Who is Cyrus?
Answer:
Cyrus the Great (c. 600 or 576 – 530 BC) figures in
the Hebrew Bible as the patron and
deliverer of the Jews. He is mentioned 23
times by name and alluded to several times more.[1] According to the
Bible, Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, was the monarch under whom the Babylonian captivity ended. In the
first year of his reign he was prompted by God to decree that the Temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt
and that such Jews as cared to might return to their land for this purpose.
Moreover, he showed his interest in the project by sending back with them the
sacred vessels which had been taken from the First Templeand a considerable sum of money with which to
buy building materials. The existence of the decree has been challenged.
SCRIPTURE
The Proclamation of Cyrus
1 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, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put
it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God
of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to
build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God
be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the
house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he
is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he
sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods
and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in
Jerusalem.”
THE FALL OF BABYLON SURVIED
Different
accounts of the fall of Babylon survive. According to the Cyrus Cylinder,
the people opened their gates for Cyrus and greeted him as their
liberator. Isaiah 40–55 prophesied that the Persians would carry
off Babylonian women and cultic statues. Herodotus said
that Cyrus defeated the Babylonians outside their city, after which a siege began.
When this took too long, Cyrus diverted the Euphrates, so that
his troops could march into the city through the river bed.[17] Xenophon had a
similar view, but he did not mention the battle.[18] Finally, Berossus claimed
that Cyrus beat the Babylonian army but, this time, Nabonidus was supposed to
have fled to nearby Borsippa. There he hid, while Cyrus took Babylon and
demolished its outer walls. When Cyrus turned towards Borsippa, Nabonidus soon
surrendered.[19]
SCRIPTURES ON CYRUS THE GREAT
[ King Cyrus ] In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the message of God preached by Jeremiah—God moved Cyrus king of Persia to make an official
announcement throughout his kingdom; he wrote it out as follows: “From Cyrus king of Persia a proclamation: God, the
God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also
assigned me to build him a Temple of worship at Jerusalem in Judah. All who
belong to God’s people are urged to return—and may your God be
with you! Move forward!”
[ Cyrus King of Persia: “Build The Temple of God!” ] In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the Message of God preached by Jeremiah—God prodded Cyrus king of Persia to make an official
announcement throughout his kingdom. He wrote it out as follows: From Cyrus king of Persia, a Proclamation: God, the
God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also
assigned me to build him a Temple of worship in Jerusalem, Judah. Who among you
belongs to his people? God be with you! Go to Jerusalem which is in Judah and
build The Temple of God, the God of Israel, Jerusalem’s God. Those who
stay behind, wherever they happen to live, will support them with silver, gold,
tools, and pack animals, along with Freewill-Offerings for The Temple of God in
Jerusalem.
Also,
King Cyrus turned over to them
all the vessels and utensils from The Temple of God that
Nebuchadnezzar had hauled from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his
gods. Cyrus king of Persia put
Mithredath the treasurer in charge of the transfer; he provided a full
inventory for Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah, including the following: 30 gold
dishes 1,000 silver dishes 29 silver pans 30 gold bowls 410 duplicate silver bowls
1,000 miscellaneous items.
They
gave money to hire masons and carpenters. They gave food, drink, and oil to the
Sidonians and Tyrians in exchange for the cedar lumber they had brought by sea
from Lebanon to Joppa, a shipment authorized by Cyrusthe king of Persia.
Zerubbabel,
Jeshua, and the rest of the family heads of Israel said to them, “Nothing
doing. Building The Temple of our God is not the same thing to you as to us. We
alone will build for the God of Israel. We’re the ones King Cyrus of Persia commanded to do it.”
So
these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing
them as they built. They even hired propagandists to sap their resolve. They
kept this up for about fifteen years, throughout the lifetime of Cyrus king of Persia and on into the reign
of Darius king of Persia.
“But
when Cyrus became king of
Babylon, in his first year he issued a building permit to rebuild this Temple
of God. He also gave back the gold and silver vessels of The Temple of God that
Nebuchadnezzar had carted off and put in the Babylon temple. Cyrus the king removed them from the
temple of Babylon and turned them over to Sheshbazzar, the man he had appointed
governor. He told him, ‘Take these vessels and place them in The Temple of
Jerusalem and rebuild The Temple of God on its original site.’ And Sheshbazzar
did it. He laid the foundation of The Temple of God in Jerusalem. It has been
under construction ever since but it is not yet finished.”
So
now, if it please the king, look up the records in the royal archives in
Babylon and see if it is indeed a fact that Cyrus the
king issued an official building permit authorizing the rebuilding of The
Temple of God in Jerusalem. And then send the king’s ruling on this matter to
us.
So
King Darius ordered a search through the records in the archives in Babylon.
Eventually a scroll was turned up in the fortress of Ecbatana over in the
province of Media, with this writing on it: Memorandum In his first year as
king, Cyrus issued an official
decree regarding The Temple of God in Jerusalem, as follows:
[ The Building Completed: “Exuberantly Celebrated the
Dedication” ] So the leaders of the Jews continued to build; the
work went well under the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of
Iddo. They completed the rebuilding under orders of the God of Israel and
authorization by Cyrus, Darius, and
Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The Temple was completed on the third day of the
month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
He makes the magicians look ridiculous and turns fortunetellers into
jokes. He makes the experts look trivial and their latest knowledge look silly.
But he backs the word of his servant and confirms the counsel of his
messengers. He says to Jerusalem, “Be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah,
“Be rebuilt,” and to the ruins, “I raise you up.” He says to Ocean, “Dry up.
I’m drying up your rivers.” He says to Cyrus, “My
shepherd— everything I want,
you’ll do it.” He says to Jerusalem, “Be built,” and to the Temple, “Be
established.”
[ The
God Who Forms Light and Darkness ] God’s
Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he
took by the hand To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their
kings— He gave him free rein,
no restrictions: “I’ll go ahead of you, clearing and paving the road. I’ll
break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances. I’ll
lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables— Confirmations that it
is, in fact, I, God, the God of
Israel, who calls you by your name. It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,
Israel my chosen, That I’ve singled you out, called you by name, and given you
this privileged work. And you don’t even know me! I am God, the only God there
is. Besides me there are no real gods. I’m the one who armed you for this work,
though you don’t even know me, So that everyone, from east to west, will know
that I have no god-rivals. I am God, the only God there is. I form light
and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords. I, God, do all
these things.
Thus God,
The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says: “Do you question who or what I’m
making? Are you telling me what I can or cannot do? I made earth, and I created
man and woman to live on it. I handcrafted the skies and direct all the
constellations in their turnings. And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move. I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city. He will bring home my exiles. I didn’t hire him to do
this. I told him.
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”
“Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious
business, rebels. Take it to heart. Remember your history, your long and rich
history. I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have— incomparable, irreplaceable— From the
very beginning telling you what the ending will be, All along letting you in on
what is going to happen, Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul, I’ll do
exactly what I set out to do,’ Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the
east, from a far country the man I chose to help me. I’ve said it, and I’ll
most certainly do it. I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.
“Come
everybody, gather around, listen: Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus,
and I’m using him to do what I want with Babylon. I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve
called him. I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful. Come close, listen
carefully: I’ve never kept secrets from you. I’ve always been present with
you.”
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