…who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”
“I promise.” These words are the ultimate assurance from someone that this will happen. Unfortunately, no matter how positively the promise is made, it is not always kept. This section in Isaiah begins with these words.
I am the LORD, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
This is more like it. When the LORD says it will happen, we can be sure of it. God followed it up with 4 instances of what will happen, ending with the return of the exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. In 538 BC, this would be fulfilled when Cyrus defeated Babylon the year before and sent them back. This is just one example of the promise-keeping God coming through when it seemed impossible. It would surely not be the last time.
When those same people later came under the rule of the Greeks and then the Romans, the possibility of deliverance must have looked even more bleak. Then came the incarnation and Jesus Christ who made a promise of his own, that he would be killed and rise on the third day. On that Good Friday, it looked impossible. Then came the first Easter and suddenly there seemed to be no promise God could not keep. That is a comfort for us in this broken world who think it cannot be fixed. Jesus promised to return to rule over a new heaven and a new earth where sickness, sorrow, poverty and death will eventually cease. Doubt it? We can rest on these words alone…
I am the LORD.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church