Isaiah, Cyrus, and Predictive Prophecy
“Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all Mu pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” and to the temple, ”Your foundation shall be laid.” (Isaiah 44:28; see also 45:1)
One thing God definitely did not give to man is the ability to accurately, and precisely, read the future. We can make some vague, educated guesses based on historical precedents, but absolutely nobody can predict the name of the person who will be elected President of the United States in the year 2404, or if there will even be a United States. We don’t have that ability. Only God does.
For a quick example, if someone in the 16th century had said that a man named Barack Obama would be twice elected President of the United States in the 21st century, THAT would be predictive prophecy. Nobody did that, or could do that. Nostradamus, for all his hype, isn’t even close.
In Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, Isaiah did just that—name a man, who wasn’t even born yet, who would nearly 200 years later allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple (which hadn’t been destroyed yet in Isaiah’s day). This is specific, predictive prophecy, something only God could know and tell Isaiah. It happens quite frequently in the Bible, and I’ll mention some more instances in future articles. I’ve long believed that predictive prophecy is the strongest evidence for the inspiration of the Bible.
Of course, skeptics scoff at this. “A second ‘Isaiah,’ writing after the event, penned the last 27 or so chapters of the book of Isaiah. Or perhaps some later scribe wrote these verses into the text, putting Cyrus’s name there after he had let the Jews go home.” The problem with that argument is, there is absolutely no evidence for it, historically or textually! Men have to find a way to get around acceptance of, and obedience to, God’s Word. If Isaiah ben Amoz did, in the 8th century actually write 44:28 and 45:1 as we have them, then that would be irrefutable proof of God’s revelation and the inspiration of the Bible. Can’t have that, can we. We need to murder babies and mutilate children for sexual perverts.
Again, I repeat, there is no evidence for a 2nd “Isaiah” or any interpolations into the text of Isaiah’s book. If we are going to base our conclusions SOLELY on the evidence we have, we must conclude Isaiah ben Amoz wrote about Cyrus! Skeptics can speculate and theorize all they want to. But speculation and theorization are not evidence or proof. I’ll stick with the evidence, thank you.
More on this in future articles, including the use and purpose of miracles in Biblical times, what they mean, and why skeptics deny them. Folks, we have the evidence on our side. The problem is, the majority has always rejected God and His Word. Just ask Noah about that.