The Omniscience Of God

Isaiah 45:1-7

When theologians discuss the attributes of God, two attributes that are often brought up are His omniscience, and His omnipotence.  These refer to His knowledge of everything past, present, and future, and His being all-powerful.  Our passage in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah brings these up in some very special ways.

In the opening of our passage in verse one (and actually we could go back to the previous verse in chapter 48, verse 28) Isaiah makes mention of a fellow named Cyrus.  This would be the great ruler of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, who ruled from 559 - 530 BC.  What makes this quite astounding is that the Prophet Isaiah’s ministry was from approximately 740 - 681 BC, which would be over 150 years prior to the time of Cyrus.  The prophecies in the Bible, whether spoken by Isaiah or any other prophet, have all been specifically accurate, but here is one prophecy where the actual name of someone in the future was specifically named.  Can you imagine someone giving a prediction of a ruler in the future, some 150 or more years in the future,  giving his actual name, and then this actually happens down to the specific name?  We see this right here in Isaiah 44:28 - 45:1.  Isaiah had prophesied the fall of Jerusalem over 100 years before it happened in 586 BC, and over 200 years before the rebuilding of the Temple.

When we realize that these prophecies came from the Lord God, who is almighty, all-knowing, and all-powerful, it is not surprising that He would name a ruler in the future.  To God, time is meaningless, whether it is the past or the future.  Nothing is hid from Him, and the future does not take Him by surprise.

Kings and rulers of the past have frequently been anointed when they come to the throne.  God said that Cyrus, in the future, will be anointed by Him, specifically chosen by Him (vs. 1).  God anoints whoever He chooses.  He had a special task that He would have Cyrus do.  It was Cyrus who would allow the destroyed city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt.  Cyrus would also allow the Jewish people to return to their land.  Cyrus’s kingdom was the largest on earth up until then.  It encompassed both the Assyrian and Babylonian territories and more.

God is in control of everything (vs. 6 - 7).  He is omnipotent, or all-powerful.  The devil cannot bring something to pass in our life, or in the world at large, without His express permission.  God is sovereign over everything, both good and bad.  Everything that happens in our life, God has allowed for a reason.  Thus, we don’t need to panic, thinking something is just too much for Him to handle, or something caught Him off guard.  God will help us through all our days as we turn to Him.

Though in this passage God is speaking to the future, yet unborn, Cyrus, who will be emperor of Persia, we can know that God promises to watch over and take care of us, as well, in every difficult situation (vs. 2).  We don’t have to worry.  God had planned out centuries in advance, just how, and through whom, He would bring about the return of the Jewish people to their land.  He will use whatever means He sees fit, even a pagan ruler.  This shows that He will also care about us, as well, using whatever means He chooses to bring about His plans and purposes for our lives.  Our omnipotent, omniscient God has chosen each of us, His born-again children, from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5).  He loves us with an everlasting love, and as we see throughout Scriptures, He will work all things for His purposes and our good (Romans 8:28-32).