Cyrus couldn’t complete his declaration. How will Trump fare?
By BENJAMIN GLATTUpdated: DECEMBER 14, 2017 10:15US President Donald Trump places a note in the stones of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City May 22, 2017.(photo credit: REUTERS / JONATHAN ERNST)
US President Donald Trump has done it. He’s become the next Cyrus. Recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel clearly puts the president in that prestigious category.Seventy years ago, the first non-biblical Cyrus appeared. President Harry Truman, against the advice of his own State Department and many of his advisers, recognized the nascent state of Israel. Eddie Jacobson, a long-time friend of his and the one who advised him to recognize Israel in 1948, boastingly introduced the Missourian Baptist at an event as “the man who helped create the State of Israel.” Truman answered back to his former business partner: “What do you mean, ‘helped to create’? I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus.”By recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordering to begin the process of moving the embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, Trump took a page out of Truman’s book. While the president himself has yet to use the term “Cyrus,” Christian Zionist personality and founder of Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Heritage Center Mike Evans was quick to go on the record at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference last week saying that Trump needs to know that he is the modern-day biblical King Cyrus, who helped Israel in ancient times. Evans also says we’re in the middle of prophecy.“I will see President Trump Monday. I will be in the White House on Monday and the first word I’m going to send to him, ‘Cyrus, you’re Cyrus. Because you’ve done something historic and prophetic,’ and he promised us he would do it,” Evans said.Indeed, it was seven months ago when this reporter stated that the decision had already been made and it would be applied in the near future. “But after the issue has been largely ignored for so many years, all signs point to the decision coming to its fruition from above,” the May 20 comment read.But for all the praise that Trump deserves for making such a bold decision, a more in-depth look into the complete character of Cyrus must be made in order for the leader of the free world to fulfill his role, what his biblical counterpart could only partially complete.Cyrus was praised for his initial announcement regarding the temple and the return of the Jews to their homeland, but he proved to be a weak leader when it came to implementing the decrees he had made.In Ezra 4:4-5, the scribe describes how the plans Cyrus had made for the Jewish remnant couldn’t be carried out: “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.”And in the final verse, Ezra describes the overall disappointment he and the rest of the nation had in what seemed to be an indefinite postponement of the building of the Temple: “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”Never has there been a leader since the times of Cyrus that has declared so emphatically his desire to help Israel. As if he was being directly spoken to through God, already on the campaign trail Trump said he would recognize Jerusalem as the “eternal capital of the Jewish people,” and on one occasion he declared himself to be “totally pro-Israel.”His recognition of Jerusalem as the capital was the final step in proving his allegiance to fulfilling God’s plan to return to Zion. Now is the time for Trump to ensure that his words become actions, and even if he is unsuccessful in receiving anther four years to complete his presidential tenure, he must make certain that the US Embassy will be moved to Jerusalem – the city that is God’s embassy in this world. If he succeeds in this, he will have proven to have bettered the original Cyrus.