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TEXT • Isaiah 44:18
JV • SUMMARY & READING
Do you remember our previous study? There are different “Servants” described in Isaiah. This is the first servant: ISRAEL. The nation of Israel is called “Jeshurun” in verse 2, which means, “The Upright One” (a term God called Israel back in Deuteronomy 32:15).
VARSITY • QUESTIONS & CROSS REFERENCES
Isaiah 44:3 • “I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit”
John 4:13–14 • To whom does Jesus offer living water to in this passage?
John 4:23–26 • How is this person to receive the living water?
Isaiah 44:8 • Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’ ”
Matthew 7:24 • What kind of rock is Jesus compared to?
Romans 9:33 • What kind of rock is Jesus compared to?
1 Corinthians 10:4 • Which rock was prophetic of Jesus?
Isaiah 45
JV • SUMMARY & READING
Do you remember in a previous lesson, we learned that Isaiah spoke of TWO different servants—Israel and Messiah. Israel as a servant was sinful, broken, inadequate, and needed rescue and repentance. Messiah, on the other hand, was, well… just like Jesus!
Now, we see a similar situation—but now we see there are TWO different saviors.
Isaiah saw the first fulfillment in the king of Persia, who takes action to save Israel from exile. But Isaiah is ultimately seeing Jesus in his prophecy—the True Savior for the whole world!
Let me explain how “dual prophecy” works in scripture…
Many prophecies are given in the Old Testament in LAYERS: where the prophet is seeing something that will be fulfilled soon and quickly, in a limited way. But God was actually showing the prophet a grand future event: the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy.
It works like this: Imagine seeing a mountain range off in the distance:
It looks like one mountain range, but you can’t see the valley between these mountains. It is actually two different ranges. In terms of history, the valley between these the first fulfillment and the future, ultimate fulfillment might be hundreds of years!
So, Isaiah, from his limited perspective, was seeing the first fulfillment of a savior for Israel: a king named Cyrus. This normal human played a role in Israel’s national story that was like Jesus! Cyrus was what theologians call a “TYPE” of Messiah—a foreshadowing of Jesus. Cool…!
VARSITY • QUESTIONS & CROSS REFERENCES
And here is the BIG POINT: because Cyrus is a PICTURE of Messiah Jesus, the way Isaiah describes Cyrus OFTEN describes Jesus, but not perfectly. There will be some differences and some similarities. Let’s note them as we work through this passage:
Isaiah 44:28–45:25
44:28 • Cyrus is called a “_______________”—and because of him, Jerusalem will be rebuilt,
and a __________________ built for the temple.
John 10:11 • Jesus is the _______________________
Ephesians 2:20 • Jesus is the only ___________________
Isaiah 45:1–4 • Notice this ends with “though you have not known me.” God is going to use Cyrus for an amazing deliverance of Israel, even though Cyrus himself doesn’t know the True God. This is unlike Jesus, of course. Yet, even here we find some great connections between Cyrus and Jesus:
Acts 10:38 • Jesus and Cyrus were both _______________
Revelation 3:7 • When it comes to doors, Jesus and Cyrus both ________________
Isaiah 45:5–12 • In this section, God reveals Himself to King Cyrus as the Sovereign Creator of All.
Tips to understanding this passage:
45:6 • “From the rising to the setting of the sun” = See Malachi 1:11. This phrase means
____________________
Acts 1:8 • “And you will be my disciples… to the __________ “
Isaiah 45:7 • In the King James Bible, this verse says, “God creates evil.” Don’t panic. This word is actually, “calamity” or “disaster.” The idea is that God allows natural disasters—but don’t forget…
Romans 5:12 • Who brought sin and corruption to our planet? ___________
Isaiah 45:13–14 • Cyrus’ work of setting Israel free will be known across the world, and God will be famous because of it. The nations will declare that God is surely with Israel, and there is no other God!
Notice this phrase: He will “let My exiles go free, without any payment or reward.”
Revelation 2:6 • Jesus gives from the spring of the water of life __________
Isaiah 45:15–21 • Here, God warns against the foolishness of turning to idols. This is a common theme throughout the book of Isaiah.
45:17 • Notice how Israel’s salvation in God is described in verse 17. This is clearly describing something greater than the salvation that Cyrus secured for Israel in restoring them to their land.
What key words do you see in this passage describing their salvation? ________________
45:20 • People who worship false idols have no _____________.
And their idols cannot _______________.
Isaiah 45:21–22 • These are the KEY phrases in this chapter: …And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.
Notice—even though Cyrus is described as a shepherd and rebuilder of Israel (44:28), and that he will subdue nations for Israel’s sake (45:1), don’t be confused—God is Israel’s TRUE and ONLY Savior.
This is also true spiritually—There is only one salvation for mankind…
Titus 2:13 • What two titles are assigned to Christ Jesus in this verse? _______
Titus 2:14 • What does Jesus do for us in this passage? __________
2 Peter 1:1 • What two titles are given for Jesus Christ in this verse? _______
Acts 4:12 • Where is salvation found? _________
Where else is salvation found? ___________
Galatians 1:6–9 • What does Paul say about a “different Gospel”? __________
What is the true Gospel (vs 9)? __________
What should our reaction be to a “salvation” by a different “Gospel”? __________
Isaiah 45:23–25 • God’s word has gone forth in righteousness.
See Philippians 2:9–11. What is the connection _____________ ?
