his instrument. And comes to release the people from their captivity. And to allow them to return to the land. And in fact, they do return to the land. At least many of them. And once they return, they rebuild the temple. And eventually it is in that rebuilt temple that the Messiah, the final Messiah, the true Messiah, the Son of God would enter that temple in Jerusalem. And so we see already in -- at the time of Isaiah a prophecy not only of the coming destruction that would be worked by God as Lord of history using the Babylonians. But now, also, as Lord of history in its return utilizing the Persians through their king, Cyrus. All the powers of the world think that they operate quite independently from God. But when the story is finally told, all things happen because of God's good and gracious will in preserving his church. And that is an important concept to keep in mind as the church struggles in this world. Is there are many different events that from a human perspective look as if they are detrimental to the church. But God has a plan. God has not redeemed his church, his people only to let them drift in the sea of meaningless history. This is his creation. And he has redeemed that creation through his Son. And he continues to preserve that creation. This is common teaching in the Old Testament as well as the New. In Daniel 2 we read that it is God who sets up kings. In Deuteronomy 32, it's God who sets boundaries between the nations. In Exodus it's Pharaoh who is raised up by the Lord in order that God might work his great and miraculous deliverance of his people. And so Isaiah points his people to the future. A future which included, yes, the Babylonian exile. But also in this beautiful prophecy of the future Isaiah holds out not just some generic nation. But very specifically even names the king who would arise and who would be able to conquer Babylon. And what's interesting, if you read the commentaries on this -- I won't go into these details right now. But the very things that Isaiah speaks about with the different gates, et cetera, in this text are precisely what King Cyrus of Persia found when he came to Babylon and took over that city and became the king of what was once the Babylonian Empire. Now the Persian Empire. Where is God in all of this? He is involved in all of it. And to this day God preserves his church. Now, some of you are much younger than I am. And you will see days of ministry long after I get to leave this world. And I guarantee you the world is going to be very different years from now than it is today. But I can also guarantee you that no matter what the world looks like, God is in charge of it all. And on that you can rely. Israel learned this when in 538-539 BC, King Cyrus of Persia said: You can go home. The prophet's words were fulfilled. God's people were preserved. And the message of Messiah continued on.