Why would a pagan king do such a thing? Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Mede had
conquered the kingdom of Babylon after the episode we saw several months ago
when the son of Nebuchadnezzar died and Darius, who was old, received the
kingdom. The Lord worked in this Cyrus
who was given the administration of the kingdom by Darius, to allow the Jews to
return to Jerusalem. We don't know
specifically why he would have done so but two general theories are proposed:
that he wanted to curry favor in the kingdom to win the people, and he was
somehow moved by the prophecy of Isaiah that this would happen. He gets some things wrong, referring to the
God of the Israelites as a regional or territorial god instead of the creator
and ruler of the heavens and the earth, "the God of Israel—he is the God
who is in Jerusalem." The aid of
those around the exiles who were returning sounds a bit like the original
exodus from Egypt doesn't it? They had
to have noticed that as they left with far more than anyone could have
imagined. This time, however, they were
going to go straight to the Land, no enemies and opposition, but it looked like
their benefactor was a Persian. We know,
however, it was a sovereign work of God.
Jesus, likewise, is the fulfillment of the prophetic word of
Isaiah from six hundred years before His birth.
There is an enormous difference, however, Jesus is the one in whom the
Lord is pleased, not a man who doesn't know Him. This One, however, will proclaim justice not
only to Israel but to the Gentiles as well. Those who do not know the Lord will
come to know of Him and His ways. They will
understand justice from the perspective of the creator and Lord of the heavens
and the earth through this chosen One. It
is in His Name in which the Gentiles will put their hope. He will, then, be the savior and hope of the
world. They will know He is more than
the God who is in Jerusalem, He is the God of all times and places and
peoples. Jesus was never to be one way
to the Father, He was always to be The Way.
His claim is absolute.
Paul has plans to come to Corinth and see the church there
and he wants them to take up a collection for the relief of other churches and
have it ready when he gets there. His instructions
are essentially a firstfruits offering on the first day of the week, on
Sunday. They are to set something aside
right at the start of the week in faith that they will have enough for the rest
of the week. They are to do so each week
and be prepared when he comes to have the collection ready to go, not
scrambling to get something together at the last minute. His plans are loose and we know there will be
some difficulty accomplishing what he wants to do, but we also know that there
was both an open door at Ephesus and also opposition (see Acts 19). In all this, however, we see Paul's faith in
Isaiah's prophecy that Jesus was to be the hope of the Gentiles. He took it seriously and went everywhere
preaching about Jesus.
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