The advent of the army of Cyrus before the walls of
Babylon was to the Jews a sign that their deliverance
from captivity was drawing nigh. More than a century before
the birth of Cyrus, Inspiration had mentioned him by name,
and had caused a record to be made of the actual work he
should do in taking the city of Babylon unawares, and in
preparing the way for the release of the children of the
captivity. Through Isaiah the word had been spoken:
"Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose
right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him;
. . . to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates
shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the
crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of
brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give
thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret
places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call
thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isaiah 45:1-3.
In the unexpected entry of the army of the Persian
conqueror into the heart of the Babylonian capital by way of
the channel of the river whose waters had been turned
aside, and through the inner gates that in careless security
had been left open and unprotected, the Jews had abundant
evidence of the literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy
concerning the sudden overthrow of their oppressors. And this
should have been to them an unmistakable sign that God
was shaping the affairs of nations in their behalf; for
inseparably linked with the prophecy outlining the manner of
Babylon's capture and fall were the words:
"Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and shall perform all My
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built;
and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." "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
44:28; 45:13.
Nor were these the only prophecies upon which the
exiles had opportunity to base their hope of speedy deliverance.
The writings of Jeremiah were within their reach,
and in these was plainly set forth the length of time that
should elapse before the restoration of Israel from Babylon.
"When seventy years are accomplished," the Lord had foretold
through His messenger, "I will punish the king of
Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity,
and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual
desolations." Jeremiah 25:12. Favor would be shown the
remnant of Judah, in answer to fervent prayer. "I will be
found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your
captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the
Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence
I caused you to be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29:14.
Often had Daniel and his companions gone over these
and similar prophecies outlining God's purpose for His
people. And now, as the rapid course of events betokened the
mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel
gave special thought to the promises made to Israel. His
faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into experiences
foretold by the sacred writers. "After seventy years be
accomplished at Babylon," the Lord had declared, "I will
visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in
causing you to return. . . . I know the thoughts that I
think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye
call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I
will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find
Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart."
Verses 10-13.
Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was
meditating on these prophecies and seeking God for an
understanding of the times, a series of visions was given
him concerning the rise and fall of kingdoms. With the
first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of the book
of Daniel, an interpretation was given; yet not all was made
clear to the prophet. "My cogitations much troubled me,"
he wrote of his experience at the time, "and my countenance
changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart."
Daniel 7:28.
Through another vision further light was thrown upon
the events of the future; and it was at the close of this vision
that Daniel heard "one saint speaking, and another saint
said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall
be the vision?" Daniel 8:13. The answer that was given,
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall
the sanctuary be cleansed" (verse 14), filled him with
perplexity. Earnestly he sought for the meaning of the vision.
He could not understand the relation sustained by the seventy
years' captivity, as foretold through Jeremiah, to the
twenty-three hundred years that in vision he heard the
heavenly visitant declare should elapse before the cleansing
of God's sanctuary. The angel Gabriel gave him a partial
interpretation; yet when the prophet heard the words, "The
vision . . . shall be for many days," he fainted away. "I
Daniel fainted," he records of his experience, "and was sick
certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business;
and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it."
Verses 26, 27.
Still burdened in behalf of Israel, Daniel studied anew
the prophecies of Jeremiah. They were very plain--so plain
that he understood by these testimonies recorded in books
"the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish
seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Daniel
9:2.
With faith founded on the sure word of prophecy, Daniel
pleaded with the Lord for the speedy fulfillment of these
promises. He pleaded for the honor of God to be preserved.
In his petition he identified himself fully with those who
had fallen short of the divine purpose, confessing their sins
as his own.
"I set my face unto the Lord God," the prophet declared,
"to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and
sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and
made my confession." Verses 3, 4. Though Daniel had
long been in the service of God, and had been spoken of
by heaven as "greatly beloved," yet he now appeared before
God as a sinner, urging the great need of the people he
loved. His prayer was eloquent in its simplicity, and intensely
earnest. Hear him pleading:
"O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant
and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that
keep His commandments; we have sinned, and have
committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled,
even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments;
neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the
prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our
princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
"O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto
us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel,
that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries
whither Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass
that they have trespassed against Thee. . . .
"To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness,
though we have rebelled against Him." "O Lord, according
to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger
and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy
holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities
of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a
reproach to all that are about us.
"Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy
servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine
upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes,
and behold our desolations, and the city which is called
by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before
Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies.
"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and
do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God: for Thy
city and Thy people are called by Thy name." Verses 4-9,
16-19.
Heaven was bending low to hear the earnest supplication
of the prophet. Even before he had finished his plea for
pardon and restoration, the mighty Gabriel again appeared
to him, and called his attention to the vision he had seen
prior to the fall of Babylon and the death of Belshazzar.
And then the angel outlined before him in detail the period
of the seventy weeks, which was to begin at the time of "the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem." Verse 25.
Daniel's prayer had been offered "in the first year of
Darius" (verse 1), the Median monarch whose general,
Cyrus, had wrested from Babylonia the scepter of universal
rule. The reign of Darius was honored of God. To him
was sent the angel Gabriel, "to confirm and to strengthen
him." Daniel 11:1. Upon his death, within about two years
of the fall of Babylon, Cyrus succeeded to the throne, and
the beginning of his reign marked the completion of the
seventy years since the first company of Hebrews had been
taken by Nebuchadnezzar from their Judean home to
Babylon.
The deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions had
been used of God to create a favorable impression upon
the mind of Cyrus the Great. The sterling qualities of the
man of God as a statesman of farseeing ability led the Persian
ruler to show him marked respect and to honor his judgment.
And now, just at the time God had said He would cause
His temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, He moved upon Cyrus
as His agent to discern the prophecies concerning himself,
with which Daniel was so familiar, and to grant the Jewish
people their liberty.
As the king saw the words foretelling, more than a
hundred years before his birth, the manner in which Babylon
should be taken; as he read the message addressed to him
by the Ruler of the universe, "I girded thee, though thou
hast not known Me: that they may know from the rising
of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me;"
as he saw before his eyes the declaration of the eternal God,
"For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect, I have
even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known Me;" as he traced the inspired record,
"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," his heart was profoundly
moved, and he determined to fulfill his divinely appointed
mission. Isaiah 45:5, 6, 4, 13. He would let the Judean
captives go free; he would help them restore the temple of
Jehovah.
In a written proclamation published "throughout all his
kingdom," Cyrus made known his desire to provide for
the return of the Hebrews and for the rebuilding of their
temple. "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth," the king gratefully acknowledged
in this public proclamation; "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, . . . and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in
Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he
sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver,
and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside
the freewill offering." Ezra 1:1-4.
"Let the house be builded," he further directed regarding
the temple structure, "the place where they offered
sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the
height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof
threescore cubits; with three rows of great stones, and a
row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of
the king's house: and also let the golden and silver vessels
of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth
out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto
Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple
which is at Jerusalem." Ezra 6:3-5.
Tidings of this decree reached the farthermost provinces
of the king's realm, and everywhere among the children of
the dispersion there was great rejoicing. Many, like Daniel,
had been studying the prophecies, and had been seeking
God for His promised intervention in behalf of Zion. And
now their prayers were being answered; and with heartfelt
joy they could unite in singing: