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Cyrus – A Great Biblical Exemplar
by Pat Robertson
[This document comes to us from a lady with a long experience in deep Biblical study. She has been active in church administration and formally conducts community Bible studies. Her penetrating thoughts are welcomed in discussion groups. This fascinating article draws on the vast imagery and metaphors used in God’s word.] Cyrus Typifies Jesus A bloodless hand appears upon the palace wall, the drunken feast becomes strangely silent. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. What does it mean? “Belshazzar cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.” “Then came in the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.” At the queen mother’s suggestion Daniel, the servant of the most high God was sent for. . . After reviewing the history of Babylon, he reminded Belshazzar that “the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour. . . but when his heart was lifted up” pride brought insanity to Nebuchadnezzar. For seven times the insane head of Babylon ate grass with the beasts of the field and was wet with the dew of heaven. Although he had observed this, Belshazzar failed to learn that self-sufficiency and pride, key Babylon principles, end in disgrace and destruction. Now Daniel interprets the writing for the king. MENE – “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.” TEKEL – “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” PERES – “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and the Persians. God’s “appointed hour” for the over throw of Babylon had come. At that moment Cyrus was outside the wall ready to overthrow the city. That great kingdom, that head of gold, was coming to a close! Cyrus became God’s instrument to fulfill that hour. He was greatly favored by God and became a metaphor for many good Biblical illustrations. Parallels for Us God said of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd” (Isa. 44:28).
Jesus
is “the good shepherd” (John The Lord Jesus, that good shepherd of the flock, wants those of us who love Him to “Shepherd” also. God called Cyrus “His anointed” (Isa. 45:1). Jesus was anointed at the Jordan in 27 A.D. Peter states, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him”( Acts 10:38). He has anointed us and given us an earnest of the Spirit (2 Cor.1: 20-22) but He has also promised, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit . . .and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28). Cyrus came from the East from a far country (Isa. 46:11). Jesus comes from the East from a far country (Matt. 24:27). Rev. 18:1 says, “And after these things I saw another angel (or message) come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.” (His character) That message which lightens earth with its glory is the Righteousness of Christ. Eze. 43: 2 tells us, “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: (peoples) and the earth shined with his glory.” In Daniel 11, after describing apostate religion sweeping through the earth and even overthrowing many in God’s true church, says “But tidings out of the East and out of the North (God’s throne, Ps. 48:2) shall trouble him.” The effectiveness of the loud cry by God’s people by way of the “East” will trouble the antichrist. It’s refreshing to be on the winning side. But I would be remiss if I didn’t quote the rest of that verse. “Therefore, he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” (See 3SM397 and Rev.20:4 on martyrs during the loud cry.) Cyrus was to set the captives free (Isa. 45:13).
Jesus proclaimed that He had been
anointed to “...preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke The Jubilee was always proclaimed on the 10th day of the 7th month, the Day of Atonement. This was preceded by ten days of blowing of trumpets to let the people know that their sins must go beforehand to judgment. The Day of Atonement was a day of fasting. God has given us directions as to what is an acceptable fast. Isa. 58:6: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” So we also have been commissioned to set the captives free in the great antitypical invitation during the loud cry. Cyrus was instrumental in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jesus with Zerubbabel, His people, shall finish rebuilding spiritual Jerusalem. He also returned to heaven to prepare the New Jerusalem for His people (John 14:1-3). He is calling us to build His spiritual temple. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Cyrus was called RIGHTEOUS in Isa. 45:13. Jesus is righteous. And “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). We are called to be righteous. “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7). “Be ye therefore perfect, even as He is perfect” (Matt. 5:46). When Jesus closes His work in the heavenly sanctuary He makes the declaration, “He that is righteous, let him be righteous still:” (Rev. 21:11). Cyrus was: A shepherd God’s anointed From the east He was to: Set the captives free Build Jerusalem and was designated: Righteous. Jesus is: The Good Shepherd God’s Anointed From the East He has: Set the Captives Free Built the New Jerusalem and designated Jesus Christ typifies the Righteous! Cyrus – God’s Remnant Babylon is ripe for destruction. It’s appointed time for destruction has come. God now needs a Cyrus. The 144,000 are soon to be that Cyrus. God has promised to open “the two leaved gates; … I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight” (Isa. 45:1, 2). Has He truly given us the responsibility and equipped us for such a task? Until the charges in the great controversy have been met and God’s name vindicated He has a problem. Jesus answered the charges: He proved God is love not selfish and arbitrary. He proved that God’s law can be kept by fallen humanity dependent upon God for righteousness. And that God would not ask His creatures to do something he was unwilling to do himself. But Satan can further accuse by saying, “But He was God, He had an advantage. What about a community of people living after 6000 years of degeneracy? Can they keep the law of God? Can they be perfectly loving? Can they lighten the earth with His character? The universe stands poised and waiting to usher in the King of Kings and the long awaited Jubilee but He cannot come as King of Kings until He completes His priestly ministry. And He cannot complete His priestly ministry until He has a community of saints, a kingdom who has victory over sin. This community, the 144,000, will have the Father’s name or character in their foreheads. They are without guile or sin. They follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth. In Hebrews 1: 9 speaking of Jesus it says, “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” The order in this verse is not arbitrary. We must love righteousness and hate iniquity before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. We could put it another way. When Jesus came up out of Jordan and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, it was because He had the characteristics of a lamb. If we are to share in His baptism with the Spirit and Power it can only happen if we share His lamblike characteristics. All the time lines and chronology charts are of no value unless He has a people who by their likeness to Him bring judgment on Babylon so it can be overthrown. When will the end come? We speak of finishing the work. We quote, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come.” Let me ask you a question. If every human being on earth were a Seventh-day Adventist, ... would the work be finished?
