Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was cruel. He cut the throats of Zedekiah’s sons in front of him. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes so that in his eternal night the vision which remained in his mind would be the murder of his sons. This is a classic example of Babylon’s cruelty; domination of the world at that time was by force and brutality.

“I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me” (Isaiah 45:4). During this time, a kingdom east of Babylon began to grow. It was Persia, whose capital was Pasargadae. The king of Persia was Cambyses, who had married Mandana, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. The king of Persia was subjected to Astyages to whom he paid tax. When the first son of Cambyses and Mandana was born, Astyages dreamed that this son would be a threat to his throne, so he ordered the child killed. But the boy was saved by the one who was ordered to kill him, secretly nourished and raised by a country woman. This child was the future Cyrus.

Historians say this is the first extraordinary stage in the life of Cyrus. But the Bible says of him, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me” (Isaiah 45:5, NIV). As we see in this text, divine providence was already guiding this future king.

At a later time Cyrus returned to the court of Astyages who had in the meantime regretted his behavior. Finally Astyages returned him to his parents, Cambyses and Mandana, and Cyrus grew up at the Persian court.

The Greek author Xenophon says this about him: “Cyrus received from nature a figure of remarkable beauty, a heart full of humanity, was very zealous for science and so impassioned for honor that he endured all works and exposed himself to all dangers.” Note Xenophon’s words, “a heart full of humanity.”

First Victories of Cyrus

At Cambyses’ death in 559 B.C., Cyrus was crowned king of Persia. He continued to be subject to Media but began to consolidate his nation and his capital, Pasargadae. He dreamed of an immense empire and worshiped the Persian god Mahura-Mazda. Cyrus did not know the true God, yet according to the Scriptures God had already chosen him. At the time of his crowning Nebuchadnezzar had been dead for three years.

Cyrus’ first objective was to gain release from Median influence. In 555 B.C. he went to war against king Astyages, who was his grandfather. The Median army was larger and the fight went badly for Cyrus. The Persian army started to retreat when unexpectedly one of the Median generals defected to Cyrus. Suddenly victory was his.

The usual custom after ancient battles was to kill one’s enemy, Astyages in this case. Not only did Cyrus not do that but he integrated Astyages into his royal entourage which was an exceptional favor for the time, especially when compared to the cruelty of the Babylonians and Assyrians. Instead of oppressing the Medes, Cyrus gave them more freedom than they had ever had under their own kings. Thus began the glorious prophecy of Isaiah 45:1 (NIV): “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor.”

Cyrus became the head of what was called from then onward the Medo-Persian empire. More than ever he dreamed about conquering the gigantic empire of Babylon, but he knew it was too soon since the Medo-Persian empire still had many weaknesses.

The Lydian Adventure

Cyrus became concerned about the kingdom of Lydia to the northwest in Asia Minor. That kingdom had an exceptional economic prosperity for the time. Its capital, Sardis, abounded in gold and untold wealth, acquired through the commercial genius of its king. Even today the name of that king stands as a synonym for an extremely wealthy man. His name was Croesus.

In 546 B.C. Croesus made a covenant with the Egyptians, then invaded the Medo-Persian territories, massacring the people. Cyrus went up against him and a terrible battle was waged. Cyrus had two key advantages in this battle: chariots equipped with scythes (which caused terror) and a cavalry mounted on camels (which frightened the Lydian horses because they had never before seen such animals).

The Egyptian allies of Croesus were defeated and subjected themselves to Cyrus. Magnanimous as always, he integrated them into his kingdom. The prophecy of Isaiah 45:14 was fulfilled: “The labor of Egypt … shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee.” Once more divine providence guided the career of Cyrus.

Cyrus realized he must take Sardis, the Lydian capital where Croesus had taken refuge. He laid siege to the city and one night the city was taken. Of course Croesus did not expect any pity from Cyrus, but he was wrong. To his great surprise, he was released. Cyrus in his great wisdom, took him to his own court as his personal financial advisor. History tells us that Croesus remained a faithful friend of Cyrus from that point forward.

