Cyrus was the Persian king who had conquered most of the known world. Then he set his sights on Israel. He was feared, and rightly so. When he arrived at the gates of Jerusalem, ready to invade it, the priests of the Lord did something incredibly brave. They came out of the city and showed him Isaiah chapter 45—and he was so shocked that he did not attack Jerusalem! Why? Because the Lord named Cyrus in 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;” Why was Cyrus shocked? Because the Lord had called Cyrus by NAME in Scripture—over a century before he was born! That surely rocked Cyrus to his core, because he knew he was dealing with something far more powerful than his army and his pagan gods—and therefore he did not touch Jerusalem.
In Isaiah 45:5-7 the Lord continues speaking to Cyrus: “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
In case Cyrus didn’t get the message, the Lord says to him directly, “I am the Lord, and there is none else.” In other words, ‘Cyrus, I am the only God there is.’ In verse 4 He says, “I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.” The New King James Version translates it: “I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.”
The Lord said to Cyrus over a century before he was born: “I named you.”
And then He said, “I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God besides me. I girded thee.” In other words, ‘I gave you your strength. I gave you your armies. I gave you all your success, though you haven’t even known Me.’ “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
This passage is one of the clearest that teaches the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.