WhatFinger

Could Trump Be Another Cyrus the Great?

Don’t Let Overthrow of Venezuela Obscure the Bigger Questions


Ready to be shocked?

How can we categorize Trump's leadership style, maneuvers & motivations?

Who could Donald be compared to? (Now, if infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome, this is your chance to bail!)

Don’t fall over, but how about Cyrus the Great, leader from Persia, feted by Father God Yahweh in the Old Testament?

He is referred to as a messiah, even though he was a pagan King. Surprisingly, there is actually much the two men have in common.


The similarities between these two, Trump & Cyrus, summed up.

  1. Both men are/were outsized in their talents and ambitions
  2. Both men lived at extremely opportune times when leadership was much needed
  3. Both men were/are excellent strategic & military leaders, with Cyrus shattering Babylon.
  4. Both showed compassion for the Common Man, like Trump concerned for Iranian protestors, etc.
  5. God used both men to achieve His express will, such as return of the Babylonian exiles
  6. Each is claimed not traditionally biblical, yet there are 30 mentions of Cyrus in the Old Testament.
  7. Both assembled the greatest Empire or most powerful country in the history of their times
  8. Both men expressly extolled the God of the Bible, while Cyrus was a pagan and Donald Trump is described by many as a godless man, despite his worshipping God openly after being shot in the ear, yet surviving, before his election.
  9. Both men were extremely powerful, yet nonetheless--very sensitive. Consider how Trump wants to help threatened Christians in Nigeria, while Cyrus allowed his conquered to follow their own religions.
  10. None can say whether either will be in heaven, and yet both must assume they were/are headed there
  11. Both men survived by miracles, like Trump being shot in the ear with a high-powered rifle and Cyrus miraculously beating Babylon in war
  12. Neither leader celebrated the death of his opponents, and Trump is well-noted for being opposed to war, and overkill in general
  13. Both men were/are a study of cockiness and humility. Cyrus was ostensibly humble with others, but did not argue when revealed his place in Yahweh’s book.

Who was Cyrus the Great?

Cyrus the Great (559–530 B.C.E.), whom Isaiah 45 calls Yahweh’s anointed, was Persian king of Fars, in present-day south Iran. His father, Cambyses I (600-559 b.c.), was king of Anshan. By 546, Cyrus defeated king Croesus of Lydia. Cyrus then overwhelmed the most powerful kingdom in Central Asia: Babylon, and won a outmanned, miraculous victory. Ultimately, Cyrus’ Persian Empire extended from the Aegean to Central Asia, largest empire to that point. .

Consider Cyrus’ Character:

    Cyrus was a new kind of conqueror. Never had the world witnessed a victor who did not glory in violation. He didn't rape, pillage or destroy. Instead, he released the commoners from the tyranny of their overlords, allowed them to worship their own gods and return to their chosen way of life. Because of this unique kindness Cyrus was known as the “friendly conqueror.”
    Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II of Persia, was one of the greatest conquerors of the ancient world. He founded the first Persian Empire in 559 BC, and conquered the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire during his 30-year reign.
    The ancient Greek historian Herodotus recorded that Cyrus the Great’s conquests in Central Asia subjugated “every nation without exception” (Histories). He’s also the only non-Jewish person the Bible refers to as a “messiah.”


Now behold Cyrus was foretold freeing the Jews in the Old Testament & mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible.

    In one of the most amazing prophecies of the Bible, the Lord revealed Cyrus’s decree to free the Jews to Isaiah. And 150 years before Cyrus lived, the prophet calls him by name with details of Cyrus’ benevolence to the Jews: “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him …‘I summon you by name & bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me’” (Isaiah 45:1, 4; 41:2–25; 42:6). Evincing His sovereignty over all nations, God says of Cyrus, “He’s my shepherd & will accomplish all I please” (Isaiah 44:28).

Cyrus acting on Yahweh’s Prompting to Save Israel’s Babylonian Exiles, Including the Prophet Daniel Who No Doubt Trained Him in Theology:

    From 2 Chron. 36:22-23 (ESV): “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘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.’”

An Overview of Cyrus in Babylon, where Beltashazzar blasphemies Yahweh then used his anointed temple goblets, etc to be used by party guests.

    Cyrus is prominently mentioned in the books of Isaiah, Ezra, and 2 Chronicles. The prophet Isaiah, writing over a century before Cyrus's rise to power, remarkably names him as the deliverer of the Jewish people. Isaiah 44:28 states, "who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he will fulfill all My pleasure,’ saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’" This prophecy highlights Cyrus's role in the restoration of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple.
    In Isaiah 45:1, the Lord refers to Cyrus as His "anointed," a term usually reserved for Israelite kings, indicating that God had chosen him for a special purpose: "This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him so that the gates will not be shut."

So we see here the extraordinary history of a great king who while still a pagan had his heart turned towards God of the Bible to achieve his things. See Proverbs 21: “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” And in doing so, Cyrus is listed as one of the truly great Kings in history.



