Posted on 03/17/2016 8:52:48 PM PDT by 11th_VA
Ever since Donald Trump began to surge as a candidate last year, Christians have been pointing to the book of Isaiah and comparing Trump with the ancient Persian King Cyrus. Some have even claimed that God has revealed to them that He will use Trump for the good of America just as He used Cyrus for the good of the Jewish people, even though Cyrus was a "pagan" king.
Could this be true?
Let's first look at the biblical and ancient Near Eastern evidence.
Cyrus (whose name was pronounced "ko-resh" in Hebrew) became king of Persia in 559 B.C. and conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. He is mentioned in a majestic passage in Isaiah where the Lord says of Cyrus, "'He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My desire'; and he declares to Jerusalem, 'You shall be built,' and to the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid'" (Is. 44:28).
In other words, Cyrus would be the one who would cause Jerusalem to be rebuilt after it had been destroyed decades earlier by the Babylonians.
But there's more that Isaiah says about Cyrus as the prophecy continues into chapter 45: "Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and to loosen the loins of kings, to open doors before him so that the gates will not be shut: I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and shatter the bars of iron. And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places so that you may know that I, the Lord, who calls you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant's sake and Israel My chosen one, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me'" (Is. 45:1-4).
Notice the beginning and the end of this passage. First, Cyrus, a non-Israelite king, is called God's anointed, a term elsewhere only used for Israelite leaders. Second, Cyrus, although called by the God of Israel, doesn't actually know the God of Israel. Instead, like the vast majority of people in the ancient world, he worshipped different deities in the form of idols.
In fulfillment of this prophecy, the Scriptures record how Cyrus made this decree to the Jewish people living in Babylon, where they had been taken in exile: "The LORD [meaning Yahweh] God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has commanded me to build for Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may the LORD [Yahweh] his God be with him. Let him go up" (2 Chr. 36:23).
So a pagan king encouraged the Jewish people to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple, also helping to finance the endeavor.
But Cyrus did not only do this for the people of Israel.
This became a standard Persian policy, allowing exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples as subjects of the Persian empire.
We know this from the famous Cyrus Cylinder that was discovered in 1879. There, we read that Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon and called "the king of the gods" in the text, "took the hand of Cyrus ... and called him by his name, proclaiming him aloud for the kingship over all of everything."
We also read in the text that Cyrus restored the various idol temples in his empire, which gives further confirmation to the biblical account.
So, here, it is Marduk who is given credit for the reign of Cyrus. In the Bible, it is Yahweh, the God of Israel and the only true God, who takes the credit. Obviously, Cyrus did not know Him, just as Isaiah said.
Could Donald Trump, then, be a modern-day Cyrus? Could it be that Trump, like Cyrus, clearly does not know the Lord in a real and personal way but could still be used by God to accomplish His purposes?
As the saying goes, let God be God, meaning, it's up to Him to do what He wants to do. Only He can answer this question for sure.
Or, from a more secular perspective, only time will tell.
What's clear, though, is that God did not raise up an idol-worshipping king to rule the nation of Israel. That would have been a curse rather than a blessing.
In contrast, Christians are talking about God raising up Trump to lead America, which would be very different than Cyrus being used to help the exiles return to Jerusalem and rebuild it.
That doesn't mean, of course, that Trump could not be a Cyrus-type of figure. It simply means that the parallel breaks down when applied.
But there's another possibility to consider.
There was another ancient king named Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian leader who, decades before Cyrus became king, led his armies to destroy Jerusalem, burn down the temple and send the Jewish people into exile in 586 B.C.
He too was an idol worshipper, yet shockingly, Yahweh called him "My servant," stating plainly, "I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land [meaning Judah] and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations; I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations" (Jer. 25:9; see also 27:6; 43:10).
So Cyrus was anointed by God to restore the Jewish people from captivity and to rebuild Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar, as a vessel of divine judgment, was called by God to send the Jewish people into exile and to destroy Jerusalem.
Two pagan kings, one raised up to bring judgment and the other raised up to bring restoration.
Is Donald Trump a Cyrus or a Nebuchadnezzar, if either?
Let God be God, and only time will tell.
But while we wait and watch and vote and act, let's not forget to pray: God, have mercy on America!
The one thing of which we are sure is that this is a very critical season in the history of our nation.
not sure how i ended up on another ping list, but thanks for taking me off: georgiegirl
How could you leave Hitler off of your list?
thank you for the comprehensive list. and bringing some sanity to this post.
“Not really.”
Sure he was. His studies at Harvard were focused on America’s role as a sea power and resulted in a book he authored at 24. His writing influenced the great Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan who went on to write the seminal Influence of Sea Power Upon History.
