Behold the King of the World! - Isaiah 44:9-45:13

Once again, let’s look to the word of God and read together beginning in Isaiah 44, verse 9.

  [9] All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. [10] Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? [11] Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 

[12] The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. [13] The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. [14] He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. [15] Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. [16] Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” [17] And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 

[18] They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. [19] No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” [20] He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”  (Isaiah 44:9-20 ESV)

I want to take a few minutes to address this text in light of recent events.  Over the past week we have seen one of the most profound examples of idolatry ever witnessed in modern times.  Islam, totally contrary to what it vehemently claims, is a religion of idolatry.  They would be highly insulted to hear me say that, and therefore my life may be at risk by doing so.  Pastor Terry Jones received over 100 death threats.  But it should be evident to the entire world by now that what I am saying is true.  The idol which Muslims worship is the Koran.  The evidence for this is their willingness to murder in order to defend this book from destruction, this collection of pages that contain what they consider to be the final revelation of God from the final prophet of God, Mohammed.

Riots were started in Afghanistan by Muslims upon the mere threat of burning the Koran.  One Muslim leader said the burning of the Koran would be considered an act of war against the entire Muslim community.  What they mean by “entire Muslim community” is not Dearborn, Michigan.  What they mean is the entire body of Muslim believers everywhere around the world, similar to what we mean when we refer to “the Church”.  So the destruction and blaspheming and desecration of this book is sufficient cause for the annihilation of all infidels everywhere.  But mostly in America.

Now just to be fair, Christians who believe the Bible as we do are sometimes called “Bibliolators”.  We are accused of worshipping this book because we believe in its inerrancy in the original autographs, its infallibility regarding every topic it addresses, and its inspiration by the spirit of God working through the original human authors.  So the more liberal, Christian-type people who have a problem with the inspiration, and infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible sometimes accuse us of worshipping it.

Our defense against such accusations would sound very similar to the defense of Muslims in their explanation of why they don’t worship the Koran. ¹  We would use nearly identical arguments to make our cases.  However, there is one very significant difference between the Christian understanding of the Bible, and the Muslim understanding of the Koran.  We understand that while the Bible is the Word of God, that it is indeed His supernatural revelation of Himself to us in written form, still, at the end of the day, the Bible is a book.  It is a very special and precious book.  

But the Bible is not God.  Nor do we treat it as though it were.  If someone were to walk in here, gather up all of our Bibles and burn them in the front yard of the church, we would be quite saddened and even frightened by that event.  Certainly it would be a great tragedy to see God’s precious word treated as though it were worthless.  But it is a fairly safe bet that Muslim lives would not be threatened over it.  No mosques would be burnt to the ground.  No Iraqi or Iranian or Afghani flags would be destroyed, and Mohammed would not be hung in effigy.

The Muslim understanding of their holy book is such that the entire non-Muslim world is terrified of what might happen in retaliation for the foolish acts of a single pastor in Florida.  Because of the “righteous” indignation of some Muslims, people have already been attacked. 

This is the result of Muslim idolatry.  Regardless of what they might say about their respect for the Koran and that is is a book and obviously not Allah himself, Muslims worship this book to the point of murdering those who would desecrate it, as though Allah himself were being blasphemed.  They treat the Koran as though it were God.  And to quote Isaiah, is it not a lie that they hold in their hands?  When they hold the Koran and kiss it, and defend it against those who would bring harm to it, are they not kissing a lie?  An idol? 

We on the other hand are not guilty of such things in regard to the Bible.  In fact, we might do well to show a bit more respect for this book.  There was a time when I thought the more ragged my Bible was, the more spiritual I would appear to others.  I was proud to have a worn out Bible with pages falling out of it.  That was a sign of serious devotion.  But I began to realize it may just be a sign of serious abuse and neglect.  Maybe we should be more reverent towards this precious book because this really is the word of the true and living God.  

But, we do not elevate this book to the point where it is an idol to be worshipped.  We love the Bible because of its contents, because of the wonderfully good news it brings to us.  But we do not love and adore and venerate the book itself.  Once again, in a similar fashion to what Isaiah says in the text we just read, do we not cut down trees to make firewood to warm ourselves, and with those same trees make paper in order to fashion it into a Bible?  It is a book.  We do not have have such high regard for this man-made thing that people are confused as to which one we love more: Our God or our Bible.  We love God and His word.  But our worship is reserved for God alone.

