44:27
“who says to the watery deep”. If one is immersed in the “watery deep” there is no apparent means of escape. To the Israelites in captivity it would seem that they were immersed in Babylon, with no means of escape. But God says to the watery deep “Be dry ..” God can change any situation, and one word from His mouth is all it takes.
44:28
So how will it change? It is all very well for God to make these great promises, but how will it happen? Now we get the answer. God’s promises are specific. He will use Cyrus. This was given by Isaiah, long before Judah had been conquered by Babylon, and even longer before Cyrus was going to conquer Babylon. This is why the majority of scholars say that the second part of Isaiah must have been written by someone other than Isaiah. Yet the sovereignty of God, His knowing the end from the beginning, and His control over events, is a major theme of Isaiah. So it is consistent with the tenor of the book that God should foretell these things. God will use Cyrus to carry out His plans, and this is indeed what happened. It would not just be a matter of letting the Israelites go, he would also say that the temple should be rebuilt.
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