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. Ezra 1:1
Let’s step into the world of imagination for a moment and take ourselves back to 1830, and imagine that then US President Andrew Jackson has an obscure little advisor who has an uncanny knack of predicting what will happen in the future. One day, that advisor hands Jackson a paper with the following words: ‘A future president named Ronald will bring about the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union 45 years after it starts’. Jackson shakes his head in bewilderment and asks, ‘What in the world is a Cold War? And what is a Soviet Union?’ He files that note away where it lies unnoticed until Donald Trump discovers it in 2025. His amazement at the accuracy of that prediction is just what we should feel at the elevation of Cyrus to the throne of Persia.
Some 150 years before Cyrus becomes king, Isaiah the prophet wrote the following: ‘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’.- Isaiah 44:28 How did Isaiah know 80 years before Jerusalem and the temple were sacked by the Babylonians that a Gentile king named Cyrus would enable them to be rebuilt 70 years later?
As you are reading this, a war is raging in the very same Persia – now Iran – where Cyrus was reigning at the time indicated in our text. And unlike in the book of Ezra where Cyrus’s Persia was a wonderful friend and ally to God’s chosen people, modern day Iran is a bitter enemy whose evil rulers seek Israel’s destruction and every Jew’s death. Will Israel and the US demolish Iran now? No. Its destruction awaits a future war described in Ezekiel 38 and 39. How do we know that will happen? How could it possibly not happen, given the Bible’s perfect record of fulfilled prophecy?
God’s Word is true. Whether telling of the past or fortelling the future, we can trust it to be accurate about everything.
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/k8BOIw2biz8