Bible & History - Cyrus King of Persia

“The world’s history is a divine poem of which the history of every nation is a [verse] and every man a word. Its strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been mingled discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian – the humble listener – there has been a divine melody running through the song which speaks of hope and [peaceful] days to come.” - James A Garfield

History seems to be constantly changing. Activists want to revise what actually happened. Atheists want to throw out theistic revelations in its pages. And storytellers would rather tell a story than the real events. But there is one place where we can go to find out what really happened. That place is the Bible. The pages of this Book start with “In the Beginning…” and take us through the history of God’s dealings with men. In fact, “history” might be better pronounced “His Story” – God’s Story.

But, you may ask, how can I be sure that the Bible is true? How can I know it is from God? One of the best ways to answer that question is through Bible prophecy. Webster’s Dictionary defines prophecy as - A declaration of something to come; a foretelling; a prediction; especially, an inspired foretelling. Many “things to come” were written in the Bible and are now a part of documented history. Let’s look at an example:

In 700 B.C. the nation of Israel was exiled in Babylon. They had rebelled against God and now they were suffering in a foreign land. But God did not forget them! He sent the prophet Isaiah to tell them that a king would come who would set the Jewish exiles free and rebuild God's City, Jerusalem. This King's name would be Cyrus. Even though he wouldn’t know God, he would be used by God in a mighty way to subdue many nations and allow Israel to rebuild His Temple. (Isaiah 44.28 - 45.13)

Later in 559 B.C., Cyrus, son of Cambys I, became king of Persia. Nine years later he conquered the Medes and unified the two kingdoms. He later attacked and overcame Babylon even though most people thought Babylon was indestructible. (It was 196 square miles, enclosed by a moat and a double wall 330 feet high and 90 feet thick. Yet two prophets had foretold that it would fall.) In 538 B.C., Cyrus granted the Jews a return to their homeland to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its temple.

It is amazing that Isaiah prophesied all of this so long before Cyrus was even born. According to history, the Jews in Babylon showed Cyrus the prophecies about him and that motivated him to let Israel return and rebuild Jerusalem. A little over 125 years ago, a clay barrel, known as the Cyrus Cylinder, was excavated from the Babylonian ruins. It confirmed the Bible story and said of the Jews: "All of their people I gathered together and restored to their dwelling-places."

No matter what our current situation is, we can trust God when He tells us that He loves us. We can trust Him when He tells us that everything will work out for the best if we love Him. We can trust Him because we see what He has done in the past, and we have faith in what he promises to do with our futures!