#280: GOD ACHIEVES HIS WILL THROUGH HIS CHOSEN ONES BEYOND THEIR AWARENESS

GOD ACHIEVES HIS WILL THROUGH HIS CHOSEN ONES BEYOND THEIR AWARENESS

The ancient Persian King Cyrus, to whom President Donald Trump is often likened, is being mentioned in connection with God’s righteousness. This seems to me that God had chosen Cyrus because of his right ‘conscince’ …

This is what the LORD says –your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfils the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,” of the towns of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,” and of their ruins, “I will restore them,” who says to the watery deep, “Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,” who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid.”              ISAIAH 44:24-28.

This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. ‘You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness  flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.            ISAIAH 45:1-8.

The role of President Donald Trump is often being likened to the ancient Persian King Cyrus, and even coins bearing the images of Trump and Cyrus are laid out at a private minting facility in Tel Aviv. As quoted at the beginning from Isaiah 44 and 45, God used the pagan king for the good of the Israelites, that is, to deliver them from captivity in Babylon back to their homeland and helped them to rebuild their Jerusalem temple, which consequently led to a restored Jerusalem. It is fascinating to take note of the fact that God could anoint even a pagan worshipper as His vessel and use him for a divine commission in his role as king when he himself was not aware of God’s purpose or even of God Himself.

In the context above and also in the following verses, Cyrus is mentioned in connection with God’s righteousness, in that God has chosen him to make things right under His sovereignty. In other words, this seems to me that God had chosen Cyrus because of his right “conscience”, with which he could distinguish between good and bad, which God has given each individual after the Fall of Man. Regardless of whether one is a believer in Christ or not, it might be very important for man to maintain this God-given conscience to the end, even if the world may worsen and turn to adverse circumstances.

Recently, there has been a rise of unique leaders like Trump globally. Leaders of Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brazil and the governor of Rio De Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, whose victory in Oct.’18 was nearly miraculous have all something in common with Trump. All of them value faith and seem to believe in a supreme being although they do not all necessarily conform to conventional religious views.

The fact that such leaders are being globally raised at this particular time in history would be evidence that God Himself is working out His purposes on earth. Brazil’s newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro is known as the ‘Trump of Brazil’, who ran under the campaign slogan: ‘Brazil above everything and God above everyone’ and he too is a strong supporter of Israel and the Jews. His amazing story of survival from attempted assassination and his startling connection to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worth mentioning.

Making a very complicated story short, the story tells of a special dollar bill blessed by the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (known as ‘the Rebbe’), the leader of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement of Judaism which made its way to Bolsonaro while he was making a miraculous recovery from the assassination attack in hospital. The Rebbe’s blessing on the dollar bill (in Brooklyn, New York) was specifically for Brazil and the time between the blessing to reaching Bolsonaro was 36 years. I encourage you to read the full linked article.

 ‘Approximately 36 years ago, a young man who was a member of the Chabad sect went to visit the Rebbe at his headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. One of the Rebbe’s methods for connecting with people was to give them a dollar accompanied by a blessing. The intention was that the person would give charity and retain the actual dollar bill as a keepsake from the Rebbe. This particular young man waited on line and when it was his turn the Rebbe asked a few questions about him. The young man mentioned that he was on his way back home to Brazil. 

The Rebbe gave him a dollar along with a blessing and then asked him to wait for a moment. The Rebbe got a second dollar bill from his secretary and handed it to the young man. “This is for Brazil,” said the Rebbe. The young man took the dollar and clipped a note to the bill with the message, “The Rebbe said this is for Brazil.” …
Years passed and the young man was ordained as a rabbi and…became a Chabad emissary in Sao Paulo. …he made regular visits to the patients at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo.

In the year 2018, Brazil was in the midst of a hotly-contested presidential election. Among the candidates was conservative Jair Bolsonaro. …

In September, a member of the left-wing disguised himself as a supporter and attended a rally in Sao Paulo for Bolsonaro. He succeeded in getting close to the candidate and stabbed him in the stomach. Bolsonaro was bleeding profusely and the wound, inflicted by a 5-inch knife, was life-threatening. When Bolsonaro boarded the ambulance, he was barely conscious but he demanded to be transported to Albert Einstein Hospital. The paramedics preferred to take him to a hospital that was closer, the Hospital Sírio Libanês (Syria-Lebanese hospital), a privately owned Arab hospital commonly chosen by the country’s most senior politicians. 

But the wounded Bolsonaro insisted the ambulance take him to Albert Einstein Hospital, believing that a Jewish hospital was the only place he would be safe. He did not want to risk another attack. …Bolsonaro lost a lot of blood and the wound was very deep. Initially, the doctors told the Bolsonaro children that their father was not likely to recover and for several days, his life hung in the balance.

A few days after Bolsonaro was admitted to the hospital, the Chabad emissary was preparing for his regular visit to the hospital. By chance, he came across the dollar bill with the note attached. …

As one of the rabbis affiliated with the hospital, he was able to get security clearance and visit the presidential candidate. For the first time since the attack, Bolsonaro was alert and sitting up. He was weak but insisted on making a video thanking the doctors and hospital personnel for helping him through this. He received the visiting rabbi and accepted the dollar from the Rebbe. 

Shortly thereafter the patient took a definite turn for the better…. While recuperating at home Bolsonaro won the first round of elections. In the second round, he won a landslide victory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended Bolsonaro’s inauguration.’ (Article on 7Jan.’19)