An amazing prophecy. The Bible gives the name of a man more than 100 years before his birth

Dear reader, often among the comments you can find the question – “Well, bring at least one fulfilled prophecy of the Bible.”

As I understand it, such questions arise for those who have not read the Bible or read it superficially, because even with the most cursory reading of the Bible, hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled are already visible. There are about 3,000 of them in total, of which about 1,300 are prophecies about Jesus Christ.

If you are too lazy to scroll through the posts, I understand that there are more than 450 of them, then I suggest you use the navigator, from where you can conveniently go to any article, if you figure out how the navigator works, you can easily find the articles you need.

In this post, I would like to tell you about a fulfilled prophecy about a specific historical figure.

The prophet Isaiah, who lived about 700 years before the birth of Christ, is one of the so-called great prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who lived about 100 years later.

Through Isaiah, the Lord gave many simply amazing prophecies about many countries, peoples, and even specific historical figures.

The historicity of Isaiah is confirmed by archaeological finds and surviving manuscripts.

During the excavations of the royal bakery in Jerusalem, an impression of a seal was found with an inscription, the possible reading of which is “Isaiah the prophet.” The find was discovered a few meters from another print made with the seal of King Hezekiah, at whose court, according to the Old Testament, Isaiah lived.

What happened during the life of Isaiah in the historical background?

The leading kingdom of that time was the tough Assyrian kingdom, the kings of Assyria one after another came to war against the 10 tribes of Israel and Judah, until they conquered and took all 10 tribes into captivity.

The Assyrians were the biggest enemy of Israel. 10 tribes were scattered, and Judah (the 2 remaining tribes – Judah and Benjamin) were under constant threat of siege and war.

And at this time the Lord proclaims an amazing prophecy about the future.

The Lord predicts that He will save the Jewish people … from the Babylonians.

So that you understand correctly, at the time of Isaiah’s life, the Babylonian kingdom had not yet gained strength , this is later, after about 100 years, Nabonidus and his son Nebuchadnezzar will conquer all nations, including Assyria. And for 70 years the Jewish people will be in captivity in Babylon. And Jerusalem will be destroyed and the Temple of God will be destroyed to the ground.

But at the time of the life of Isaiah, this was still nothing , there was a completely different enemy – Assyria and the Assyrian kings.

And at this moment, I look 100-200 years ahead, the Spirit of God announces that there will be a Babylonian captivity for the Jewish people, and there will be liberation. Destroyed in 100 years, Jerusalem will be rebuilt by order of a man who has not yet been born. And whose tribe is still small and insignificant, unable to defeat either Assyria or Babylon.

Who are we talking about? This is simply amazing, this amazing passage of Scripture, by the way, is not the only one in the Bible where the Lord calls the name of a person.

My shepherd I will call Kira,

he will do my will,

He will say about Jerusalem: “Rebuild the city!”

about the Temple: “Lay its foundations!”

Isaiah 44:28

The Lord calls us the name Cyrus – we are talking about the not yet born Cyrus of Persia, Cyrus the 2nd Great.

This is what the Lord says to His anointed Cyrus, whom He holds by the hand to subdue the nations,

disarm kings before him, open gates that will no longer be closed:

“I myself will go ahead of you, I will humble the proud,

I will break the bronze gates, I will crush the iron locks.

I will give you hidden treasures and riches kept in darkness,

so that you understand that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, and it is I who call you by name.

For the sake of my servant Jacob, for the sake of my chosen one, Israel,

I address you by name, I honor those who do not know me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other, there is no God but Me.

It is I who endow you with power, though you do not know Me.

May people from east to west know that I am the Lord and there is no God but Me.

Isaiah 45:1-6

In those days, the Persians were a small tribe, vassals of the Medes.

Cyrus was born about 200 years after the prophecy, lived an amazing life, was in exile from childhood, became the king of the Medo-Persians, led his troops under the walls of Babylon and crushed the invincible Babylonian kingdom.

The biography of Cyrus is known from the “History” of Herodotus, from the records of the ancient Greek historian Ctesias, who lived at the Persian court in the 5th century BC. e., and from the books of the Old Testament.

