Weekly Bible Study - Isaiah 45:1, 4-6

19 October 2014

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Hebrew Scriptures it was not unusual for God to anoint a king to prepare him to bring about His divine plan. We think first of David and Solomon, of course.

But today's liturgy teaches us about another king: Cyrus the Great, Founder of the Persian Empire (modern day Iran). What is surprising is that God chooses Cyrus, a pagan king, to be God's instrument of salvation! Well we might wonder: Has God run out of other options? Are there no Israelites faithful enough to be chosen?" Isaiah shows us that, once again, God brings salvation in unexpected ways.

Historically, Cyrus established a policy of compassion toward the peoples that Babylon had brought into exile. Cyrus resettled the exiled Israelites, allowed them to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem and in this way restored their hope.

The Cyrus Cylinder, 6th c. BCE, shows Cyrus's actual edict

In the Second Book of Chronicles we also read: “The LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom and declared in a written edict: 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, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him! Let him go up.”

If God can stir up compassion in the heart of the pagan king, Cyrus, surely God can stir any one of us for a unique role in his plan of salvation. We may not know God as fully as we’d like or feel worthy of a noble calling, but God looks deeply into our hearts and sees one who can achieve great things for the sake of His kingdom. But God depends on us to respond in love, learning how God works in the world and cooperating as a partner in God’s Holy Plan.

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.