The Cyrus Cylinder

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone. I have right in front of me my Bible. It's open to Isaiah chapter forty two. I mean, it's right there right. All I need to do is pick up Isaiah chapter forty two, pick up my Bible and start reading. Behold my servant, whom I uphold mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles.

0:42 All I need to do is start reading it. Explain to you that the first section and our observational outline is Isaiah forty two to one through four, and then we start working through it, and we've established a new interpretive way. Of looking at Isaiah forty two. We spent two weeks on Isaiah forty two t to kind of explain that we're gonna interpret it in a way that goes against everyone else. So all I need to do is begin our exegetical work on Isaiah forty two one through four and then maybe finish that in the first hour, and then the second hour go to Isaiah forty two, five through nine. That that's all I need to do. It's right here in front of me. But ladies and gentlemen, I cannot do that. I cannot because before we launch into our exegetical study of Isaiah forty two, we have to take a brief but essential detour. Not back to Babylon, not even really to Persia in a certain way.

1:42 No, no, no, no. What we have to do before we can do anything else is we have to go back to the year eighteen seventy nine, the year eighteen seventy nine. Now, what happened in eighteen seventy nine that would have anything to do with Isaiah forty two, Isaiah forty forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five, anywhere have anything to do with Isaiah forty through fifty five. What what happened? But we're gonna go back to eighteen seventy nine because we have to. I don't think we even have an option. Because it was the year eighteen seventy nine, in the ruins of ancient Babylon that a small clay cylinder, inscribed in cuneiform and broken in pieces was unearthed. Right, it was a clay cylinder. All kinds of pieces they dig it up. It would later be called the cyrus cylinder.

2:43 What at first seemed like a simple archaeological artifact turned out to be a direct historical record of the very events Isaiah had prophesied centuries earlier. I don't think it's an exaggeration, at least I don't. Think it's an exaggeration. You may think it's an exaggeration to say that this cylinder, the cyrus cylinder, stands as one of the most important non biblical confirmation of the world Isaiah envisioned in chapters forty through fifty five. I don't think that's an exaggeration to say that. Some may say that you can always have skeptics and people will debate its significance. But look, I.

3:25 Don't know if you can really truly appreciate Isaiah forty through fifty five without understanding the cyrus cylinder. I think every I don't think, I think you have to talk about it. And I think right here, at the beginning of Isaiah forty two, I think it's the perfect time to study the cyrus cylinder. I don't think there's a better time to really introduce this and start really digging into what it was, what it is, it's significance, how it compares in contrasts with Isaiah forty through fifty five. I think there's a lot we need to do with it. At least I believe that because and if you just think about where we have been in our study over the past two Sundays, we have been teaching, explaining, and defending our new interpretive understanding of Isaiah forty two. All right, Sarah came up with the basic idea. I took and ran with it. I gave it to artificial intelligence. I let artificial intelligence do all that it wanted to do with it. And I think we have really found a way to understand Isaiah forty two. I think in a way that's far better than well, anybody else is going to present it, because I think everyone else handles Isaiah forty through fifty five already in questionable ways, and I think everyone ignores what's really going on in Isaiah chapter forty two. So since we've been doing all of that, since this entire interpretation goes against the grain of almost

4:55 ninety nine percent of Christian teaching, and that's not an exaggeration. Literally, our new interpretation of Isaiah forty two goes against everyone. No one agrees with it other than artificial intelligence, and even artificial intelligence has a hard time because it's kind of like, well, you do know, you know that nobody agrees with you. Hey, you do know that nobody agrees with you. Hey, hey, you realize that, you know, you get fired in any church, and even trying to teach this, you do know that everyone would reject this. I know, but I still think it's the best and at least I think it has the best way of understanding Isaiah forty two that makes any sense from a historical perspective. At least I think so, because we have argued for some reason.

5:44 If someone doesn't know, we have argued really over two weeks that the servant introduced in Isaiah forty two to one. Let me read it again, Isaiah forty two to one. Behold my servant, whom I uphold mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles. You go to any church, any church, you listen to any sermon. If the pastor reads that, before he can even finish reading it, he'll cut himself off. And say this is Jesus. This is Jesus, This is Jesus, and we have rejected that idea, and we are like, no, this is Cyrus.

6:28 And I just even say that I need some dramatic music. I need some dramatic music because it yeah, it's like you've we just committed some horrible crime. But we have argued that the servant introduced in Isaiah forty two to one is not some generic symbolic figure. We have not even We have argued that it's not a sudden leap ahead to Jesus with no historical fulfillment in Isaiah's day. We have maintained that this servant is Cyrus, the same figure we believe was introduced in Isaiah forty one and then repeatedly named and described throughout chapters forty four and forty five. So we believe he's introduced in forty one, which then would make perfect sense. If he's introduced in forty one, then it would make perfect sense that he's still being possibly spoken of in forty two. And we know he's named in forty four and forty five, So I like it would be weird that Cyrus is kind of discussed and all of a sudden in forty two.

7:31 Forget Cyrus, forget the historical context, Let's jump to Jesus. No no, no, no no no no no no. I think Cyrus makes a lot of sense here, even though it's controversial. At least that's my that's how I feel about it. So what so because of this, then I think this Cyrus cylinder becomes extremely important, because not only have we said clearly that this one that I think this is important. Not only have we said the servant Isaiah forty two to one is Cyrus. If you go later on into the chapter all right forty two nineteen, who is blind but my servant? We've also argued that not only is the servant in forty two one through four Cyrus, but the servant mentioned in forty two nineteen is also Cyrus. So we have said clearly that this is there is one servant, not two, a singular, continuous thread, not a disjointed leap.

