Isaiah 45:1-25

45:1 | To call a pagan king the Lord’s anointed would have shocked Isaiah’s audience, because it was usually a term reserved for Israel’s appointed leader. In this instance, God would work through Cyrus to accomplish His purpose.

45:7 | In this verse, light is the peace that God will bring to His exiled people, while darkness is the calamity He will bring upon Babylon.

45:9-10 | God’s relationship to all created things is compared to that of the potter to the clay (29:16; 64:8; Jer. 18:6; Rom. 9:20-21). Just as it is futile for the clay to find fault with the potter or the child with the parent, neither should what is created question the work of the Creator’s hands.

45:14-17 | The prophet says that when Israel is restored in the future, her enemies will also acknowledge God. Although Israel was at the time being mistreated in exile, one day all the nations would bow before God and acknowledge His kingly rule at Jesus’ second coming (Phil. 2:10-11).