"A Pawn? I Thought I Was a Player!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 48:12-52:12

Scripture Focus

Have any of your idols ever told you this?
     Come, all of you, and listen:
The LORD has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
     He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
     and to destroy the Babylonian armies.
                              (Isaiah 48:14 NLT)

Observation

Again today, it’s an “early verse” that has my attention. Isaiah is determined, it seems, to show Israel the foolishness of their idol worship. And so he points again to the inability of an idol to do anything—least of all, something as remarkable as that which God is about to do—and about to tell of in advance:

The LORD has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
     He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
     and to destroy the Babylonian armies.
                                 (Isaiah 48:14 NLT)

Cyrus was king of Persia—*not* a God-honoring people…nor a God-honoring king! Say to a Tea Party Patriot, “Obama is God’s man!”…or to a left-wing liberal, “Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity—practically a second Holy Trinity!”…and you’ve said about the same thing as God says to Israel here. And yet that is just how remarkable—how powerful—how sovereign God is. Eight times in today’s reading alone, Isaiah speaks of the “Sovereign Lord,” and here the Sovereign Lord declares unfathamable history in advance!

To speak of God as “sovereign” affirms Him as the all-powerful One. To speak of God as “sovereign” means He is so mighty in His ways that He can recruit a foreign king, send him on an "errand" (48:15), and accomplish His divine purpose through that king without that king ever having had a clue as to his role. In short, Cyrus thought he was a player—but he was just a pawn!

For years, one of my favorite verses has been Ephesians 1:11, describing God as the One “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:11 NIV). God’s sovereignty assures me that, though His will is not always done, His will shall ultimately be done—His purposes shall ultimately be accomplished—in full! And God’s sovereignty assures me that every part of my broken life is redeemable in His plan for His purpose as I submit my days to Him. I marvel, today, at how almighty the Almighty really is!

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