OUR LORD CONTROLS HIS-STORY
ISAIAH 45:1-7 -- October 31, 2004 –REFORMATION/1st SUNDAY OF END TIME
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: 2I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3I 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.
4For 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. 5I 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, 6so 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. 7I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
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Dearest Fellow Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
The days in which we live are always exciting times. And yet also in the days in which we live, sometimes, they seem to be frightening times. In our day and age we don’t have to wait for the six o’clock news or the five o’clock news. There is news on 24 hours a day, on television, on the radio, and even in print. Today, every day you and I know quite a bit more than we used to about things that are happening throughout the world. And sometimes those things seem to us to be terrifying. There are famines, there are droughts, there are wars and pestilence -- and the list goes on. It may make us wonder if we have any control at all. Today you and I stand again on the verge of a national election, wondering if we have any control in that process, if our vote really counts. So it seems that from time to time we might throw up our hands in despair. It seems as if we have no control at all in the great events of this world or even maybe sometimes in our own lives. Well the Lord reminds us this morning that he controls his-story. In other words the Lord controls history. For no matter what happens around us, no matter what men may even do to us, the Lord reminds us in the book of Hebrews, ”So we say with confidence, ’The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (HEBREWS 13:6). This is exactly what we are going to study in these words of Isaiah this morning.
OUR LORD CONTROLS HIS-STORY.
Isaiah reminds us: I. no matter who is the leader
II. they will follow God’s will.
I. No matter who is the leader
Now to better understand today’s text we will want to know the historical setting of this text. Our text began by saying: this is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus. Cyrus was to become a great Persian King. Cyrus was not a Jewish believer but an unbeliever. And yet the Lord says through Isaiah that Cyrus is going to be his anointed. Cyrus as the leader of the great nation of Persia was going to help the children of Israel. At this time the nation of God’s chosen were divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom, known as Israel and the southern kingdom known as Judah. There is a purpose for that. The Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and they had been carted off as slaves. The fact is to this day no one knows what happened to them. The Assyrians did not come and conquer Judah because they could not. The Lord would not allow it.
But the next great world kingdom would conquer Judah. The Babylonians would come and carry off the tribes of Judah, the southern kingdom. From that line of Judah is going to come the Savior. Judah is not going to be kept captive in Babylon forever. Cyrus, an unbelieving king, becomes leader of a great nation, the defeater of Babylon. 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. All this was you have to remember, going to happen in two kingdoms away. Isaiah was talking about a kingdom that currently had little power. Cyrus and Persia were not even considered a threat to Judah or to anyone else. But the nation of Judah, the believers there, knew that Assyria was great. Then the Babylonians became even greater. So they listened with great interest to these words of Isaiah’s prophecy.
And the Lord is going to do it! Isaiah writes: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. Babylon was a great, fortified city. It was so fortified that it had two walls for defense instead of just one. And the length of the walls was 42 miles. The outside wall was 344 feet high. It was 86 feet wide. The inside wall was about 75 feet high and 32 feet wide. This seemed an insurmountable obstacle to overcome in defeating Babylon. Those walls held 100 bronze gates. What does the Lord say? I will break down gates of bronze, cut through bars of iron. The Lord would do this for Cyrus. Cyrus did not even know the Lord. Isaiah continues: 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. Now even this Cyrus who was an unbeliever was going to be called by his name to serve the Lord. Cyrus would also receive the treasures of darkness. He was going to completely and utterly destroy Babylon and take away those treasures hidden away in the middle of the city. The palaces of Babylon would become the treasures and the riches of Cyrus. Our Lord controls history. Judah needed deliverance since the Savior would come from that nation. Judah would receive deliverance: from an unbelieving leader, from a great and powerful leader, a king of Persia.
Our Lord controls history. He reminds us that no matter the leader, the Lord is still in control. Now when we look around us we see all sorts of different leaders in this world. Good leaders, bad leaders, and yet they are there by God’s authority. They may lead their people to destruction, or they may lead their people to freedom. God is still in control of history. They lead according to their plans as dictators, amassing for themselves great riches and wealth at the expense of other people. And we have heard of those countries, those nations. Thankfully you and I live in a land that, generally speaking, has good leaders. For the most part we are blessed with God-fearing leaders. We are again reminded God controls his story. The Psalm tells us “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (PSALM 33:10,11). No matter the leaders, whether bad or good they come and go. The Lord’s plans still go on through all generations.
