Will the prophet’s word come true? Will we really suffer that long? Is it possible that God would use a pagan leader to fulfill his purposes?
Jeremiah had said this of Jerusalem and all Israel:
Jer 25:1 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever.
Jeremiah had even purchased a plot of land before they were lead away to captivity in Babylon. The Lord had told them his people would return (Jer 32).
Generations previous Isaiah had prophesied during King Hezekiah’s time. He said a man would arise named Cyrus who would deliver the people of Israel and send them back to their land (Is 44:28; 45:1-14). This was long before Cyrus was even born or that he was king. And now it was happening. Seventy years of captivity in Babylon passed the new Persian king Cyrus had arisen.
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled” (Ezra 1:1).
King Cyrus issues a statement that the Lord had commissioned him to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. So he encouraged all those who were of that land to return to it, and he encouraged everyone to give of their gold and silver to make it happen. Cyrus also went on to take the articles of the temple that had been removed and to return it to the people and the land. It was monumental moment.
We glean from this several things:
1) God fulfills his promises. What he says will happen will happen. The Word of the Lord will be fulfilled.
2) God can use whoever he wants to fulfill his purposes, even pagan kings.
3) It takes money to do the work of the Lord. I regularly see on social media any ministry or organization that asks for money is “doing it for the money.” It’s unfortunate and discourages people to do great things. Good works happen with money and good people giving. And if some yahoo misuses the funds, we can still be at rest knowing that we gave to the Lord and he sees. Yes, we can do our due diligence and check ministries out, but to be quick to accuse is ridiculous and hinders the gospel.
