Cyrus, My Shepherd

Massive bronze gates. Bars of iron as thick as a man's arm. A city everyone thinks can never fall. And a voice that says: I will break the gates of bronze in pieces. And I will tell you the name of the man I will send.

God's people are exiles in Babylon. Their city, Jerusalem, lies in ruins. Babylon is the superpower of its day, with walls so wide that chariots could drive along the top. Its people bow to statues of gold and silver. To the exiles, the idea of going home seems impossible. Who could ever defeat Babylon? But in the book of Isaiah, God speaks to these people about the future, and he does something astonishing. He doesn't just promise rescue. He names the rescuer. And the rescuer is not an Israelite at all. He is a Persian king called Cyrus.

God begins by reminding his people who he is. “I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.” I made everything, God says. I made the sky with no one helping me. I am the one who makes the fortune-tellers of Babylon look foolish, and makes the words of my own messengers come true. I say to Jerusalem, you will be lived in again. I say to the towns of Judah, you will be rebuilt. I say to the deep waters, be dry. And then: “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”

Now God speaks to Cyrus directly, as if the king were standing there. “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him.” I have taken hold of your right hand, God says. I will open doors before you, and city gates will not be shut. “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.” I will give you treasures hidden in the dark, riches stored in secret places. Why? So that you will know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

Then God explains the reason behind it all. For the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have given you a title of honour, though you do not know me. Cyrus would not be a worshipper of Israel's God. He would be a foreign king with his own plans. But God would use him anyway, for the good of his people. And then God says one of the strongest things in the whole Bible about himself. “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.” From the rising of the sun to its setting, everyone will know there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and I create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. Kings rise and fall. Empires come and go. But the one true God is in charge of history.

Cyrus the Great of Persia really did capture Babylon, in five hundred and thirty-nine before Christ. Soon after, he issued a decree, recorded in the book of Ezra, allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. A clay cylinder from Cyrus's own reign, now in the British Museum, describes his conquest of Babylon and says he gathered peoples and returned them to their homes, and restored their sanctuaries. It is known as the Cyrus Cylinder.

You'll find this prophecy in Isaiah chapter forty-four, verse twenty-four, to chapter forty-five, verse seven. A foreign king, called by name, to set God's people free. So here is a question to carry with you. If God is in charge even of kings and empires, what worry could you trust him with today?