1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,099 DO YOU KNOW ME? 2 00:00:08,099 --> 00:00:13,032 I AM IRAN. I AM PERSIA. 3 00:00:13,032 --> 00:00:15,032 WE ARE AN ANCIENT PEOPLE. 4 00:00:18,367 --> 00:00:20,766 WE'RE NOT ARABS, AS MANY THINK. 5 00:00:24,632 --> 00:00:28,299 FOR CENTURIES IRAN WAS KNOWN AS PERSIA. 6 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:31,966 WE BECAME THE LARGEST EMPIRE THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN. 7 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:36,533 BUT PART OF OUR STORY IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN. 8 00:00:45,633 --> 00:00:50,432 SOME OF OUR GREATNESS HAS FADED FROM MEMORY. 9 00:00:50,432 --> 00:00:58,933 YET, THE PROPHETS AND WRITERS OF THE BIBLE, LIKE DANIEL, ISAIAH, AND EZRA, REMEMBER OUR STORY. 10 00:00:58,933 --> 00:01:05,799 AND WHAT'S SURPRISING IS THAT THE HEBREW BIBLE SPEAKS OF PERSIA AS CHOSEN BY GOD, 11 00:01:05,799 --> 00:01:09,667 CHOSEN FOR THE GOOD AND FOR THE BLESSING OF ALL PEOPLE. 12 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:29,767 WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE HEBREW BIBLE ARE PROPHECIES, PEOPLE AND EVENTS DESCRIBING PERSIAN KINGS, 13 00:01:29,766 --> 00:01:36,199 EPIC BATTLES, AND ROYAL DECREES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, AND STILL DO. 14 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,734 WHAT MAY SURPRISE MANY TODAY ABOUT PERSIAN HISTORY... 15 00:01:43,733 --> 00:01:48,399 IS THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE BECAME ONE OF THE FAVORED PEOPLE GROUPS OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 16 00:01:50,566 --> 00:01:54,299 AND PERHAPS MOST SURPRISING OF ALL IS HOW THE HEBREW BIBLE... 17 00:01:54,299 --> 00:01:58,632 DESCRIBES IN INTRICATE DETAIL HOW BOTH PERSIA AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE... 18 00:01:58,632 --> 00:02:02,733 HELPED TO FULFILL AN ASTONISHING PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRAHAM. 19 00:02:32,233 --> 00:02:36,533 ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, FOR THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM TO BE FULFILLED, 20 00:02:36,532 --> 00:02:41,265 BOTH PERSIAN AND JEWISH HISTORIES HAD TO INTERSECT. AND THEY DID. 21 00:02:43,032 --> 00:02:45,632 JOHN LEE: ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 22 00:02:45,633 --> 00:02:48,100 IS ITS LINKS WITH OTHER CULTURES. 23 00:02:48,099 --> 00:02:51,400 IN PARTICULAR, WE KNOW THAT THE HISTORIES OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 24 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:58,099 AND OF THE BIBLE ARE DEEPLY INTERLINKED. WE CAN SEE EVENTS, PEOPLE, AND PLACES... 25 00:02:58,099 --> 00:03:03,233 THAT APPEAR BOTH IN OUR SOURCES FOR ANCIENT PERSIA AND IN THE BIBLE. 26 00:03:03,233 --> 00:03:08,400 EDWIN YAMAUCHI: I HAVE TAUGHT ANCIENT HISTORY, INCLUDING PERSIAN HISTORY, 27 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,266 FOR MANY YEARS, AND I BROUGHT ALL OF THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL, 28 00:03:13,265 --> 00:03:16,667 BIBLICAL, AND CLASSICAL SOURCES TOGETHER... 29 00:03:16,667 --> 00:03:21,233 TO PRESENT A NARRATIVE OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS... 30 00:03:21,233 --> 00:03:26,165 AND THEIR INTERACTION BOTH WITH THE GREEKS AND WITH THE HEBREWS. 