{"id":65430,"date":"2023-07-14T22:30:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T22:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=65430"},"modified":"2023-07-14T22:30:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T22:30:19","slug":"rediscovering-cyrus-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=65430","title":{"rendered":"Rediscovering Cyrus (1 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, <\/em><\/p>\n

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ezra 1:1-3; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. WHO WAS CYRUS?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Cyrus,<\/strong> that is one name commonly conjured by apologists as a metaphor for the sanctified outsider that should rule over the skeptical remnants in the land. \u00a0Who was Cyrus? You probably were better taught at Sunday school than some of us, so have never been shaken by such good names often shopped to cloth stark villains. \u00a0Follow me.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. ALLIANCE WITH JERUSALEM\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Cyrus was not a Jew. He was a Gentile. He was, however, not a God-hating Gentile; neither was he anti-Jew. His kingdom initiated commendable alliance with the desolated land of Jerusalem and with its scattered people. \u00a0Cyrus was not a subtle schemer against the Jews while he gave a clever public impression of being on their side.\u00a0 He did much to promote the welfare of the Jews. He came from a line of thrones that had wasted Israel \u2013 from the Assyrians to the Babylonians to the Medes and the Persians, but he became a restorer of what his ancestors had wasted.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. CYRUS THE BUILDER\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Cyrus did much to help the cause of God. He was a builder of the house of God, not one who closed or burnt down sanctuaries, or threatened to do so, or had a capacity to do worse. Some kings build nothing, yet they would cruelly pull down what others had built. \u00a0And some still call them Cyrus.<\/p>\n

        Cyrus was a restorer of inherited desolations, not one who added his own desolations to those perpetrated before him. He was for development, not destruction.\u00a0 He was much unlike politicians today<\/a> that endlessly find a reason to blame the past for their own woeful present failures.<\/p>\n

        Cyrus was a giver, not a taker from his people under every local and \u2018international\u2019 guise. He led by example, supporting the Building Project himself with resources, much unlike those that some would give his name, who would make a million promises but fulfil none; who are never an example of the creeds they would force upon others; who grow fat by milking their people dry.<\/p>\n

        Cyrus was not only a builder of beautiful physical structures but also of commendable healthy relationships, across racial lines and geographical distances.\u00a0 Cyrus was a Gentile, yet he was instituting restorations in the faraway land of the Jews; very unlike those who would exploit racial, national or ethnic differences to their wicked political advantage; fake Cyruses who would situate every next pleasant project in their homesteads rather than let anything go to a more deserving people in \u2018that\u2019 faraway part of the kingdom.\u00a0 And some would still call them by his lovely name?<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. CYRUS\u2019S BOLD ID CARD\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Cyrus was boldly identified with God. \u00a0Which God, you might ask? \u00a0Cyrus himself gives the answer, and his answer is not shrouded in the incoherence of \u2018political correctness.\u2019 He says it straight: it is \u201cThe LORD God of heaven.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 Cyrus was thus precise about the God to whom he was devoted, the God to whom his spiritual frequencies stayed open, and by whom his spirit got \u201cstirred\u201d<\/em> and \u201ccharged\u201d:<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cThe LORD God of heaven.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>Should that be too complex to understand, should there be a debate over which \u2018God\u2019 in the \u2018sky\u2019 is meant, he states that it is the \u201cLORD God\u201d<\/em> who has \u201can house in Jerusalem.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0Again, should there be other Jerusalems, he makes the following additional clarification: it is that \u201cJerusalem, which is in Judah.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0There is no mistaking which God is meant, much unlike the others to whom some would give his goodly name, who are in the church on a convenient Sunday, at the village shrine or the clairvoyant\u2019s in a desperate night, and on a hajj to Mecca at proper times to give to their \u2018Caesar\u2019 \u2018what is Caesar\u2019s.\u2019<\/p>\n

          How many of those that the Church clothes with that reverend name would be so bold about ties with the Lord God who has a house in Jerusalem?\u00a0 How many rather have sold themselves to the god with a black-stone grave-house in the land of the rising sun?\u00a0 Cyrus was connected in \u201cspirit<\/em>\u201d to \u201cThe LORD God of heaven,\u201d <\/em>not, like his counterfeits, to the Queen of Heaven.<\/p>\n

