Resources to aid your Understanding
THE TREASURES OF DARKNESS
The Persian king who conquered ancient
“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; 2 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: 3 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. 4 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 (KJV, emphasis mine).
Bishop Ussher’s date for this particular passage in the Book
of Isaiah is 712 B.C. and Cyrus did not begin his reign until 550 B.C. So God
told His people the name (or title) of the man who would release them well over
a hundred years prior to their being
taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of
It is most interesting that the king’s name/title in the
Persian language was khorschid,
meaning “the sun.” It is rendered “Cyrus” in our Bibles because the Latin Vulgate transliterated it as such
from the Greek word kuros in the
Septuagint. And as a metaphor
for “enlightenment” the sun was worshipped as a god in ancient
After the civil war that divided their nation, God judged
His people harshly and because of their lapse into idolatry, the ten northern
tribes who retained the name
Note that in the passage from Isaiah 45 God says Cyrus was His “anointed” and in an earlier passage from Chapter 44 he was said to be God’s “shepherd”:
“Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 28 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” Isaiah 44:24-28 (KJV, emphasis mine).
The Hebrew word translated “anointed” in 45:1 is māshîaḥ
and is the sole instance in the Bible of the term being applied to a Gentile.
All others refer to
What is almost universally overlooked by Bible commentators is that Cyrus did not limit his beneficence to just those Jews. Had that been the case, questioning his motives would be much more difficult. But history paints us a picture of a political genius who recognized the worth of trying to pacify conquered peoples rather than enslaving them—a practice that Alexander the Great continued after him. And that principle was the reason behind Cyrus sending contingents from all “religious” elements within his empire back to their original homelands. Idols taken as the spoils of war were restored to the various pagan priests so they could go home and resume business as usual and where the Jews were concerned, the gold and silver vessels taken from the Temple (Daniel 5:2) were returned to them. So the “shepherd and messiah” aspects of Cyrus toward the Jews must be viewed in that context. There was a pronounced ecumenical flavor to the whole affair in that the king viewed all religions as being equal.
The Babylonian Empire had become a melting pot for every false religious belief known to man and it appears the Jewish mystical practice known as Kabbalah had its origin there, even though the widespread practice of it did not occur until years later. Also it has been claimed by some writers that Persian Zoroastrianism was corrupted by the Chaldean Magi after Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and through that apostasy the tenets of occult Gnosticism spread to all those religions. And when all of them were allowed to return to their homelands, the seeds of Gnosticism were spread throughout the world. Then after the Grecian Empire came into power by virtue of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the philosopher Plato formulated the Hermetic/Gnostic principles that are still being taught today by “illuminated” Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.
So what were the “treasures of darkness and hidden riches of
secret places” that God gave Cyrus? While the consensus among Bible teachers is
that this passage refers to the vast wealth of
However, if the man Daniel whom Nebuchadnezzar had placed
over all the “wise men” of
“Then King Darius wrote to all peoples, nations, and languages [in his realm] that dwelt in all the earth: May peace be multiplied to you! 26 I make a decree that in all my royal dominion men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, enduring and steadfast forever, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed and His dominion shall be even to the end [of the world]. 27 He is a Savior and Deliverer, and He works signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth—He Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 28 So this [man] Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” Daniel 6:25-28 (Amplified Bible, emphasis mine).
So Cyrus was definitely a type of christ, but not the Christ of God! His actions regarding the pagan religions are in essence a mirror image of what the Gnostic christ—the antichrist of the Bible—will do when he comes to power. The elements of Gnosticism dispersed throughout the world by Cyrus will be drawn together into a state religion by the man of sin. And in the following passages we see his role of “false shepherd”:
“For behold, I will raise up a false shepherd in the land; the lost and perishing he will not miss or visit, the young and scattered he will not go to seek, the wounded and broken he will not heal, nor will he feed those that are sound and strong; but he will eat the flesh of the fat ones and break off their hoofs [to consume all the flesh]. 17 Woe to the worthless and foolish shepherd who deserts the flock! The sword shall smite his arm and his right eye; his arm shall be utterly withered and his right eye utterly blinded” Zechariah 11:16-17 (Amplified Bible).
“And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors [the apostate Jews] have reached the fullness [of their wickedness, taxing the limits of God’s mercy], a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark trickery and craftiness shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall corrupt and destroy astonishingly and shall prosper and do his own pleasure, and he shall corrupt and destroy the mighty men and the holy people (the people of the saints). 25 And through his policy he shall cause trickery to prosper in his hand; he shall magnify himself in his heart and mind, and in their security he will corrupt and destroy many. He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be broken and that by no [human] hand” Daniel 8:23-25 (Amplified Bible, emphasis mine).
As part of God’s judgment the antichrist will experience some sort of attack on his person—perhaps an assassination attempt—and will lose the use of one arm and his right eye, thereby rendering him a person of “fierce countenance.” And I am convinced his name or title will also have an association with the sun just like Cyrus, because as Satan incarnate he will be the ultimate illuminated man!
But God has long since warned those who seek such illumination because that quest for the “treasures of darkness” involves a reversal of truth:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20 (Amplified Bible).
If you have been born again and received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but have been very lukewarm in your spiritual walk with Him, you need to immediately ask Him for forgiveness and for renewal. He will instantly forgive you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Then, you need to begin a daily walk of prayer and personal Bible Study.
If you have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, but have come to sense His reality and the approaching End of the Age, and want to receive His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you truly believe in Him as Lord and Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that the Kingdom of Antichrist will not touch you spiritually. If you would like to become Born Again, turn to our Salvation Page now.
We hope you have been blessed by this ministry, which seeks to educate and warn people, so that they can see the coming New World Order Kingdom of Antichrist in their daily news.
Finally, we would love to hear from you. You can write us at:
Cutting Edge Ministries, C/O Pastor Ron Riffe
P.O. Box 26
Gordo, AL 35466
You can also E-Mail Pastor Ronald Riffe regarding questions or comments about this article.
God bless you