[Darris McNeely] Is there a solution for the conflict we continue to see in the streets of Egypt with the recent coup that has removed President Morsi? I think there is, and it's probably from a source that people are not yet able and willing to look at with all of the conflict there between secularists, liberals, and fundamentalists in Islam. It's interesting to note that perhaps the solution could come from even the same region, but from a document that is older than the current crisis.

What Egypt needs is what every successful nation in history has needed and thrived upon, and it is a Bill of Rights. One thing that seems to be lacking in their Constitution and their government and in their whole approach to the life of every Egyptian is a Bill of Rights. A Bill of Rights is something that is probably symbolized by this particular picture right here, which is the Cyrus Cylinder that comes even from the same region of the Middle East discovered in 1879 in modern day Iran.

It is a cylinder about the size of a football. And on this cuneiform tablet is what some have called the first Bill of Rights for human beings written by Cyrus the Great in the year 539 when Cyrus conquered Babylon and decreed that the Jews and other captured peoples could return to their homeland.

This particular cylinder known at the Cyrus Cylinder, currently on tour in the United States, is what is called the first Bill of Rights. And it even deals with Bible history because it was written in 539 BC at the time of the Persian takeover of the Babylonian Empire, and it guaranteed peoples' freedom of religion and certain other fundamental human rights. And when we look at what is taking place especially in Egypt right now and the conflict there that is causing  a great deal of suffering on the streets, what some are beginning to realize is a fundamental need is, again, a certain guarantee of rights regardless of one's political or religious persuasion. And that's the way to a solution in Egypt because it's been the way to a solution for any successful nation in modern history.

Ironically it's on a document that comes from the same region of the Middle East, and it also has biblical tie ins because Cyrus was a figure prophesied through the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:24-28; Isaiah 45:1-13) long before he came to power, long before this was put into writing. Cyrus was an instrument in the hands of God. The ultimate Bill of Rights comes from God's law and the rights and the laws of freedom that God gives to mankind. And when the Egyptian government, or when the Egyptian people, or when any modern people finally come to realize that, they're going to be on the road to success and to freedom. And they're going to be on the road to something that is lasting and enduring all rooted in God's way and God's law.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.