Transcript for the Walls of Babylon, Isaiah 45: 1-7
A Little Background and context for our scripture:
Over one hundred years before the birth of Cyrus Isaiah prophesied by name that Cyrus would be used by God to take over Babylon, return the Jews to Jerusalem and enable them to rebuild the Temple. Cyrus was the King of Persia and believed in many gods, none of which was the One True God. The creator of all we know, all heaven and earth, whose sovereignty and providence are intertwined in every aspect of His creation, in every aspect of our lives. Despite his nonbelief in God, God chose Cyrus to do great things for God and His Kingdom. Cyrus was a mighty King who won many battles and was able to create one of the largest earthly kingdoms. One of the things we can see in this passage is that God when compared to earths mightiest King, was and is a mightier King with a kingdom that reaches and extends back and ahead into all eternity. Unlike the kingdoms and all the rulers of this world, that have come and gone, God has and will rule forever, and His Kingdom will never be defeated. It is a kingdom that our God is calling us to know and is telling us that we can enter while still here on earth, regardless of the trials, sin, and circumstances we face here. As we begin let’s not forget that God said through Isaiah before any of these events, before even Cyrus was to be born that all this would take place. In Isaiah 44:24 God tells us I formed you from the womb, I am the Lord who made all things. This is a God that can bend and reshape all He has made at will. This is our God who is speaking to us, let us go to His word and listen.
Here now is the word of our Lord in Isaiah 45: 1-7 read from the New KJV
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held – To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I , the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’
Let me just include that as I was studying this scripture, I read a sermon given by J.C. Philpot in 1853, and he added greatly to my understanding of this passage, which I will share with you today.
Scripture presents the task that lay before Cyrus as immense and beyond human doing. He was to go into Babylon, defeat them and capture this most powerful kingdom. Babylon is physically described as being virtually impenetrable, one could say it would take an act of God for Cyrus to be successful. The walls around Babylon were said to be several hundred feet high and about fifty cubits or around 75 feet thick. In addition, it is said Babylon had over 100 gates that had to be gone through, gates made of bronze and bared with iron.
Let’s begin by looking at the many things our God is wanting us to know. First, He places an overwhelming circumstance before Cyrus and then tells Cyrus I’ve got you by the right hand. The right hand in scripture symbolizes Gods power and strength. Cyrus would have the strength and power of God with him. And God knew full well what was placed before Cyrus would be too much for him to do without God’s help. So, God tells him He will go before him, God will break in pieces the doors of bronze and He will cut through the bars of iron. And why is God going to do all this, God tells us so that you will know that it is I the Lord. God tells us, it is I that call you by name, I call you even though you do not know me. God is telling us I know you. I know what lays before you, and I will go before you, I will equip you. God goes on to tell us that there is none other than Him, that He is the one who has made light and dark, well- being and calamity.
He tells us He is God who does it all. God knows us and all we face and all we need, He knows our name, He formed us, He calls us to Him, He wants to take us through all that lay before us, and He knows on this earth it will be hard. Which is exactly why we need Him to go before us, just as Cyrus this mightiest of mighty earthly Kings needed God to go before him. It is in the hard places, it is in our trials, it is in the circumstances we face both within and outside of ourselves that we feel are overwhelming, insurmountable that we can come to know this God. And we can all agree that none of us want to face trials, difficulties, sorrows, illnesses, loss and pain, but when we can come to see that just maybe they come to us as invitations to meet and know our God either for the first time or more deeply, we can come to see our trials and hard times as bringing us the treasure in our darkness. The treasure that God promises us in v. 3. After telling us He will go before us God says I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know me.
When everything in our world is going smoothly and we can meet our needs within our own self sufficiency, we don’t really search too hard if at all for God, we don’t really crave and seek this promise He has given us. It’s so easy to give thanks to God when all is going well, but what do we do when the tides change and times become hard, too hard.
But this passage is not just about God saying I know times are going to be hard and even seem impossible for you, and Ill go before you…so what does it mean to me and to my life. As I read these verses I have wanted to say, wait a minute God… you and I both know that You don’t walk before me and give me smooth sailing through all that is hard in my life, God I’m struggling , I’m hurting and there are times I question if I can make it, its just that bad…so what does it mean that you go before me, when it still feels like my walls are like the walls of Babylon? Its as if you God are not taking down those walls for me.
It’s about more than God going before us and removing all the obstacles in our path. If we look at Isaiah v.2 God also says I will make the crooked places straight. What is a crooked place and what does God’s promise mean to me that He will make them straight? So first let’s look at what a crooked place is. We may experience a crooked place within ourselves due to the reality of sin, maybe we have sinful desires, or have chosen to deal with circumstances in a way that is dishonest or harmful to others, ourselves, or any number of things. Then there are the crooked places we come face to face with due to circumstances that may be beyond our doing such as illness, death, circumstances brought to us and caused by others, or they may be due to God’s workings and the trials He puts before us that He feels we need. But whatever the source God has promised to make these crooked places straight. God may simply remove the circumstance from us or we may find that the trial before us remains but God works within us to change us, our feelings and responses to it. To change us in such a way that we are strengthened, feel that we can endure, come to feel Gods presence and peace are with us. Regardless of the cause of our crooked places when we are willing to believe that our God is our King, our sovereign ruler and Lord, the one in control of all His Kingdom and the one who supernaturally can work within our minds, souls and hearts to change us, and use all that befalls us for good. The good being that we discover God in our darkness, that we come to know Him deeper, and with greater trust. This relationship with our God is as all the physical treasures Cyrus was shown in the palace of the King of Babylon. Our God and our relationship with Him give us deep hope, deep joy that can not be touched by events on this earth. We find that our will to accept what God brings to our lives is being worked for our good, and that God is in charge, and we can rest in that knowledge, our God will go before us in all we do and calls us to trust that He is big enough to carry us and see us through this life.
Even with this belief in our humanity we can still falter, we can still fall prey to doubt and fear, and in these times we can go to God’s word which is alive and has power for us, which as we come to it can work within us and we can reread that God tells us He has formed us, knows us intimately, calls us, and wants us to know He is our God, and in all that we experience God wants us to know He is our God and knows our name. And most of all we can be willing to believe, just willing to believe our God can and does work supernaturally in us and in all around us and ask God to meet us right where we are, take us by our right hand, walk before us, and make our crooked places straight. I have found that just the simple act of willingness to believe allows God to work what we would call miracles within us.
We can remember the sending of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and give thanks that through Him our sins have been removed leaving open the path for us to come before God, to have relationship and fellowship, and nothing can take this from us. In closing we can remember and give thanks that no matter what walls and crooked places stand before us our Savior is infinitely greater than any wrong or sin we can do, have done or will do, and any circumstance we may face. In our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we stand secure in all. So, let’s remember that no matter what walls we are facing, what crooked places we are struggling with, we have a God who knows our name, and a God who will go before us, and a God who knows what we need. So, until next time, thanks for joining us, praise God and God bless.
