When a Captive Church is set free, what can it do? Better yet, what will it do?

My previous post was focused on Cyrus' mandate to judge ancient Babylon and the parallel with Trump's role in doing the same thing to our modern-day Babylonian system.

Cyrus had another role to play which was to set God's people free from the captivity they were in. That is what this post is about. What does it mean that the Church is being set free? What should we be doing if in fact a modern-day Cyrus is being used by God to free us from things that have been holding us captive? That have been holding us back?

So, let us get back to our Biblical character of Cyrus. Imagine we are in the 6th century BC and God's people have been under judgment for 70 years in Babylon. For all those decades, faithful Jews within their Babylonian captivity were crying out to Yahweh for deliverance AND for God to judge the ones who God was using to judge them.

And then the deliverer came. Cyrus the PAGAN Persian emperor basically took over the entire Middle East and beyond. The year when the Babylon fell to Cyrus was 539 BC. The gate would be opened for God's people to leave the "cage" of their captivity with the mandate to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. They could stay in Babylon or they could return to their homeland. 

We must forget that that Judaism requires a functioning temple and priesthood for Jews to be obedient to God. Leaving captivity and getting a the Jewish temple rebuilt had to be their #1 priority. Without a temple, there is no way for Jews to obey nearly 50% of their revealed law. The year the rebuilt Jewish temple was dedicated was 516 BC which is the year that the Jews consider the 'official end' of the 70-year Babylonian captivity. Interesting, that it really ended in 538 BC technically, but it wasn't until their temple was up and functioning again that they mark its official end - I guess we can say that marked the end of their "spiritual captivity" as they could now fully obey God once again.

History is a bit complicated here but what happened was essentially there were 4 different waves of Jewish migration out of Babylon beginning in 538 BC when the first wave made their way to Jerusalem. One was led by Ezra and the final one in 445 BC with Nehemiah. 

I am wondering WHY the delays? Why did so many drag their feet and it take so long? 538 BC was when the cage door was open and some didn't leave Babylon until 445 BC with Nehemiah - nearly 100 years later!!

I do not know this for sure, but I am imagining that there were a variety of reasons for the delayed responses with certain Jews living in Babylon. 

Let's face it, we all know the types who jumped into the first wave - adventurous types, the bold, the ones who think "the grass is always greener somewhere else". I also want to believe that there were even purer motives in that initial wave. Those who like the "sons of Issachar" (1 Chon. 12:32) discerned the times and knew what God wanted obedient sons and daughters to do. A faithful remnant was ready to go. And when the cage door was finally opened, they flew out immediately.

What about those who weren't so quick to respond? 

Maybe they figured, "we will let that first wave go and check things out a bit and then we'll decide when (or even if) we will go". 

I can think of another group however. A religious group actually. These would be the 6th Century BC "virtue signalers" to use a modern day concept. These were the ones who didn't like WHO GOD CHOSE TO USE TO OPEN THE DOOR OF THE CAGE. "How dare the God of Heaven use a pagan, godless man to accomplish His purposes"!! They didn't like the vessel. They refused the package that the God-sent deliverer came in. So instead of walking out of the cage door, they remained in Babylon offended. They probably spent a lot of time complaining about Cyrus' character.

Part of my motivation in this post is to address the mentality of the same group today. First of all, they don't believe Donald Trump is a type of God's Cyrus today. That for them is nonsense. They are sure God didn't choose him at all. They believe God chose a godless pagan in the 6th century BC to accomplish His purposes. They refuse to believe he chose a godless man in 2016 for a similar purpose.

I think these NeverTrumper Christians are exactly like the religious group of Jews I  imagined of old. The cage was opened to some extent back in 2016 with his first election but they opposed him every step of the way. They refused to vote for him. They virtue-signalled endlessly to shame those of us who did. They quickly believed every lie the media made up about him - i.e. Russian collusion, the Ukraine stuff, and every other piece of mud that was slung at the man. Even in this election, I heard the loud virtue signaling that "I could never vote for a convicted felon"! (even though ALL the charges were bogus and just the latest lawfare being waged against him). Tragically, Christians believing the lies of Babylon only proves their ongoing captivity to the system.

So, instead of getting busy with the opportunities that God opened for us in 2016, they ended up on the wrong side of God's purposes, and actually assisted the enemy by working with them to hinder everything Donald Trump was attempting to do. They didn't want him to succeed. Because of course, that would reveal how wrong they had been in their assessment.

These same NeverTrumpers also believe that January 6th was some horrific attempt at a violent insurrection. What they fail to recognize is that they never came out of the Babylonian system at all proven by the fact they believed ALL OF THE LIES that the fake news media perpetuated. God's people minimally need to be people of truth. And to this day, the lies that NeverTrumpers believe about Donald Trump and his movement is astonishing - calling him "Hitler", "racist", "misogynist", etc.

But what if the Body of Christ in 2024 (and going forward) can realize a new opportunity is being given to us, that the proverbial cage door is about to be reopened?

I am following these developments carefully. The NeverTrumper Christian crowd has been eerily silent. Yes, there have been some of the most vocal of them who felt obligated to virtue signal in the wake of his landslide re-election (I think of David French, Phil Vischer, Russell Moore and even John Piper). But their tone is different. Maybe it was the realization that remaining in Babylon wasn't going to work out very well for anybody. The past four years woke up millions to the fact that things were far better when "Hitler" was around!

I want to propose an even more positive idea - I think that NeverTrumper Christians are actually discerning that the cage door is now really open. And rather than waste all of their considerable energy in protest and what amounted to disdain and/or even hatred of Trump and his movement (all done of course in "the Name of Jesus" mind you), I believe that something of a fresh new vision is actually arising within some of them.

My prayer for them is that they would actually join the 2nd immigration wave if that is where we are at and get about the Father's business. To extend the Kingdom. To take full advantage of the freedom that God has given us through His use of Donald Trump.

Maybe this time, rather than remain in their offense of the tool God is using, they will say "Thank You" (at least to God :) ) and get busy.

What CAN WE DO in the days head? What WILL WE DO?

God's people eventually took full advantage of Cyrus' liberation. It took them nearly 100 years but eventually the people of God left their cage and returned to where they could fully live out their faith in obedience to God. 

I for one intend to do exactly the same thing. I didn't like our Cyrus in the beginning. I didn't like the way he treated the other Republicans in the 2015-2016 primaries. But slowly I began to see that God had another purpose with this man. Fast forward 8 years since he first came onto the scene politically, and I can see clearly why God chose him and him in particular. No one and I mean no one could have survived what has been thrown at this man since 2016. 

If he truly is a type of Cyrus, then let us as Christians believe we can actually do more with far greater impact as we get free from the limitations and negative influence that Babylon has had on the Church. 

A Church that will arise in this hour believing that we will start to shape culture instead of the culture shaping us. That instead of losing our children to Babylon, we will see Babylon's children coming to the light of Christ. That we will begin to change laws that no one thought possible. That we will see the influence of Babylon decrease in our public schools. That the Church will no longer be seen as irrelevant and "non-essential" as it was deemed during COVID. 

I could be wrong but what if I am right? What if it is truly a new day for the Church both in America and across the earth? What if God chose a sinful vessel, Donald Trump, to open the door for the Church to be all that God intends it to be?

May this be our finest hour!