1. Ezra 1:1 (ESV)
  2. Application

God mocks human categories

Ezra 1:1 (ESV)

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

This despised prophet [Jeremiah], this rejected and ignored prophet of God, the king of the greatest empire on earth is beginning now to move in obedience to his word. God makes a mockery of human categories, and the Lord stirs up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sends a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing (Ezra 1:2 and following).1

Terry L. Johnson