Turn with me for a moment to the book of Exodus, chapter 31, and notice verse 18.  This, I hope, will make the case for me:

[18] And he [God] gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.  (Exodus 31:18 ESV)

Skip down to chapter 32, verse 15:

[15] Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. [16] The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.  (Exodus 32:15-16 ESV)

So Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai, written in stone by the finger of God.  If there was ever an occasion to worship a man-made object, that was it.  God Himself wrote on those tablets!  But, when Moses saw the people worshipping the golden calf, he shouted to the people, “Look here!  I have the Law of God written in stone with His own finger!  Don’t worship the golden calf, worship this: the writing of God!!“  

Not exactly.  He threw down the writing of God on the tablets and shattered them in pieces.  The people worshipped a calf made of gold, but God Himself wrote His words on those two stones.  So Moses, in a fit of genuinely righteous indignation, smashed them to bits.  And here is what God said to him for destroying those precious, God-inscribed tablets:

[34:1] The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.”  

And that’s it.  God doesn’t strike Moses dead for desecrating the holy tablets.   God doesn’t punish him for destroying these God-given icons which were worthy of veneration.  God doesn’t even rebuke Moses.  Moses is only commanded to make a new set of tablets to replace the ones he broke.  So, he does.  But he doesn’t worship the tablets of stone.  He worships the God who wrote on those tablets. 

We love the Bible for what it is: God’s divine revelation of Himself to us.  But we reserve worship for the transcendent and invisible God of the Bible, and we worship Him alone.  And we certainly don’t threaten to kill anyone who might hold an International Burn the Bible Day at their mosque or synagogue or Atheists’ non-prayer meeting.

[45:1] Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings,

to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

[2] “I will go before you and level the exalted places,

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. 

[3] I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who

call you by your name. [i.e. Cyrus]

[4] For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. [Cyrus]

[5] I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God;

I equip you, though you do not know me,

[6] that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

[7] I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the LORD, who does all these things.

[8] “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;

let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it.

[9] “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots!

Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?

[10] Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in 

labor?’”

[11] Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:

“Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?

[12] I made the earth and created man on it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.

[13] I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; [Cyrus]

he shall build my city and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.   (Isaiah 45:1-13 ESV)

This is a fascinating and humbling text.  This is about God’s rule over nations and kingdoms and individual people, 100 years before they are born.  It speaks of God’s premeditated purposes and plans which He carries out in history, and of His infinite power to do so.  And it speaks of man and His subservient position to God and that man has no right to question or criticize anything God chooses to do.

This kind of talk doesn’t sit well with Americans.  In fact, to talk about God’s sovereignty in any terms other than vague, impersonal, general, vapid, ethereal, philosophical terms that float around in the ozone layer makes us a bit nervous.  We’re okay with God being sovereign over the seasons and the ocean tides and star systems a billion light years away.  We’re even okay with God causing the sun to rise in the east and set in the west like clockwork.  In fact, we appreciate that about God.  But we get a bit nervous when He wants to control our lives.  Americans are anti-sovereignty.  We have been ever since our revolution against King George in the 1770’s.  

America championed the doctrines of God-given, personal, inalienable rights which no one could take from us.  Things like the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Not even King George could deprive us of these “self-evident” rights and the “fact” that all men are created equal.  No one has the right to reign over another.  Rather, according to our founding fathers, what makes for good government is government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  We have the right to make our own way, to govern ourselves as we see fit.  And no one anywhere can take these rights and this freedom away from us.  Not even God.  I mean, He could if He wanted to.  But He doesn’t want to.  Or so we’ve been taught.

Because this kind of thinking was so prevalent in 18^th century America, the biblical doctrines regarding: 

1. 1. The sovereign power of God and His inherent right as the Creator of everything to rule our lives as He sees fit, and 
2. 2. His right to choose one nation over another (or over ALL others) as His own people, 

Those teachings fell upon hard times and they have been vastly unpopular within the American Christian church ever since.  According to one author, this independent American spirit of the 1700’s wrought havoc particularly among the churches of New England which held to Reformed doctrines.  Churches that had historically been very biblical in their teaching of God’s sovereignty over absolutely all things, eventually became staunch proponents of totally free will.  It was the direct result of the political doctrines which drove the American Revolution.

