Isaiah 45:16

They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED - disappointed in their expectation of help from their idols (note, ; )....

16.and 17._They shall all be put to shame. _Here the Prophet compares the Jews with the Gentiles, in order to meet a grievous and dangerous temptation, by which they might be assailed, when they saw the Gentiles enjoying prosperity; (207) for, amidst so great troubles, they might have suspected that God was favorable to the Gentiles, or that he had cast away the care of his people, or that everything was governed by the blind impulse of fortune. The Prophet, therefore, assures them that, although for a time the Gentiles flourish and appear to be exalted to heaven, (208) yet the result must be, that they shall perish and Israel shall be saved. In a word, he exhorts them not to judge of the power of God from the present condition of things, not to have their minds fixed on temporary happiness, but to raise them to eternal salvation, and, when

11-19 Believers may ask in prayer for what they need; if for their good, it will not be withheld. But how common to hear God called to account for his dealings with man! Cyrus provided for the returning Jews. Those redeemed by Christ shall be provided for. The restoration would convince many, and convert some; and all that truly join the Lord, find his service perfect freedom. Though God be his people's God and Saviour, yet sometimes he lays them under his frowns; but let them wait upon the Lord who hides his face. There is a world without end; and it will be well or ill with us, according as it shall be with us in that world. The Lord we serve and trust, is God alone. All that God has said is plain, satisfactory, and just. As God in his word calls us to seek him, so he never denied believing prayers, nor disappointed believing expectations. He gives grace sufficient, and comfort and sat...

Verse Isaiah 45:16. _THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED_ - "They are ashamed"] The reader cannot but observe the sudden transition from the solemn adoration of the secret and mysterious nature of God's counsels in regard to his people, to the spirited denunciation of the confusion of idolaters, and the final destruction of idolatry; contrasted with the salvation of Israel, not from temporal captivity, but the _eternal_ salvation by the Messiah, strongly marked by the repetition and augmentation of the phrase, _to the ages of_ _eternity_. But there is not only a sudden change in the sentiment, the change is equally observable in the construction of the sentences; which from the usual short measure, runs out at once into two distichs of the longer sort of verse. See Prelim. Dissert. p. 66, c. There is another instance of the same kind and very like to this, of a sudden transition in...

THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED AND CONFOUNDED - That is, they shall find all their hopes fail, and shall be suffused with shame that they were ever so senseless as to trust in blocks of wood and stone (see the notes at Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 20:5; Isaiah 30:5; Isaiah 43:17). THEY SHALL GO TO CONFUSION - They shall all retire in shame and disgrace. That is, when they have gone to supplicate their idols, they shall find them unable to render them any aid, and they shall retire with shame....

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 45:1 GOD'S WILL CONCERNING HIM ANNOUNCED TO CYRUS. This direct address of God to a heathen king is without a parallel in Scripture. Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Abimelech, were warned through dreams. Nebuchadnezzar was even promised Divine aid (Ezekiel 30:24, Ezekiel 30:25). But no heathen monarch had previously been personally addressed by God, much less called "his anointed," and spoken to _by his name _(Isaiah 45:4). Three motives are mentioned for this speci

THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED, AND ALSO CONFOUNDED, ALL OF THEM,.... This refers not to any persons spoken of before; not to Israel or the church, or converts among the Gentiles that came to her; but to those that follow, of whom the same is said in other words: THEY SHALL GO TO CONFUSION TOGETHER, THAT ARE MAKERS OF IDOLS; the Targum is, "worshippers of images;'' both may be designed: this refers to the first times of the Gospel, and its coming into the Gentile world, and its success there; when the oracles of the Heathens were struck dumb; idols and idol temples were forsaken; and Paganism was abolished in the Roman empire; and when the gods they served could not help them, but they fled to the rocks to hide them from the wrath of God and the Lamb, Revelation 6:15....

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; 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: 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. 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._ Long before the period of Cyrus's birth, this prophecy was written by Isaiah, and surely it must have flashed solemn conviction upon the heart of the king when he came to read words like these, in whic

CHAPTER 45 The Word of Jehovah to Cyrus, to Israel and to the Ends of the Earth 1. _Thus saith Jehovah to Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1)_ 2. _Thus saith Jehovah: Israel shall be saved (Isaiah 45:14)_ 3. _Thus saith Jehovah to the ends of the earth: Every knee to bow (Isaiah 45:18) _ Cyrus is called in this chapter God's anointed (Messiah). Jehovah called him by name, but it was for the sake of Israel. But it is well to bear in mind that Cyrus, God's instrument, called and prepared to make the restoration of a remnant possible, is likewise a type of Christ, through whom alone the promises of God to the nation can be accomplished. Note the statements “Israel shall be saved in Jehovah with an everl

HEATHEN PEOPLES SEE IN THE DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL THE MIGHT OF ISRAEL'S GOD. The passage is obscure, but possibly represents captives whom Cyrus has taken from the nations delivered up to him in exchange for Israel as passing the returning exiles, and entreating, through Israel, Israel's God; for plainly the contrast of their fates shows that it is with Israel alone that God abides. (Read, With thee God hides Himself; Israel's God is a deliverer.) All idol-worshippers and enemies of Yahweh are brought to ruin, whereas Israel shall never be confounded. ISAIAH 45:14. Corrupt; read perhaps, The captives of Egypt, the exiles of Cush, and the tall Sabæ ans, shall pass before thee. LXX reads, there is no God except thee. Isaiah 45:16. Render, are ashamed, are gone. all of them, togeth