8:33 Cyrus is the immediate. Historical servant of Yahweh or God or the Lord. However you want to state him or describe him, or you which name, it doesn't matter. It's he is the one servant of God. He is the one God. He is the I think we should state it this way, not only because I think it's very important. And in this entire section we've tried to describe God Yahweh Jehovah. However, we would like to use it as the one true God and compared and contrast him against all the Babylonian idols.

9:15 He's the one true God, and this one true God is chose Cyrus. He chose Cyrus. He's the one God chose. He's the one God anointed. He is the one God used despite him being ignorant of God, despite him being blind blind in a spiritual sense, not a physical sense. But despite this ignorance, he was chosen, anointed, and used by God to set Judah free and fulfill the Covenant promises. I believe the prophetic picture then is cohesive.

9:56 It's not fragmented. It's not like here's a little bit of Judah, here's a little bit about Oh, it's about Jesus. Oh, it's about us. Oh, it's about the Church. No, it's cohesive, it's not fragmented. It's about those in Babylonian captivity. God is going to deliver them, and how is he going to deliver them? In a very unexpected way. He's not going to do it in some supernatural way as far as plagues, the earth opening up, parting the Red Sea. No, he raises up a pagan king, a pagan servant, and that pagan is Cyrus. And I think, and well, then. If all of that is true, if all of that is true, which I believe it is true, then guess what what was written in the Cyrus cylinder. We have Cyrus's own words, we have his own policies. This becomes then an invaluable historical parallel. Then we have oh wait a minute, Not only do we have our interpretation, which everyone, most of Christianity is going to reject, and most churches would laugh ass out the building. Well they can laugh, they can reject it. Not only do I believe we have textual evidence, right, it only makes sense textually we have historical evidence. We now have archaeological evidence that we can use to go you laugh. I think we're onto something.

11:19 I think we're onto something very, very very important here. So because this cylinder, the Cyrus cylinder, it's going to allow us to see how the world understood Cyrus at. The time when all of this was happening. And we can compare it to how God Jahweh speaks of him and Isaiah. It gives us a chance to measure propaganda against prophecy and history against revelation. So before we can. Even you know, pick up all of our exegetical tools, before we can pick up all the things we need to do to do proper exegesus and proper hermeneuticts, Before we can even do that, then.

12:06 I and when we do, we will walk, of course, as we've. Done in chapter forty forty one, we're gonna walk line by line through forty two. But before we can do that. I think we're gonna have to take time today to compare what the Cyrus cylinder says about Cyrus's identity, his mission, and his divine calling, and then we're gonna compare that with what Isaiah forty through fifty five says about the same man, his anointing, his ignorance, and his role in God's covenant. So, in some ways, I don't think this is a history lesson. I think it's a chance to see how scripture is confirmed, how prophecy is grounded, and how our interpretation I think is proven. It's defended it's justified because and we have to kind of really doubled down in our justification and defense of our interpretation, because I'm telling you it's going to be rejected by everyone.

13:09 Just look up sermons on Isaiah forty two. Just look them up and over and over and over. It's almost immediately they read. It Jesus, this is Jesus, This is Jesus is they. Don't even entertain the possibility. Now. I'm not saying that there's not one out there, but in all the ones I've listened to, this is the same approach over and over and over. So I think we need to travel back to eighteen seventy nine and then all the way back to Babylon, and then we need to try to see how Clay, Kingship, and coven it all come together. Now, I know. Some of you are thinking right now, some of you are already probably contemplating, Wait, do I really want to listen to this? I mean, I mean we're just live streaming.

13:57 I can turn this off. I mean, do I really want to hear an? How we're about some archaeological discovery in the eighteen hundreds to rich some clay thing that was broken into pieces do I care. I hope, and before we dig in, let me try to at least justify. What we're going to be doing in the entire reason. We're going to do this, all right, because I believe an entire session, an entire hour, maybe even we could possibly even do two hours on the Cyris cylinder. I believe at this point and our study of Isaiah forty through fifty five, I think it is not only beneficial.

14:37 I think it's strategic. I think there's a it makes perfect sense because what I hope to do is in the study of the Cyrus cylinder. I think, and this is true, this is for all of us. We need to deepen our historical understanding, but we really need to deepen the historical foundation for our interpretation of Isaiah forty two. I mean, we're making a rite. I don't think people understand how radical a claim we're making by saying, Hey, Isaiah forty two, that's not two different servants, that's one servant and that's Cyrus. I now we're ignored. We're not denying the possibility and the and the how Jesus is referenced in regards to Isaiah forty two in the New testament. We're not denying that, right, but we're saying this is Cyrus and its immediate historical context, and that seems somewhat controversial. So therefore we need to deepen our historical foundation for this interpretation, right because I think this because not only because this goes against all philological consensus, then we I think we have to then try to build this case. So if we take the time to show the external historical confirmation of Cyrus's role, I think this strengthens our case. I think it validates our interpretive direction, and I think it shows that our view is not speculation, it's not abstract. I think it will demonstrate that it's

16:10 rooted and verifiable history. Like we're going to show that our interpretation is rooted in verifiable history. So then no one can Anyone can argue all they want. They can really, they can be quoting this commentary or this commentary or this commentary, and we'll like, well, you quote a commentary, will reference verifiable history, So you pick which one wins. Because a commentary is just someone's opinion on what they think. The scriptures say. Verifiable history is verifiable history. So I think that's the reason we're going to do this. I think it will deepen the historical foundation. I hope this is going to prepare us all to now read Isaiah forty two to fifty.

