King Cyrus and the Minimalist

In the beginning, there was only one voice for Adam and Eve to listen to and to be instructed by.  This voice was God’s and it was the voice of absolute truth—the voice of the creator.  Adam and Eve dwelt in Paradise where there was no death, no sickness or pain, no sorrow or sadness, and every morning was a beautiful postcard sky.  But one day a second voice spoke—Satan’s voice—which challenged the veracity of the first voice.  Our grandparents rejected the first voice and embraced the second—the voice of unbelief and disobedience, the voice of confusion and utter darkness.  That day our progenitors died spiritually, were booted out of Paradise, became acquainted with the law of sin and death, and also soon died physically.

Today the second voice has spawned a million children.  Even though many of the variations of the second voice hate and kill one another, they all possess one common denominator.  Without exception, they all reject the first voice.

The world is now filled with a cacophony of second-voice variations all shouting, “I am the way,” but all leading to the same destination of confusion, disillusionment, and final damnation.  But be of good cheer, for the first voice still speaks!  Welcome to GodSaidManSaid, where you’ll presently find over 400 subjects (This number grows by one every Thursday eve, God-willing) that confirm the veracity—the absolute truth—of the Holy Bible.

Dear visitor, have you personally come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?  Are you born-again?  Would you like to know absolute truth?  Would you like to have life and to have it more abundantly?  Would you like answers to all of life’s questions?  Would you like all your sin and shame to be forgiven and expunged from your record?  God’s Word has good news for you.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 44:24-28:

24  Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

25  That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

26  That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

27  That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

28  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.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 45:1-6:

1  Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2  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:

3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4  For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

GOD SAID, II Chronicles 36:22-23:

22  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, 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,

23  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

MAN SAID: The Bible again is wrong.  The writings attributed to Isaiah could not have been written by Isaiah.  He prophesies of the coming Persian king Cyrus who would release the Jews from their 70 years of Babylonian servitude to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the Solomonic Temple.  It could not have been written by Isaiah because he predates Cyrus by more than 200 years!

Now THE RECORD.  Somehow it escapes the Biblical minimalists who go before men (and especially in the religious circles) as the fount of God, but who, in fact, are the scribes and wolves in sheep’s clothing that Jesus warns of.  Yes, it escapes them that the Bible is a supernatural, inerrant, God-authored text.  It escapes the minimalists that prophets of God, by divine revelation, foretold and foretell the future.

Something else has escaped the minimalists concerning the Biblical book of Isaiah and its legendary prophecies of King Cyrus.  It is that the history of this issue is thoroughly recorded by Flavius Josephus.  Josephus is arguably the most famous ancient historian of all time and certainly the most read.  Josephus records the following:

Thus saith Cyrus the King: — Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea.”

2. This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: — “My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.”  This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished.  Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what was so written; so he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem, and the temple of God, for that he would be their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighbourhood of their country of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and, besides that, beasts for their sacrifices.

Cyrus also sent an epistle to the governors that were in Syria, the contents whereof here follow: —

“KING CYRUS TO SISINNES AND SATHRABUZANES, SENDETH GREETING

“I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to return to their own country, and to rebuild their city, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem, on the same place where it was before.  I have also sent my treasurer, Mithridates, and Zorobabel, the governor of the Jews, that they may lay the foundations of the temple, and may build it sixty cubits high, and of the same latitude, making three edifices of polished stones, and one of the wood of the country, and the same order extends to the altar whereon they offer sacrifices to God.  I require also, that the expenses for these things may be given out of my revenues.  Moreover, I have also sent the vessels which king Nebuchadnezzar pillaged out of the temple, and have given them to Mithridates the treasurer, and to Zorobabel the governor of the Jews, that they may have them carried to Jerusalem, and may restore them to the temple of God.  [End of quote]

The Greek author, soldier, and historian, Xenophon, born in 444 BC, speaks of King Cyrus and appends Isaiah’s description of him to him which was “God’s shepherd.”  Cyrus’ tomb can be seen today at Parsagarda in Iran. 

God’s Word is true and righteous altogether.  Its foundation is established in heaven.  Build your life upon it. 

GOD SAID, Isaiah 44:24-28:

24  Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

25  That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

26  That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

27  That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

28  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.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 45:1-6:

1  Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2  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:

3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4  For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

GOD SAID, II Chronicles 36:22-23:

22  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, 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,

23  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

MAN SAID: The Bible again is wrong.  The writings attributed to Isaiah could not have been written by Isaiah.  He prophesies of the coming Persian king Cyrus who would release the Jews from their 70 years of Babylonian servitude to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the Solomonic Temple.  It could not have been written by Isaiah because he predates Cyrus by more than 200 years!

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

Biblica, The Bible Atlas, Barons, p341

Whiston, Josephus, Complete Works, Kregel Publications, 1960, pp228-229

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