31 00:03:26,165 --> 00:03:29,133 LEE: THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WAS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST EMPIRE... 32 00:03:29,133 --> 00:03:32,834 THAT THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. 33 00:03:32,834 --> 00:03:36,066 BEFORE THE TIME OF PERSIA, NO ONE ELSE HAD MANAGED TO BRING TOGETHER... 34 00:03:36,066 --> 00:03:39,900 LANDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE BLACK SEA, 35 00:03:39,900 --> 00:03:43,165 ALL THE WAY TO THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY, INTO A SINGLE POLITICAL UNIT. 36 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,367 NARRATOR: PERSIA'S EMPIRE INCLUDED NOT ONLY THE COUNTRY OF IRAN TODAY, 37 00:03:48,366 --> 00:03:52,899 BUT IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, 38 00:03:52,900 --> 00:03:58,133 TURKEY, SYRIA, JORDAN, 39 00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:01,567 ISRAEL, EGYPT, AND MANY MORE. 40 00:04:09,332 --> 00:04:13,966 THE CITY OF PERSEPOLIS BECAME THE GREATEST CITY IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 41 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,033 PERSEPOLIS IS AN AMAZING SITE. 42 00:04:18,033 --> 00:04:22,600 IT INCLUDES A COMPLEX OF PALACES, AUDIENCE HALLS, 43 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,200 FORTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER BUILDINGS ALL BUILT ON A HUGE PLATFORM... 44 00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:33,332 FOUR TIMES AS LARGE AS THE ACROPOLIS, CARVED ON THE LOWER SLOPES OF A MOUNTAIN. 45 00:04:33,333 --> 00:04:40,066 THE APADANA, OR THE AUDIENCE HALL, IS THE MOST REMARKABLE BUILDING, PERHAPS, OF ALL. 46 00:04:40,065 --> 00:04:44,099 IT'S BEEN ESTIMATED THAT AN AUDIENCE OF 10,000 PEOPLE... 47 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:47,000 FROM ALL OVER THE EMPIRE COULD HAVE COME THERE. 48 00:04:49,432 --> 00:04:56,199 AND IN THE STAIRCASES THERE ARE REMARKABLE SCULPTURES, ORIGINALLY PAINTED, NO DOUBT, 49 00:04:56,199 --> 00:05:01,500 OF DELEGATIONS FROM 23 NATIONS BRINGING GIFTS TO THE PERSIAN KING. 50 00:05:03,966 --> 00:05:08,699 LEE: PERSEPOLIS IS A PLACE WHERE MANY DIFFERENT HISTORIES COME TOGETHER. 51 00:05:08,699 --> 00:05:11,366 THE BIBLE IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SOURCE... 52 00:05:11,367 --> 00:05:17,633 FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PERSIAN EMPIRE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE PARTICULAR PEOPLE WITHIN... 53 00:05:17,632 --> 00:05:21,466 WITHIN THAT EMPIRE, AND WHILE IT'S NOT A HISTORICAL SOURCE... 54 00:05:21,466 --> 00:05:23,800 IN THE SENSE THAT WE WOULD THINK OF HISTORIES, 55 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,934 IT CERTAINLY PRESERVES A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION, 56 00:05:26,934 --> 00:05:29,200 AND A... A VERY IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE, 57 00:05:29,199 --> 00:05:32,199 AND FOR THAT REASON IT'S AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR STUDYING... 58 00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:35,866 THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE. 59 00:05:42,399 --> 00:05:48,065 NARRATOR: THE BIBLE CONTAINS 240 REFERENCES RELATED TO IRAN OR PERSIA. 