We might think of some of those evil leaders that came and went and yet the Lord’s plans were done. In the Old Testament we have Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world. In spite of Pharaoh the Lord’s plan was carried out. We look back in more recent history. You know today, Reformation Day, we think of the leaders in the Holy Roman Empire. Pope Leo X was the most powerful man in the world at that time. And yet the Lord’s plans were carried out. Luther studied to be a monk. And as he studied to be a monk and read the scriptures, he saw that some of the teachings of the church did not agree with what God’s Word said. This was a problem for Luther, because he didn’t want to rebel against the church. The Pope was still the one in authority. He was the leader and he deserved respect even though he was teaching heresy and false doctrine. Luther struggled with this problem for a number of years. Finally he came to the section in Romans (3:19-28) that we read today. Here Luther realized that the righteousness of God could not be earned. The righteousness of God covered his sins freely by grace through faith. With this insight he put his 95 Thesis or statements on the door of the castle church, the bulletin board of the day, hoping to have some discussion. Now we know the rest of the story. The Pope excommunicated him as a heretic, an enemy of the church. Luther always took one stand, and that was on the word of God. He took this stand because he knew that the Lord controlled history, that the true leader, always the ultimate leader is God himself. Now Peter tells us: “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (1 PETER 2:6). So it was that Luther against all odds was raised up by God to be a leader of Reformation. Luther was a humble monk, who didn’t want to change anything at all. But wanted the truth to come forward. And so it is that our Lord controls history.
The Lord controls history from ancient times, from the very beginning, to medieval times, and to present times. This year again the privilege and the honor and the responsibility that each one of us get to have is casting a vote for the next leader of our nation. Today that honor is also really for the most powerful man in the world. We stand as the only great free nation and super power that is left. No matter who the leader, it is still the Lord who controls his story. We would always pray that the Lord would give us a leader, who follows him. Now Job said: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted”(JOB 42:2). Even when it seems God’s plans might not be being carried out, they certainly are. Finite man cannot stop the infinite plans of God.
Our Lord controls his-story. No matter who the leader is, that leader will follow, either willingly or unwillingly the Lord’s will.
II. They will follow the Lord’s will
Cyrus certainly became a great leader. And Cyrus certainly thought it was all due to his great strategic planning, his amassing of wealth, his powerful army. Cyrus was not a believer in God. He did not know that God was using him and guiding his steps along the path of deliverance for a small nation that could not even defend itself. Isaiah says that in this text: 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. The Lord called Cyrus, and he gave Cyrus the title of the King of Persia. Cyrus became a great commander of a great army. The Lord did this for Cyrus even though you have not acknowledged me. Cyrus did not recognize the Lord, because Cyrus worshiped the false gods. He worshiped his own gods of wealth and power, sex and honor and prestige. That is all Cyrus cared about. He did not care about the God he could not see. Cyrus did not care about the Lord God Jehovah, or that little insignificant tribe of Judah. And yet Cyrus was going to do what the Lord God Jehovah wanted done. Isaiah tells us why in verse 5: I am the Lord and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. This Lord God Jehovah continues: I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me. The Lord says to Cyrus I hope you finally really you are going to have strength from me, even though you don’t acknowledge me. Even the nations around are going to realize that it wasn’t Cyrus but it was God (especially when they saw Judah delivered back to their homeland). The Lord says I will strengthen you even 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. From the east -the rising of the sun---to the setting of the sun--the west--all men will know me. There is no God except the Lord God Almighty. He says that again, I am the Lord, and there is no other. What a great historical intervention we see. Israel taken captive and lost, scattered among all the peoples of the world. Judah taken captive, taken to Babylon. The Lord still protected them there. The Lord has Cyrus come and free them. Judah returns back to the Promised Land. This all took place because the Lord controls his story.
