Bible Society of South Africa
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Come to Me
Come to Me – Day 12
Xanthe Galanis

Come to Me – Day 12

It’s all in the details

Bible text(s)

24“I am the LORD, your saviour;

I am the one who created you.

I am the LORD, the Creator of all things.

I alone stretched out the heavens;

when I made the earth, no one helped me.

Isaiah 44:24GNBOpen in Bible reader

27With a word of command I dry up the ocean.

28I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me;

you will do what I want you to do:

you will order Jerusalem to be rebuilt

and the Temple foundations to be laid.’ ”

Isaiah 44:27-28GNBOpen in Bible reader

Cyrus Commands the Jews to Return

1In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the LORD made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire:

2“This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The LORD, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. 3May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is worshipped in Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:1-3GNBOpen in Bible reader

There is something a little different about this particular prophecy. It mentions someone specifically by name, rather than simply giving a description. Remember what we read previously – God knows each of our names and we are his. More than that, he shares the future with us.

In this passage, God not only predicts the future, but he does it by naming the specific individual! He knew Cyrus’ name before he was born. From the clues Isaiah gives us and from reading Ezra 1:1-3, we can deduce that this Cyrus would be the king of Persia – the king who ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. Bible scholars agree that Isaiah predicted the rise of Cyrus 150 years in advance!

Notice the reference to the “watery deep” and the drying up of streams. What has this to do with Cyrus? In 539 BC, Cyrus had laid siege to the city of Babylon. The people inside were not concerned because they had stored up supplies to last 20 years. However, the Persian army diverted the Euphrates River, which ran under the city of Babylon, and when the water level dropped, his army entered the city by going under the gate in the riverbed. Babylon fell to Cyrus.

We have a God who not only knows the future, he knows the details about what is to come and he has a detailed plan for his people. This God who knows you by name, has a detailed plan for your life as well.

Bible Society of South Africav.4.21.9
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