TR became Asst Sec of the Navy under McKinley and resigned to lead the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War. The most bitter fighting of the Philippine-American War and the resulting occupation occurred during his Presidency. He’s the father of the modern Navy, building the Great White Fleet to establish America as a major sea power. He built the Panama Canal so that the Navy could cover both oceans. He was the first President who saw America having a major role in world affairs. Wilson’s decision to enter WWI had its roots in TR’s administration.
But I do agree with you that TR was a progressive, something that the ridiculous Glenn Beck hasn’t discovered. “Trust busting” was a major project of Teddy’s administration. Agencies like the Food and Drug Administration were created by him. The national government began intervening in business, trade, and consumer safety.
And of course in 1912 he ran for President under the Bull Moose Party, the actual name of which was the Progressive Party, which Teddy Roosevelt founded.
” surrounded by a very large wall to protect it?”
Good catch
Elmer Gantry? Gantry was a fake who exploited his religious but none too wise followers.
And there certainly has been some of that in this primary but we all know who has been playing that card and it hasn’t been Trump.
He couldn’t hold a candle to those awful tyrants. He’s just a short fingered vulgarian.
It revisionist history, the fingers are too long to be Trump’s.
Trump warned Napoleon not to invade Russia.
Trump warned Julius Caesar not to go to the Senate meeting on the Ides of March.
Trump warned Cyrus not to fight the Massagetae.
Trump warned Pharaoh not to pursue the Israelites.
His own jawbone?
Look where he is now.
I live in Maryland , looks likes its calling for snow showers and light snow Saturday night and Sunday here.
Its been so warm here for weeks most of it will melt when it hits the street.
It would be quite an oddity to get heavy snow accumulations in March here.
TR was a visionary on foriegn relations. Although I dont disagree with you that he tended to walk softly and carry a big stick, he saw that the US needed to get into foreign relations in the modern age.
As you know, in the Philippines, we fought a particular group of religious zealots during and after his term in office. We were largely sucessful after they sent the right commander to do the fight.
But, TR was a progressive, and although I do not think Trump is a progressive in that respect, I beleive Trump is a mix of Jackson and TR. A type of nationalist. I favor a nationalist at this stage in this countries history. Hopefully, he will follow TR and bust up the cabals. If he survives, which I do not believe he will if elected. JFK signed the EO to print treasury notes to break the FED and very soon after, he was killed.
JFK was a fiscal conservative, Ronald Reagn basically the same, both were shot.
This political season is unlike any other we've experienced in our lifetimes... something's happening here...
Ahhh I see now.
“Although I dont disagree with you that he tended to walk softly and carry a big stick, he saw that the US needed to get into foreign relations in the modern age.”
He wanted us to be a major player in world affairs equal to Europe. That Great White Fleet may be little known to most Americans today but it caught the whole world’s attention back then.
“As you know, in the Philippines, we fought a particular group of religious zealots during and after his term in office.”
Well we chose to make them a colony. We weren’t just fighting the Moros on the south islands, we were fighting people who wanted Philippine independence.
“But, TR was a progressive, and although I do not think Trump is a progressive in that respect, I beleive Trump is a mix of Jackson and TR. “
I agree with the Andrew Jackson comparison, I’m not sold on TR. If Trump prosecutes crony capitalists I’ll reconsider.
” JFK signed the EO to print treasury notes to break the FED and very soon after, he was killed”
Not to be harsh, but that’s conspiracy nonsense promulgated by people who don’t know that the US Notes issue was nothing more than Lincoln’s Greenback issue carried forward. If more were issued it would have been by the Treasury and it wouldn’t “break” the Fed. It would have depreciated the dollar but that’s what fiat issues like the Greenback usually do.
SLOPPY premise.
What I have been advocating is an independence between state and church. What many people don't realize is that the "liberal" churches have been pumping their own form of religion upon the government. And because it often comes with a smiley face whereas the "conservative" churches' form of this often comes with a frowney face, the smiley face wins.
What would happen if we abandoned that model and went back to one where the only folks expected to be exalting God were the churches? The rest (e.g. Donald Trump) are expected to be fair in some secular, worldly sense but we give up the idea of ever getting a boost for "religion" that way other than being friendly to the generic idea of faith.
Suddenly it WOULD look more like the Cyrus model. The church can be more vigorous with less resources than ancient Israel could, but the grace of God is the supply. If Trump makes the USA economically happier, then churches can ride on that surplus to fuel their gospel missions better.
So Laz am I mad? Yep I am God-mad. Like Habakkuk was.
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