16:54 Five with actual knowledge, with actual information. So many people when they read Isaiah forty through fifty five clearly that I don't know what they're doing. They're reading it in some weird way. I think this will help us all be better prepared to read Isaiah forty two through fifty five with I think some information and some knowledge, because as we move into Isaiah forty two from an exogetical perspective, where you know, I think, at least from our interpretation, we're going to repeatedly see references to Cyrus's role as liberator. We're going to see this over and over, and we're going to see this not only in chapter forty two. We're going to see it in chapter forty four, and we're going to see it in chapter forty five.

17:40 So as we move through forty two through. Forty five exogetically, we're going to see these references to Cyrus over and over. We need to have some kind of. We need to have some information and understanding so that we can read these correctly. I believe the cylinder, the Cyrus cylinder, gives us language and categories that mirror Isaiah very closely, the liberation of exiles, the restoration of temples, divine commissioning. I think if we've already seen the cyrus cylinder and its claims, then we'll recognize kind of how its echoes and its contrast.

18:25 And the Biblical text. I think that's a good. Way to place put it, or to understand it. Right. If we understand the cylinder and its claims, then we're going to recognize, Oh, there it is. There's the cyrus cylinder right there in Isaiah forty two. Wait. Wait, there's cyrus cylinder in forty four. Wait, there's the cyrus cylinder in fifty five. Wait, there's the cyrus cylinder in Ezra chapter one. Wait, there's the cyrus cylinder. The more we know the Cyrus cylinder, then we can hear its echoes. We can we can pick up oh. There it is. There, it is right there. And you can do that unless you take the time to study the Cyrus cylinder. So I'm going to try to help us. I'm going to do my best to try to help us interpret the text. Historically and contextually, rather than abstractly or devotionally. We've got to interpret Isaiah forty two through forty five. In fact, I mean we've been trying to do it since chapter forty. We have to interpret it historically, contextually. We've got to stop this abstract, allegorical devotional nonsense that churches are constantly using. This is not a devotional text. It's not an allegorical text. It's not a parable it's no, it's historic history. It has textual context. I think another thing we can do by studying the Cyrus Cylinder. I think it can expose the contrast between God's word and political power. Isaiah forty two

19:57 to eight says, I am the lad Lord. That is my name and my glory I will not give to another. The Cyrus cylinder glorifies Cyrus and Marduk. Isaiah forty through forty five glorifies Yahweh, the Lord alone, even while using Cyrus. And this contrast is interesting from a historical perspective. You read the. Cyrus Cylinder and it's like Cyrus, all glory to Cyrus and Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. They're the ones glorified. You read Isaiah forty through fifty five. It's still Cyrus.

20:41 It's not Marduk, it's Yahweh, it's the Lord, and it's God. Cyrus is there, but God is the one who gets the glory. God is the one who gets the praise. So it's an interesting contrast there. And I shows this contrast between God's word and political power. I think an entire look at this will let us contrast imperial propaganda with prophecy, because there's no way to get around the cirrus solid the cirrus, the Cyrus cylinder, if I can speak correctly, it is it's propaganda. There's a lot of propaganda, the Cyrus cylinder. There's no way to get around that.

21:21 I think we're gonna be able to see how God uses human rulers without sharing his glory because Cyrus is still a pagan and since if we understand Isaiah forty two correctly, he's blind. And hopefully this will help us have better discern it and how we read history versus scripture and this, and I think this is a major theological theme in the second half of Isaiah. This history history over and over and over. Right, I think another thing we can this will hopefully help us to. It should give us confidence that scripture actually engages with real history.

22:05 Scripture is not detached from real history. It engages it because I think for many Christians, when it comes to the Bible prophecy, it can feel somewhat distant, it can feel mystical. But I think by showing the cyrus cylinder, we can ground prophecy in real time and space. It may be prophecy, but it's grounded in real time, real space, it's real, real life. I think we can demonstrate that Isaiah's words were fulfilled through actual events and people, that hey, this prophecy is fulfilled through real people, real places once again, which takes away and destroys the allegorical approach. And I think it encourages maybe us to see God's sovereignty and the ordinary, not just the miraculous.

22:52 And I've tried to. Make that point throughout this that God uses ordinary means throughout Isaiah forty through fifty five. And it's hard for us sometimes to see God in the ordinary. We only want to see God in the miraculous. But God can be just as active in the ordinary, even though we don't perceive it, and we don't see it, because all we see is the ordinary. And I think in some ways now there's going to be some laughter here probably. I think right here, right, I mean, I got Isaiah forty two right here. Right here in front of me. All I got to do is read it. I think it kind of slows everything down, maybe just at the right time. I mean, we just built a new interpretive lens, a new interpretive paradigm for Isaiah forty two.

