“The Lord, the Lord God of heaven has given me all he kingdoms of the earth . . .. The Lord, the God

Like their modern counterparts, kings of old liked to boast. Cyrus, the Persian monarch, has self-congratulatory feelings since he is God’s agent to facilitate the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. Though he has some notion of the importance of his role, his comprehension of God is juvenile at best. He thinks the Lord is local, and tribal like all the other gods. Despite his dim perceptions, however, there issues from him language describing the Lord as God of heaven—in charge of all the kingdoms of the earth. Using words and apprehensions of mankind, the Bible bears witness to human ignorance—and the greatness of God!