"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me.  I am the LORD, and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:6

What precipitated this statement from the Almighty?  What is it that He was about to do so that all people, from the East to the West, would know that there is no other God besides Him?

To be fair, this isn't the only such proclamation in scripture.  Many such statements are made in scripture, often before or after some great deliverance for Israel.  In such cases God wanted to let Israel, and often the world, know that what He was about to do was being done so that there would be no mistaking that, indeed, there is a God in Israel.

For example, as God spoke to Moses about freeing His people from Egyptian bondage, He said:

"And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." Ex 7:5

Also, when Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan, God directed him to erect a memorial of 12 stones taken from the bottom of the Jordan River.  Joshua gives the reason:

"When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What mean these stones?'  Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:  That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever."  Joshua 4:21-24

This month I'd like to explore another fascinating instance of this.  First, though, lFet's set the scene...

It is approximately 540 B.C. The children of Israel are being held captive in exile in Babylon.  Sent there for gross idolatry and disobedience to God's law, they might have had reason to wonder if God had finally forgotten them and cast them off altogether.  Some, however, knew better.  Not only did they know the character of God, but they had something else....

...they had a name...

God had prophesied through Jeremiah that Israel's exile in Babylon would last only 70 years.  At the end of that time, God was going to judge Babylon and overthrow them setting up the events that would lead to Israel's return to her homeland:

"And this whole land (Israel) shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon...and will make it perpetual desolations."  Jer. 25:11-12

"For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place (Israel)."  Jer. 29:10

God's promise to them was that, even though they had sinned against Him, after 70 years He would cause them to return to their own land.  But God went even further.  God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and actually gave Israel the name of one who would overthrow Babylon and release Israel to return to their homeland:

"Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:"  Isaiah 45:1-2

These verses point out that God had chosen the Persian ruler Cyrus as His instrument to subdue nations; that He, God, was going to go before him and give him victory.  Keep in mind here that God is speaking to Cyrus:

"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.  For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name:  I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.  I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:"  Isaiah 45:3-5

Notice that God has called Cyrus "for Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect".  God is saying that he has was setting Cyrus apart in order to free his people Israel from captivity and return them to their own land.

History tells us that Babylon ruled until about 538 B.C. On a particular night, as the Babylonian king Belshazzar was throwing a wild party in honor of his gods, he did not notice that the water level of his "impenetrable" gate was quietly receding.  Unbeknownst to Belshazzar, the general of an invading army had been sent to dam up the Euphrates so that his army could go under Babylon's "impenetrable" gate on dry ground.  That night, the kingdom of Babylon was overthrown by the invading Medo-Persian army of a ruler named Cyrus.

Now, this all may not seem that significant.  So, what?  A guy by the name of Cyrus invades and overthrows Babylon?  Big deal. 

Perhaps you're not getting the picture.

The prophecy by Isaiah mentioned above was given almost 200 years prior to this event...in other words, before Cyrus had even been born!!  Now, those statements in Isaiah 45 begin to take on new meaning..."I, the LORD, I have called thee by name though thou hast not known me..." 

Read the prophecy above again.

You see, God was revealing to Israel and to Cyrus - even though Cyrus was yet unborn - that God was going to call him to power so that he could set the captive Israelites free.  Can you imagine the Jews languishing in exile, wondering if God had forgotten them?  But, wait a minute...God gave us a name...a deliverer...now we remember!  How often they must have read Isaiah's prophecy and heard that name rehearsed to them over and over...how it had been passed down through the generations...yes...Cyrus.  But that prophecy is 200 years old!!  Surely...I mean...do you really think it could...?  But, Babylon is so powerful...

And then, one night while great feasting and carousing is going on in the palace of the Babylonian king, there is a great disturbance...shouting...men running...swords clashing...horses...under the gate?....but, the Euphrates!!  And then suddenly...

...that name...

Cyrus has come...the very name...after almost 200 years...

Just as God had promised.

Josephus, the famous Jewish historian of the first century A.D., adds his testimony - and it is striking.  He reports this decree made by Cyrus:

"Thus saith Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the inhabitable earth, I believe that He is that God whom the nation of the Israelites worship; for, indeed, He foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build Him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea." 

Josephus adds:  "This was well known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies." 

So, Cyrus, now convinced that the God of Israel was for real, issued a proclamation declaring that the Jews should return to their homeland - exactly 70 years from the beginning of their captivity...

God is never late...and His Word never fails.

And so, just like Joshua and Moses mentioned above, we have yet another reason to believe...

For, Isaiah 45:1-5 reveals the miraculous calling of Cyrus, but verse 6 tells us why:

"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me.  I am the LORD, and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:6