I would submit to you that the only Person in the universe who has totally free will is God.  The rest of us are enslaved to sin until we are set free through the Gospel.  Then, because of the grace of God in our lives, we become the glad and willing slaves of Christ our Master.  But only God has the freedom, as well as the power, to do absolutely whatever he wants to do.  

That is evident in this passage where God speaks of a man by name, whose grandparents have yet to be born!  Not only does God call him by name, but He delineates exactly how he is going to use this future man for His own purposes.  Cyrus will become king of the Medes and Persians, he and his army will destroy Babylon, he will be responsible for releasing the Jews from 70 years of captivity, and he will send them back to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.  He will even fund the project.

Such sovereign, predestinating power does not set well with Americans because it infringes on this idea of freedom and liberty and self-determination and independence and personal rights and the right we think we have to control our own destinies.  But if God is God, then He is sovereign, and we are not.  Ultimately, we are not in control of our own lives.  God is.  That is not to say we bear no responsibility for how we live.  But it does mean God causes everything to work according to His own good pleasure, not ours.  We serve to further His purposes, not vice versa.  There are a number of stark biblical examples of this:

Adam - What makes Adam’s birth so interesting is that he wasn’t.  He wasn’t born.  He was created directly by God from dirt.  If there was ever a person whose life was premeditated by God, it was Adam’s.  Adam didn’t ask to be created.  God decided to make this particular individual to be the very first human being, and the representative of the entire human race.  Obviously, Adam was not in charge of his own life  It is difficult for us to imagine how it must have felt to suddenly exist as an adult.  That is how God created Adam: as an adult.  And Eve.  God chose to create the human race and He chose to make these two people the father and mother of us all, and their actions would have a direct bearing upon all of their descendants.  Billions of them.  That was God’s plan.

Consider Isaac - In some ways, his birth was extremely remarkable.  Not only because his birth was prophesied by God Himself.  Not only because he was born to a 90 year old woman.  Isaac was remarkable primarily because he was the firstborn of an entire nation.  From this one son, fantastically born to ancient parents, would come a people numbering in the millions.  His purpose-driven life was to be the father of multitudes, and God saw to it that that happened.  God promised it, and God caused it because it was his will to do so.  

Jacob - The Sovereign hand of God is obvious in Jacob’s life because of what God says about him before he and his twin brother are even born:

[10] . . . when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, [11] though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— [12] she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [13] As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  (Romans 9:10-13 ESV)

Because God is sovereign and we are not, He has the right to choose one child, even before birth, over another.  That is the extent of God’s sovereignty.

Samson - The Angel of the Lord announces to the wife of Manoah that she will have a son who will be a Nazarite from birth. (Judges 13:2-5)

Samuel - is given to Elkanah and Hannah by God in response to her prayers and he is a Nazarite from birth. (1 Samuel 1:9-11)

David said of his own life, “Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb.  My praise is continually of you.”  (Psalm 71:6 ESV)

John the Baptist  - [13] But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. [14] And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, [15] for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.   (Luke 1:13-15 ESV)

I believe it was D.A. Carson who said, “You might say John was born again before he was born!”

Judas   [20] When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. [21] And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” [22] And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” [23] He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. [24] The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” [25] Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”  (Matthew 26:20-25 ESV)

It would have been better for Judas if he had never been born, but he was born, and in God’s sovereign plan of redemption, that particular man became the prophesied betrayer of the Lord Jesus.  In speaking to the other apostles, Peter said in Acts 1,

[16] “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. [17] For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” [20] “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, 

“‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and 

“‘Let another take his office.’   (Acts 1:16-17, 20 ESV)

And the most anticipated and prophesied birth in history, the birth of God’s beloved Servant in whom His soul delights, the Lord Jesus.  Born of a virgin, born without sin, born in order to live, to be made a curse for us, and die to save His people from their sins.  

Cyrus is just one example, although he is quite a remarkable one, of God’s sovereign power over the human race itself.  Nothing and no one trumps the power and the purposes of God Almighty.

