19. Cyrus and the Liberation of God's People

When Babylon fell to the Persians, it marked the end of the exile of God's people, as Cyrus the Persian announced that any who wished to return to Jerusalem were encouraged to do so. Cyrus therefore represents a great blessing for those who had been so long separated from their home, and for this he is honored with the title "messiah" by the prophet Isaiah, the only non-Jew in the Old Testament to recieved such a stamp of approval.