p. 575In the twenty-eighth verse of the forty-fourth chapter, Cyrus is abruptly introduced by name as though standing in the presence of Yahweh. We read of Yahweh “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.”
From this it has been supposed that this portion of the prophecy must belong to the time of Cyrus himself, and that Isaiah could not have written it. Therefore the “higher critics” have invented “the Babylonian Isaiah,” “Isaiah the second”; notwithstanding the fact that the New Testament quotations of the prophet all assume unity of the authorship.
Josiah was named about 300 years before his birth, and why not Cyrus? And if it be objected that the form of speech here is a direct apostrophising of Cyrus, it may be answered that in Isa. viii. 8, we have as direct an apostrophising of Immanuel. And Immanuel, be it remembered, was the name of Mary’s son, and not of an angelic being of prior existence. There is really no need for the supposition of a later authorship, nor any difficulty in God’s speaking of a man or even to a man before his birth. It was expressly said by the Spirit to Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jer. i. 5). This illustrates the case of Cyrus.
Various definitions of the name Cyrus are proposed; but the one that seems best to fit the history and typical necessities of the case is that which takes it to mean “Like the Heir.” The allusions p. 576 of this prophecy bear this out in a striking manner. Cyrus is called “my shepherd”; and Jesus “the Heir” is “the good Shepherd.” Cyrus was to build Jerusalem and the temple, and let go the captives from Babylon; and Jesus is “the man whose name is the Branch,” and who shall build the temple of the Lord; and he will let go Yahweh’s captives, for he is already said to have “led captivity captive and given gifts unto men” (Eph. iv. 8; Psa. lxviii. 18). Cyrus is actually called Yahweh’s Messiah or Anointed (Isa. xlv. 1), “the only place in Isaiah where the term Messiah occurs; and the only instance in the scriptures where it is borne by a heathen king.” And in this he is “like the Heir”; for Jesus is the Messiah.
And other illustrations may be adduced; but let these suffice here. But not only the allusions of the scriptures, but the testimony of history, further illustrates the matter and attests the truth of the prophecy. Cyrus was the son of Cambyses, a Persian of the royal family of Archæmenidæ, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages the Mede. Astyages had given his daughter to a Persian as a political expedient, and by reason of certain dreams concerning a son she would bear, sought to have him slain as soon as he was born. In this he was defeated by the officer to whom he entrusted the matter, and the babe was sent out into the country, and preserved alive by the actions of a herdsman and his wife. Whether this be merely legendary or not, it is certainly “like the Heir”; for Jesus was similarly threatened with death in infancy because of royal fears and jealousies on the part of Herod, and was similarly preserved. Even the story of Cyrus’ solemn assertion of his royal prerogatives when only a boy is not without a suggestion of the seriousness of Jesus in “the Father’s business” when only twelve years of age. In the quickness of his understanding, the simplicity of his life, the thoroughness of all his actions, his singular sobriety and temperance, his humanity to all men, Cyrus was “like the Heir”—“a man more precious than gold of Ophir,” though only a type of the Greater than he.
We do not now trace the history of Cyrus and the gradual uprise of the Persian power and suppression of the Median, of p. 577 which the prophet Daniel spoke. Nor do we now refer to the history of the taking of Babylon. That came under notice in a previous chapter. For present purposes, we trace a comparison between Cyrus and the still more “precious” Servant of Yahweh, of whom he was a type. The following is a sample appreciation of the character of Cyrus and his bearing towards the peoples he subdued:
“Cyrus’ policy was in every case conciliation, and self-identification with the national feelings, aspirations, and religion of the nations which he conquered. Under his rule, contentment was to be found everywhere. The Babylonians did not find fault with him; and the Jews became even enthusiastic over him.”
