The Four Decrees

The Decree of Cyrus, the original decree
(Approximately 457 BC)

Background

Approximately 150 years before Cyrus, Isaiah prophesied by the Word of the Lord, that Cyrus would say to Jerusalem "thou shalt be built" and to the temple "thy foundation shall be laid.” In the same prophecy, it also said he would conquer Babylon, as well [Isaiah 44:28 - 45:4].

When Cyrus was made aware of this prophecy of Isaiah in the first year of his reign as sole ruler, he was quite eager to perform it. The eagerness of Cyrus to perform this word, was because the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, to make such a proclamation. As Ezra records,

Ezra 1:1 Now 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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing,
1:2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
1:4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

As with the other decrees, there is no specific mention of rebuilding Jerusalem. It was understood. It would be a ridiculous thing to say, you may rebuild your temple, but leave your city in ruins. Also, what we must allow for here, is that what Ezra records is not the entirety of the decree.

When we read the record of Josephus, concerning the decree of Cyrus, the rebuilding of Jerusalem is specifically mentioned. Below is a letter, given in full, of what was issued by Cyrus to the governors on the western side of the Euphrates.

"King Cyrus To Sisinnes And Sathrabuzanes Sendeth Greeting.
"I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to return to their own country, and to rebuild their city, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem on the same place where it was before. I have also sent my treasurer Mithridates, and Zorobabel, the governor of the Jews, that they may lay the foundations of the temple, and may build it sixty cubits high, and of the same latitude, making three edifices of polished stones, and one of the wood of the country, and the same order extends to the altar whereon they offer sacrifices to God.
I require also that the expenses for these things may be given out of my revenues. Moreover, I have also sent the vessels which king Nebuchadnezzar pillaged out of the temple, and have given them to Mithridates the treasurer, and to Zorobabel the governor of the Jews, that they may have them carried to Jerusalem, and may restore them to the temple of God. Now their number is as follows: Fifty chargers of gold, and five hundred of silver; forty Thericlean cups of gold, and five hundred of silver; fifty basons of gold, and five hundred of silver; thirty vessels for pouring [the drink-offerings], and three hundred of silver; thirty vials of gold, and two thousand four hundred of silver; with a thousand other large vessels.
I permit them to have the same honor which they were used to have from their forefathers, as also for their small cattle, and for wine and oil, two hundred and five thousand and five hundred drachme; and for wheat flour, twenty thousand and five hundred artabae; and I give order that these expenses shall be given them out of the tributes due from Samaria. The priests shall also offer these sacrifices according to the laws of Moses in Jerusalem; and when they offer them, they shall pray to God for the preservation of the king and of his family, that the kingdom of Persia may continue.
But my will is, that those who disobey these injunctions, and make them void, shall be hung upon a cross, and their substance brought into the king's treasury."
[Antiquities, 11.1.3]

So for all those who have rejected the decree of Cyrus in favor of some other decree given down the road, they might want to rethink their position.

The main problem that many have with Cyrus' decree, is when the Sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years) is figured from the year this decree was given according to Ptolemy's dating (536 BC), it does not reach "unto the Messiah Prince",
(536 BC - 483 years = 53BC).

This assumption of the incorrectness of the dating of Cyrus' Decree is solely based upon the authority of Ptolemy's List of Kings. What we have here is the perceived authority of this pagan astrologer against the authority and witness of the Word of God. I can understand liberal and unregenerate men choosing Ptolemy over God. However, I cannot understand those who profess a belief in God and His Word, rejecting His Word in favor of a pagan witness. This should never be.

The witness of Scripture (Daniel 9) is that there would be 483 years between the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the appearing of the Messiah Prince. We can prove without much naysaying, that the public appearance of the Messiah Prince, Jesus of Nazareth, occurred in late AD 26. Now we simply subtract 483 years from this date, and we are brought to the year 457 BC, a difference of 80 years (approximately 80 year difference between 536 BC and 457 BC). So we would conclude that the first year of Cyrus as sole ruler, the year in which he issued his God-mandated decree, would be 457 BC.

You must choose between the chronology stated in the inspired Word of God, or accept the work of a second century Hellenistic pagan astrologer. It is just that simple. I have chosen to accept God's Word, as I hope you will.

The Bible Is Clear

As we search the Scripture for the answer of who gave this command to "restore and to build Jerusalem," it gives no other answer, but Cyrus, the King of Persia.

1. It was prophecied by Isaiah, that Cyrus would give the command to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. This prophecy was given about 150 years before Cyrus began his reign. So when this was written by Isaiah, no one knew who Cyrus was. At that time, he only existed in the mind of God.

[Isaiah 44:28 - 45:1]
44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2. Ezra opens his letter with this fact.

Ezra 1:1 Now 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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Ezra 1:2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3. Zerubbabel informs the Samaritans who offered to help them build, that it was Cyrus who gave them permission to build the temple.

Ezra 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

Ezra 4:4-5 4. Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build
5. and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Notice that the opposition to the Jews' building project began in the days of Cyrus the king of Persia. Therefore he had to be the one to give the command to build.

4. Darius, King of Persia, recieve a letter from those that opposed the building project of the Jews, asking him to check the royal archives, to see if they really had permission to build, as they said they did.

[Ezra 6:1-4] 1. Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.
2. And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record.
3. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,
4. with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.

There can be no doubt, if one accepts the witness of the Scriptures, that Cyrus was the one who gave the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

The Problem with Ptolemy

Most academics who reject Cyrus are slavishly tied to a Second Century Astronomer named Ptolemy, as their guide. There are several problems with relying on Ptolemy's list of kings. Martin Anstey says this concerning Ptolemy's effort to record the history of the line of Persian kings.

Ptolemy had no means of accurately determining the Chronology of this period, so he made the best use of the materials he had, and contrived to make a Chronology. He was a great astronomer, a great astrologer, a great geographer, and a great constructor of synthetic systems. But he did not possess sufficient data to enable him to fill the gaps, or to fix the dates of the Chronology of this period, so he had to resort to the calculation of eclipses. (Anstey, Romance of Bible Chronology, 1913, p. 18)

If one "contrives" to make up a chronology, at some point it will wind up in a ditch. He then points out that Ptolemy's Canon is,

. . . contradicted (1) by the national traditions of Persia, (2) by the national traditions of the Jews, (3) by the testimony of Josephus, and (4) by the conflicting evidence of such well-authenticated events as the Conference of Solon with Croesus, and the flight of Themistocles to the court of Artaxerxes Longimanus, which make the accepted Chronology impossible.(ibid, p. 19)

The whole chronology of the Persian period, is a time which the Persians themselves have no accurate record of. So how can one who's training is not as a historian, come to an accurate conclusion?

How long did the Persian Empire last? We may ask the Persians themselves, and if we do they will tell us that they have no records of the period, these having been all swept away by the Greek and Mohammedan Invasions. (ibid, p. 27)

If this be so, then Ptolemy could not have relied upon the writings of the Persians themselves, which would have been destroyed when they were conquered by Alexander the Great. This is why the Behistun monument is so important to understanding the period of Ezra and Nehemiah.

So the only reliable chronology we have available, is that found in Daniel. It plainly tells us that the span of time from Cyrus' decree to the manifestation of the Messiah, was 483 years. We know that late AD 26 is about the time Jesus made Himself known publically. If we count back from AD 26, 483 years, we come to 457 BC. This would be the first year of Cyrus' reign and the year of his decree for the captives to return and rebuild their city and temple.