Cyrus II of Persia, A Type of King
Cyrus II first took power in Elam in 559 BCE. From that point, he conquered various territories until he eventually ruled Babylon itself. Once he conquered Babylon, in 539 BCE, he let Jewish the exiles return to their homes. Historically, this was not a special case. Cyrus did a lot of decent things for various groups in his empire. A lesson in foreign policy that the world could learn from even today, when you are kind to the people in your land, you have less trouble with internal conflict. Cyrus II was a good statesman with a humane imperial policy, but in Isaiah 45, he is presented as God’s anointed king. The Hebrew word in this verse is a form of messiah.
When we think of anointed leaders, we think of King David or some of the prophets in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. We think of priests in the line of Aaron. When we turn to the New Testament, we think of Jesus. Afterall, Christ means “anointed.” We think of the great Israelite heroes of the Bible, not some foreign king who simply wanted to prevent unrest in his united empire. How should we make sense of Isaiah calling a foreign king, “God’s anointed?”
We should start by making one thing clear. Cyrus wasn’t Jewish. He probably wasn’t a person that any Jew at the time would consider a God-fearing gentile. He didn’t call upon the name of the LORD. He didn’t worship the God of Israel. Cyrus merely tolerated minority religions well. The ancient historian Josephus recounts a traditional story in which Cyrus saw the oracle that predicted him restoring the temple in the book of Isaiah and was so moved by being called by name 140 years before the temple was first destroyed, that he set about fulfilling the prophecy. While this is a nice story, it probably isn’t true. Most scholars today believe that the parts of Isaiah that were written about Cyrus were developed during or after his reign. Furthermore, Josephus wrote over 500 years after the reign of Cyrus had ended. He wasn’t exactly an eye-witness of the event. So, we can’t reliably construct a version of history in which Cyrus was actually faithful to God and saw himself as anointed by the LORD to rule and send God’s people home.
However, someone who reads Isaiah 45:1-7 focusing on Cyrus, really misses the point of this passage. This isn’t about what Cyrus has done or his character. This is about what God is doing and what God will continue to do to save God’s people. Cyrus is the passive recipient of God’s blessing. God empowers him to conquer and deliver people. God levels mountains and breaks open doors. The focus of this passage is on God’s work, God alone. If there is any lesson to be learned about Cyrus from this passage, it is that Cyrus could only do what he did because God blessed him. Cyrus was dependent upon God.
Christian typology is a theological practice that sees Biblical events as types for other Biblical or post-Biblical events. In this sense, Jonah prefigured Christ by being swallowed by a fish and spending three days and nights in its belly. This isn’t to say that Jonah accomplished what Christ did in any meaningful way. It is simply to say that God uses similar images throughout the story to show significance and parallels. Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish. Jesus spent three days buried in a tomb. Jesus himself agreed with this connection. We read in Matthew 12:38-42 that Jesus saw his resurrection as a parallel to Jonah’s time in the fish.
While typologist theologians generally agree that the Old Testament points to Jesus, some take the practice even further. The Bible establishes types that apply to the rest of human history. Black slaves in the United States had a particular interest in Moses as a Biblical figure, for obvious reasons. He led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Because of this typology, while some people looked to Moses more as a law giver, others emphasized his role as a liberator. Both are important, and emphasis on one doesn't cancel the other, but we can see how viewing Biblical figures as types for the present can inspire, encourage, and enlighten us in our daily lives.
Perhaps, we can apply the same thing to Cyrus. Cyrus was a foreign king who never worshiped at the temple and probably felt pretty ambivalent to most of the minority religions under his rule. However, we can see him as a king anointed by God because he carried out God’s work. In treating people fairly and showing respect for God’s people, Cyrus could be seen among the great Biblical heroes, even if he didn’t practice the same religion. God can anoint, call, and send anyone, not just people who share our religion. Perhaps in the Cyrus story we could see a call for more interfaith dialogue and understanding. There are good leaders of other religions who should be treated with respect. It is possible that we simply do not see and understand the ways in which God is moving them. Furthermore, as recent tragic events show, some people have violent tendencies toward people of other religions. It should go without saying that murdering our neighbors because of their faith is wrong, and looking at Cyrus as a forerunner of righteous people outside of our faith should teach us to preserve life, even if we disagree about God.
But Cyrus can also be seen as a type for leaders in general, or more precisely, the way the authors viewed Cyrus is a type for how we think about leaders today. In this Isaiah passage, Cyrus the Great is completely dependent upon God. Though he conquered much of the known world and established a powerful empire, the Biblical authors do not attribute that accomplishment to his own skill and power. Rather, they give credit to God who controls all of history. Whether we don’t like the person in charge and think that we could do better and they are making a mess of things, or we like the person in charge and think their charming personality and administrative skill will usher in a golden era, we often forget who is really in charge of things. This text can serve as a reminder. We should pray for our leaders and hope for the best for them, demand that they lead well and govern with justice and compassion, and support whoever we think will be best for the job of leadership. However, in picking a human leader, we should always remember that all of their successes come from God, beside whom there is no other.