Cyrus is believed to have been born in 593 BC. e., i.e. in the 6th century BC. Isaiah, through whom God announced Cyrus, was born in the 8th century and died in the 7th century BC.

He received his name not at birth, but when he took the throne at the age of 33-34, when he became the leader of the settled Persian tribes. The origin of the name is interesting; according to different versions, it came either from the word shepherd, or from the word sun, or from the name of the river.

At the age of 40, he rebelled against the Median king, and 3 years later became the ruler of Medo-Persia. After that, he began to lead successful conquests in Asia Minor, and in 539, at the age of 54, Cyrus conquered Babylon. Mentioned in the Bible, Belshazzar, who tried to resist the Persians in the city center, was killed.

In a series of his first decrees, Cyrus ordered the Jews who were in captivity, those who wish, to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the destroyed Temple of God.

In the first year of the reign of the Persian king Cyrus, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord, spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord prompted the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he ordered to proclaim throughout his kingdom in writing and orally:

“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord, the God of heaven. And He commanded me to rebuild His Temple in Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. May all who belong to His people go there—may the Lord their God be with them!”

II Chronicles 36:22-23

In addition to the book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra also preserved for us the decree of Cyrus, issued in Ecbatana in the very first year of his Babylonian reign in 538 BC. e. In this decree, the Jews are allowed to build the Jerusalem temple according to the prescribed dimensions and are commanded to return the temple vessels stolen by Nebuchadnezzar.

Yes, Cyrus not only made such an order, but also returned everything stolen during the Babylonian captivity from the Temple of God – utensils for worship, and also allocated the necessary sacrifices and instructed the administrators of those lands to support the Jews who returned from captivity.

This decision was so surprising that even the later Medo-Persian rulers turned to him to make sure that Cyrus really gave such a commission. And since the law of the Medes and Persians could not be broken, they also supported this decision to build God’s Temple and rebuild Jerusalem.

Although Cyrus did not truly recognize God, however, as the Lord foretold about him, but without knowing it, he fulfilled the will of God, again, as it was predicted about him.

The Lord exalted Cyrus, from a small tribe of the Medes, He made him the ruler of the world, opened the locks of various states before him, laid before him the treasures of the peoples. And all this for the sake of the people of Israel, in fulfillment of the prophecy, Cyrus had all the necessary qualities, was a merciful king, and Cyrus exactly fulfilled what was predicted more than 100 years before his birth.

Think who is capable of this? Announce a man from a small, insignificant tribe hundreds of years before his birth, give his name, and then fulfill all this with his life?

Who is capable of this?

Only God.

The Lord spoke such prophecies on purpose so that people would know in advance, so that later their descendants could compare and compare and come to the realization that only God is capable of this.

Remember this and show yourselves to be men; take it, apostates, to heart; remember what was before, from the beginning of the age, for I am God, and there is no other God, and there is none like me. I proclaim from the beginning what will be at the end, and from ancient times what has not yet been done, I say: My council will take place, and whatever I please, I will do. I called an eagle from the east, from a far country, the fulfiller of My decree. I have spoken, and I will carry it out; I have planned and will do.

Hear Me, hardhearted, far from the truth: I have brought My righteousness near, it is not far off, and My salvation will not delay; and I will give salvation to Zion, to Israel my glory.

Isaiah 46:8-13

The Lord announced from the beginning and fulfilled his decrees, brought the eagle from the East, King Cyrus, and fulfilled his destined. And no one can resist the will of God.

Think a little about this story. How amazing it is.

And there are a huge number of such prophecies in the Bible, I repeat, about 3000 prophecies concerning specific historical figures, spoken by God long BEFORE THEIR BIRTH.

The Bible has predictions not only about Cyrus, but also about Alexander the Great and other kings, but about this in other posts.

Dear reader, there is no other book on earth like the Bible. Do you still doubt her?

Leave doubts, it is better to start reading the Bible. Attentively, thoughtfully, prayerfully.