This is a shadow of the policy hereafter of “the Heir.” Having been born and bred in adversity, he “can be touched with the feeling of the infirmities” of the peoples, and when resistance is past and conquest an accomplished fact, he will be a father to them in every way. He will not, however, like Cyrus, tolerate the Babylonian religion, but will suppress it, and show the Babylonians “a more excellent way.” And at last “they will not find fault with him.” As to the Jews, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.” Like Cyrus, he will proclaim their return from all the lands of their captivity, and the building of the temple of the age to come is his especial function, for the Lord God of heaven has given him all the kingdoms of the earth, and charged him to build the house (Ezra i. 2; Zech. vi. 12-13).
The whole work of Cyrus, as of Jesus, is of Yahweh. This is the most emphatic testimony of this prophecy, and is in harmony with all the scriptures and the equally emphatic testimony of Jesus as concerning himself. Trinitarian doctrine has obscured the truth. It is YAHWEH who raises up Cyrus, who anoints him, who “holds his hand,” who “calls him by name,” “girds him,” and makes his way prosperous. Exactly similar things are testified of Jesus “the Heir” himself. Yahweh raises up Christ to sit upon David’s throne (Acts ii. 30); anoints him (x. 38); holds his hand and keeps him (Isa. xlii. 6); and gives him for a covenant. All this Jesus testified of himself with relation to the Father’s purpose in Israel.
p. 578 But in one particular there is a great contrast between Cyrus and Jesus. It was said to the former that Yahweh did all these things, “that thou mayest know that I, Yahweh, who call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel” (xlv. 3). Yet it is immediately said, “thou hast not known me.” And that this is not a mere reference to the fact that Cyrus was as yet unborn, is evident from his posing as a worshipper of the gods of Babylon, which no true servant of Yahweh—of the type of Daniel and his companions—would ever have done. True, Cyrus makes reference to “the Lord God of heaven” having charged him to build the temple (Ezra i. 2); but this does not necessitate his being a true worshipper of Yahweh, any more than Rabshakeh’s allegation of Yahweh’s commission to him, made him one (Isa. xxxvi. 6). But when we look at Jesus, we see the knowledge of the Father in the highest possible manifestation; so that he was Immanuel, God with Israel, as he himself testified in his doctrine.
Again, there is a comparison and a contrast when we apply the phrase “for Jacob’s sake” to Cyrus and Jesus in turn. It was not wittingly and primarily “for Jacob’s sake” that Cyrus made his conquests and took the great city Babylon; and as to the ultimate destiny of “Israel, God’s elect,” it was, of course, altogether outside his policy. Just as the Assyrian was employed as God’s “rod of anger” to chastise Israel; but “meant not so,” but only to “cut off nations not a few”; so Cyrus was employed as God’s “shepherd,” but meant not so, but only to consolidate a great dominion according to his ideas of humanity and justice.
But when we look at “the Heir of all things” and his shepherding for God “for Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect,” how far does the antitype exceed the type in glory? Anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit and with power, he went about doing good, and at last, as “the good shepherd,” laid down his life for the sheep. And laying it down, he took it again, as he had a right by the commandment of the Father, and lives immortally to carry out the covenants to Jacob to the uttermost. The life of the fathers of Israel and of all “the elect” is “hid in him.” When he appears they will appear with him in glory, and be caused to inherit the land for ever.
p. 579 All the typical work of Cyrus was defined to be for the making known of the name of Yahweh and that there was no God besides. And truly, in his career, he accomplished so many striking things that the prophets had foretold, that it was a great and notable testimony that the God of Israel, and not the gods of Babylon, was the Master of the situation, the Avenger of His people, and the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth.
But what was it all by comparison with the manifestation of the Name of Yahweh in Jesus Christ, now past and to come? Greater works than those of Cyrus He has done and will do; “and the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Yahweh hath spoken it.”
Somewhat abruptly, as it at first sight appears, the word goes on (v. 7). “I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, Yahweh, do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, Yahweh, have created it.”
