T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S the prophet Isaiah. Twice Isaiah men tions the name of this Persian king (Isa. 44:28; 45:1). Who would doubt that an omniscient God who knows all things, the end from the beginning, could do this? Stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. According to Josephus, the great Jewish historian, Cyrus read the book of Isaiah himself. When he cam!e to the place in which Isaiah mentioned him by name an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was written in these prophecies. From the record here we learn that it was the Lord who stirred him up to issue the proclama tion.— Anno. Bible. v. 2. The Lord hath given me the king doms. Cyrus showed great regard for the religious sentiments of his various subjects and just as in his inscriptions it is represented to the Babylonians that he had obtained his victories through Meredoch, their chief god, so here in a decree issued to the Jews, his success is ascribed to the Lord.—-Dummelow. Nothing is more striking in the history of the chosen people than this direct intervention of God by the use of a man who could not be regarded as hav ing any natural sympathy with His cause. God's use of unlikely instru ments is one of the facts of the Chris tian life which at once challenges and confirms the faith of His servants. Con fronted as they are with tasks entirely beyond the reach of their own resources, they are compelled to look to Him to open closed hearts and beat down strong opposition. This is the history of many an enterprise of the kingdom and in particular in its missionary extension. He is the God of all power and holds the keys of every situation. Nothing so effectually strengthens the faith of His people as thus to see Him working on their behalf in a manner which leaves no doubt as to the identity of the worker.—Holden. v. 3. Who is there among you? The edict is purely permissive. There is to be no expulsion of Jews from Babylon. Those exiles who did not choose to avail themselves of the boon so eagerly cov eted by the patriotic few, were allowed to remain unmolested, in peace and prosperity. It is an image of the divine restoration of souls which is confined to those who accept it of their own free will.—Adeney.' v. 4. Let the men help him. Proba bly rich men were requisitioned to as sist in providing the gold and silver and other stores, together with beasts of burden which would be needed for
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paring the way for the further fulfill ment of God’s Word. There was sin, punishment, forgive ness and restoration for them then. There was sin, again, in the rejection of Christ; punishmient in their scat tering; there is fulfillment of proph ecy in their gathering now, but there must yet be the saddest of all the days they have ever known; and then the day of all days when Christ shall reign as their King, and again it will be— Jerusalem the centre, and the Jews the earthly people of God. PRACTICAL. POINTS (1) God called Cyrus by name be fore he was born. (2) Cyrus found his name in the Bible. “ Whosoever will” may find his in the Book of Life. (3) The business of the King above, became the business of the king below. (4) The first year of Cyrus was the last year of the captivity. (5) It was Jeremiah’s mouth, but Jehovah’s Word. (6) The God of Heaven owns the kingdoms of the earth. (7) God’s house is spiritual, but we may help in its building with our silver and gold. v. 1. The word of the Lord. The heart of Cyrus in the beginning of his reign was stirred by the Lord because the time had come that the word of the Lord spoken by COMMENTS FROM t h e mouth of MANY SOURCES Jeremiah might Keith L. Brooks be fulfilled. This was the wo r d , spoken by Jeremiah: “ For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10). Cyrus was the chosen instrument of the Lord to bring about the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the temple. Almost two hundred years before his birth the Lord had revealed his name and his work to
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