I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 43-47.

In yesterday’s passage, Isaiah declared that God, and God alone, was able to tell us what would happen in the distant future.  In today’s passage Isaiah predicts the return of the descendants of Jacob to Jerusalem and the surrounding lands.  They would be brought back to the land which God promised their ancestors from the ends of the earth.  Certainly, this prophecy was fulfilled when the Exiles returned under Cyrus and his successors.  Yet, my impression is that only a small percentage of the Jews living throughout the world returned during that time.  The Book of Esther recounts large communities living in many cities throughout the Persian Empire.  But today we see what appears to be a different story.  There are only a few nations outside of modern Israel with large Jewish populations.  Who would have predicted that 200 years ago on any basis other than a belief that this prophecy would come true once again?

Isaiah tells us that Cyrus was God’s chosen one even though Cyrus did not know who God was. God used Cyrus despite the fact that Cyrus did not worship Him, or even acknowledge His existence.  God used Cyrus for His own purposes.  Isaiah tells us that God acted despite the failure of the people of Israel to ask for His help.  Further Isaiah tells us that God will bring this same salvation to all of the people of the world.  God will do all of these things so that we may know that He is God, and there is none other like Him.  God declared these things before the entire world for all to see.  God does not issue His commands and prophecies in secret to a select few.  He declares them for all to see and know.  The Lord wants everyone to know that He is God and there is none other like Him.

I want to add on that this passage can be hard to read, but it is worth the effort.  There are many other points made here than I can cover in this short blog.