Isaiah writes: I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity, and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. We generally don’t think of the Lord creating disaster or darkness. But from time to time we do see God’s hand in that. A couple of examples: Adam and Eve--the creation of the world, they sinned, the perfect world was lost. What is the next thing to happen? God added thorns, thistles, pain and suffering to a now sinful world. Pharaoh was not going to let the people of God go. What happens next? God causes the plagues: darkness, water turns to blood, frogs, boils, the first born dying – to happen to change the mind and heart of Pharaoh. Those are things of darkness/disaster that also show God’s great power and control of history. I, the Lord, do all these things. God is in control of everything for the good of His believers.
We are also reminded today, no matter who the leader is, that leader will follow God’s will. You and I as citizens of this nation are to honor and respect our leaders and pray for them, even though we might not always agree with them. Even though they might philosophically or even morally not follow God’s will. But they are still there for a purpose. It may be hard for us to understand that God’s plan as wicked leaders lead. We think of Saddam Hussein and why such leaders like Hitler? What good does that do? Well, there is one good purpose. It unites people against evil. When evil becomes so wicked that even the most unreligious person recognizes it, then they are united against that evil and thus leaders come tumbling down. This is still a hard thing because we have to really examine the fact that leaders are there because of God’s authority. Paul in Romans explains this point: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (ROMANS 13:1).
It is also true when some get in power they take upon themselves god-like qualities. For they reject God and set themselves up as a god. Those leaders usually do not last too long. While they are there God is still in control. We look back again to Pharaoh’s time and consider Joseph. Joseph’s father loved him a bit more than the rest of his brothers. Because of that they were jealous. His brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph lived in Egypt away from his family from a teenager on. Certainly he was considered as dead to the family. But Joseph became the second most powerful man in the world, next to Pharaoh at that time. There is a believer as the second most powerful man in the world. All of this even though his brothers wanted to get rid of him. Now when all was said and done and the brothers got there, they were still worried that Joseph might want to get even with them. But Joseph looked back at his life--looked back to his time in prison--looked back to his time away from his family--looked back at everything that had happened. Joseph said to them: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”(GENESIS 50:20). Through all those difficulties, the separation from his family, God was still, always in control. God put Joseph in Egypt so that when there were seven good years, they saved up for the seven bad years. Not only were the Egyptians spared, but also the children of Israel because there was plenty in the land of Egypt.
God is in control. He constantly, graciously guides the steps of his people. He even guides the steps of people that are not his own. We know those passages that tell us of God’s concern for the world. The rain and the snow fall on the just and the unjust. We know those passages tell us all things work together for our good. Oh yes there are some that might try with all their might to oppose God and his will. But God and his will are always carried out. Our Lord does control his story. In Proverbs Solomon wrote this, and Solomon was a great king: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” (PROVERBS 16:9). You and I plan out our future, leaders plan out the future of nations--and yet the Lord determines his steps.
We go consider Luther. Luther had determined his course, he thought. Luther studied to be a lawyer, because his father wanted him to be a lawyer, and to be rich as well. But he ended up being a monk. Then God made him be a reformer. The Lord determined Luther’s steps. The Lord determines our steps. The Lord determines the steps of our nation. The Lord determines the steps of the world. That is a great comfort for each and every one of us.
In most of the news that you and I are able to receive, we are going to hear lots of terrifying things, lots of scary things. The normal day-to-day activities do not make the news. Someone safely traveling from one destination to another does not make the news. If there is an accident, a plane crash or crash, this makes the news. Now we hear those terrifying, devastating things. We need to remind ourselves our Lord is in control. Our loving Lord controls his-story. There are a many more things that go right in this world than wrong—they just do not make the news. We are reminded today that no matter who the leader is, they will follow and will carry out God’s will -- either willingly or unwillingly. God’s will is to be done. Just as important as God’s will being done is the fact that God’s will includes his plan for each one us. The prophet Jeremiah says: “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (JEREMIAH 29:11) You and I know that hope and future, that future is eternal life -- those are God’s ultimate plans for us. This is God’s ultimate control of his-story. Christ died for our sins that we might live for him now and finally with him forever. AMEN. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
