So that . . . men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isa. 45:6)
IN 1879 EXPLORER HORMUZD RASSAM discovered the “Cyrus Cylinder” at the site of ancient Babylon. The nine-inch long, barrel-shaped clay chronicle records the benevolence of Persia’s King Cyrus in restoring captives to their homelands. It describes how Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian Empire in 539 b.c. and liberated the Jews.
Isaiah had prophesied 150 years earlier that God would choose Cyrus, a pagan king, to free His people. The Lord would secure Cyrus’s victory in battle by going before him and clearing the way. And God would be glorified.
Ezra 1 confirms the accuracy of Isaiah’s prediction. It records Cyrus’s proclamation that the Lord had put him in a position of power, that He had appointed him to build a temple in Jerusalem, and that Cyrus had permitted the Jews to leave and go to Jerusalem to help build the temple.
We live in unsettling times, but we need not fear. God is sovereign over all the earth. He puts leaders in power and removes them as part of His eternal plan (Dan. 2:21). God keeps His promises. One day the world will be put right when the Lord Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom on earth. “We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). He is the Lord. There is no other.
When world events cause you to worry, remember that God is in control.
Nancy Reinke lives in the Colorado Rockies with her artist husband. She enjoys writing, hiking, grandmothering, and encouraging others