Taking the proximate and more remote views of this with reference to Cyrus and Babylon of B.C. 540, and Jesus and anti-typical Babylon of the twentieth century A.D., what can be the signification of the word? First as touching light and darkness, and peace and evil with reference to Israel in the days of Cyrus. God had enlightened Israel at the first and redeemed them from Egypt; but upon apostacy had “created darkness,” so that “the light was darkened in the heavens” of Israel (Isa. v. 30), and the people were “driven to darkness.” He had given them peace; but they walked not in His counsel and He decreed that evil should overtake them, which it did, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, at last. Some, like Daniel, went into captivity “for their good” (Jer. xxiv. 5), and some for evil, “for their hurt.” But it was all Yahweh’s work.
But did “the heavens drop down” in the days of Cyrus and the Babylonian captivity, or “the skies pour down righteousness,” and “the earth open,” that salvation might be brought forth? Nothing of the kind is on record. True, there were angels’ visits, as when the angel delivered Daniel’s companions from the fiery furnace, or when Gabriel, sent in answer to Daniel’s prayer, p. 580 enlightened him concerning things to come. But as to salvation by resurrection, Gabriel himself instructed Daniel that that pertained to the time of the end, a time of trouble such as never was, when Israel should be finally redeemed—not by Cyrus, the man “like the Heir”—but by “the Heir” himself, here entitled MICHAEL, “Who like God,” the great Prince, who stands up for Israel. “At that time,” said Gabriel to Daniel, “thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. xii.). And Daniel himself was promised a participation in the glory then to be revealed.
It is very evident that this greater deliverance is the final objective of this far-reaching prophecy concerning Cyrus. Indeed, the context specifically alludes to it in the declaration that “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.” And this, moreover, is the apostolic application of the prophecy. Paul, writing to the Philippians, and exhorting them to imitate the humility and obedience of Christ (that had been dimly typified in Cyrus), says: “He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER” (Phil. ii. 8-11).
Here is a return from a greater captivity than the Babylonian, and by an Israel angelically defined as “every one written in the book,” which includes many righteous of Gentile extraction as concerning the flesh. Death and the grave are scripturally considered as the great captivity and prison-house of bondage. Hence it is said of Jesus: He “loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” (Acts ii. 24). “He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men” (Eph. iv. 8). “By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out p. 581 of the pit wherein is no water” (Zech. ix. 11). Other illustrations will occur to those who know the scriptures. Thus, like Cyrus, who regarded not silver and delighted not in gold (Isa. xiii. 17), Jesus will let go the captives, “not for price nor reward saith the Lord of Hosts” (xlv. 13).
And just as Babylon resisted Cyrus and fell before him, and as the result of his victory, Israel, “God’s son, His firstborn” (Ex. iv. 22), was liberated and exalted; so will it be under Jesus. Babylon the Great will make war upon him and will fall before him (Rev. xvii. 5, 14: xviii.), and his victory will be associated with “the manifestation of the sons of God.” This is what is before us in the picture of the strife of man with his Maker that is presented in the prophecy in connection with the allusion to the resurrection of the dead in the time of the end.
“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith to a father, What begettest thou? or to a woman, What hast thou brought forth? Thus saith Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me” (verse 9-11).
In the days of the Babylonian captivity, the strife of man with his Maker was illustrated only in such matters as Nebuchadnezzar’s boast over Great Babylon, his institution of the worship of the image, and attempted burning of the servants of God who refused to worship; also in the blasphemies of Belshazzar in his feast, and dishonouring of Yahweh and the vessels of the temple from Jerusalem. Who is Yahweh? was in effect the question of these kings, as of Pharaoh of old. “Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands”? (Dan. iii. 15). Who is Israel, “His son, his firstborn”? “What hath he brought forth? Only a nation of slaves whom we hold in bondage.” But Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by his madness and sojourn with the beasts of the field; and Belshazzar was slain in the taking of Babylon, according to the decree traced the same night by the angelic hand on the Palace wall (Dan. v.). Such were the woes p. 582 that came upon Babylon in those days, the last by the hand of Cyrus the Liberator.
