I Have Named You, Though You Have Not Known Me…

 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:

All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.—Ezra 1:1b-4 (emphasis mine)

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia

Cyrus, the King of Persia came to power when he overthrew the city of Babylon. Isaiah 44 and 45 predicts this 150 years before Cyrus was even born! 

that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, 

How was Cyrus’ spirit stirred??  The same way God stirs each of our hearts…through His word.  

Now Daniel the prophet was in Babylon at the time of its overthrow. A few hours before it occurred, Belshazzar, the ruler of Babylon, was throwing a wild party and drinking from the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem.  While the party was in full swing, a disembodied hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the room, striking fear into the heart of Belshazzar.  An interpreter was needed, and Belshazzar’s mother remembered Daniel, in whom was “the spirit of the holy gods,”.  Daniel was summoned and interpreted the writing on the wall. 

This is the interpretation: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:26–28)

That very night the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon, the city that was said to be invincible.  Many believe that after this Daniel had an opportunity to show Cyrus what the prophet Isaiah, by the Spirit of God, had written of him 150 years earlier.

Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd,

And he shall perform all My pleasure,

Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built,"

And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'—Isaiah 44:28

1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed,

To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—

To subdue nations before him

And loose the armor of kings,

To open before him the double doors,

So that the gates will not be shut:

2 'I will go before you

And make the crooked places straight;

I will break in pieces the gates of bronze

And cut the bars of iron.

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

4 For Jacob My servant's sake,

And Israel My elect,

I have even called you by your name;

I have named you, though you have not known Me.

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;

There is no God besides Me.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me,

6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting

That there is none besides Me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

7 I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and create calamity;

I, the LORD, do all these things.'—Isaiah 45:1-7

As I read these words from Isaiah this morning, they brought me much comfort because they reminded me that God speaks the same way to me, His daughter.  He has chosen me, named me, called me and encircled me, though I once did not know Him.  He has broken in pieces the chains of sin that held me.  It is He that upholds me, goes before me and makes my crooked places straight.  It is He who gives me treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. The God of Israel has called me by name.  He has a plan for my life. I love Him because He first loved me. 

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.—Psalm 139:13-16 (emphasis mine)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.—Ephesians 1:3-6 (emphasis mine)

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.—John 17:20-23 (emphasis mine)