This post has nothing to do with Miley Cyrus the Disney star. (pictured left)
It’s about the Persian King, Cyrus the Great. (pictured right)
My small group from church recently began a study on the book of Ezra. We originally chose the book of Ezra because no one in our group had done a specific study of the book. I’ve done some research on the book of Nehemiah which is linked to Ezra (their stories overlap) so I was curious to explore Ezra.
Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the Jewish people returning to Jerusalem and Judah after being exiled to Babylon. While in exile, Persia takes over Babylon and the new Persian king is tolerant of other religions. He allows the Jews to go home. Ezra is a priest and Nehemiah an official in the King’s court. The two play a prominent role in helping to restore the city of Jerusalem, the temple and the identity of the Jewish people.
But in the very first chapter of Ezra we get a decree from King Cyrus and we realize that he plays no small part in this story. It is this Persian who prophetically calls forth the nation of Israel to return to their home and rebuild it.
I think we often overlook the fact that in this redemptive store, God uses an “outsider” to speak and accomplish his purposes. It was God that chose to use a foreign nation to bring judgment through the exile and now God chooses to use this foreign king to call them home. Yes God was speaking to Isaiah and Amos and Jeremiah and Ezekiel (and probably others I can’t recall) about the exile and their return. But none of those people could issue the decree or the command that actually made it happen.
Some questions that came out of our discussion:
1 – Does God still speak to us through “outsiders”? Is it possible that God could speak and work through someone that we have labeled anti-God or even anti-Christ? Someone who is perhaps quite foreign from our own circles. Maybe an “unsaved” boss, a worldly musician or even a democratic president?
2 – What if we’re just so focused on our little bubble that we aren’t hearing the decrees being spoken over us from outside? Many in the Christian circles I find myself in are hoping for some prophetic utterance or divine decree from a recognized “Man of God”. Someone who is officially sanctioned by the church as acceptable. Maybe they’ve seen them on TV or a book or at a prophecy conference or camp-meeting (special church service). What if we aren’t listening to the right radio station? What if Cyrus has already said to go but we refuse to listen because Cyrus is a different denomination, ethnicity, political party or gender than we wanted or expected?
3 – Perhaps it doesn’t matter what Cyrus’ motivation is, it can still be God.. Some commentators share that Cyrus’ decree is a selfish one. He realizes that politically it behooves him to “keep the natives happy” by allowing them their religion. I don’t think it matters what his intention was. God’s intention was to use him as a divine tool. Who cares what the hammer was thinking? The carpenter uses it however he/she chooses. This opens up all sorts of people to be used by God: film directors, actors, musicians, politicians, athletes, prostitutes, maybe even Glenn Beck … ok not Glenn Beck … but you get the point.
We are so quick to judge things as “for or against” us so that we can quickly accept or dismiss them. We forget that what someone else may have meant for evil God may have meant for good. Furthermore, I wonder if sometimes we refuse to receive something we actually discern to be good because it came from the “wrong kind of person”.
We not only refuse to hear Cyrus, we launch a campaign to enact legislation that would forbid him from speaking.
I say, let Cyrus speak, both the Persian and the Disney star.
