Commentary - Isaiah 45:14-17

Bird's-eye view

Here in Isaiah, the Lord pulls back the curtain to show us the endgame of history. This is not a passage about Israel striking it rich with slave labor from neighboring countries. This is a glorious prophecy of the conquest of the gospel. The God who orchestrated the return from Babylon through a pagan king, Cyrus, is the same God who orchestrates the submission of the entire world to His Son, Jesus Christ. This passage is thoroughly postmillennial. It shows the nations of the earth, once hostile and foreign, being brought low, not by military might, but by the overwhelming reality of God's presence with His people. They come in chains, but they are the willing chains of conversion. They bow down, not to a political entity, but in worship of the one true God they have come to recognize. The contrast is stark: the idolaters are put to shame, while the true Israel of God is saved with an everlasting salvation. This is the historical process of the Great Commission being fulfilled.

The central confession, "Surely, God is with you," is the heart of the matter. This is the testimony of the nations when they see the Church for what she is: the dwelling place of God. This passage demolishes any pietistic retreat from the world and any pessimistic eschatology that sees the Church cowering in a corner until the rapture. No, the fruit of Egypt's labor and the profit of Ethiopia are brought as tribute to the King, and the tall Sabeans walk behind in glad submission. This is what it looks like when Jesus receives the reward of His suffering.

Outline

Commentary

Isaiah 45:14

Thus says Yahweh, “The fruit of the labor of Egypt and the profit of Ethiopia And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and will be yours; They will walk behind you; they will come over in chains And will bow down to you; They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God.’ ”

The Lord speaks, and so what follows is not speculative but certain. The prophecy begins with the economic fruit of powerful Gentile nations being willingly handed over to God's people. This is not about reparations or plunder. This is about the wealth of the nations being brought into the service of the Kingdom of God, a theme that echoes throughout Scripture (Is. 60:5; Rev. 21:24). When the gospel takes root in a culture, the entire economy is reoriented toward the glory of God. The labor of Egypt is no longer for Pharaoh, but for Christ.

The Sabeans, noted for their impressive physical stature, will "come over to you and will be yours." This is the language of covenantal incorporation. They become part of the people of God. They "walk behind you," which is the posture of discipleship. And they come "in chains." We must not think of this as the clanking of a forced servitude. These are the chains of the gospel, the sweet bondage of Christ (Eph. 3:1). The proud are brought low, and they find their true freedom in this submission. The man who is a slave to righteousness is the only truly free man. They bow down and make supplication, which are postures of worship. And who are they worshiping? They are worshiping the God who is manifestly present with His people. Their confession is the pinnacle of the verse: "Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God." This is the great monotheistic declaration, the Shema, coming from the lips of converted pagans. They see the living God in the midst of the Church and abandon their dead idols.

Isaiah 45:15

Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!

This verse is an exclamation, a response to the wonder of the previous declaration. How does this great conversion of the nations happen? It happens by the work of a God who often seems hidden to the world. He does not operate according to the world's metrics of power and visibility. The world looks for God in the earthquake and the fire, but He is in the still, small voice. He hides His power in the foolishness of the cross. He hides a king in a manger in Bethlehem. He hides salvation in the ignominy of a crucifixion. The world sees a Galilean peasant hanging on a tree, and God declares this to be the salvation of the cosmos. He is the God of Israel, the covenant-keeping God, and He is the Savior. His hiddenness is not an absence; it is the method of His salvation. He works behind the scenes, through the Cyrus's of the world and through the faithful preaching of the gospel, to bring about His purposes, and then the results burst forth into history, causing the nations to marvel.

Isaiah 45:16

They will be put to shame and even dishonored, all of them; The craftsmen of idols will go away together in dishonor.

