Metaphysical meaning of Cyrus (mbd)
Cyrus, çy'-rus (Gk. from Pers.)--the sun; rays of the sun; perhaps shepherd.
King of Persia (II Chron. 36:22). Cyrus founded the Persian Empire, united Media to Persia, conquered Babylon, and liberated the Jews (Ezra 1; 5:1317; Isa 44:28).
Meta. In Daniel, Cyrus' capture of the kingdom of Babylonia represents the return of man to a state of barbarism, since, compared with the Babylonians, Cyrus was a barbarian.
King Cyrus, who represents the will as ruling in sense consciousness, or the ruling idea in consciousness, was "stirred up" by the Lord, and he made a proclamation to the effect that he had been divinely appointed to build a house for the Lord at Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1, 2). Cyrus was a heathen king, yet the Lord "stirred up" his spirit, or inspired him (rays of the sun), to act in a way quite contrary to his usual custom. By this we discern that the Lord inspires men who are open to Truth, wherever they may be found. It may be that you are in the most material of occupations and your thoughts are utterly worldly; YetDABBESHETH 162if you have been "stirred up" by the Lord you can commence immediately the movement toward Jerusalem (the spiritual center of consciousness).
There are periods when the thoughts turn to religious subjects as easily as sparks fly upward. The man immured in sense suddenly begins to study matters pertaining to the soul; he joins a church, or investigates Christian metaphysics. This is symbolized by the return of the Children of Israel to Jerusalem.
You sometime "came forth from that city," as stated by Paul in Hebrews, and now you are to return and take all the "vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things" (Ezra 1:6), which represent the fruit of your experience in the sense consciousness. So we learn that no effort is wholly lost, though it be put forth in a field apparently barren. The vessels that were taken from the Temple at Jerusalem at the time of the Captivity were used in the worship of false gods in Babylon; but now they are returned to be used again in the worship of the true God. These vessels represent our capacity of appreciation--the ability to comprehend or measure life. The man who is getting pleasure out of the lusts of the flesh is measuring up life--the one life--before false gods, and is using his God-given capacity (vessels) in doing it. He is getting experience, generating forces that eventually he will have to master and return to the Temple at Jerusalem. Nothing is lost in the divine economy, and in due season man will refine his every thought and act and extract the gold from it--though he may find that getting rid of the dross is hot work.
The significance of King Cyrus's making a proclamation throughout all his kingdom telling that he was to build for the Lord a house in Jerusalem is that the will, ruling in sense, discerns Truth and desires to abide in the consciousness of Truth; therefore it seeks to establish a place where its true thoughts (Israelites) may worship and commune with the Christ mind (Jehovah).________________________
Preceding Entry: Cyrenians
