These prophecies in Isaiah regarding Cyrus are exceedingly important for they prove from the Bible how special Cyrus was in the eyes of the LORD for what he would accomplish for the people of God. No other king was called of God long before his birth and appointed to such lofty responsibilities by the God of heaven as was Cyrus. The Bible has much more to say about Cyrus than about either of the other two kings who also gave later commands.
Furthermore, the LORD, by the prophet, tells us that Cyrus would let the Jewish captives freely return to their homeland. The LORD tells us plainly in this passage that Cyrus would accomplish everything that He wanted done regarding the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple.
The important point to note in this passage is that while the LORD is saying of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, the LORD then tells us what Cyrus himself would say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Some have argued from this passage that the LORD is saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. But this is not the case at all. No, this passage is teaching us that Cyrus himself would tell Jerusalem and the temple that they were to be rebuilt.
This passage gives us important details of how Cyrus and his army conquered Babylon in one night. Furthermore, Cyrus is the only one who could and did perform what this verse requires. Additionally, Cyrus, as we already know, was the king who let the Jewish captives return to Jerusalem. We know this from the book of Ezra. This verse then, Isaiah , tells us that the king who let the Jews return to their homeland would also build the city of Jerusalem.
Both of these incredible accomplishments would be performed by the same man, the same king. And we know that that king was Cyrus. The LORD gave Isaiah his name long before he was born and had Isaiah write down the details of what he would accomplish for the Jewish people.
There can be no mistaking the prophet Isaiah, Cyrus would let the Jews return to their homeland, and Cyrus would also rebuild the city of Jerusalem. As reckoned by the LORD God of heaven, no king other than Cyrus could possibly rebuild Jerusalem because whoever rebuilt Jerusalem would also be the king who let the Jews freely return to Judah.
Only Cyrus accomplished both of these requirements. Notice that Daniel in the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede understood from reading the book of Jeremiah that the 70 years of desolations on Jerusalem were coming to an end Daniel Daniel knew that the prophecies of Jeremiah called for only 70 years of captivity for the Jews and only 70 years of desolations for the city of Jerusalem.
Cyrus was the king who brought the 70 years to an end. The Bible tells us plainly that Cyrus fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah. This unquestionably means that Cyrus ended the Babylonian captivity by allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and that he ended the 70 year period of desolations for Jerusalem by decreeing for Jerusalem to be rebuilt.
In order for Cyrus to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah, he must have been the king that both freed the Jews to return to Judea and that issued the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
It was one of the most extraordinary acts in international history. The decree of Cyrus, as set forth by Ezra, contains the following elements: Jehovah is the God of heaven. By the providential operation of God, Cyrus had been given his international dominion.
The Israelite people would be free to return to their homeland to engage this enterprise. Finances to assist with the endeavor were to be provided by the Persians among whom the Jews resided. Archaeological Discovery In , an explorer by the name of Hormuzd Rassam discovered the famous Cyrus Cylinder now in the British Museum at the site of ancient Babylon.
Historical Testimony The testimony of certain ancient historians also confirms that the deportment of Cyrus towards the subjects of his conquests was most unusual. The Testimony of Josephus We would, however, call attention to the following circumstance, as recorded by Josephus. Conclusion A consideration of the facts relative to the amazing Edict of Cyrus the Great is a thrilling endeavor indeed. Works Cited Josephus, Flavius. The Life and Works of Flavius Josephus. 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 Temple and a considerable sum of money with which to buy building materials.
In BC, there was a revolt in Southern Babylonia , while the army of Cyrus entered the country from the north. In June the Babylonian army was completely defeated at Opis , and immediately afterwards Sippara opened its gates to the conqueror. Meanwhile, Nabonidus , who had concealed himself, was captured, but treated honourably; and when his wife died, Cambyses II , the son of Cyrus, conducted the funeral.
The first group of returning exiles arrived in Judea sometime after B. The first return somewhat resembled a religious crusade. It consisted of forty to fifty thousand people. Small groups of exiles continued to come for the next century from Babylonia, but the majority of Jews did not return, and for centuries there was a greater number of Jews in Babylon than in the Holy Land.
A person known in the book of Ezra as Sheshbazzar see Ezra , 11 ; , 16 was designated as the governor of this Holy Land colony. Scholars dispute whether Sheshbazzar was the same person as Zerubbabel. If Sheshbazzar was another person, as indicated in 1 Esdras of the Apocrypha, then he mysteriously vanished, since Zerubbabel soon took center stage in Jerusalem. When the Jews returned to Israel, they found the land inhabited by Samaritans, a people whose name came from the city of Samaria, which had been the capital of the Northern Kingdom.
When the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria in B. The Assyrians brought other peoples to inhabit the land, and they intermarried with the remaining Israelites.
They adopted some forms of the worship of Jehovah, but they mixed them with pagan ideas. The Jews in the Southern Kingdom viewed these Samaritans as being not only impure Israelites but pagans as well.
The Jews returning from Babylonia were eager to reinstitute the official worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem. Their first act was to repair the altar of burnt offering and to renew the regular morning and evening sacrifices. They then observed the feast of Tabernacles and other feasts in routine succession.
Under the direction of Zerubbabel, the Jews repaired the altar and began to rebuild the temple. The Samaritans asked to join in the project, saying that they had been offering sacrifice to Jehovah since the days of the Assyrian conquest see Ezra —2. The Jews flatly refused their help, and the Samaritans in anger openly opposed the project see Ezra —5. Because of this interference from the Samaritans and because of indifference that arose among the Jews see Haggai —6 , the temple building was put off until the second year of the reign of Darius I, about B.
The resumption of the temple construction was inspired by two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah see Ezra , whose brief writings are preserved in the Old Testament. The local governor and the leaders of Samaria attempted to obstruct the project. The Jews appealed to Darius, eventually proving that they were doing only what Cyrus had granted them permission to do. So they were allowed to continue their project see Ezra 5—6. The temple was finished in B. The second temple did not compare in splendor to the temple of Solomon, for the people were very poor at the time they built it.
There is no mention of Zerubbabel after the temple was completed. After his time, the leadership of the community was held by the priests. This theocratic government was permitted by the Persians and for a time by Alexander the Great. Not much is known of the state of Jewish affairs between the completion of the temple in B. Another source states that Ezra came in B. Douglas, ed. In any event, there is a span of about three generations between the first return and the return of Ezra and Nehemiah.
During this period, Persian culture reached its greatest height, as evidenced by the impressive ruins standing at Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire. The luxury of the Persian court is described in the book of Esther. Little is known about Jewish life during this period. In view of the reforms initiated later by Ezra and Nehemiah, a strict adherence to the laws of Moses was evidently not observed.
The priests intermarried with their non-Israelite neighbors, and the city of Jerusalem was allowed to further deteriorate. Under Artaxerxes I — B. Ezra seems to have held some kind of important court office, and he was accredited as a special envoy to reorganize the temple services at Jerusalem.
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