23:45 So before we rush into. A verse by verse exegesis of Isaiah forty two, we need a historical anchor that kind of stabilizes this shift. We just took a major turn. I don't think anybody realized that we're going through Isaiah forty one. We get to forty two, and all of a sudden, we like yank the steering wheel, go through a fence, and we're off the road somewhere. We've got to then, now anchor this back to history. I think it gives us an opportunity to absorb and kind of solidify what we've already learned, and it I think it's going to prepare us for what's coming. I think it will make the upcoming exegetical work more meaningful because now we'll be watching the text and the world of Cyrus interact at the same time.

24:33 We'll see the text and we'll see it interact with the world of Cyrus in real history. So I think a full session, a full study here will confirm our interpretive approach. I think it's going to strengthen our biblical and historical literacy. I think it's going to equip us to see scriptures interaction with history. And then I think it's going to actually have us ready to actually study forty two through forty five and a deeper way, can we dare say, a more accurate way. So I don't think this is a too much of a detour. I think this is an essential part of reading Isaiah the way the original audience would have experienced it, with Cyrus at the center. There's no way to get around that.

25:24 The original audience, Cyrus would have been the center, and the modern audience we want to put Jesus as the center, or the church at the center, or you and I at the center, and that is incorrect. We can't put things at the center of the text. It's not the center of the text. Cyrus is the center. If you don't see Cyrus you're blind and you're missing the entire point. You've been blinded by sermons. You've been And that's what I say all the time. Sermons are the enemy to hermoneutics. Sermons are the enemy to textual understanding. Devotional materials are the enemy. Cyrus is the center not only of the political reality and the historical reality. I think he's the center of the divine prophecy. So let's start trying to take this apart a little bit. When was the Cyrus cylinder discovered?

26:30 When was it discovered? The year is eighteen seventy nine, eighteen seventy nine. Now there's some things we don't know. We don't seem to know the season or the month, which is a little frustrating. Right, we have no as far as I can tell, we have no recorded or confer nothing is confirmed in any official documentation, which is kind of weird. This significant discovery. You think you would have someone writing something in a leernal going it was on this month or this day. Maybe there's some information out there, but but initially I have not found that. We do know that it was.

27:10 The expedition was conducted by an Assyrian archaeologist working for the British Museum. We do know that we know the location ruins. The location was the ruins of Babylon near a site of the s Gila I think that's the way you say it, Gla Temples, Gila E s A g I l a s Gila Temple, which is a temple dedicated to, drum roll please, Marduk, the chief god basically of Babylon. So they're they're, they're, they're they're looking through the ruins of Babylon. They're at this site of this temple, Theseguila Temple, it's say, temple dedicated to Marduk, and they're in modern day Iraq. So while the year in location seems to be very well known, the day hour, even the weather or environmental details doesn't seem to be formally recorded. It's like, no one's like it was a dusty day, it was hot, nothing like that. Now, there's some things we can probably reasonably infer right, So since we don't have we have kind of no direct observation records, we can probably reasonably assume some general conditions. We know the cylinder most likely it was buried in the robble of ancient Babylon because we know that that's where they were looking through. We know that that's a city that

28:43 had been in ruins for over two millennia by the nineteenth century, so it's already been in ruins for that long. Excavations were happening, and the Mesopotamian desert climate so likely it was hot, dry, dusty. Obviously, I don't think they were looking at Soho was probably during the daytime hours, most likely because it gets very hot there. They were probably doing the excavations during the morning. They were using obviously picks, shovels, and minimal protective gear which would have been standard for nineteenth century digs. And the cylinder itself was discovered in broken pieces and partially embedded in soil or debris, so there it could have been very easily, you know, someone who obviously wasn't paying attention.

29:30 Probably it could have been overlooked. It's just pieces, it's embedded in soil, it's embedded in debris, and I think this all adds to the power of the story in a lot of ways. You have a small clay cylinder buried under layers of basically empire rubble. You've got the Empire of Babylon, you've got the rubbles of the remains of it, just the rubble of it, and then and you got sen of decay. And yet here we have this little small clay cylinder. It's recovered by hand, it's broken into pieces, and yet it seems to confirm with clarity what Isaiah had ridden over two thousand and five hundred years earlier. So we may not know if it was morning, we may not know if it was dusk, but we know it was a moment when history ultimately collides with prophecy, because we have a pagan king's boastful inscription, echoing, echoing what the prophet Isaiah had already declared under divine inspiration.

30:45 Because in the cylinder. It is a pagan's boast, I mean, is it is a pagan king boasting. There's no way to get around that. We see, I think you can see. We see a little bit of pride and a little bit of arrogance. So there's a little bit just kind of painting the picture for you. Now, if we want the origin of the cylinder itself, it's somewhere between five thirty nine to five thirty PC, five thirty nine to five thirty BC. All right, The material was baked clay and inscribed with Akkadian cuneiform script.

31:31 Right, so it's baked clay. It's put together somewhere around five thirty nine to five thirty BC. It's bake clay, Akkadian cuneiform script. It's commissioned by Cyrus, the Great King of Persia. The text appears to have been engraved shortly after Cyrus conquered Babylon and five thirty nine BC, marking the beginning of the Persian rule over Mesopotamia. So Cyrus, that's engraved right after he conquers Babylon. This puts this right there in the middle of Isaiah forty through fifty five. I mean this really, this is all it all.

