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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 45:8 - 45:13
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Rebuking the Reprobate People
v. 8. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, in fertilizing rain, and let the skies, the clouds of the firmament, pour down righteousness, the fullness of spiritual salvation. Let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation, that coming down from above being eagerly received by the earth, and let righteousness spring up together, in luxuriant growth; I, the Lord, have created it. The reference is to faith and its fruits as brought forth under the influence of the Word of God's grace and mercy, especially in Messianic times—the ideal condition in the world. But Israel, full of doubt and mistrust on account of the misery of its captivity, murmured against God in spite of His promise of deliverance. This attitude the Lord takes into account in this section.
v. 9. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, an individual person trying to call the great God of heaven and earth to account! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth, that is, man with his equal. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, arguing with the potter, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? not possessing enough strength and skill to produce something worthwhile. The very idea of such an occurrence is preposterous, but the murmuring of the people against the Lord no less so. The Lord therefore rebukes this presumption in a solemn statement.
v. 10. Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? Applied to the Lord, these questions would challenge both His authority and His power. Therefore He now makes a majestic statement concerning His glory amid supremacy.
v. 11. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, He who has chosen and established Israel as His peculiar people, Ask Me of things to come concerning My Sons and concerning the work of My hands command ye me, literally, "The future demand of Me; concerning My Sons and the creatures of My hands command Me!" Will they dare to go to this extent? Has this pass been reached? It is the very strongest condemnation of Israel's presumption.
v. 12. I have made the earth and created man upon it, making him with His own hands; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, like a great tent, and all their host have I commanded, His omnipotence as well as his wisdom being in evidence everywhere.
v. 13. I have raised him, Cyrus, up in righteousness, in accordance with His covenant with Israel, and I will direct all his ways, removing all obstructions which might hinder him; he shall build My city, Jerusalem, and he shall let go My captives, the exiled Jews, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts. When Cyrus issued His decree concerning the return of the Jews to their country, he acted under the impulse of the divine will; for God directs the conduct of men everywhere, so that they act in accordance with His will.