Grace and peace to you through our Lord God who is control of all things. Amen.

Isaiah 45:1 "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.

Lord God, all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works come from you. Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments. Defend us from the fear of our enemies, that we may live in peace and quietness, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

How well do you know your history? Let’s see if you can answer the following four questions. 1. What group of people developed the basis for modern European alphabets? Was it the Romans, Phoenicians or Egyptians? If you answered the Phoenicians, you are correct. 2. Over what nation did Hammurabi, who is often credited with writing the first set of codified laws, rule? Was it Egypt, India or Babylon? Babylon. 3. Who gave the Pacific Ocean its name? Was it Magellan, Cortez or Drake? Magellan. 4. Who spoke the famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death"? Was it John Hancock, James Madison or Patrick Henry? Patrick Henry. How did you do?

Maybe history was never one of your favorite subjects, maybe it was. It’s important to understand history because as Christians, we know that all history is really His Story, God’s Story. Throughout the years we can see how God has continued to guide and direct the events of history for the sake of his people, for the sake of his Church, for the sake of a promise that he made to his people about sending his Son as Savior. We learn from our sermon text that our Lord controls history. He controls history so everything works according to his plan. He also controls history so everyone knows of his salvation.

Let me give you a little historical background to our text. The prophet Isaiah was writing during the reign of King Hezekiah. In 722 B.C., the Northern Kingdom of Israel was carried into captivity by the mighty Assyrians and never heard from again. About 35 years later, the Assyrian army invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah and threatened Jerusalem. Both King Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed for God’s protection and deliverance. The Lord granted it and sent an angel who killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. And so Judah was safe. For a while.

The people of Judah had escaped Assyria; they would not escape Babylon. They would be carried into captivity. Isaiah warned King Hezekiah in chapter 39 that the Babylonian nation would one day overrun Judah and Jerusalem. This was in the future, but it would happen. The Jews would be carried into captivity for 70 years as discipline for their idolatry and adultery with foreign and false gods.

Then God stretched Isaiah’s vision even farther into the future in chapter 45. The king of the Persian army, named Cyrus, would defeat the Babylonians and would issue an edict that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and the city. This happened, just as God prophesied, in 538 B.C.

What does all this mean? It means that this is an amazing prophecy! When Isaiah made this prophecy, Assyria was the world power. Babylon was just a young, weak nation. Persia was nothing. Yet God prophecies that in 200 years, two world powers would fall, and a new nation, would arise to free God’s people!

God even names the king who would be his liberator – Cyrus. God’s prophet calls Cyrus, a foreign king, the Lord’s anointed. This means that God had chosen Cyrus for a specific purpose. Just as God anointed prophets, kings, and priests for specific functions among his people, so God anointed Cyrus. Cyrus was not from among God’s people and wasn’t even a believer. Twice Isaiah describes Cyrus as someone who would not "acknowledge" him as the true God. Still, he had a specific role to fill in God’s plan. The Lord promised to "go before," or lead, this Persian king and grant him success against his Babylonian enemies. The Lord would remove obstacles – "subdue nations before him and strip kings of their armor;" "open doors before him; "level the mountains;" break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron;" and even give him "the treasures" that were the spoils of war. Cyrus would be victorious because the Lord was using him.

Cyrus did not acknowledge the Lord, and yet the Lord used him to accomplish his purposes, just as he used the decree of Caesar Augustus to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. The Lord controls all things, including the events and personalities of history.

This is all really cool! But what does all this mean for us?

Well, many people are bothered when they look at what is happening in the world. They wonder why God permits terrible events to occur in human history. They feel that either God is unloving, uncaring, inactive, or unreal.

The poet William Cower put it very well: "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence He has a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain." (Christian Worship #420)

We have to recognize that there are times when we just cannot understand how God is moving. It doesn’t seem to make sense, and the instruments he chooses are sometimes so out of the ordinary. God can be pretty unorthodox. According to our "feeble sense," he may seem to be doing things the wrong way, using the wrong people, and ending up with the wrong results.

