Now Is The Time

This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

Anointed: Cyrus is called “anointed” which means blessed or favored one. Jesus Himself is called the Anointed One. This term was used for kings, priests and rulers of God’s people. It ultimately speaks of those with God’s favor who are in service to Him. All Christians can be called “anointed”.

Cyrus: the king of Persia and conqueror of Babylon; first ruler of Persia to make a decree allowing the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem. Cyrus’ name literally means “passes thou the furnace.” Cyrus is called anointed, because he was living in God’s favor and was not deterred by circumstances.

What God Has Done (Time of Preparation):

*Much of what God has done for His people has either gone unnoticed by His people have allowed the enemy to steal away. Anytime God is about to do something big for His people He will start by reminding them of what He has already done.

1. Strengthened the hand of His servant

2. Subdued and weakened the enemy before His servant

3. Opened doors before His servant that man cannot shut, giving access to the fullness and riches of God’s Kingdom. The palace gates are open for the people of God!

What God is About to Do:

1. I will go before you.

n God is in the lead!

n God is the one who will walk ahead and lead His people to where He desires them to go.

n Much of the “church” has been going the wrong way for a long time and all the while assuming God is with them.

n God will be nobody’s co-pilot.

2. I will level the mountains/make the crooked places straight.

n Removal of opposition to God’s people.

n This is how God deals with those things that stand in the way of His anointed servants. He changes their very make-up. (Its not normal for a mountain to be level or something crooked to be straight).

n God will go to great lengths to move His people into the place where He desires them to be.

n God is telling Cyrus what He is going to do on his behalf in leading him to the conquering of Babylon.

3. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

n The gates of bronze are what surrounded Babylon. In the wall that surrounded Babylon there were a hundred gates, all made of solid brass, twenty-five on each side of the square.

n The bars of iron were used to keep the gates of bronze securely closed.

n Babylon is the ancient city whose root is “Babel” or “confusion”. Spiritually speaking it is the seat of evil and the place where the Anti-Christ will set up his throne.

n God is giving us a picture here of His people going in to conquer Babylon, to take back the land that the enemy has stolen.

n The people of God are trapped in the land of evil and its time for someone to release them from their captivity!

4. I will give you treasures of darkness, the riches stored in secret places.

n As the people of God step up and step out to conquer the evil in this world, the enemy is going to be forced to release the treasures of darkness.

n I see the treasures of darkness as being the souls of those who have been blinded by the enemy.

n I see the riches stored in secret places being those things that the enemy has tried to keep the people of God from seeing and knowing that they were there.

n There is much more available to the people of God than many have realized and when we finally decide to go into the enemy’s camp we are going to find that there are things God has gifted to us and for us that we have allowed ourselves to be convinced didn’t exist!

5. Constantly remind us that He is God.

n When God is in the lead and God is the one being praised and thanked, then God will be the one to continue to push back the darkness through His people.

n There is nothing that the enemy can do to stop the forward marching and forward moving of a church or body of believers who are committed to and surrendered to God and His will.