Category Archives: General

General

The Cyrus prophecy

King Cyrus is one of the most important figures in Bible history, and yet he was a Gentile.

We know from Jeremiah that the Medo-Persians with their allies were to take Babylon, of which we see practically in the Book of Daniel. However, one of the most startling prophecies is in Isaiah, where it mentions Cyrus by name long before he was ever born.

“THUS saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; … 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.” (Isaiah 45:1, 4).

So we find that God called Cyrus, and we find in 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.”

The story is well known, the Jews returned from exile, and enjoyed what has been called their palingenesis.

Bible prophecy, as is shown even by this ministry (see bibleprotector.com/prophecy) can have more than one meaning. The prophecy about Cyrus is said by some people to have a meaning applicable to these days, and some even point to presidents of the USA as being modern or prophetic Cyruses. (See, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTFjUY8KC20).

Now the Cyrus prophecy is in Isaiah 44:28, where it states, “That saith of 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.”

While that occurred literally, the spiritual meaning is as follows: there is a spiritual and a natural Israel, and the spiritual Jerusalem means the Church and the spiritual foundation of the temple means the foundation to Christianity. Of course, this prophecy means that the Church is to be built, meaning, proper Church unity, and that Christianity is to have a proper doctrinal basis.

UNITY. Christ said He will build the Church and we know that it must come to the unity of the faith according to Ephesians 4. This means that Christians should come into the gifts and operate in love, and so come into a full unity of the brethren. This means that in the latter days, there must be a true Church in unity.

DOCTRINE. Having sound doctrine is important, and is actually attainable. This means that not only can people know the truth (as Jesus promised that we shall know the truth) but that we should be able to have full right doctrine held by multitudes of people.

This is the Cyrus prophecy, which is daring in its scope, and yet powerful in its promise.

Editorial, General

The turtle and the turtledove

Every word of God is pure (see Proverbs 30:5) which means that every word is important. Every distinct word is important. Seeing that our King James Bible is aligned directly with this Scriptural principle, we find that we can rely upon every word, even to the jot and tittle (see Matthew 5:18).

In Song of Solomon 2:12, we read about the turtle, “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land”.

Some mockers have said that turtles, the reptiles, do not make sound. However, the reference is clearly to birds. This is clear from the reference given above, and also that the turtle is in the list of birds at Jeremiah 8:7 and more importantly in comparing Leviticus 12:6 with verse 8 of the same chapter:

6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
7 Who shall offer it before the Lord, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.
8 And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

From this, it could be concluded that the turtle and the turtledove are synonymous. But this is not the end of the matter, for we now come to the deep question, Why is it “turtle” in one place, and “turtledove” in another? What is the reason for the distinction?

This is where we can truly appreciate the accuracy of the King James Bible.

We know from science that there are different species of turtledoves. We know that in the land of Israel today that the Streptopelia turtur is present, the European common turtledove, and Streptopelia decaocto, the Eurasian collared dove. The common turtledove is migratory, thus being the “turtle” of the Bible, whereas the closely related species, also in the turtledove genus, the collared dove, is present in large numbers in Israel and is a resident species. Both DNA and the scientific classification place these species in the turtledove category, regardless of their current common names. These can be interbred and produce hybrids.

From this, we can conclude from Scripture that either the turtle (the common turtledove) or the turtledove (the collared dove) were used for offerings at the temple.

It is important to note that the “turtle”, when called by its Latin name is “Streptopelia turtur”, which translates to “turtledove turtle”, for its call, “tur-tle”. Following is a photo of the turtle:

turtle

Following is a photo of a turtledove:

turtledove