The prophetic ministry of Isaiah has been authenticated in many ways. One special way is through the fulfillment of a prediction he made regarding Cyrus, the Persian King, long before that kingdom was recognized as a powerful nation.
Isaiah 44:28 says of Cyrus, “he is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid.’” This was written abut 100 years before it happened! Cyrus was referred to as God’s anointed, in Isaiah 45:1. And in 45:13, God says, “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward.”
The people to whom this was written could not see what you and I can see historically. They were facing destruction at the hands of the Babylonian army. Isaiah warned them of this impending danger. But as he did throughout the book he encourages them with promises from God.
These promises are so clear and so beyond what man could anticipate that scholars have felt they needed to come up with a more rational explanation than God telling the prophet what would take place in the future. Some have suggested there were actually two books of Isaiah, one written after the rise of Cyrus, so that these references to him are historical rather than prophetical. But Isaiah says of God in 46:10, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.”
We should always accept what God says as being trustworthy!