32:13 Comes together in very real way, Like you can't just deny this. I mean, it's right there during this time period, and it's it's commissioned. By Cyrus himself. He wants this commission. He wants this to be remembered, he wants this to be preserved. He wants everyone to know exactly what happened. So there's a little bit about the ori. So he kind of got an overview. We've kind of painted the picture. We have the origin. Okay, again, it's discovered in eighteen seventy nine. Right, we've got kind of who commissioned it. We got the dating of the original, the original five in somewhere between five thirty nine and five thirty BC.

32:59 Now a little bit more about the historical context. Cyrus had just overthrown the Babylonian king, right, and his name is spelled in a b O n i d u s Noba no nuttis, Noba nuttus. I think is how you say it, Noba nutus, But in a b O n i d u s. And so Cyrus has overthrown that king. He's established his Persian control over the region. The Babylonian Empire had had previously conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and taken its people into exile. We see that in Isaiah thirty nine. Babylon had done all of that Cyrus.

33:44 Cyrus's rise changed the political order and directly affected the Jewish exiles. He later issued a decree allowing them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. We see this in Ezra chapter one, Isaiah forty four, Isaiah forty five. So again Cyrus is central here to all of this. Right, So again the Babylonian king in a bo n I d us nobody, no nuttics, no nuttics. I think it's how you say it, all right. I think we have that. When I can't see people, I don't know if people are writing it down, don't know if they need me to repeat anything. Right. So, and we already know that Cyrus changes everything because of what Babylon had done. Now the content of the cylinder. The cylinder contains a royal inscription that presents Cyrus really in four ways, all right.

34:43 So the cylinder contains a royal inscription that presents Cyrus in four ways. Number one chosen by Marduk. He's chosen by this chief Babylonian God to restore order. Hey, I mean it's almost like, hey, Babylon, that's your God, your chief God. Your chief God chose me. He chose me. I've been chosen by your God. So this offers a religious, divine justification for his actions. Number two, he's presented as a liberator of the people oppressed under Babylonian rule. You've been oppressed by your rulers. I'm your liberator.

35:30 I'm here. I've been chosen by your God to liberate you. He is presented as a ruler who respected the religious traditions of conquered peoples. He has seen in the cylinder as he always respects the religious traditions of the people. He was. He wants to restore their temples or their deities, their gods, their idols. He always wants to He always handles things. And can we say a general way, a gracious way, a gentle way. He is a king who repatriated and any displaced people, he restored their temples in sanctuary. So he has seen as chosen by Marduk. He's seen as a liberator. He has seen as a religious leader who respected religious traditions of conquered people. And he has seen as a king who repatriated displaced people.

36:30 He let them go back to their land. So he's chosen. He's a liberator. He's a ruler who respects people's religious traditions. And he's a king. Who allows people to go back, displace people to go back. That's how he's put how he has described in the Cyrus Cylinder. Does that not sound a lot like Isaiah forty through fifty five. Some of the key themes divine favor. This is a key theme in the Cyrus Cylinder. Cyrus credits Marduk with his victory, claiming the God sought claiming the God sought a just ruler and chose him.

37:13 So this is a key theme. Cyrus is like, hey, Marduk, he's the one who gives me victory, and he was. He was seeking out a just ruler. He was seeking out a good ruler, and he chose me. Again, I'm telling you, Cyrus is very much gets the glory in the Cyrus Cylinder. He gets the glory. And that's why some would refer to it as propaganda. It's very like a politician and putting out his press release. All right, hey guys, and I'm your liberator. I'm the one to restore you. And why am I here because your God chose me. He was looking all around for someone who was just, and he chose me Cyrus. Another theme in the Cyrus Cylinder is the legitimacy. The text presents Cyrus as the rightful heir to Babylon, not a foreign invader. He is not described as a foreign invader, but he's the right, rightful heir to Babylon. As like this, it's his right, He's the one who should be here. He's not seen as a foreign invader. Religious tolerance. Cyrus boasts that he return images of gods to their native temples and allow displaced people to return to their homelands. This is a common theme or a theme in the Cyrus Cylinder, that he has religious tolerance, peace and order. He condemns the Babylonian king as being impious and boastful, contrasting his own

38:44 just and humble rule, which can be somewhat kind of funny. Hey, Babylonian King, you were arrogant, you were boastful, you were you were all these things. But look at me. I am humble. But if you got to tell everyone how humble you are, is that really humility? But he is seen as in the cylinder as being just, and he is kind of described as being humble. Now you could argue, well, he's the one who commissioned its production, so of course he's going to be seen as the hero in the story. But it is interesting he's described in a sense as being humble and just, especially.

39:24 When you read Isaiah forty through fifty five. All Right, some of the. Paraphrase from translation of notable lines, things like Marduk the Great Lord took Cyrus by the hand and called him by name to rule the world. Ww does that not sound really interesting? Mardok, the Great Lord took Cyrus by the hand and called him by name to rule the world. Isaiah forty two to one. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles. It sounds at. Times, it sounds eerie eery.

40:06 It's like, whoa, now, now we could get into all kinds of I won't get into all the biblical critics would say here, but yeah, we won't. We won't. We won't get into all of that, right because then we could get into higher criticism and texts. Okay, we won't get into all of that, But that sounds very similar to Isaiah forty two. Another. I returned the sanctuaries of the gods to their original places and let them dwell there forever I gather all their people and return them to their dwellings. Those are some some possible lines and paraphrases from the translation of the Cyrus cylinder. Now the significance of the cylinder, the cylinder, we'll start with the historical significance. The cylinder provides non biblical confirmation of Cyrus's policy of repatriation, which matches the account and Ezra one and Second Chronicles thirty six. So we have non biblical confirmation of exactly what we read in Ezra and Second Chronicles, this repatriation of people back to their lands. The historical significance also is that it reflects imperial ideology, showing how Cyrus justified his rule through diplomacy and tolerance. He did not rely on brute conquests alone.