Here is the great antithesis. While the people of God receive the glad submission of the nations, the idolaters receive nothing but shame. Notice the totality of it: "all of them." There is no middle ground. You are either worshiping the true God, or you are worshiping an idol. And all idolatry, without exception, ends in humiliation. The craftsmen of idols, the purveyors of false religion, the manufacturers of spiritual distractions, will "go away together in dishonor." Their whole enterprise is a sham. They make gods with their hands, gods that cannot see or hear or save. When the true God reveals His salvation, the pathetic nature of their craft is exposed for all to see. This is not just a future, eschatological shame. It is a historical shame that unfolds as the gospel advances. Every time a soul is converted, every time a pagan culture bows the knee to Christ, the idol-makers are dishonored anew.

Isaiah 45:17

Israel has been saved by Yahweh With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or dishonored To all eternity.

The contrast is completed. The idolaters go away in shame, but Israel, the true Israel, the Church of Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile united in Him, is saved. And this salvation is not a temporary political deliverance. It is an "everlasting salvation." It is a salvation secured by Yahweh Himself, and therefore it cannot fail. The promise that follows is the direct opposite of the idolaters' fate: "You will not be put to shame or dishonored to all eternity." Our standing before God is not based on our performance, but on Christ's. Our salvation is everlasting because He is everlasting. Our honor is eternal because His is eternal. While the makers of false gods will be exposed as frauds, the worshipers of the true God will be vindicated forever. This is the bedrock confidence that fuels the mission of the Church. We go to the nations with the good news because we know that our God is the only God, and His salvation is the only salvation that lasts.

Key Issues

The Conquest of the Gospel

We must read this passage with New Covenant eyes. The submission of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sheba is a prophetic picture of the Great Commission's fulfillment (Matt. 28:18-20). The nations are not subjugated by force of arms, but are captured by the beauty and truth of the gospel. They see the reality of God's presence among His people, the Church, and they willingly bring their strength, their wealth, and their very selves into the kingdom. The "chains" they wear are not the chains of oppression, but the liberating yoke of Christ (Matt. 11:29-30). This passage is a death blow to a defeatist eschatology. History is not spiraling downwards into chaos, but is rather being directed by our sovereign God toward the glorious submission of all nations to the crown rights of King Jesus. This is what we pray for in the Lord's prayer: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Isaiah 45 shows us what that looks like.

A God Who Hides Himself

The world demands a God who performs on command, a God who fits their expectations. But our God is the Deus Absconditus, the hidden God. This does not mean He is unknowable; He has revealed Himself definitively in His Son. But it does mean His ways are not our ways (Is. 55:8). He achieves victory through apparent defeat. He establishes His kingdom through the humility of service. He saves the world through a crucified Messiah. The world, in its wisdom, cannot see it. They look at the church, with all its blemishes and struggles, and they cannot see the God who dwells within. But God, by His Spirit, opens the eyes of the blind, and they make the great confession: "Surely, God is with you." Our task is not to make God more palatable or marketable to the world, but to be faithful to the gospel of the hidden God, trusting that He will reveal Himself in His own time and in His own way, to the salvation of many and the shame of the proud.

Application

The application of this text is straightforward. First, be encouraged. The mission of the church is not a lost cause. God has promised the nations to His Son as an inheritance (Ps. 2:8), and this text in Isaiah is a glimpse of that inheritance being delivered. Do not lose heart when the world seems powerful and the church seems weak. Our God is a God who hides Himself, and He is at work.

Second, reject all forms of idolatry. Idolatry is not just bowing to a statue; it is looking to anything other than the triune God for salvation, meaning, or security. Our culture is a vast idol factory, crafting gods of materialism, sexual license, political power, and self-esteem. All of these idols, and the people who craft them and trust in them, will be put to shame. Flee from them. Worship the one true God only.

Finally, live as though God is with you, because He is. The testimony of the converted nations is a response to a visible reality. Does the world look at our families, our churches, and our communities and see a people among whom God dwells? Do they see a people so secure in their "everlasting salvation" that they are not ashamed or dishonored by the world's passing fads? Let us live in such a way that our pagan neighbors will be compelled to point at us and say, "Surely, God is with you, and there is none else."