Cyrus then appropriated the extraordinary treasure of Sardis, which historians consider the “World Bank” of that time. The prophecy of Isaiah 45:3, “I will give thee the hidden riches of secret places,” was literally fulfilled.

The Bird of Prey

For the second time Cyrus had allied a people to himself. Letting his general wage war against the Greek cities of the coast, Cyrus went to the eastern flank of his empire. From 545 to 540 B.C. he made a quick conquest of an enormous area from the Aral Sea to India. Everywhere he went he brought more freedom to the defeated people than they had ever had previously. His sense of mercy, wisdom, and his genius as a governor made him a legend in his own time.

God was with him removing the obstacles in his way as prophesied in Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.” But of course Cyrus did not know it was God who was doing this. God said, “From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose” (Isaiah 46:11, NIV). Cyrus was this man called by God from Persia in the east. The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter.

The Fall of Babylon

After he had become the head of an immense empire, Cyrus was ready to challenge Babylon itself. Everything was ready. His army was organized, powerful, and had five years of experience in war. On the other hand Belshazzar, as the successor king of Babylon, reigned over a diminished kingdom compared to Nebuchadnezzar. He had little interest in defending his empire and spent his time adoring his god Marduk, whose worship he imposed on everyone. His subjects felt tyrannized, prohibited from worshiping the gods they preferred. They had no choice but to hope for some kind of liberation.

In 539 B.C. Cyrus and his army crossed the Tigris River and attacked the Babylonian army. He achieved an easy victory because many Babylonians defected to him. But to take Babylon, a city that had been extraordinarily strengthened by Nebuchadnezzar, was another thing. A siege would be long and might never succeed. So Cyrus decided to dig a channel to divert the Euphrates river which flowed under the city.

In Babylon Belshazzar claimed to have enough food to support a ten-year siege. Time passed. To show his Babylonian subjects that the Medo-Persians will become wearied eventually, and also to raise their spirits, he organized a gigantic feast. However, he made a great mistake: they drank from the golden cups taken from the temple of Jerusalem. This was something Nebuchadnezzar never did.

“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting, thy kingdom will be given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:27,28). This prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled that same night. The Medo-Persians entered the city by walking in the now dry bed of the diverted Euphrates and the king of Babylon was killed. The fall of the greatest empire the world had ever known had a considerable impact. Cyrus was celebrated as a liberator. Happy Babylonians came to him waving palms in their hands.

But in Babylon there was much to do. Entire peoples had been reduced to slavery or had been forcibly deported. True to character, Cyrus once again showed his generosity. This is what he decreed: “I grant to all men freedom to worship their own gods; no one has the right to maltreat them for that. I order that no house be destroyed and no inhabitant be stripped. I guarantee peace … peace with all men.”

This decree by Cyrus was found engraved on Persian plates. It is so different than the declarations engraved on bas-reliefs by Assyrian and Babylonian kings who proudly drank blood after their massacres.

“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 45:13). In 538 B.C. the exiled Hebrews in Babylon knew their time of captivity predicted to be 70 years was ending. They saw that in Cyrus the famous “70 years” prophecy of Jeremiah 25:12-14 would be concluded.

This is the edict of Cyrus: “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2,3).

So the prophecies of Isaiah were fulfilled. The forced captivity of the Israelites ended and with this event the mission God had for Cyrus came to an end as well.

The End of the Great King

After the fall of Babylon Cyrus went home to his capital Pasargadae where he constructed new buildings. In 530 B.C. he waged war against the Massagetae (east of the Aral Sea). In 529 B.C. he died in a fight against Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae, and his body was brought to his capital by his son Cambyses (same name as Cyrus’ father). Cyrus bequeathed to his successors the greatest known empire up to that time.