41:28 He didn't really rely on being a brute or or just conquering people in a violent way. He typically tried to rule through diplomacy and tolerance, radically different approach, which again sounds like things you'll read in Isaiah forty through fifty five about well Cyrus. Now that's the historical significance. How about the biblical relevance. While the cylinder doesn't mention the Jews specifically and aligns with the biblical betrayal of Cyrus as and note that that's in it. Well, we could get into again, we can get into all the criticisms. Just remember, for whatever you point to, there's always criticisms and debates amongst biblical skeptics. But okay, the bottom line is it aligns. This is the biblical relevance. It aligns with the biblical betrayal of Cyrus. It very much aligns with it. For example, God's anointed Isaiah forty five to one, the one who would rebuild Jerusalem and the temple Isaiah forty four, a deliverer who does not know God, Isaiah forty five, and a lot of that aligns perfectly with Isaiah forty two, which once again backs up the interpretation that we've offered. So there's the historical significance, there's biblical relevance.

42:44 What about the philological implications. Well, it confirms the plausibility of Isaiah's prophecy, God using a pagan king to fulfill his promises to Israel. And it shows the ordinary political means through which God accomplished extraordinary covenantal fulfillment. So God uses ordinary political means to accomplish extraordinary covenantal fulfillment. And I think this is a major theme and how we're going to interpret Isaiah forty through fifty five. We've made this a major theme. God uses the ordinary to ultimately accomplish the extraordinary, but it's gonna look like the ordinary.

43:26 Just this king, this king takes over this area. Okay, well that's what kings do all the time in that period of time. So it's nothing. It doesn't extreme, it doesn't seem extraordinary, but it turns out to be extraordinary because God is using a pagan to accomplish his purpose. To what's a seam is an ordinary means. So if we kind of just break this down, all right, some of the details again, five point thirty nine to five thirty BC is when it's put together. It's a Kadian. Cuneiform is the language. It's discovered in Babylon in eighteen seventy nine. The one who commissioned the putting together of the cylinder is Cyrus the Great. The purpose is to justify Persian rule and portray Cyrus as a liberator. So it does have political propaganda on it. I don't want to deny that, okay, I don't want it to say like, no, it's pure political propaganda. It's pure political propaganda. Cyrus is trying to make himself out to be, you know, wonderful.

44:34 So just make sure we understand that. Its content is Basically, it's going to point out and the divine selection by Marduk to return of exiles and the restoration of temples. I mean, that's a good way to describe it. It's going to focus on, Hey, I was divinely selected by Marduk, I'm going to return the exiles and I'm going to restore temples. Right. And I believe it mirrors the decree in Ezrah one and aligns with Isaiah. I believe Isaiah forty through fifty five. I think it aligns with the entire section. So the Cyrus Cylinder is not just an archaeological artifact. It's a historical bridge between the biblical world and the Persian Empire. It reinforces that God uses real political events and pagan leaders to fulfill his covenantal promise to Israel to Judah.

45:31 And we see this. In Isaiah forty forty one, forty two, forty three, all the way to forty five. Now, let's try, hopefully we can get this done. Let's try to compare and contrast the Cyrus Cylinder with Isaiah forty through fifty five. Let's try to compare in contrast. I don't know if we're going to get through this because it I may just have to give you the references without actually looking them up, but I want you to write down the references and consider this. All right, So we're gonna take the Cyrus cylinder, and it's perspective. If we take the Cyrus cylinder, its perspective is Persian imperial propaganda. Or we could say the Cyrus cylinder is Persian political propaganda. Sarus speaks as the liberating king chosen by Marduk. So already we see a contrast here. That's how that's how the Cyrus cylinder works. However, if we compare and contrast it to Isaiah forty through fifty five, it's prophetic literature. It's not Persian political propaganda.

46:42 It's prophetic literature. Cyrus is portrayed as God's instrument, the God of the Bible, Jahweh, the Lord right. He is God's instrument. He's not Marduk's instrument. He is God's instrument, and he's the instrum meant for Israel's redemption, even though he doesn't know Yahweh, even though he doesn't know the true God. And I think this contrast is super interesting because as we've gone. Through Isaiah forty through fifty five. God has made it very clear over and over and over that the gods of Babylon are useless and worthless. He is the true God, that he's not going to share his glory with anybody else.

47:24 That is real. That's emphasized countless times. Well I know it has to be emphasized countless times because God he's literally going to mention Cyrus, who's walking around claiming that he was chosen by one of the chief Babylonian god and God's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. Those gods are nothing. They're not choosing anything. You got to nail them down to keep them from falling over. They're not doing anything. I'm the creator, I'm the God. I'm the one doing this, not Marduk. So, as we've said, this battle between God and the Babylonian idols really plays out between God and Cyrus's claim that he was chosen by one of those Babylonian gods, and God is making it very clear no, no, no, no, no, he wasn't chosen by Marduk, and which could be a great temptation to those in Babylonian captivity. Remember we said the idolatry could be a major temptation to Israel, to Judah. Well, we could be like, wait a minute, Cyrus is saying he was chosen by that God.

