Isaiah 40-55: Cyrus the Conquerer

 Second Isaiah

Cyrus the Conquerer
The complex tensions in First Isaiah carry over into Second Isaiah, which sees a great new conquerer coming to free Israel from its captivity in Babylon. A new tension is added: this conquerer is Cyrus the Great, a Persian king. Israel's own monarchy has failed; considering that 1 Samuel portrays the monarchy as a rejection of the Lord, one might say it was doomed from the start. In fact, Babylonian captivity springs directly from the evil kings of the divided monarchy. But since the divine covenant still exists between Israel and God, God is able to redeem his people by exerting his will through Cyrus. This is not without precedent. The Lord formerly aided his people directly through the judges:

Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them.
(Judges 2.18)

The innovation is that Cyrus is not an Israelite, as the Israelites are unable to fight against the strong oppression they face. The historical fact of Cyrus' conquering Babylon is given the theological gloss of God's divine will. It is easy to make this connection when we consider that Cyrus not only conquered Babylon, but also brought freedom of religion to the Israelites and allowed them to rebuild the temple. This is historical fact that is also recalled in Ezra:

"Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of those among you who are is people - may their God be with them! - are now permitted to go to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel - he is the God who is in Jerusalem..."
(Ezra 1.2-3)

We discover in Second Isaiah that God was behind this decree all along. In fact, Cyrus is referred to as God's  "anointed," a moniker reserved - with this one exception - for Israelite kings and high priests. Isaiah 45 describes God will go before Cyrus and conquer everything in his way. Victory is never Cyrus' accomplishment, but rather that of the Lord.

On Poetry
Why are we to believe that Cyrus is the Lord's agent? The biblical author attempts to convince the reader in the lead-up to the description of Cyrus' campaign in Isaiah 45. A poem in Isaiah 44.24-28 eases us into the idea of Cyrus by asserting God's greatness and revealing truths that we are likely to believe. By the time we learn that Cyrus will act as God's agent, we have already agreed with the rest of the poem, so why not tack on one more thing?

It begins with an invocation

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

before addressing the reader in particular:

who formed you in the womb:

The Lord then shifts from particular to universal, displaying his mastery of everything great and small:

I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth: 

After this comes a rejection of false prophets

who frustrates the omens of liars,
and makes fools of diviners;

and a rejection of knowledge (or certain kinds of knowledge):

who turns back the wise,
and makes their knowledge foolish;

Prophets like Isaiah are to be trusted because God validates their oracles:

who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the predication of his messengers;

Next comes a promise, one meant to instill hope in its audience:

Who says of Jerusalem, "It shall be inhabited,"
and of the cities of Judah, "They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins";

What follows is an image that invokes the past while looking to the future. A reference to the deep and a dried up river recalls the exodus, one in which the Israelites will again return home.

who says of the deep, "Be dry -
I will dry up your rivers";

Finally comes the biter pill. Israel's savior will not be an Israelite. Unable to save itself, the Lord will act through an intermediary. Since the Lord has already established his track record of greatness, rejecting book knowledge in favor of prophecy, the foundation is laid for us to believe that Cyrus indeed will save Israel as an agent of God:

who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose";

Finally, the poem closes with a positive look toward the future, one inevitable as predicted by Isaiah and executed by Cyrus, both agents of the Lord himself:

and who says of Jerusalem, "It shall be rebuilt,"
and of the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."

This is exactly what happens. The word of the Lord and the prediction of Isaiah come true and Israel once again finds itself with a place of centralized worship. We are led to believe it by a chain of plausible claims, and historically, the prediction became a reality. How much farther must one strain faith to believe it was God and not Cyrus? That answer does not come from the bible, but from the reader.