By Tracy Coston
In Isaiah 45, God speaks to Cyrus, a pagan king of Persia, and calls him His “anointed.” Cyrus did not know the Lord. He wasn’t part of Israel. He wasn’t a prophet or priest. Yet God says of him, “I will go before you and level the exalted places… I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron” (Isaiah 45:2). God raised him up to subdue nations and to issue the decree that allowed Jerusalem to be rebuilt (Ezra 1:1–4). In Isaiah 45:4–5 the Lord makes it unmistakable: “Though you do not know Me… I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Cyrus was an instrument in God’s hand to shift history for the sake of His covenant purposes.
That pattern is what many are missing today. God has a history of using unlikely rulers—not because they are flawless, but because He is sovereign. As the 45th president, Donald Trump took actions that directly affected Israel and the global order surrounding it: recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. Embassy there, brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations, confronting the Iranian regime, and appointing judges that reshaped the federal courts. Those were not small, symbolic gestures. They were structural shifts on the world stage.
Cyrus was not the Messiah. He was a tool. A political leader God used to open gates and alter the course of nations. Scripture shows us that God works through types and shadows long before ultimate fulfillment comes. Adam is called “a type of the one to come” (Romans 5:14). The Passover lamb pointed forward to Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7). Hebrews 10:1 says the law was a shadow of good things to come. God repeats patterns in history.
Daniel 2:21 reminds us, “He removes kings and raises up kings.” That wasn’t just true in Babylon. It’s true now. Sometimes God uses shepherds. Sometimes He uses prophets. And sometimes He uses strong, unconventional rulers to break open doors and realign nations.
History has seen this before.
The question is whether we recognize it when it happens again.