The Treasures of Darkness

Chapter

One

THE TREASURES OF DARKNESS

he book of Isaiah is a wonderful Old Testament book of sixty-six chapters. It is like a miniature Bible. So many precious and comforting truths are found in the book of Isaiah.

The Bible says in Isaiah 45:1-7,

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; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 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.

Then the Bible says in Isaiah 45:21-23,

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

The Bible speaks about the treasures of darkness. Notice also the expression in verse seven, I form the light, and create darkness. God says, I…create darkness. As you read through this forty-fifth chapter, every time you find the word I, you are going to discover that it refers to God, the glory of God, and the greatness of God. This chapter declares to us what God is doing and what God is going to do in the course of human history.

The Lord says, I will give thee the treasures of darkness. There are times in life when we know we are in the darkness. Of course, I am not speaking about the light of day and the dark of night, but about times when we cannot find our way. These are moments we seem to be without guidance, and we cannot understand what has happened. We stagger and grope about as we look for answers. God says that He will give us the treasures of darkness. In the midst of the darkness, our God will reveal treasures to us.

Under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, the prophet Isaiah records for us the things that God had revealed to him. He tells us about the Babylonian captivity of Judah and also about the deliverance from Babylon. There were three great sieges on Jerusalem before the city finally fell, and in each seige the Babylonians carried away captives from the children of Judah. In the first siege, the prophet Daniel was taken to Babylon, and we read in the Bible the story of Daniel and his companions who purposed in their hearts not to defile themselves. Remember, they were carried from their homeland to a strange land.

God tells us that His people would be in a land of captivity for a certain period of time, the exact amount of time that they refused to obey God and do what He had commanded concerning letting the land rest. Isaiah prophesies of a man named Cyrus who would arise and declare deliverance for the Jews. We meet Cyrus on the pages of human history as a military chieftain over just one Persian tribe. He fights battle after battle and wins victory after victory until finally he stands with an army at the gates of Babylon, demanding that the king of Babylon surrender. Of course, the king does not surrender.

The walls of Babylon were considered to be so fortified that they could never be penetrated, but when we read the story in the Bible, we find that Cyrus diverted the river surrounding the great city of Babylon and he marched the army of the Medes and Persians on the riverbed beneath those walls. The Bible tells us in Daniel 5:30, In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. The king of Babylon had been weighed in the balances and had been found wanting.

The king of Babylon had made a feast with a thousand of his lords and drank wine before them. He dared to bring the golden vessels from the house of God into the banquet hall, and in a drunken stupor he mocked God and the things of God. Suddenly, he looked on the wall and saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing. In fear, he called his astrologers and soothsayers to come and read what was written.

When no one could tell the king what the words meant, someone recommended that Daniel be brought in, the same Daniel that had been carried captive in the first siege of Jerusalem, now an older man nearing the end of the time of captivity. This statesman, this man of God who was untainted by all the things of Babylon, was brought into that drunken party. Daniel read what God had written to the king. God had weighed the king and his kingdom and found them wanting. The Word of God says that in that night Belshazzar the king was slain.

This passage in Isaiah foretells all these events. He even tells us of Cyrus by name before Cyrus was ever born and given a name. He covers every part of his life. He takes us through the career of Cyrus, telling of his raising up an army that did not exist and a people who did not exist. He tells how Cyrus was going to come to the walls of Babylon, to the bars made with iron, and how he was going to be able to penetrate them. God gives us the whole picture. God also tells us that He is going to give Cyrus, His anointed man prepared for this task, treasures of darkness.

The Bible goes on to say that God even creates darkness, meaning that He allows times of turmoil and confusion. This does not mean God creates sin. Darkness and evil are the result of sin. There would be no hurt and harm in this world if there were no sin. But because of sin, lust, and selfish desire there is hurt and heartache, wreck and ruin in this world. God allows these periods of darkness, and in these periods of darkness, the Lord leads us to find the treasures of darkness.