One of the things that you learn about God after you live with him for a while is that he is always doing the unexpected. It isn’t because he delights in puzzling us, but because his ways are beyond our ways. His ways are so infinitely better, more diverse and more widespread that our feeble human minds cannot begin to grasp him.

God may be using a war to bring democracy to a nation that has never known true freedom. He may be using a hurricane to demonstrate an outpouring of love by Christians. He may allow disease, prison time, death, or a 7.6 earthquake to get people’s attention. He may allow terrorism in a nation so that there is a heightened awareness about fear and death, and maybe people will search for answers and comfort – which happened after 9/11.

Many times God sent his prophets and preachers to his people, pleading, begging, and reminding them of his Word. He pours blessing upon blessing upon them. And still they go on with their senseless folly, taking it all for granted, thinking that they can live without God. And then God has to raise up people to shock them into reality, to awaken and chastise them. Then he raises up others to free them. That is exactly what happened with Cyrus and the Jews, it is what happened in America with the British, it happened in World War I and II. This is God’s pattern throughout history. He is saying something through all this. He is saying that he is the God of history and he will work everything according to his plan.

We may be puzzled by the apparent strange silences of God in history. And then we see God moving, and we still don’t understand him. What do we do? First of all, stop and think. Don’t let panic grip you. Don’t react emotionally to the problem. Don’t try to solve the problem immediately. Back away from it and go back to God. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: (Proverbs 3:5) Go back to what you know about God and his character. Remember who God is and what he has done for humanity. "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." (Exodus 34:6)

In Isaiah’s prophecy, the Lord gives three reasons for his actions. The first was so that Cyrus would know the Lord, the God of Israel, who called him by name. The second reason was for the sake of Jacob, the chosen servant of the Lord. The Persian king’s position in history would benefit God’s people. The Jews would return to Judah and rebuild their nation. Another more significant chapter would be written a little over five hundred years after the Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. When the God of history had everything happen exactly according to his plan with the defeat of the Assyrians; the rise of the Greeks and a common language; the defeat of the Greeks and the rise of the Romans with there system of roads and Pax Romana – Roman peace – then the greatest event in human history began to happen. When God’s time had finally arrived, "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4,5)

God planned the salvation of his people and carried it out. He used kings and nations and unbelievers to accomplish that plan. The return to Judah under Cyrus was just one step in God’s plan. It set the stage for the greater fulfillment in Christ.

The third reason for God’s actions with Cyrus was mission-minded. "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 there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other." God’s final goal in all of history is to see that the gospel of salvation would be spread from the east to the west. The Lord wants all people to know that he is the only God there is.

There may be trust in Buddha, Allah, humanism (man is god), spiritism (spirits in trees and animals), even science and money, but the Lord is absolutely superior. He is the only true God. Only the Lord blots out sins. Only the Lord is the Redeemer. No other religious idea, no other god, no other theology offers what the Lord offers: forgiveness, life, and salvation.

We look beyond Cyrus to the greater work of God. No other God so carefully planned the redemption of his people and all the world. Only the Lord could come up with the idea to have the Son of God, born of a young, unknown woman, born in a barn, raised in obscurity, scorned and hated by religious leaders, mocked and crucified, and then come back from the dead. All according to his plan. All for mankind’s salvation. All so that all of humanity would know of this salvation.

The Lord does all these things. Times of trouble were coming for the people of Judah; they would be carried into captivity. The Lord was not asleep at the switch when it happened. He did it. He would bring prosperity. Cyrus would order the rebuilding of the city and the temple. We may be puzzled by God’s dealings in our world and in our own lives, but whether he brings prosperity or creates disaster, he always has the best interests of his people in mind. So he has promised, "In all things God works for the good of those who love him." (Romans 8:28) Amen.

And may the peace of God which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.