President Donald Trump’s Potential Claims as a Modern Day Cyrus

A typical gut reaction might be: Who could possibly, in their right mind--claim that Donald Trump is doing God's work? This will be the attitude of the far left in America and almost all the media. This is ironic because the mainstream media and the far left in America is generally representative of a cabal of agnostics and atheists, So, who are such progressives to interpret Biblical history or give a theological slant on any stories?!! It’s a logical given the God of the Bible does not judge people based on information gathered from the mainstream media or from radical leftist, who normally worship Karl Marx.

Now Israel itself claimed Trump is the Cyrus of his time, after he got hostages home--which infuriated American leftists. See: Israelis Comparing Trump to Cyrus the Great – Again:

    As their last living hostages returned home from Gaza after two years of war, Israelis gave visiting President Donald Trump a hero’s welcome — and threw out some lofty comparisons. “Mr. President, you stand before the people of Israel not as another American president, but as a giant of Jewish history — one for whom we must look back, two-and-a-half millennia into the mists of time, to find a parallel, in Cyrus the Great,” Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, told Trump on Monday as he welcomed the president for a victory speech to the Israeli parliament.

Also, Trump has been compared to Cyrus a few times. See: 4 times Trump has been compared to King Cyrus the Great:

    Ever since his first term in 2016, President Donald Trump has been repeatedly compared with Cyrus the Great, the sixth century BC Persian ruler who is credited with giving the Jewish people the right to return from exile in Babylon back to the land of Israel and helping them rebuild the temple after it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.
    From Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israeli Knesset, Trump has been hailed for striking a number of peace deals in the region, including the Abraham Accords and the latest deal to end the two-year-long war in Gaza, which Trump personally brokered between Israel and Hamas.

What would be the general import of claiming that Trump was doing the Lord's work in his presidency? First that he's working for free by not taking a salary and also that as a billionaire he doesn't need more money. 2nd, he's trying to make the world a better place--more free less tyrannical and trying to eject despots and psychopathic murderers from places like Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Nigeria etc etc. Also Trump's trying to avoid killing too many people by using American ingenuity and training and weaponry and Delta Force to ironically kill as few people as possible. And then letting these people decide their own freedom under some form of democratic republicanism. Now all of this ties in with Cyrus the Great and also the general tenor and teachings in the New Testament such as expressed by Christ on the Sermon on the Mount.



See, NPR: Comparing Trump to biblical kings troubles some people of faith, w/ audio.

    Lance Wallnau is a conservative evangelical Christian preacher in Dallas. He refers to Trump in sermons and at rallies as a modern version of the 6th Century BCE Persian king Cyrus.
    "Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, whom I've anointed," says Wallnau in a video posted online. "Donald Trump has an anointing upon him. The hand of God is on him. Oh, I know a bunch of people say, 'Well, how can you say that he does this and he does that?' Cyrus wasn't even a Jew. He was a Persian."
    The idea is that even if Trump does not embody Christian values such as humility, some of his actions have brought results that many evangelicals support. They often point to his U.S. Supreme Court appointments that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a prime example.

So Trump presents himself as a person who wants to return America to a former glory, has expressed in his theme Make America Great Again Further with the ambitious Trump who is excruciatingly aware of having been blocked in his first term and running out of time in a second he's swinging for the fence quite a bit now in choosing to invade Venezuela and arrest the president and his wife he's decided a reboot is necessary. And yet it's obvious that in Trump's 1 hour invasion very few people were killed and he could have really tried to destroy the infrastructure or the military bases which he ostentatiously decided not to. Very similar to the bombing to destroy the weapons capability in Iran.



Now if one buys into the Monroe Doctrine of America having the right to defend itself from the Caribbean down through South America, it's obvious the application. For, if Trump were to continue on into Colombia now or Cuba he can make the same argument for his actions. That if the countries he went into were liberated from ruinous leftism, we can demand free elections and implant Representatives Sovereign Democracy. And return to these countries some of many American expatriates back into their home countries to rebuild business economically and rebuild society in every wholesome way.

Now, whether what Trump did in Venezuela by removing Maduro like pulling a rotten tooth in one fell swoop, was illegal, unwise, or an act of mercy with economic benefit, remains to be seen. But US international diplomacy since WWII has been an underperformer. It’s long been known that socialism and Marxism are cruel, inefficient, ruinous to economies and normally bring death by murder. And everyone knows that once a socialist gets into power free elections are ended. Add on to this the moral need for America to act as an international broker for freedom and peace. This role must be embraced if the globe is ever going to spawn a world where every person has the right to longevity, education and religious freedom.

And friends--to the extent Trump is headed in that direction, then he's taken on the role of Cyrus the Great. So, God bless The Donald and be with him in this incredible policy innovation during desperate times when a gutsy, true leader with a vision and moxie so desperately needed. But who can vouchsafe Trump’s motivations, and whether they are from God? The proof is in the results, And just because DJT is sometimes a bit rough around the edges does not disprove his faith in Christ as Savior.

And, by the way--what would Jesus do as president, just sit around and snivel about the evils of Marxism--which teaches God is Dead. Or would he act to free humans and battle for biblical faith to sweep this evil globe?!!




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Kelly O'Connell——

Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.


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