Why would anyone have a problem with this?  Why would Christians have a problem with the sovereignty of God, particularly His sovereignty in salvation?  Why does Jonah 2:9 make some believers nervous: “Salvation belongs to the Lord”?  Why do they hate Romans 9:13: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”?

It comes down to one thing: Faith.  People don’t like the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God over all things because they don’t trust Him to do the right thing.  Which is really strange.  Christians don’t have a problem trusting God for their eternal salvation.  That’s easy!  But I’m not sure I can trust Him for tomorrow.  I can trust Him to forgive me for a list of sins that would kill an entire forest to make the paper to print them all in a small font.  But what about tomorrow?  What about the election in November?  What if I get sick?  What if my kids get sick?  What if I can’t pay my bills?  

Salvation?  Piece of cake!  My retirement account?  Oooh . . .  That’s something I think I better handle myself.

If God is sovereign over a fish in the ocean so that that fish is under a particular boat, at a particular time, during a particular storm, prepared to swallow a particularly obnoxious prophet, so that he might be transported for three days to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and then vomits that distasteful prophet onto the beach, on cue, so that he might go to the Assyrians and preach to them, so that God might grant the entire nation repentance and forgiveness, . . .

I think He can handle anything in your life that comes down the pike.  As God’s creatures, we are not in a position to be saying to Him, “What do you think you’re doing?“  The clay doesn’t say to the Potter, “I think You made a mistake here!  I don’t have any handles!“  (Most of us DO have handles, and we think that is a mistake!)

Not only is God sovereign over the circumstances of our lives, but He sends those things into our lives.  There is no part of any of our lives, or of the lives of anyone else on this planet, that is beyond the reach or the complete control of the God of Israel.  He is sovereign over Pastor Terry Jones, He is sovereign over Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf, He is sovereign over President Ahmadinejad, He is sovereign over Hamas, over President Obama, and over you and me.

The question is, “Do you trust Him?”  Do you trust Him to raise up rulers to do His bidding?  Do you trust Him to overrule in “free” elections so that His choices are always accomplished in the world?  Do you trust Him to save you from the Hell we all deserve, but not for the troubles that will come tomorrow, or next week, or next year?

Do you trust Him?  Isn’t the God who sent the Lord Jesus to redeem us from a certain dark eternity, to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Son, . . . Isn’t He worthy to be trusted for everything less than that?

What a mercy from God to His people to tell them through Isaiah that He reigns over their future!  That He is going to send a king by the name of Cyrus to redeem them from their enemies!  And I wonder if Cyrus was ever shown the prophesies about himself?  According to the ESV Study Bible, “Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.5–7) records a story in which Cyrus, reading Isaiah's prophecy, was so impressed with the divine power to tell the future that he eagerly sought to fulfill what was written about him here.”

Our God is indeed a great God.  I don’t know what the future holds.  I have some ideas, but I’m probably wrong.  But, as one song says, I know who holds the future.  It is His future and He has determined how it will play out.  But we can be confident that however God chooses to bring the history of this planet and our individual lives to their final destinations, we can trust Him in it.  Let’s not fall into that line of thinking that we can trust Jesus as Savior, but not necessarily as Lord.  He IS Lord.  Let’s trust Him as the wise, omniscient, loving, and sovereign Lord of our lives.

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¹  On one occasion (that I know of), the Koran was systematically burned by Muslims throughout the Middle East centuries ago in order to pave the way for a “more inspired version”.  It seems that was an isolated event, but Muslims themselves have burned the Koran before. 

Christians, or to be more precise, the Roman Catholic Church, has engaged in similar acts towards the Bible on numerous occasions throughout history in an attempt to fend off “heresy”.  Bibles were confiscated and burned presumably to keep "The Church" pure and to protect itself from Bibles written in languages other than the "God-inspired" Greek or Latin.  

But even within Protestantism there is a small group that actually believes the King James Version of 1611 is an inspired, God-breathed translation.  In fact, it is more inspired than the texts the apostle Paul wrote.  Some diehards in the KJV Only camp believe we can use the English King James Bible of 1611 to correct the errors in the ancient Greek texts.  So there are a few extremists in our midst that are dangerously close to making an idol of the 1611 King James Version in particular, and are dangerously close to seeking to destroy all other "perversions" of the sacred text.