At The Appointed Time.

How many people do you know who were specifically named in a prophecy 100 years before they were born? Well after this story you will know one! The Lord called him by name, and described what he would do more than a century before his birth. Listen to this!

“When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;  he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’” Isaiah 44:28 NLT “This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. This is what the Lord says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.” Isaiah 45:1-2 NLT

Just think on that for a moment. Calling him by name and then foretelling exactly how he would capture the city of Babylon. You may remember the story. Cyrus was encamped outside the city. But the Babylonians were not afraid. There were no weapons in existence that were a match for Babylon’s massive walls. And they had food enough for twenty years. So, Belshazzar and his court feasted, and the gates were forgotten and left open. Then came the handwriting on the wall.

Cyrus had directed his armies to divert the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through the city. Then, when the water was low enough, and during the feast, they entered the city, by way of the riverbed, through the open gates.

What a story! Especially when it so dramatically fulfills divine prediction “Before whom gates shall be opened, and no doors shut.”

Now I think you can see that Cyrus, named by prophecy, would be a prime target for the enemy of truth. What a chance to destroy the child and so prove the prediction wrong. Can you just hear the conference as the enemy of souls planned his strategy? That is exactly what happened – at least if we can believe the historian Herodotus – such an attempt was made, and it happened like this…

The characters in this intriguing real-life drama are Astyages, the Median king, and Mandane, his attractive daughter. Cambyses, her husband, a Persian of good family. There was also Harpagus, a trusted general, and Mithradates, a shepherd. And of course, Cyrus, the central figure.

The story begins with the wedding of the lovely Mandane to Cambyses, the Persian prince. Then a little later they give birth to a son and call him Cyrus. The crafty king Astyges, however, professing affection for his daughter, had made a strange request. He had asked that his daughter return to his palace for the birth of this child. Then he asked that the child be allowed to remain for a time with the royal grandmother.

Unsuspecting, the young couple agreed and returned to Persia. A few weeks later they received word that the little prince had suddenly sickened and died. But this is actually what happened… The king, for some reason fearing the power that this royal child might one day wield, had determined to destroy him. He called his trusted general, Harpagus, and commanded that the child be killed.

Harpagus, reluctant to carry out such an order, sent for Mithradates, the chief shepherd, and passed the responsibility on to him, suggesting that the child be taken out into the mountains and exposed to the wolves.

When the shepherd, with the child, reached his home, he found his wife weeping. For in the days of his absence, she had given birth to their own son and the child had died. Together they conceived a plan. The clothes of the baby Cyrus were exchanged with those of the dead child and the general (Harpagus) was assured that the deed had been done. The shepherd and his wife, having no knowledge of who the child was, named him Darce, and raised him as their own. He grew into a fine young man.

In the meantime, soon after the attempt to destroy Cyrus, the king’s wife had borne him a child. But he was a sickly boy, and finally, hoping that the outdoor life would help him, he was sent to the home of Mithradates the shepherd. Cyrus, or Darce as he was called, was now about ten years old.

One day, the boys of this shepherd community decided to play king, and they shouted, “Darce shall be king!” In his role as king, he commanded the boys to water the sheep, but the son of King Astyages refused, and Darce flogged him for his disobedience.

Of course, the news soon reached the king and Darce and his shepherd father were summoned to the palace. Darce simply explained in a fearless and manly way that no king could countenance disobedience in one of his subjects.

His manner, his appearance, and his forthrightness so startled the king that he turned in disguised rage, demanding to know if this child was truly the son of Mithradates, the shepherd? The truth was out. Despite his long-hidden treachery, there stood Cyrus, the king’s royal grandson. Now, with the eyes of the court upon him, what else could he do but return the boy to his father and mother in Persia?

And so it was, that Cyrus, at the appointed time, encamped before the gates of Babylon. Cyrus, the one named by prophecy. It is as if God had said to him, “who gave you what you have? Who saved your life as a babe? Who caused the doors of Babylon to be left open? Who has given uninterrupted victory into your arms? All this was done to prepare you for this hour. In fact, you were born primarily not to conquer Babylon, but to fulfil a promise I made to Jerusalem one hundred and seventy-four years ago. Now do your duty.”

That is just one fascinating example of God’s protecting providence, guiding in the affairs of men and nations. It is just one more strand in the strengthening rope of evidence that God is still in control. Someone is driving!