NOTES for Isa 45:11-17
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. |
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. |
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. |
14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. |
15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. |
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. |
17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. |
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Our spiritual weakness is such that even when we are at the center of God's saving action, we grumble because the salvation being given is not what we expected. This is characteristic of people of every age; our contemporaries no less than the Jews of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor were the Jews of the second half of the sixth century before Christ, to whom the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, an exception in this respect. Rebuking those who refuse to see the Creator's intervention in the events taking place, the Lord speaks of His omnipotence and His authority over everything in this world. Distrustful people, focused on immediate earthly problems, are called to believe in this authority and power of the Creator and to rely on it. Only in this way can Israel enter the salvation that God is bringing about.
God says that it was He who desired to accomplish the deliverance of the captive Jews through King Cyrus, who, without suspecting it himself, became a prototype of the Anointed One of God who carries out the work of salvation on earth. Therefore no one can give God instructions in the work of His hands, in how Israel's salvation must be accomplished. To those who trustingly follow the Creator's will, the Lord promises eternal salvation - that is, something that far surpasses our narrow earthly notions.
In addition, today's reading is important because in it, almost for the first time in history, a new and exceptionally important name of God is revealed to us: the hidden God, the Savior.
Readings for 27 March 2026
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