CYRUS THE GREAT
While I was watching some of the treasures of ancient Persia, my thoughts went out to one their greatest rulers.
Two hundred years before his birth, the Bible mentioned his name:
Isaiah 44:27,28 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’ 28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘‘Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, ‘‘Let its foundations be laid.”’
When I visited the ruins of Ecbatana, the ancient capital of the Medes, my thoughts went out this great prophetic figure.
The devil read about this future deliverer of the people of God in Babylon and tried to kill the baby, just as he wanted to kill baby Moses, another deliverer.
Herodotus tells us that the oracles told king Astyages that a boy by the name of Cyrus would be born and that he would eventually conquer the Median Empire.
So when his daughter Mandane gave birth to Cyrus, he ordered his Minister of Finance, Harpagus to kill the child. He didn’t have the heart to do it, so he told the king’s shepherd Mitradates to do the job.
Mitradates took baby Cyrus home and told her that he was to kill the infant. His wife Spako told him that their baby died that morning. Guess what they did? They buried their deceased child in the place of baby Cyrus and gave him another name. Only ten years later did his cruel grandfather, Astyages discovered what happened.
Cyrus was banned to Anshan where he became one of the greatest and best rulers of antiquity. Let me read you another prophecy concerning Cyrus:
Isaiah 45:1,2 ‘‘This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
God predicted that Cyrus would become a type of the coming Messiah, the Anointed. On the night of October 12 539 when he came to Babylon to deliver God’s people, the Euphrates River dried up.
You are looking at this river. By God’s command it dried up when Cyrus came to deliver God’s people. When our heavenly Cyrus will come to deliver us from our captivity the waters of our fallen human natures will also dry up.
The huge bronze gates were opened and Cyrus marched to the banquet hall and killed king Belshazzar. Our heavenly Cyrus, Jesus Christ is on His way to remove the devil from his Babylonian throne.
While looking at the beautiful Ishtar gate in the Pergamom museum in Berlin, the following beautiful prophecy came to my mind:
Isaiah 45:13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.”
Many thoughts came to me when I visited some of the remains of Babylon’s glorious past. The exiles who lived here could not believe their ears when Cyrus announced their freedom and gave them permission to go back to Jerusalem.
But that’s not all. He offered them a free passage to their beloved capital. They had access to the best camels and all the 5***** caravan sarais on the way. (Hotels of those days)
And this is what our heavenly Cyrus offers us today. There is absolute no charge for us to go from our Babylon of bondage to the New Jerusalem of freedom. On Calvary the price for our journey was fully paid.
Please accept your free passage to heaven.