60 00:05:48,065 --> 00:05:54,599 THE NAME PERSIA AND PERSIANS ARE FOUND 33 TIMES IN SIX BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. 61 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,100 CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING, IS NAMED 19 TIMES. 62 00:05:59,100 --> 00:06:04,000 PERSIA'S KING DARIUS IS LISTED 15 TIMES. 63 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:10,533 PERSIA'S KING AHASUERUS, ALSO CALLED XERXES, IS FOUND 12 TIMES. 64 00:06:10,533 --> 00:06:15,233 PERSIA'S KING ARTAXERXES IS LISTED 13 TIMES. 65 00:06:15,233 --> 00:06:20,033 OTHER PERSIAN PEOPLE AND PLACES ARE FOUND ANOTHER 148 TIMES. 66 00:06:21,699 --> 00:06:26,000 MOST PEOPLE, INCLUDING MOST IRANIANS, ARE NOT AWARE OF THE FACT... 67 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,966 THAT THE HISTORY OF IRAN AND THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE... 68 00:06:29,966 --> 00:06:34,233 INTERSECT AT PROFOUND LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES. 69 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,567 NARRATOR: AND IT WOULD TAKE OVER 1,000 YEARS BEFORE GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM... 70 00:06:40,567 --> 00:06:42,800 WOULD INTERSECT PERSIAN HISTORY. 71 00:06:56,399 --> 00:07:02,199 WHILE LIVING IN JERUSALEM, THE PROPHET ISAIAH GAVE AN UNUSUAL PROPHECY, 72 00:07:02,199 --> 00:07:07,666 A PROPHECY THAT SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED THE NAME CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING, 73 00:07:07,666 --> 00:07:09,933 MANY YEARS BEFORE HE WAS BORN. 74 00:07:12,033 --> 00:07:17,300 NOW, ISAIAH LIVED ABOUT 700 BC, AND CYRUS DOES NOT COME ONTO THE SCENE UNTIL, 75 00:07:17,300 --> 00:07:20,633 ROUGHLY SPEAKING, 150 YEARS LATER. 76 00:07:20,632 --> 00:07:26,432 ISAIAH THE PROPHET, REMARKABLY, PREDICTED THAT THE LORD WOULD USE... 77 00:07:26,432 --> 00:07:29,099 A FUTURE KING OF THE PERSIANS NAMED CYRUS, 78 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:32,700 KOORUSH, WHOM HE CALLS "THE ANOINTED ONE." 79 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,333 TREMPER LONGMAN III: THIS PHRASE "ANOINTED ONE" IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. 80 00:07:58,333 --> 00:08:04,300 IT MEANS "MESSIAH" AND IS TYPICALLY CONNECTED TO KINGS. 81 00:08:04,300 --> 00:08:11,533 WHEN ISAIAH CALLS CYRUS THE MESSIAH, THERE'S NO RITUAL BEHIND IT. 82 00:08:11,533 --> 00:08:16,467 A FLASK OF OIL WASN'T POURED OVER HIS HEAD. BUT IT'S A METAPHORICAL USE, 83 00:08:16,466 --> 00:08:23,567 MEANING THAT THIS IS A PERSON WHOM GOD IS GOING TO USE FOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE IN HIS PLAN. 84 00:08:23,567 --> 00:08:26,333 THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IN THE SCRIPTURES... 85 00:08:26,333 --> 00:08:31,734 WHERE A NON-ISRAELITE IS CALLED THE MESSIAH OF GOD, THE ANOINTED OF GOD. 86 00:08:31,733 --> 00:08:37,399 IN ISAIAH CYRUS IS CALLED THE MESSIAH, BUT ALSO THE SHEPHERD. 87 00:08:37,399 --> 00:08:47,399 NOW, SHEPHERD IS ACTUALLY A VERY FREQUENTLY USED IMAGE THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST FOR KINGS. 88 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:02,366 AND GOD CALLS CYRUS HIS SHEPHERD FOR A REASON. 