All ye, gather yourselves together, and hear which among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah hath loved shall execute his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans.
This verse closes God's long argument with a people who had traded Him for idols. It asks one question: who is the man the LORD loves, sent to break Babylon?
The question in this verse is a challenge. God had told them the outcome long before, so that no image could later claim the credit.
Here again Jehovah reminds them that He had declared the former things long ago. He did so that they — with their necks of iron and foreheads of brass — would not credit their idol with what the Eternal One had long predicted and at last accomplished... He the First and He the Last again challenged: which among them had declared these things? It was their Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, who bore divine witness to His witnesses by this very prophecy, as by others. And through the foreign ruler He raised up against Babylon, He would wean them from useless images to the assurance of His own sovereign goodness and undeserved faithfulness.
The verse does not give his name. The chapters before it do: Cyrus, the king God raised up against Babylon.
Let them assemble together and hear the new things that God foretells. The LORD had called Cyrus, one who will carry out God's pleasure on Babylon, and whose arm of might will fall upon the Chaldeans. Under the providence of God, his way will prosper.
God's love and choice here say nothing about the man's own standing before Him. He served as an instrument, and his personal faith stays an open question.
God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Be that as it may, God calls Cyrus by name, and calls him His shepherd and His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4), and this solely in view of what God had called him to. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.
The work on Babylon was not an end in itself. God raised up this foreign king with His own people in view.
Long before Cyrus was born, God gave him his name. Cyrus did not know Jehovah, yet in His providence God used him as His shepherd and His anointed. He was called to overthrow idolatry, which was such a snare to Israel. He was chosen "for the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen" (Isa. 45:1-4). Through him God taught Israel how powerless idols are. God makes a moving appeal to Israel. He shows them how He had called and prospered Cyrus to do His pleasure for their sakes (see Isa. 48:12-15).
The same pattern holds today, and it shapes how we pray for those in power.
Cyrus is never called "the servant" of the Lord. He was His providential shepherd, for the sake of Israel His servant... even now God raises up providential authority in the world for the sake of the elect. Such authorities are called ministers of God, but never servants of Christ. They are God's ministers to us for good (Rom. 13:4). If we understood this important truth, we would obey the call to pray for all in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-2) with grace and understanding.
Verses 14 and 15 may have had a more immediate application to Cyrus. He was destined to overthrow Babylon and grant relief to the Jews. But the full and lasting fulfilment is found only in Christ, who is the Sent One of the Lord Jehovah.
- Word first. God announced Babylon's fall long before it happened. No idol could take credit for what He alone predicted and then performed.
- Man next. The one He loves is Cyrus — named by God, called His shepherd and His anointed — a king who did not know Him.
- Not merit. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work. God can use a man who did not know Him as the minister of His mercy.
- His people. God arranged the whole thing for Jacob's sake. He still raises up authority in the world for the good of His own, and that is why we pray for those in power.
- And beyond. Cyrus and the fall of Babylon were the near application. One writer finds the full and lasting fulfilment only in Christ, the Sent One.
I, [even] I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and his way shall be prosperous.
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