Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. – Isaiah 41:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 4, 2023): Isaiah 41

I met with a prophet the other day who told me that God has spoken, and the next President of the United States will be Donald Trump. And I must be honest; he was not the first prophet who has given me that information. So all the MAGA fans can take a breath because, apparently, this is already a forgone conclusion; the matter has been closed. According to my most recent prophet, President Trump will visit the fury of God on the legal system and restore conservative values to the prominent place where they were designed to be in North American society. A friend recently told me that while Trump might be flawed, I guess that is what you call someone facing four indictments; he is the only Defender of Conservatism available to Christians living in the United States. I think that is a bit pessimistic. My hope was for Chris Christie at the top of the Republican Ticket, but I have to admit that I, along with, it seems, many others, was impressed by Nikki Haley in the most recent Republican debate. But according to my prophet, I am wrong. Donald Trump is the man from the east who will make everything right in our world. I think there is little doubt that Trump will lead the Republican Ticket. And I know that no one is asking me, but I think the Democrats are bending over backward to make sure that Trump wins the 2024 election because I think President Biden might be the only Democrat that Donald Trump could beat, just as I believe that Donald Trump is likely to be the only Republican that Joe Biden can beat. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of politics.

The answer to the question asked in this verse is God. He is the one who stirred up the one from the East. But the bigger question is, who is this one from the east? And the top two guesses are very different from each other. Some believe this man of righteousness who rises in the East is Abraham. Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees, a place in modern-day Iraq, East of Israel, and then Abe moved West. He is the Father of Israel and the Arab nations. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul comments that "Abraham 'believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:6-7). Obviously, then, Abraham must be this "one from the east."

But others say not so fast. Their choice for the "one from the east" is Cyrus, the leader of the Persian Empire. Cyrus was born in present-day Iran, east of Babylon (Iraq). And he defeated the Babylonians and returned the people of Israel home to Judah. His righteousness lay in his doing what God wanted him to do. The nations were handed over to him, not just Babylon. He united the Medes and the Persians and defeated nations from Asia to Northern Africa. Theologian Harry Bultema adds, "Both secular and sacred documents present him as righteous and good, and he can be called righteous or, as the text actually has it, justice, especially since he carried out the righteous acts of vengeance on Babylon and that of the deliverance of Israel" (Harry Bultema, Commentary on Isaiah).

I lean toward Cyrus because the time period of this prophecy is closer to the era of Cyrus, and it is a return to Israel by the Jewish people that would have been on the mind of both the prophet and the people. But whoever it was, God called this one from the east to go west.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42