Unstuck! - Isaiah 45:1-8

Chad Richard Bresson

The Table of Los Fresnos

Sermons • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

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Stuck underground

Nobody mines more copper in the world than Chile. It was almost 15 years ago that the world’s attention was on one of Chile’s hundreds of copper mines… one of them collapsed in two different places, trapping 33 miners almost a half mile below the surface. 17 days into the ordeal, the trapped miners taped a note to a drill bit that had reached them, letting the world know that all 33 miners were alive and doing fine. Over the course of the next few days after their discovery, they were told that they were locked in with no way out. Food was sent down. Medicine and other medical help was sent down. Cameras were sent down. Communication lines were sent down. Notes were sent down. All the while, a rescue vehicle was built by a Chilean shipping company with the help of NASA. A tent city complete with a school was erected at the site of the mine for their families. And 69 days after the collapse, all 33 miners were rescued. Years after, many of the miners say they still experience the trauma of feeling trapped and stuck.

That’s an experience most of us have not felt, nor will we. But we all know the feeling of being trapped. Being stuck. We’ve been stuck in traffic. Stuck in lines at government offices. But there’s the other “stuck”: We’ve been stuck in jobs. Stuck in relationships. Stuck in cycles of bad health. Stuck in the past. Stuck in anxiety. We feel trapped. We get to the point where we think that we are locked in and there’s no way out. Where is the hope when life has you trapped? In fact, for one of the miners, hope was the name of a child that was born on the surface while he was trapped in the mine. Esperanza Ticona is now 14 years old.. her birth pictures went viral as a symbol of hope for her parents and the miners. Because hope is what is needed when you are stuck.

God’ people are stuck in Babylon

That’s what’s facing God’s people living in Babylon. They have been taken hundreds of miles from home into a place where there is a different culture, a different language, after their homes and businesses were destroyed in Jerusalem. And now they are stuck. Literally. History tells us that the capital city, Babylon, was the most fortified city in the world. Surrounding the city were two walls that were 32-feet thick in total, and there were hundreds of gates in the walls made of thick bronze. More than 300 stone watch-towers were scattered along the wall, functioning as an elaborate surveillance system. The Jews living in Babylon aren’t going anywhere. They aren’t going to breakout. They won’t be rescued. They are stuck. Quite literally. Walls that are 32 feet thick don’t just keep out the enemy. They keep people in, people who are there not by choice.

Many of these people no doubt had the words of Isaiah, who had been a prophet and preacher about 150 years prior to their being stuck in Babylon. And Isaiah’s words give them hope. One of the fascinating things about the text we just read is the repetition of a phrase that shows up multiple times in Isaiah’s sermons and here it is mentioned twice:

Isaiah 45:5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me.

This occurs so many times, it most likely is a chorus of one of their songs: I am the Lord, and there is no other. There is no God but me. This is God’s reminder that he is totally different than any other so-called gods worshipped by other nations, including Babylon. In fact, part of the psychological intimidation they had to endure were those bronze gates. One particular gate, the Ishtar gate opened to a wide street and that street was lined with 120 statues of lions, the symbol for the goddess Ishtar. On top of that, there were 575 figures of dragons or bulls that were the symbols for the Babylonian god Marduk. If you weren’t already intimidated by the thick walls and gates keeping you in, you were supposed to be intimidated by the Babylonian gods who were keeping you stuck in your place.

God is sending a Savior

But God is telling his people, the Babylonian gods are no match for me. I am the Lord, there’s nobody like me. But these words are not words simply for the Jews in Babylon. This section begins with this:

Isaiah 45:1 The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed

These words are meant for a guy named Cyrus, someone who God calls “his anointed”. When Isaiah first preaches this, this is 130 to 150 years before Israel is taken to Babylon. Cyrus wasn’t even a guy. He wasn’t even a name. And here, Isaiah mentions him specifically. He calls him “his anointed”, the only place in Scripture where the word Messiah is attached to a person who is not a Jew. And there it is: hope. God’s people may feel stuck, but God is already at work to rescue his people again. In fact, all of this reads like the account from Exodus. Just like God raised up Moses to help rescue his people from Egypt, God is at work again and he’s going to raise up a guy name Cyrus, who will do the same thing.

Cyrus’ rescue of God’s people includes this:

Isaiah 45:1–2 “The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and disarm kings, to open doors before him, and even city gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and level the uneven places; I will shatter the bronze doors and cut the iron bars in two.

God is going to use Cyrus, the anointed one, to rescue his people and the funny thing is… doors and gates will be no match for Cyrus. You think the walls are thick? You think the doors are super-fortified with the best surveillance system in the world? You think the Babylonia gods are real? Wait till you get a load of Cyrus.

