A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford
If you ask me for my favorite Scripture, I’d answer that it depends on what I need from God that day. In a time of stress recently, I turned to Isaiah 44 and 45. In that grand passage, the name of an unknown king interrupts the narrative: Cyrus. Isaiah 44:29 and 45:2 prophesy that King Cyrus will redeem the Israelites from bondage in Babylon and restore them to their homeland. I find that reference fascinating for two reasons.
First, this prophecy by Isaiah was given to him by God Himself, back in 720 B.C. It was fulfilled accurately and completely in 593 B.C., over a hundred years later. This prophecy is only one of hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have come true, literally and explicitly.
If you’ve ever had misgivings about the Bible being the exact and error-free Word of God, consider this: news analysts couldn’t predict the outcome of an election one day ahead! For Isaiah’s prophecy to come true at the exact time predicted, the strongest power in the world, Babylon, would have to be conquered by a most insignificant nation. How could that be? Only because God Himself, the Creator of the Universe, planned it, prophesied it, and executed it just as He had determined.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16)
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 (NIV) when Satan tempted Him: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Our Bible is the Word of God.
Second, I find this prophecy fascinating because it reveals God’s deep concern about the gifts He chooses for each human being. Here’s what He said to Cyrus, a child who would not be born for another hundred years:
“This is what the LORD says to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him. . . .
‘I will go before you . . . so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor . . .
So that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know
There is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.’” —Isaiah 45:1-6
The Greek historian Herodotus gave astonishing details about Cyrus as a child. Cyrus’ grandfather, King Cyrus I, was the king of Persia (now Iran). He had a dream that his grandson would usurp his kingdom. To prevent it, when his daughter bore a baby boy, his grandfather commissioned an aide to destroy it. Reluctant to kill an innocent child, the aide gave him to a farmer’s wife who’d recently lost a baby.
When Cyrus was about 12 year old, his playmates elected him to be their “king.” (Amazing that the kingly gifts God gave Cyrus were recognized by his teenage friends!) When one of his “subjects” refused to obey him, Cyrus smacked him. The boy’s father was incensed that a farmer’s child hit his noble son, so he brought Cyrus before King Cyrus I, his grandfather, for judgment. When Cyrus was brought into court, the king gasped,“Who is that child?” He realized immediately that Cyrus was the grandson he’d tried to kill. But Cyrus I also seemed to understand that he must not again try to harm the child. So Cyrus II, the man God anointed to bring His captives back home, lived to fulfill his destiny. In the very first year he was king, he issued the decree to make it happen (2 Chronicles 36:22,23).
The same wise and loving God who equipped King Cyrus to do His will, has given you and me the specific and special gifts He wants us to have. We may not know how or where He will use us. All we have to do is to wait. And listen. And trust. And obey. And when we do, He will do His good work through us.