It appears that the Lord God is speaking of showing Cyrus things that could not be found without divine aid. This is a prophecy of the time when the city of Babylon would be penetrated by this invading army, and they would overthrow Babylon. God reveals that when the army goes in, He will show them treasures. He says in Isaiah 45:3 that these treasures are hidden. They are treasures of darkness. They cannot be found without God. When we are going through periods of darkness, times of testing and trial, we need by faith to trust our God and allow Him to point the way to the treasures that can be found in that darkness.

The Bible says in Romans 11:33-36,

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

God says His ways are past finding out. No man can fully comprehend everything God is doing. The Bible says that what God does, He does with wisdom and knowledge. Our God has absolute, complete knowledge of the past, present, and future. We operate from hindsight and from things that we have learned. Our God operates not only from hindsight but also from foresight, because He has a perfect view of everything in the future.

One hundred fifty years before Cyrus is even born, God tells his name and exactly what he is going to do. God tells how Cyrus is going to deliver God’s people from bondage in the land of Babylon so that they might return to the land of Palestine. There His Son would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem and go to the cross to redeem our souls through His death, burial, and resurrection. God declares everything that is going to take place. What a God we have! Remember this story in the Bible when things do not fall into place as you imagine they should.

The Bible says in Philippians 1:12, But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. God revealed to Paul that all the troubles that came to him were happening for the furtherance of the gospel. People would be saved and a great work done for the Lord. God is working in our lives in the same way.

OUR GOD NEVER CHANGES

Do not doubt God’s goodness in a time of darkness. The Bible declared that the people of God would go into captivity. Where is God when they are in captivity? Where will God be when they are in Babylon, in a strange land? He is always the same.

Our circumstances change, but God never changes.

The Bible says in Psalm 107:1, O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. As this psalm continues, God begins to tell us of His response to His people in time of trouble. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses (Psalm 107:6). Verse thirteen says, Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Verse nineteen says, Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. Verse twenty-eight says, Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. On four different occasions in this psalm, God tells us that the people were in trouble or distress, and they cried unto Him, and the Lord delivered them.

In the middle of your distress, in the midst of the trouble, never forget that the mercy of the Lord endureth forever. Psalm 107:2 says, Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Our circumstances change, but God never changes. He is always a good God. We have the habit of saying, God has been good to me lately. We need to break ourselves of saying that. God is always good to us; He always has been, and He always will be. Never doubt the goodness of God.

The Devil wants to blind us to the goodness of God because it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. We should not be blinded to the goodness of God. God is always the same. Do not doubt your Lord in times of darkness.

OUR GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK

Look for the Lord. Seeing God’s hand in your life will change your life. Look beyond all secondary causes and see what God is doing.

We read in the book of Jonah that the prophet Jonah was taken by the sailors and thrown overboard. When Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, he cried out and said to God, Thou hadst cast me into the deep (Jonah 2:3). We read earlier in Jonah 1:15 that the sailors threw him overboard. In chapter two, Jonah says that God threw him overboard. Who threw him overboard? The truth is that Jonah looked beyond all secondary causes and saw God’s hand in the matter. Do you see the Lord in your life?

Look for the Lord. Seeing God’s hand in your life will change your life. Look beyond all secondary causes and see what God is doing.

We must understand that God loves us and that He is always at work in our lives. We love the Lord Jesus Christ because He first loved us. When you experience the love of God, your heart is stirred to love Him in return and to serve Him. By faith, each day see God’s hand in all things.

Cyrus was going to have someone point out to him one day, God put your name in His Word, and God knows who you are. Before you were ever born, God was working. God is always working. He moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.

OUR GOD’S WORK COMPREHENDS ALL OF HISTORY

It is a great help to me to know that God’s work is not confined to one period of time. God comprehends all of human history. In the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, the Lord reveals to us that all of history is in His hands. He was working in Isaiah’s day, He worked in Cyrus’ day, and He is still at work today.

We may look at some tragedy in life and think, What a loss! From God’s vantage point, the Lord Jesus says, What a gain! We may not yet see things from God’s perspective, but we believe that God makes no mistakes. There is darkness in life, and I want to find the treasures in darkness that God has provided. By faith, I am trying to seek them, and