RECEIVING THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF DARKNESS
It is clear from Scripture that King Cyrus had to do three key things in order to receive the hidden treasures of darkness, etc., which God promised him through Isaiah’s prophecy: 1. Believe the Word of God 2. Set Israel free 3. Restore Israel’s lost glory It was surely shocking to Israel to hear Isaiah prophesy God’s blessings for an unknown gentile king, Cyrus, calling him God’s anointed (45:1) and one to whom God will give the hidden treasures of darkness and the riches from secret places (45:3). When the prophecy was fulfilled about a century and half later, when Cyrus became king, the chroniclers preferred to refer rather to Jeremiah’s prophecy of the same event, apparently because that left out the prosperity of Cyrus (see 2Chron. 36:20-23) What prompted Cyrus to set Israel free and pay for the rebuilding of the temple is apparently his encounter with Isaiah’s prophecy either through reading about the history and prophecies of the people of Israel or a through a