Dear Believers in Christ Jesus,
We give glory to God for the gift of another new day, we thank God for the privilege of life and for His unending mercy and grace upon us always. Praise God!
STUDYING AND UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE – PART 428
Isaiah Chapter 45 continued…
Let’s think for a second about the fact that God used a pagan king for His divine purpose.
If Cyrus, who didn’t even know the LORD, yet God could anoint him, guide him, bless him, and use him. How much more you, a believer in the finished work of Christ.
Even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, the Bible says you would move mountains. Please read Matthew 17:20
What picture was Prophet Isaiah trying to paint for us in Isaiah 45?
Figuratively, Isaiah uses the prophecy of Cyrus to explain to us God’s plan in saving humanity from the bondage and slavery of sin through Christ.
If we study the Bible very well, we will notice how the Bible describes both of them and we will see a similar pattern in how God has been calling everyone he uses as a type of Christ to save His people.
He chose Abraham, Noah, Joseph, Moses etc each of them with the same assignment – To save His people from bondage…
Now, coming to Cyrus, Isaiah describes him in 44:28 as God’s Shepherd and the anointed one.
With that description, we can infer that he has a figurative function of Christ Jesus too, because Christ was also called the Anointed One that came to set humanity free from their bondage of sin.
Acts 10:38
[38]How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
The Bible refers to both of them as Shepherd.
In Hebrews 13:20 Jesus was referred to as Shepherd and same with Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28.
Both of them were meant to execute God’s agenda on earth (John 8:29).
According to Hebrews 10:12-13, God takes the right hands of both of them to subdue nations and execute God’s Salvation plan.
You will also notice that every shadow of Christ in the old Testament always had their assignment limited to a particular group of people.
For example, in the case of Cyrus, his assignment was for the Jews only, while Christ Jesus was for the whole world.
Let’s read Psalm 2 and Phil. 3:21 for more details.
Both of them have open doors before them, they were given the treasures of darkness and also hidden riches of secret places. Let’s read Revelation 3:7-9; Matt 27:45; Mark 1:35; Col 2:3 and Revelation 2:17.
However, in the case of Christ Jesus, through His death and resurrection, He was able to penetrate the darkness of ignorance plaguing the world about the true nature of God.
Matthew 4:16
[16]The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
The above does not mean they were in darkness where there was no lamp or electricity. That’s a literal meaning. But was talking about metaphorical darkness of ignorance and unbelief.
Let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians here…
2 Corinthians 4:6 TPT
For God, who said, “Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,” is the one who has cascaded his light into us-the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.
The darkness meant was about their ignorance and the solution to ignorance is revelation knowledge…of God…breaking the chain of sin and reconnecting people back to God so they can know Him and fellowship with Him personally.
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed…Praise God.
Let’s declare this together:
👉I have seen a great Light. The Light of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. I am not in darkness of ignorance. I have been liberated. It’s a great awakening for me. Amen.
Bible readings for today: Reflection time on all the Chapters you have read so far from the past six days and covering of missed Chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Friday May 29, 2020 (DDMI)