Today we each have a case pending
at the bar of God. The youthful prophet Zechariah had some important end
time truth to share. “I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house
shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. What does it mean to deliver ourselves from dwelling with the daughter of Babylon? In prophecy we have always said that Babylon is the apostate mother church, Rome, and her daughters are the churches of Protestantism which have accepted her doctrines such as: 1. Sunday sacredness 2. Natural immortality of the soul. 3. Eternal torment of the wicked In a corporate sense we might consider severing our ties with organizations that hold these tenants. What does it mean individually for each of us to be delivered from dwelling with the daughter of Babylon? We talked earlier of the Babylon principles of pride and self-seeking. I think this is what we need to be delivered from. How is Zion delivered from Babylon? Let’s look in chapter 3 of Zechariah. “And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, 0 Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” This vision applies with peculiar force to the closing up of the great Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement begins October 22, 1844. This year marked the 158th anniversary of that date. Are we living in the “closing up” of the great Day of Atonement? Then this message is for us, this experience is for us. Let’s read on: “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” What do filthy garments represent? We have a Bible definition in Isa. 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Here we see a need, a call to exchange our righteousness for Christ’s righteousness. Filthy garments are defined as defective characters.[1] This is not open sin. This is defective characters. Reading on: “And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee,” Do you hear what our great High Priest is longing to do for us? “Cause our iniquity to pass from us.” That’s what we need today. We need our righteousness replaced with Christ’s righteousness. We need the Babylon principle eradicated from our lives. Only a group of people who have victory over the Babylon principle in their own lives can bring judgment on Babylon so that Babylon can be overthrown.
There is another way of
expressing this same truth. In Daniel How can the heavenly sanctuary be dirty? Why does it need cleansing? Because every sin we have ever committed has faithfully been recorded by the angels. If we have confessed our sins they have been covered with the blood of Jesus. We have no condemnation if we are in, Christ Jesus. But our sins are not yet blotted out, they remain on record in the heavenly sanctuary until the final atonement. So the heavenly sanctuary is in need of cleansing. And until we cooperate with our High Priest in “causing our iniquity to pass from us” the work is not finished. When Christ has made an end of sin in His people, the controversy is all over. He can lay off His priestly garments and come as King of Kings. Are we holding onto sins this today that delay His return? After the infilling of the Holy Spirit, Peter was preaching and said, “But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath fulfilled. Repent ye therefore,...” We are to repent on the basis that our sins have caused the suffering of the Son of God. Not just Friday the 14th of Abib in 31 A.D. For Calvary was but a dim view of the suffering which Christ has borne from the inception of sin. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And I, if I be lifted up.... will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) The Son of God must be lifted up. Christ is the Son of God. Zechariah (12:10) “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” We need to look to Him today, whom we have pierced. We need not just drops of the Holy Spirit while we are here together. We need to claim the promise, “I will pour...upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication. In light of the suffering of Christ, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Peter says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, in order that the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus. Today, are you longing for Jesus to come? Then there is a work of repentance and conversion so that our sins may be blotted out. This is necessary to be modern day Cyrus. We are living in the great Day of Atonement. Its object is to make us one with the Lamb of God and put an end to His suffering.
In 1844 Jesus is said
to have gone in to the marriage. Didn’t God give us the gift of marriage so
we could at least in part understand what it means to be one? Christ is
being married to His kingdom. Name by name, in the investigative judgment,
His bride is being made up. When we come into that spiritual union with Him,
that uniting of divinity and humanity for eternity, in the judgment, we are
told in Dan. 7:26, “The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion.” Whose dominion? The enemy, the usurper, that
old serpent the devil. I want that dominion broken in my life so that
when Satan comes to me I can say with Jesus “The
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me’” (John
Let’s go back to
Zechariah 3 and verse 4. “And unto him he said, ‘I have caused
Thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment” The beautiful white
robe of the Righteousness of Christ, the robe woven in the loom of
heaven without a thread of human devising. “I will clothe thee with change
of raiment. And I will set a fair mitre upon his
head. What is this fair mitre? On the priests
turban was a gold plate called the Nazar, or
branch. Inscribed upon it was Holiness to the Lord. This is our new name.
The name whereby the bride will be called, “The Lord our
Righteousness.” Ellen White[2] says, “‘A
fair mitre is set upon their heads. They are
Kings and Priests unto God. While Satan was urging his accusations and
seeking to destroy this company, holy angels, unseen, were passing to and
fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God. These are they that stand
upon If we are going to be numbered with the 144,000 this is the experience the Lord has in store for us. Our iniquity must pass from us, our sins blotted out by the outpouring of the Spirit in Latter Rain power. The Babylon principle overthrown, the dominion of the evil one broken and the dominion and the kingdom delivered to the saints of the Most High.. “In that day (when the Lord shall change the raiment of His people), shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely...” Isa. 4:2. “for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch.” Zech. 3:6. “In those days and in that time saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.” Isa. 50: 20 There will be a Cyrus outside the gate. The overthrow of the Babylon kingdom will be a reality. There will be a shepherding work to do. They will be kings and priests. They will have a part in the building of Jerusalem as they go out to call in the great multitude. Tidings from the East will trouble the man of sin, as the earth is lightened with the glory of the character of God. And he shall come to his end and none shall help him. And Michael will stand up to deliver His people. Will you be part of that Cyrus anointed by God? References (emphases added unless otherwise noted): 1. Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 473. 2. Testimonies, vol. 5, page 475.
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