Isaiah 45:7

7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7 in Other Translations

7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

7 I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.

7 I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords. I, God, do all these things.

7 I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 45:7

I form the light, and create darkness
Natural light, or that light which was produced at the first creation, and of which the sun is the fountain and source; or day which is light, and night which is darkness, the constant revolutions of which were formed, appointed, and are continued by the Lord, ( Genesis 1:3-5 ) ( 8:22 ) , moral light, or the light of nature, the rational understanding in man; spiritual light, or the light of grace, by which things spiritual and supernatural are known; the light of joy and comfort from Christ, the sun of righteousness; and the light of eternal glory and happiness: this is all from God, of his producing and giving; and so darkness is his creature; that natural darkness which was upon the face of the earth at the beginning; what arises from the absence of the sun, or is occasioned by the eclipses of it, or very black clouds; or any extraordinary darkness, such as was in Egypt; or deprivation of sight, blindness in men; and, in a figurative sense, ignorance and darkness that follow upon sin; judicial blindness, God gives men up and leaves them to; temporal afflictions and distresses, and everlasting punishment, which is blackness of darkness: I make peace, and create evil;
peace between God and men is made by Christ, who is God over all; spiritual peace of conscience comes from God, through Christ, by the Spirit; eternal glory and happiness is of God, which saints enter into at death; peace among the saints themselves here, and with the men of the world; peace in churches, and in the world, God is the author of, even of all prosperity of every kind, which this word includes: "evil" is also from him; not the evil of sin; this is not to be found among the creatures God made; this is of men, though suffered by the Lord, and overruled by him for good: but the evil of punishment for sin, God's sore judgments, famine, pestilence, evil beasts, and the sword, or war, which latter may more especially be intended, as it is opposed to peace; this usually is the effect of sin; may be sometimes lawfully engaged in; whether on a good or bad foundation is permitted by God; moreover, all afflictions, adversities, and calamities, come under this name, and are of God; see ( Job 2:10 ) ( Amos 3:6 ) : I the Lord do all these things;
and therefore must be the true God, and the one and only one. Kimchi, from Saadiah Gaon, observes, that this is said against those that assert two gods, the one good, and the other evil; whereas the Lord is the Maker of good and evil, and therefore must be above all; and it is worthy of observation, that the Persian Magi, before Zoroastres ^F13, held two first causes, the one light, or the good god, the author of all good; and the other darkness, or the evil god, the author of all evil; the one they called Oromazes, the other Arimanius; and, as Dr. Prideaux ^F14 observes,

``these words are directed to Cyrus king of Persia, and must be understood as spoken in reference to the Persian sect of the Magians; who then held light and darkness, or good and evil, to be the supreme Beings, without acknowledging the great God as superior to both;''

and which these words show; for Zoroastres, who reformed them in this first principle of their religion, was after Isaiah's time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Vid. Pocock. Specimen Arab. Hist. p. 147, 148.
F14 Connexion, part 1. p. 215.

Isaiah 45:7 In-Context

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.

7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 1:4; S Exodus 10:22
• 2. S Isaiah 14:15; S Isaiah 31:2; Lamentations 3:38; Amos 3:6