Isaiah 45: 1-7 (MSG)
God's Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein, no restrictions:
God's Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein, no restrictions:
"I'll go ahead of you, clearing and paving the road.
I'll break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables.
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob, Israel my chosen,
That I've singled you out, called you by name, and given you this privileged work.
And you don’t even know me!
I'll break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables.
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob, Israel my chosen,
That I've singled you out, called you by name, and given you this privileged work.
And you don’t even know me!
I am God, the only God there is. Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work, though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know that I have no god-rivals.
I’m the one who armed you for this work, though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know that I have no god-rivals.
I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords.
I, God, do all these things."
I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords.
I, God, do all these things."
A magnificent passage, one that really leapt out at me when I stumbled across it the other day. I really got the feeling of power. I pictured the Almighty as a great, unstoppable force - powerful, letting neither mountains or trees get in His way.
My mind went back to my childhood - to episodes of that classic series 'Thunderbirds' where mighty
machines tore across the landscape. One of these was a giant road making machine which quickly dealt with rocks and foliage as it passed over them, leaving in its wake a paved highway right behind it (Gerry Anderson fans should check out the episodes "End of the Road" and "Atlantic Inferno" to see it in action).
The imagery conveys the message powerfully - whether the problem be a natural barrier or man-made 'gates of brass' - the result is still the same. God knows where the one thing you are looking for is to be found and can lead you right there.It might not be anything that you haven't heard of, yet. But my Father in heaven knows about it. And can lead you right there.
And do I really know Him? I hope so. I really want to...
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