But Jesus himself, who is the personal “Jacob” and “Israel,” the true Messiah and Shepherd of Israel, was the subject in turn of strife among the potsherds of the earth. Even the priests in Israel, in effect, said to the Father concerning him, “What makest thou?” “What begettest thou?” and to the woman, “What hast thou brought forth?” Though the Son of God, his own received him not. “Whom makest thou thyself?” was their scornful challenge. “Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James and Joses and Simeon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence, then, hath this man all these things? And they stumbled at him” (Matt. xiii. 55). “But as many as received him, to them gave he power (right) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (Jno. i. 12). In learning of Jesus, such “asked Yahweh of things to come concerning His sons,” and were greatly favoured and enlightened, receiving the spirit of adoption and the promise of eternal sonship after the type of Christ at last (Rom. viii.; Phil. iii. 20; 1 John iii. 2).
And there is still to come the great strife of the potsherds of the earth in “the great day of God Almighty.” “Whom makest thou thyself?” will be the question put to him at last by “Babylon the Great.” “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” Such are the questions that are increasingly common in Great Babylon, where the endeavour to make him out a mere man is always present, and will culminate at last in an appeal to arms to decide the issue: Roman Babylon versus Zion. Those who truly belong to “Israel mine elect” enquire of the testimony delivered to and through Daniel about the time of Cyrus concerning “the Son of Man,” as well as of all the other scriptures. And they know that Jesus is more than man, even the manifestation of the Father in Israel and hereafter gloriously in Jerusalem and to all the earth.
p. 583 This dominion of Zion is the next element of this beautiful picture (v. 13-17). Hers shall be the dominion—over Babylon, and over Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba; and the subdued peoples shall fall down and make supplication, saying, “Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.” How deeply the truth brings this home to us. Israel is scattered among the nations, the truth is hidden in the world, Christ is “hid with God,” Yahweh is silent. With what dumbfounded consternation will the Lord’s “roar out of Zion” be received by an incredulous world! How spontaneous and sincere will be the confession of the preserved remnant, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit” (Jer. xvi. 19).
There is a beautiful concealed contrast between the chaotic condition of the Gentile heavens and earth, and the order and glory of the new heavens and the new earth of Zion that are to succeed them. “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end (unto the ages of eternity). For thus saith Yahweh, that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (R.V.: “a waste,” or “void,” tohu—Gen. i. 2), he formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain (in “a waste,” tohu); I, Yahweh, speak righteousness: I declare things that are right” (v. 17-19). Israel’s kosmos has been wrecked, and Gentile chaos remains; but not for ever. The earth has been emptied, made waste, turned upside down, and its inhabitants scattered. The city of confusion (tohu) is broken down; that is, apostate Jerusalem (Isa. xxiv.). In the language of Jesus, the sun of Israel has been darkened, the moon eclipsed, and the stars have fallen from heaven (Matt. xxiv. 29). Heaven and earth have passed away (Luke xxi. 33). But when Yahweh shall “punish the kings of the earth upon the earth,” then “the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients p. 584 gloriously” (xxiv. 23). In “the regeneration,” Israel’s universe will be recreated; and the Gentile world, or “the kingdom of men,” will pass away in judgments like those that came upon Israel of old, and worse.
Then, indeed, “the escaped of the nations” will come to the knowledge of God, and all the ends of the earth look to the God of Israel for salvation. “Look unto ME” is, by Paul to the Philippians, interpreted to mean “Look unto JESUS.” “I have sworn by myself,” says the Spirit by Isaiah, “the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that UNTO ME every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in Yahweh have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory.”
Twice in his writings does the Apostle Paul apply this to Jesus. To the Romans, forbidding them to judge one another, he says (xiv. 9): “To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
And again in Phil. ii, already referred to, this passage is referred to God’s exaltation of JESUS for his obedience, “that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” When the “things under the earth” come forth to bow before Jesus, among them will be those who bowed before Cyrus, his typical forerunner, in the sixth century, B.C. The prophet Daniel will be conspicuous among these, and many not now particularly known, but nevertheless “written in the book.” Such is the prospect put before “the house of God” and before the world by “this word,” which will certainly be fulfilled in its season.