“558. THE NATIONS GIVEN TO CYRUS—ISAIAH 41”

The Nations Given to Cyrus—Isaiah 41

We are now prepared to contemplate with advantage the prophecies of Isaiah which refer, with considerable minuteness, to the victorious career to which the great Cyrus was predestined. In the readings devoted to this great matter, we shall refer, first, to those prophecies which seem to us to bear upon some of this king’s wars, the accounts of which are not usually resorted to for the illustration of Scripture, and then proceed to those which exhibit his agency in the downfall of Babylon.

Let it be borne in mind, that these very remarkable predictions of victories to be achieved by a favored hero, who had as yet no existence, are specially designed to afford Cyrus himself such signal evidence that all his steps had been guided by the Jehovah whom the Hebrews worshipped that he should be constrained to acknowledge Him as the Lord of Heaven and earth, and as the source of all his power; and that, in the intensity of this conviction, he should be unable to resist the command laid upon him to restore the Jews to their own land, and promote the building of the temple in which the God, who had laden him with favors and prospered all his ways, might be duly worshipped.

Before quoting these passages, and illustrating more particularly the details which they offer, it is necessary to state generally, that a great confederacy against the Medes and Persians had been formed by the states of Asia west of the Tigris. It seems to have originated with the Babylonians, who succeeded in awakening the alarm of those states at the growing power of the Medo-Persian empire. It seems that great progress had been made in organizing this confederacy before Darius the Mede succeeded to the throne of Babylon, and the accession of power which was thereby acquired gave such increased alarm to the western kingdoms, as to render it necessary for Cyrus, after the government of Babylon had been settled in the hands of Nabonadius, to march to the north-west with all his hosts. The Babylonians so hated the Persians, and were so entirely convinced that they would be unable to stand before the vast power arrayed against them, that the vice-king, as we have seen, disclaimed his dependence upon the Persians, and declared his adhesion to the confederacy, which he assisted to the extent of his resources.

There was at that time a great and formidable power in the west, which, to all human view, seemed fully equal to resist the Persians, and to overcome them in the strife of war. This was the Lydian empire, which was paramount in Asia-Minor; and whose king, Croesus, was not only formidable by the extent of his dominion, and the tried valor of his troops, but by the resources which the possession of unbounded wealth placed at his command. In fact, Croesus was the wealthiest king of that or any other age, so that “as rich as Croesus” became among the ancients, and long remained, a proverb for large possessions. This mighty prince, at the head of a powerful confederacy, Cyrus met, and with greatly inferior forces overthrew; and as the result of that victory, and of the subsequent operations which were rendered comparatively easy by it, added the whole of Asia-Minor to his dominions, thereby completing the greatest empire the world had ever seen, extending in one direction from the Black Sea to the Nile, and the other, from the Mediterranean to the Indus.

It seems to be to the overthrow of this great and formidable confederacy that the Scripture prophecies of victory to Cyrus primarily refer, although most of them are, as far as we know, applicable also to the other great exploits in which he was engaged, but with respect to which our information is less precise.

In Isaiah 41, the Almighty is sublimely introduced as demanding who it was that had raised up this great conqueror, this Cyrus, characterized as “the righteous man from the East?” who had “called him to His foot;” that is, had made him the instrument of the high purposes of His will? Who, the interrogation proceeds—

“Gave the nations before him,

And made him rule over kings?

He gave them as the dust to his sword,

And as the driven stubble to his bow.

He pursued them, and passed safely;

Even by the way he had not gone with his feet

Who hath wrought and done it,

Calling the generations from the beginning?

I the Lord, the First,

And with the last: I am He.”

This assertion of the instrumentality of Cyrus—of his being in a peculiar manner the child of the Lord’s providence, is always thus emphatically produced, and gives the clue to his history.

Persian King Enthroned, from Persepolis Note: The cut, which forms an appropriate illustration, is from the remotely ancient sculptures of Persepolis, and represents one of the immediate successors of Cyrus seated on his throne, with the usual attendants and guards, while an ambassador appears before him. The throne is very remarkable, from its resemblance to the high-backed chairs formerly in vogue in this country, and the taste for which seems to be now reviving.

The fact that the Persians had not before taken part in the affairs of the west; and, in particular, that Cyrus had not, is clearly pointed out in the lines which describe his westward march as one not previously known to his feet. In fact, he had to march so far to the west as the neighborhood of Sardis, before he was enabled to meet the enemy in full force and give him battle. This Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire, and it seems to have been the policy of Croesus to draw the Persian far away from his own resources, and into the district where his own means were most available, before he gave him the opportunity of coming to a decisive action.

The extent of this victory, and its important consequences, are indicated by the largeness of the terms employed; not one nation, but many nations, not one king, but many kings, are given “as the dust to his sword, and as the driven stubble to his bow.” Accordingly, the nations leagued against him on this occasion, and whom he subdued, were Lydians, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, and all the nations of Asia-Minor; and, taken in a large sense, with reference to the final extension of his power, it embraced the Medes, Hyrcanians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians. He ruled also, says Xenophon, “over the Bactrians, Indians, and Cilicians, as well as the Sacians, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians, and many other nations, whose names even one cannot enumerate. He ruled the Greeks that were settled in Asia; and, descending to the sea, the Cyprians and the Egyptians. These nations he ruled, though their languages differed from his own, and from each other; and yet was he enabled to extend the fear of himself over so great a part of the world, as to astonish all, so that no one dared to attempt anything against him.” What can more strikingly illustrate the sacred prophecy than this statement of an ancient pagan writer; and how interesting it is to read history by the light which Scripture gives, and which, in this case, shows us who it was that “enabled” the Persian warrior thus to extend his power—thus to astonish the world—thus to make himself dreaded in many realms. Indeed, this dread of him is still more distinctly intimated in the verse following the one last quoted:

“The isles saw it, and feared;

The ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.”

Then follows a graphic and highly derisive account of the devotional operations of the idolatrous nations, to win the protection of their gods against the formidable invader:

“They helped every one his neighbor;

And every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,

And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil,

Saying, It is ready for the soldering:

And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.”

There can be little doubt, that much of this activity in god-making was induced by the knowledge that Cyrus and his Persians were no idolaters—were, indeed, destroyers of images, so that the nations threatened by their arms might hope to enlist in their defence the utmost sympathy and protection of the gods they served. But the God who held the right hand of Cyrus, and gave to his conquering sword all the force it possessed, was mightier than they.

Persian King Walking

Note: The cut here offered is from the same source as the one just given. It represents the king walking, attended by two servants, one of whom bears an umbrella (which has always been an ensign of royalty in Persia), while the other bears in his right hand a fly-flapper, and in his left what is usually supposed the king’s handkerchief. These illustrations derive their interest from the fact, that the dresses, ornaments, utensils, as well as the customs indicated; all pertain to the age and country to which Cyrus belonged, and seem to bring him and his Persians visibly before us.

But while the nations were to be in terror at the advance of Cyrus, the people of Israel are comforted by the assurance that they have nothing to fear in this, but rather much ground for satisfaction:

“But thou, Israel my servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

The seed of Abraham my friend—

Thou, whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

And called thee from the chief men thereof,

And said unto thee, Thou art my servant;

I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away;

Fear thou not, for I am with thee;

Be not dismayed, for I am thy God:

I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;

Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

The distinctive points of this beautiful passage, and of the similar assurances of comfort and safety which extend to the end of the chapter, will be the more intelligently apprehended if due emphasis is laid upon the personal pronouns.

Autor: JOHN KITTO