Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJohn Kitto Evening Bible Devotions: May 1
Today is: Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 (Show Today's Devotion)
Select a Day for a Devotion in the Month of May: (Show All Months)
Isa_44:23 to Isa_45:3
“Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it:
Shout, ye lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, ye mountains,
Thou forest, and every tree therein!
For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
And glorified himself in Israel.
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer,
And He that formed thee from the womb,
I am the Lord, that maketh all things;
That stretcheth forth the heavens alone;
That spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
That frustrateth the tokens of the liars,
That maketh the diviners mad;
That turneth wise men backward,
And maketh their knowledge foolish;
That confirmeth the word of His servant,
And performeth the counsel of His messengers;
That saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited;
And to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built,
And I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
That saith to the deep, Be dry,
And, I will dry up thy rivers:
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd,
And shall perform all my pleasure;
Even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built;
And to the temple, Thy foundations shall be laid.
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:
I will give thee the treasures of darkness,
And the hidden riches of secret places;
That then mayest know that I, the Lord,
Which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”
In this passage we may select for remark a few points which have not already engaged our attention, or which it may not be necessary to reserve for notice in connection with the taking of Babylon, to which some of the terms employed have been supposed to refer.
With regard to the verse which refers pointedly to the futility of the lying oracles and divinations on which the enemies of Cyrus relied, it very forcibly brings to mind the extreme solicitude manifested, by Croesus, to ascertain the result of his enterprise against Cyrus, before he entered upon it. He sent to consult the famous oracle at Delphi, and the response was, that if he crossed the river Halys he would destroy a great empire. Nothing doubting that this empire was that of the Persians, he did cross the Halys, and by that act commenced the war which ended in his ruin. He afterwards sent to reproach the oracle for deceiving him; but the answer was, that an empire had been lost by his crossing the Halys—his own empire, and the oracle had been fulfilled; and that he alone had been wrong in his interpretation. Nothing could more clearly evince the true nature of these lying oracles, which were generally of this ambiguous character, and might be interpreted either way as circumstances turned out. There can be no question that, in this case, had the result been different, the interpretation of Croesus would have been accepted as the true one, and would have been cited in proof of the verity of the oracle.
The words, “That turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish,” may remind us that Croesus was a patron of philosophers and wise men, who found much welcome at his court; and that the king himself made some pretension to wisdom, although it would appear by the result, that he profited very little by the opportunities which he enjoyed, of acquiring what was in that age considered the highest wisdom. Among those who visited his court was the famous philosopher Solon, whom the king received with great attention and respect. He was then at the height of his glory and greatness, and, like Nebuchadnezzar, had no mean opinion of the position he had attained. He showed the philosopher all his immense and curious treasures; and anxious to ascertain the impression which the display had made, he, with affected carelessness, asked him, whom he conceived to be the most fortunate man he had ever known. Greatly to his mortification, Solon seemed not to think of him at all; but named, first, Tellus, who was slain in fighting victoriously for his country; then, Cleobis and Biton, who had died suddenly in the temple after having given a signal manifestation of their filial piety. Hearing this, the king, to bring him to the point, asked bluntly: “What, then, do you think of me?” The reply was full of deep import: “I pronounce no man happy before his death.” His meaning was, apparently, that the vicissitudes of life are so frequent and so great, that no man can be pronounced happy till we see the end—till he ceases to be subject to the contingencies of life, and has ended it with honor. This was a high view, according to the notions among the heathen of that age; but it would be a low one to those who know that they are born of God, and whom the privileges of that new birth have brought to a state of prosperity and blessedness which no vicissitudes of life can alter, nor any circumstances of death disturb. Note: See this conversation very fully reported in Herodotus (i. 30-34). It is usually received as authentic; but we find that Sir W. Drummond, in his Origines, book vii. chap. 7, disbelieves its being founded on fact—there being chronological difficulties in the way of the alleged interview between Solon and Croesus. The difficulties are not clearly enough stated for investigation; and as Sir William confesses. that “it is painful to have doubts where others believe,” we should not advise the rejection of this anecdote; on any evidence that has yet been produced against it.
Croesus was far from being pleased at this plain dealing of Solon, and he had not even the magnanimity to conceal his displeasure. He dismissed him with contempt, as one utterly unacquainted with the world. But the weighty words sunk deep into his mind; and when his beloved son Atys was soon after slain in chasing the wild boar, he had occasion to feel their truth. Another occasion occurred when his army was defeated, his great city of Sardis taken, his vast treasures the prey of the conquerors, and himself a prisoner doomed to death. In fact, the remembrance of Solon’s words struck him so forcibly, as he was led forth to his death, that he thrice repeated his name so loudly as to attract the attention of Cyrus. The conqueror then, through an interpreter, required to know the subject of his exclamation. He told him of Solon’s visit, and of his words. The Persian was so much impressed by this striking instance of the mutabilities of life which the philosopher had in view, that his heart was softened. He forbore his vengeful intention, and admitted Croesus to some degree of his favor. He allowed him to retain his kingly title, and assigned him some territory for his support; but he took care to keep him continually near his person, and forbore not to possess himself of all the treasures in which Croesus had placed his hope.
The passage in the sacred text which has been quoted:
“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:”
describes vividly the manner in which all obstacles gave way before him in his difficult march, under the guidance of One who had given him a great work to do, and who upheld his hand till it was accomplished. It also indicates the marvelous facility with which the strongest cities were taken by the Persians, a people whose force consisted chiefly in cavalry, and who never, in all their history, excelled in the taking of fortified places. Yet there never was a conqueror whose triumphant course was less obstructed by delay in the taking of towns. In many cases a sort of mysterious terror, which, as prophesied, invested his name, and went before him, so disheartened the garrisons, that the gates of the towns to which he came were opened without opposition on his approach. In other cases some unexpected stratagems put the strongest places, with very little delay, in his possession. Cyrus, indeed, beyond most generals of ancient times, was fertile in stratagems of war. No fewer than ten of his remarkable operations of this kind, all attended with important results, are recited by Polyaenus in his Stratagemata. In one way and another the result was as we have stated, and, without doubt, the distinct prediction by Isaiah, of a matter so much beyond the range of common experience, must have had great weight upon the mind of Cyrus, in convincing him not only that the prophecy was true, but the Divine Author of that prophecy was he who had indeed made straight his path before him, and who had opened to him the two-leaved gates of the numerous strong cities which he had won.