48:30 Maybe that's the god we should follow. Maybe we need to bring Marduk and that idolatry back to wherever we when we go back to Jerusalem, because this is the god who chose our liberator. And God's like, no, no, no, no, no no no, I chose your liberator. I'm the one controlling it, not Marduk. You can see now when you read Isaiah forty through fifty five, and you see this because at times it seems weird. You're like, why is God spending so much time battling the Babylonian idols? Well, what we understand it first because of the great temptation. But now when we consider the Cyrus cylinder that's going to have this propaganda end it that he was chosen by one of those Babylonian idols, you can see now why there's great attention given to combating that. So that's kind of an overview, all right, So let's go through. Now we're going to try to compare and contrast in greater detail, let's look at Cyrus's identity and divine commission. In the Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus is chosen by Marduk, the chief god of Babylon.

49:34 Marduk is said to have been angered by the Babylonian king's impiety and thus search the world for a just ruler, finding Cyrus. So the way it's described as the Babylonian king was impious, he was he was garbage, he was trash. Right to use my language, right, And so he searched, and he's like, who can I find? Who's just? Who's bias? Oh? There he is. It's Cyrus. I'm gonna choose him to liberate. Not in this case, it's not about liberating the Jews. They're not even mentioned. They're not even a part of the story. It's about liberating the Babylonians from this worthless leader. Cyrus is presented as divinely appointed and favored. Now, if we go to Isaiah forty through fifty five, especially chapters forty one through forty five and forty eight. In this section of Isaiah again, just anywhere between forty and through fifty five, Cyrus is called named and anointed by Yahweh Isaiah forty five four through five. I have called you by your name, though you do not know me. Isaiah forty five four through five. I will go before you and level the exalted places Isaiah forty five to two.

51:04 He is my shepherd. He should fulfill all of my purposes. Isaiah forty five twenty eight and Isaiah forty two one through four. If this is Cyrus, which we claim, he is God's servant, he is upheld and chosen, given spirit empowered authority to bring justice in an imperial and political sense. Now, if you look at the Cyrus cylinder and you look at Isaiah forty through fifty five, if you don't see Cyrus and Isaiah forty through fifty five, it's because you have been blinded and you've been deceived by the very Christians who claim to be teaching you the Bible.

51:50 So what do they have? Similar Both betray Cyrus as an agent of divine will. Both the cylinder and Isaiah betrays Cyrus as an agent of divine will. The cylinder, it's Marduk. Isaiah, it's the true God, It's Shahweh. The difference the cylinder promotes Cyrus's greatness. Isaiah insists God alone deserves glory. So so what do they have in common? They're both seen, they both betray Cyrus as an agent of divine will. What do they have different? The cylinder promotes cyrus greatness. Look at how great he is, look at how wonderfully he is. Everyone look at Cyrus. Isaiah says, no, no, no, no, no, no no. God alone deserves the glory, and he's not going to give his glory to another. He's not giving it to Marduk.

52:34 He's not giving it to Cyrus. Similarity, both acknowledge Cyrus's impact across nations. Right, the Cylinder and Isaiah seems to imply that Cyrus is going to impact more than just Judah, more than just Babylon. He's impacting the nations. Isaiah frames it as God's redemptive plan for Israel and the world. The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's benevolence and his legitimacy. So Isaiah is going to frame it, Hey, look, this is God's redemptive plan for Israel and the entire world.

53:16 And then the cylinder is like, Cyrus is so benevolent, his rule is legitimate. Again, it's political propaganda. It straight up political propaganda. You've got to be able to see that. All right. Now let's consider the role in restoring the Jewish people. Now this is important. The Sirius cylinder does not mention Judah Jerusalem by name. It speaks generally of returning gods and peoples to their original cities, which indicates Cyrus didn't just do this once. He did this multiple times for multiple peoples. Isaiah forty through fifty five specifically names Jerusalem and the Temple, and God declares he is fulfilling his promise to Jacob to Israel.

53:59 The rest area is. Covenental, rooted in God's mercy, not imperial generosity. So in Isaiah, it's not like, well, hey, this is happening because Cyrus has such is so generous and so benevolent. No, no, no, that's happening because God. This is covenantal promise. So if we break this down a little bit more, all right, the divine source, all right, and the Cyrus cylinder, the divine sources Marduk in Isaiah forty through. Fifty five, it's Shahweh. The purpose in the Cyris cylinder the legitimacy of rule, the benevolence. Its purpose is to show that Cyrus is legitimate and that his rule is legitimate, and that he's benevolent.

54:51 In Isaiah forty through fifty five, the purpose is to show the fulfillment of covenant, of the covenant that God had made with Israel, and it's to show God's glory. The religious tone in the Cyrus Cylinder it's polytheistic and it's tolerant. And Isaiah it's monotheistic and exclusive. When it comes to the knowledge of God, and the Cyrus Cylinder it's devoted to Marduk and Isaiah forty through fifty five. You get the only way that when it comes to the knowledge of God, Cyrus hasn't He doesn't know Y'allwegh. He doesn't know him. He's blind, he doesn't know him. He knows Marduk, he doesn't know the true God.

