In Isaiah 44 and 45, Cyrus, the king of the Persians, is called the anointed (christ) shepherd king. He is a new David, who prepares everything for the rebuilding of the temple. But as king of the Gentiles and the Jews, he is a type of the greater David. All that God says he will have Cyrus do – building the city and the temple, conquering the kings of the earth, subduing nations, setting the exiles free – points ahead to Christ, the builder of the new Jerusalem, the king of all the earth, the liberator of men.
