Sunday, 10/22/17
There is an Irish political
party called the Sinn Fein which in English would be "Ourselves
Alone." I bring that up because that would be an apt name for the Jewish
Old Testament.
With those Jews having
thought of themselves alone, their praise for king Cyrus !! comes as a
surprise. They call him their champion, and in today's reading they describe God
as holding the right hand of Cyrus.
"Thus says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp. .
. I have given you a title though you knew me not."
In 530 B.C., after the Jews
had undergone seventy years of exile in Babylon, the Persians conquered Babylon,
and Cyrus not only set them free, he provided them with materials for rebuilding
their temple.
This high regard the Jews
showed for Cyrus should alert us to the need to give full appreciation to
people of other nations and of other religions when they do fine things.
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