Devotion 805

"He Called Him Cyrus About 150 Years Before He Was Born"

Reference: Isaiah Chapter 45

Isaiah prophesied about the great King Cyrus and how He would deliver the children of Israel from Babylonian captivity many years before the birth of Cyrus.

Isaiah 44:28 "That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."

That means God knew Cyrus before he was formed in his mother's womb. Before he was blood in his mother's womb, God has called him.  Because Cyrus, like every man or woman, was a seed in the first Adam, even before the fall of Adam.

He knew you and called you in Christ when you were in Adam before he fell. The cross of Christ was not God's emergency plan, but His eternal plan. Jesus Christ and you were crucified before the foundation of the world.

1 Peter 1:19-20 "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: [20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"

That means we died and resurrected with Him before the foundation of the world. He manifested it many thousands of years later on the cross. We accepted it when it was revealed to us. Cyrus accepted his call when it was revealed to him.


Isaiah writes.

Let's read.

Isaiah 45:1 "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;"

God anointed Cyrus before Cyrus was in his mother's womb. If God anointed Cyrus before he was blood in his mother's womb, then where was Cyrus before he was blood in his mother's womb? Cyrus was a light, a spiritual light in the blood seed, in the loins of Adam, even before the fall. And so were you.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 45:2-4 "I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: [3] And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. [4] For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me."

Cyrus did not know God, but God knew him before he was formed in his mother's womb. You did not know God, but God knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 45:5-7 "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: [6] That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. [7] I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

If He didn't make darkness, we wouldn't know what light looks like. He creates peace, and He also creates adversity or calamity against His unbelieving enemies.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 45:8-9 "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. [9] Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?"

The unbeliever is simply striving with his Maker. There is only one word to him or her, and that word is "woe." For they remain in the blood of fallen Adam, and the end is damnation. Woe!

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 45:10-15 "Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? [11] Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. [12] I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. [13] I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: He shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. [14] Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. [15] Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour."

- He hid Himself when He closed the ark of Noah,
-He hid Himself in a burning bush.
- He hid Himself as a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day.
- He hid Himself as the Rock that followed the children of Israel in the wilderness.
- He hid Himself as the man Christ Jesus.
- He hid Himself in the disciples, and now He hides Himself in those who are one with Him. Those who have received Him by coming out of the blood of the first Adam and now in the blood of Christ.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 45:16-22 "They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. [17] But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. [18] For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. [19] I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. [20] Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. [21] Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. [22] Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."

Salvation came by them looking unto Him then. Today, salvation comes by us looking unto Him and His finished work on the cross of Christ, which was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

We conclude our reading.

Isaiah 45:23-25 "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. [24] Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. [25] In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."

Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ, the slain Lamb of God.

Exit the blood of Adam by dying with Christ and resurrecting with Him by your simple faith. BELIEVE and confess Jesus Christ, the second Adam, as we reveal Him from the first Adam. He knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb, in Christ!