55:37 So the religion the knowledge of God in the cylinder, it's the knowledge is about Marduk and Isaiah. Cyrus doesn't have a clue, he doesn't know what's going on. The role with exiles and the cylinder, he returns them to their home, and Isaiah forty he liberates them as God's servant. He's not just returning them to go home because he's nice. He's literally doing this because Cyrus is the servant of Yahweh. The style and the cylinder, it's royal propaganda. In Isaiah, it's supposed to be prophetic revelation. The theme. When it comes to the servant identity and Cyrus cylinder, this idea of the servant and Cyrus being a servant, it's not used in the cylinder, of course not. Cyrus is not the servant. He's the benevolent liberator, he's the king, he's the humble ruler. But in Isaiah it is he's explicitly referred to as a servant, the servant of God, the servant of Yahweh. When it comes to eschatology and the Cyrus cylinder, there isn't any eschatology. It's not that's not even in mind here and Isaiah. The eschatology is embedded in it because because not only is Cyrus, they're doing this historical thing that ultimately points in some ways to Christ. Because the New Testament writers are going to

57:08 use some of this two point directly to Christ. So it has a connection to eschatology. So what is the conclusion. The Cyrus cylinder in Isaiah forty through fifty five describe the same historical events, but from opposite philological angles. The Cyrus cylinder is imperial propaganda grounded in Persian Babylonian religious tradition. Isaiah forty through fifty five, including Isaiah forty two, presents Cyrus as an unwinning agent of Yahweh, raised up not to glorify himself, but to fulfill God's purpose for Israel.

57:50 If Isaiah forty two refers to Cyrus, the cylinder confirms. What he did. Isaiah explains why he did it. Isaiah explains who empowered him and how his role fits into redemptive history, ultimately pointing beyond Cyrus to a greater servant that was still to come and that ultimately will be Christ. So if we're right about Isaiah forty two, which I believe this history one percent confirms, then everything in Isaiah forty two fits perfectly with the Cyrus cylinder. Everything in Isaiah forty forty four and forty five fits perfectly with the Cyrus cylinder.

58:47 Everything in Isaiah forty one fits perfectly with the Cyrus cylinder. In fact, it adds even more to why there's such an emphasis on Hey the gods, these false gods, these are idols, they're nothing, they're usually don't my glory is not going to be given to them, because there's literally, in a sense, a battle on who is going to get the credit. Not because Cyrus himself gives the credit to Marduk. Right. He basically says, I was chosen to do Marduk, chose me mart So this Babylonian god is getting the glory. So God has to come along go no no, no, no no no no no no no. It's not a Babylonian god who gets the glory. I get the glory because I chose you, Cyrus.

59:30 I chose him. I'm using him. He is my servant. So Israel, don't focus on don't give Cyrus the glory. Hey, Israel, Judah, don't give Marduk the glory. I get the glory. I'm the one behind this. I'm the one controlling this. So you need to find your hope, your peace, your comfort in me because this is all me fulfilling the. Covenant that I made with you. And that's the Cyrus cylinder. I hope that it really captures everything about it in significance. I mean, we could probably spend another hour going through this, but I wanted to just try to wrap this up in one session, in one episode, in one hour, whatever, the one Sunday school class.

1:00:20 Whatever we're referring to this as. I wanted to go through that as fast as I could, but hopefully covering this now, if you're trying to take notes, I know a lot of that was probably hard. I tried to break it down, try to do the comparison and the contrast. I tried to give you all the basic information about it. I tried to give you. The name of the temple it was located, where they discovered it nearby, which again happened to just be the temple of Marduk, and that interesting, Okay. We talked about the king of Babylon that was referenced. We talked about the dating, the language, what it was made out of, how it was discovered in pieces, it's significance, Why we took the time. I went into a lengthy explanation to why we just spent that time doing that, because I want you to see, because now, in some ways I could have done that at the end and said, hey, here's the reason we just did that, but I wanted you to see going in that we are doing this for a very very specific purpose, so that you can actually understand Isaiah forty through fifty five better than anybody else can, because, with all due respect, nobody else is going to spend the time on Cyrus.

1:01:34 They're so quick. Not only are they so quick to. Kick out Judah and insert Us, they kick out Cyrus to bring in Jesus. Now see, from a Christian perspective, a church answer, you'd be like, well, of course we should kick out Cyrus and bring in. Jesus, know when that's not what the text is about. All right, there we go. Now we're ready for Isaiah forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five, forty six, forty seven, forty eight, forty nine to fifty Oh you get the idea. We're now ready for the rest. Now, if we need to take any other detours later on, we will take those detours. We have every it's perfectly okay to take those detours. But there is the Cyrus cylinder.

1:02:23 So now you understand we have justification for our interpretation of Isaiah forty two. And now you understand why I have constantly been mentioning Cyrus, even when AI argued with me. I kept saying, Cyrus, Cyrus, Cyrus, cyrus, even when every commentary disagreed with me, Cyrus, sorry, even when every sermon disagreed with me, Cyrus cyrus. Why because we literally have history to back it up. So you can choose the church answer, follow all the commentaries, follow all the sermons, and miss what the text is actually about, or you can remember this thing that was found in pieces put together and they're like whoa, and not anyone who reads Isaiah forty through fifty five throws in an extra whoa, a lot of extra woes like whoa, whoa, whoa?

1:03:16 Whoa whoa? This is. It sounds the same in so many ways, so similar yet so different, only because one is giving the credit to a false god. And that makes perfect sense now, because Isaiah forty through fifty five takes these weird detours to make this argument against these false gods, and at times it seems so out of place, but it makes perfect sense, all right. Thanks for listening, God bless