Isaiah 45:14 – National Submission to Christ
First, let’s note that this is the Word of God. These are not mere guesses of people of what will happen. This is the Word of God. Therefore it cannot have any mistakes, and any predictions must be certain to come to pass. Secondly, it says, “Thus says the LORD”. It is the covenant name of God. It comes in the covenant of grace, and it is therefore a word of comfort and blessing to those truly in covenant with Him. Thirdly, we must remember that all this chapter is looking beyond Cyrus to Jesus Christ and deliverance from sin, and death, and hell.
The different nations mentioned here represent all nations, and not merely individuals within the nations, but this is talking about the nations themselves. It is these nations, these cultures, these peoples who come in submission. This was implied by Jesus Christ in the great commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus says that we must disciple the nations. We must seek that nations come to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall come over in chains, and they will bow down to you. There’s a sort of compulsion here. They’d been slaves to sin. They had been captive to Satan. And now they are drawn, drawn to Jehovah. As these nations are drawn in, they find that it is a drawing to blessing. They forsake their idols. They get rid of their rebellion against Zion’s king. And they come in confession that the living and true God is the only One. How does such a thing happen? Only by the work of the Spirit of God. As it is for individuals, so it is for nations. They cannot change themselves. We can’t change our hearts. But God, the Holy Spirit, can. As He takes the benefits that Christ has purchased with His life, death, and resurrection, and applies those benefits to people, to families, to nations — they are transformed. Captives and slaves are gotten by swords of steel. But these captives of Jesus Christ, these servants of the Master, are brought in by the sword of God’s Word. The Spirit of God works to save individuals. He works to revive the church of Jesus Christ in lands where it is planted. And He works to transform and reform societies so that they are lined up no longer with different and varying idolatries, but so that they are lined up with the Bible. This isn’t the flattery of prophets, this is the Word of God, and as such, it will happen!
Questions
- Why do we know the promise in this verse will happen?
- What does Jesus tell us to do at the end of the book of Matthew?
Prayer Points
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the nations.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.