God gives His promises

But it’s all based on God’s promise. Cyrus is the means. But God is the one doing all the work. Cyrus’ “right hand is grasped by God”. God is subduing the nations, God is disarming kings. God is opening doors. God is opening city gates. And then he is suing the same promise language of the great promises of the coming Warrior:

I will go before you I will level the uneven places I will shatter the bronze doors I will cut the iron bars in two I will give you treasures of darkness I will give you riches from secret places I will strengthen you

Just like God did with his people in the Exodus, God’s going to do it all through Cyrus and for Cyrus. And you’ll notice, tucked in the promises are these two:

I will shatter the bronze doors I will cut the iron bars in two

I will shatter. I will cut. That’s hope. Isaiah here is quoting Psalm 107. He sees Cyrus bringing to fulfillment that Psalm of freedom. The Jews will no longer be stuck. They will no longer be locked in. This is not only a promise of rescue, but a promise of freedom.

That seems like good news to us. Who wouldn’t want that? But if you are Israel, there’s going to be that moment where this is a tough swallow. This isn’t one of those times where you’re feeling totally elated. In fact, you’re thinking “Oh c’mon. Really?” You can’t miss this: God is going to use a foreigner to rescue his people. He’s going to use someone from the despicable Medes and Persians. If you’re Israel, you’re thinking, “yeah, we want to be rescued, but we don’t want that!” There are echoes here of the Good Samaritan. God is going to use an enemy of Israel to rescue his people. Because that’s how he rolls. Salvation will come from someone who is not one of them.

Cyrus rescues Israel

And this is exactly what happens. In 539 BC, about 50 years after the fall of Jerusalem, Cyrus shows up at the walls of Babylon. The city prepares for a siege, stocking up on food and water and provisions. The military preps to take on the enemy. Cyrus surrounds the city. But there was no fight. Within days, the decision is made to open the gates. And Cyrus simply walks in and takes control of the city. The people had already decided to live with Cyrus, rather than their own incompetent rulers.

I will shatter the bronze doors and I will cut the iron bars in two… God does this for Cyrus and for his people without the literal shattering and cutting. Freedom. Israel’s salvation comes from an unlikely source, but all along, it is God who is doing the saving. The walls, the gates, the Babylonian gods are no match for the One true God, the God who saves his people and gives them freedom.

God speaks to creation

But what does God rescue his people to? The verse that ends this section doesn’t sound anything like the preceding verses. It’s as if Isaiah just stops what he’s doing. He wants Israel to hear this:

Isaiah 45:8 Heavens, sprinkle from above, and let the skies shower righteousness. Let the earth open up so that salvation will sprout and righteousness will spring up with it. I, the Lord, have created it.

God stops talking to Cyrus and Israel. The focus is no longer on the promise to rescue. Now, God is speaking to creation itself, as if doing another act of creation. Just like God spoke everything into existence at the beginning of time, again God speaks. This is a new creation. And no longer is he speaking about Israel’s physical problem of being rescued from Babylon, but he’s focusing on Israel’s problem all along… she needs a new creation. She needs salvation and righteousness. God commands the heavens and skies to shower righteousness. God commands the earth to open up so that salvation and righteousness will sprout as new plants and trees and spring up as water.

The very creator who made this big ball is doing something spectacular for Israel as creator. It’s not enough to be rescued from Babylon. Israel won’t be rescued to resume the old way of life in Jerusalem. There is no hope there. That life was full of idolatry and injustice and self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Israel needs a new creation. She needs new life. She’ll never be the same again. To be unstuck is to have salvation and righteousness in all of its beauty and perfection.

Jesus is the Ultimate Gate Breaker

But this entire passage isn’t simply about Cyrus and Israel. Isaiah is also looking forward to another day, when the Lord’s anointed would show up to set the captives free. Jesus is in his hometown synagogue and he reads from Isaiah:

Luke 4:18 He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed

Jesus sees in Isaiah, sees in Cyrus, the anticipation of his day, when he, the greater Cyrus, would show up and “break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the iron bars”. Jesus not only provides healing to the hurt and the diseased, he goes to the cross where once and for all shatters the bars of sin and death that enslave his people. But he doesn’t just break open the gates that keep his people in. He frees them as a new creation. In Jesus, heaven has rained down salvation and righteousness. In Jesus, the earth has provided springs of living water as Jesus makes his people a new creation.

We’ve all been in a place where we’ve felt stuck. Some of us may be there right now. It may feel like someone or something has you all locked up and the key has been thrown away. Sometimes the big iron bars and the big bronze gates are a person, or the past. Sometimes it’s personal sins. The shackles are real. While I know and Jesus knows there’s no easy fix, this passage is telling you right now, that there is hope. You are not locked in with no way out! Jesus breaks down gates of guilt and shame, hurt and pain. He breaks down gates that trap and torture and torment us. The heavens have rained down salvation and righteousness and forgiveness in the Person of Jesus, the New and perfect Cyrus who has broken down the gates FOR YOU. Jesus is your rescue. You are free. You are unstuck in all that Jesus is FOR YOU.

Let’s pray.

The Table

This Table is your freedom. This is the heavens and earth that have opened into righteousness, salvation, and forgiveness for you. The bread is the bread of life. The wine is living water. It’s all here for you in faith. This is who Jesus is for you in freeing you from sin… this is Jesus breaking down the gates for you… in His body and in His blood.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

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