          Not everyone that goes by the name of Christ is Christ; not everyone we clothe with the name of Cyrus is a Cyrus.\u00a0 Sometimes tricky wolves get clothed in the garments of simple sheep, and they get preyed upon that will not discern.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. THE SPIRITUALITY OF CYRUS<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Cyrus was a Gentile, but a Gentile with an ear that could hear God, and a heart that willingly obeyed, in a culture where kings usually had their ears tuned to other gods. How many rulers still hear God, and would obey when they have heard, unmindful of \u2018breaching\u2019 ungodly palace \u2018protocols\u2019? How many can say, like Cyrus, \u201cThe LORD God of heaven\u2026 hath charged me to build\u2026\u201d?<\/em>\u00a0 How many have a \u2018charge\u2019 from God rather than from Hell?\u00a0 How many know what their divine \u2018charge\u2019 is, and are committed in words and actions and resources to executing that \u2018charge\u2019 from on high?<\/p>\n

            In Cyrus\u2019s days, and by his status, it was popular to consult with astrologers and sorcerers and Chaldeans and magicians and soothsayers if a ruler felt threatened or would unravel some mystery (Daniel 2:2; 4:7; 5:7; Exodus 7:11<\/a>).\u00a0 In such a culture, one new king could boldly publicly announce the ties of his soul to the \u2018alien\u2019 God of an enslaved race: \u201cThe LORD God of heaven\u201d <\/em>\u2013 who has \u201can house at Jerusalem\u201d<\/em>!<\/p>\n

            Considering these, does he truly deserve the name, whom some would call a \u201cCyrus\u201d?\u00a0 Or do they so insist because they would partake (or are partakers) of the polluting meat and wine of that king of Babylon\u2019s lavish table (Daniel 1:8)?<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. CYRUS ACKNOWLEDGED THE HELP OF GOD\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Cyrus admitted publicly to his entire kingdom, \u201cThe LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.\u201d <\/em>In other words, he acknowledged God as the Source of his success, as the Power behind his throne, as the Giver of all that he had. He attributed to God what many in his position often attribute to their hard work and to other abilities, if not to altars of dubious reputation.\u00a0 He seemed to have lived by this hallowed creed: \u201cIn all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths\u201d <\/em>(Proverbs 3:6).<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. A GOOD STARTER<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                According to the Bible, prophecy began to be activated in the life of Cyrus from \u201cthe first year\u201d<\/em> of his reign (Ezra 1:1).\u00a0\u00a0 Cyrus did not hide his godly identity until his last tenure or his last days in office.\u00a0 He \u2018hit the ground running\u2019 for his God from his first days in office.\u00a0 In other words, his beginnings saw the good purposes of God upon the land.\u00a0 His new throne did not greet the people with sufferings and a promise for worse days than his predecessor, in the manner of the thankless and tactless Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:13<\/a>-16).<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. IN SPITE OF THE OPPOSITION <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Cyrus was not a king who feared to declare his religious persuasions. He did not disguise his views in rhetorical and diplomatic ambiguities that gave no clue to where he stood. For example, he made a public proclamation in line with his private encounters with God. \u00a0A proclamation is not a secret prayer; it is an open statement. Was that a \u2018Christian\u2019 society? No. Was everyone going to support his views? No, but that didn\u2019t seem to matter to the true Cyrus.<\/p>\n

                  There were avowed \u201cadversaries\u201d<\/em> in the system, like those of whom Ezra subsequently reported, who would do everything in their power to frustrate the Temple Project; adversaries who \u201cweakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building\u201d;<\/em> adversaries that \u201chired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose\u201d<\/em> (Ezra 4:4-5). In spite of such vocal and determined enemies as represented by Sanballat and Tobiah of the future time, Cyrus was one king who stood firm for what he believed.\u00a0 If that be the ruler that the apologists would clothe with the name of Cyrus, may he rule a thousand tenures, though he be a Gentile.<\/p>\n

                  The Preacher can be reached at<\/em><\/strong>+2348035115164; <\/a>+2348035115025; <\/a>info@thepreacher.info<\/a> https:\/\/thepreacherdiary.com\/<\/a>\u00a0; https:\/\/facebook.com\/www.thepreacher.info\/<\/a>\u00a0; www.thepreacher.info<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[6040,6041,6042],"class_list":["post-65430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","tag-cyrus","tag-gentile","tag-rediscovering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}