Isaiah 45:6b
6b I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Through the prophet Isaiah, the LORD declares Himself as the Supreme Sovereign who has no match or equal anywhere. He is the undisputed King. Even the new mighty king Cyrus of Persia, who would crush and conquer the might of great Babylon, would serve the LORD. Irrespective of his exploits and subjugation of the world’s powerful kings and princes, Cyrus would be under the LORD’s dominion (cf. Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4). Cyrus would act just as God commanded him. The sway that the LORD would have over Cyrus and all his political and military activities, provides irrefutable proof of the LORD’s total domination and incomparable might and glory. The LORD would use Cyrus as His instrument to accomplish His purposes concerning the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Hence, the LORD’s assertion, “I am the LORD”, denotes His sovereignty as incontestable and never-diminishing. This statement is not a mere identification of His name, but a revelation of His greatness and sovereignty. As it is written in Psalm 95:3, “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” To all God’s servants, the name “the LORD” (or Jehovah) means that He is the Almighty God. So the psalmist said, “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods” (Psalm 135:5). The assertion, “I am the LORD”, means that the LORD God is sovereign above all and all else are under His feet.
The assertion, “I am the LORD”, also affirms His self-existence and unchanging nature. In Isaiah 44:6, God, who is “the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts”, declares: “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” In Malachi 3:6, the LORD affirms, “For I am the LORD, I change not”. His unchanging commitment to His people is often avowed by the declaration, “I am the LORD your God” (cf. Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 18:2, 4; Deuteronomy 29:6; Ezekiel 20:5, 7, 19, 20).
The proclamation, “I am the LORD”, also refutes all ideas of the existence of other gods, hence His unequivocal statement: “there is none else.” In Isaiah 45 and 46, the LORD has iterated seven times that there is none else besides Him (Isaiah 45:5, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22; 46:9), as a warning to the Jews of Isaiah’s day who went after the idols of the surrounding heathen nations. The name “the LORD” (or Jehovah) must evoke in us faith, love, reverence, submission, worship, obedience and allegiance to Him. We must flee all forms of idolatry and yield only to the LORD.