89 00:09:02,366 --> 00:09:06,099 THE SHEPHERD RESPONSIBILITY IS JUST TO WATCH, TO FEED, 90 00:09:06,100 --> 00:09:10,300 TO TAKE CARE, TO NURTURE, TO LEAD, AND THAT'S WHAT CYRUS DID. 91 00:09:10,299 --> 00:09:16,000 CYRUS DID THAT IN LINE WITH GOD'S PLANNING, THAT GOD WANTED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE. 92 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,000 LONGMAN: ISAIAH CONSIDERS CYRUS SOMEONE... 93 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:26,332 WHO IS CHOSEN TO GUIDE AND TO LEAD THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD, 94 00:09:26,332 --> 00:09:30,299 AND, SPECIFICALLY, EVEN HIS OWN PEOPLE, THE JEWS. 95 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,133 NARRATOR: AND NO ONE COULD HAVE IMAGINED HOW KING CYRUS WOULD HELP TO FULFILL... 96 00:09:36,133 --> 00:09:41,233 THE 1,000-YEAR-OLD PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, TO BECOME A BLESSING TO THE WORLD. 97 00:09:43,899 --> 00:09:48,066 TODAY IN IRAN THE TOMB OF CYRUS STILL STANDS AS A MARKER IN HISTORY. 98 00:09:49,866 --> 00:09:53,332 THE OUTSTANDING MONUMENT AT PASARGADAE, WHICH IS STILL QUITE INTACT, 99 00:09:53,332 --> 00:10:00,733 IS THE TOMB OF CYRUS HIMSELF, MADE OUT OF WHITE LIMESTONE THAT EXTENDS ABOUT 35 FEET IN HEIGHT. 100 00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:07,033 NARRATOR: WHEN CYRUS BECAME THE KING OF PERSIA, BABYLON WAS THE DOMINANT WORLD POWER. 101 00:10:07,033 --> 00:10:11,033 BABYLON'S CAPITAL WAS LOCATED IN WHAT IS, TODAY, MODERN IRAQ. 102 00:10:13,667 --> 00:10:17,767 EARLY IN THE 500S BC THE RULING DYNASTY OF BABYLON... 103 00:10:17,767 --> 00:10:22,233 HAD CONQUERED THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND DEPORTED THEM BACK TO THE CITY OF BABYLON, 104 00:10:22,232 --> 00:10:27,466 AND THAT'S WHERE THEY WERE, IN EXILE, WHEN CYRUS CAME TO BABYLON IN 539 BC. 105 00:10:36,633 --> 00:10:39,800 NARRATOR: ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE THERE WERE SPIRITUAL REASONS... 106 00:10:39,799 --> 00:10:43,032 WHY THE JEWISH DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM WERE DEPORTED TO BABYLON. 107 00:10:44,866 --> 00:10:49,899 ABRAHAM'S DESCENDANTS, ISRAEL, WAS CALLED TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS. 108 00:10:49,899 --> 00:10:53,933 THAT IS, THEY WERE TO LOVE GOD IN SUCH A WAY... 109 00:10:53,933 --> 00:10:59,132 AND OBEY HIM THAT GOD WOULD SHOWER HIS BLESSINGS UPON THEM. 110 00:10:59,133 --> 00:11:07,500 AND THEN THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD SEE THIS AND BE ATTRACTED TO THIS GOD. 111 00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:14,633 AND IN THIS WAY, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO REACH THE NATIONS. 112 00:11:14,633 --> 00:11:23,867 BUT OF COURSE, THE STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNFORTUNATELY TOO MUCH OF... 113 00:11:23,866 --> 00:11:27,033 GOD'S PEOPLE NOT ACTING IN THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD... 114 00:11:27,033 --> 00:11:33,633 AND BECOMING AN OBSTACLE TO PEOPLE BEING DRAWN TO THE TRUE GOD. 115 00:12:33,299 --> 00:12:36,332 NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE GREATEST OF THE NEO-BABYLONIAN KINGS. 116 00:12:36,332 --> 00:12:42,199 HE BEGAN RULING IN 605 BC. ACCORDING TO THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL, 117 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,734 NEBUCHADNEZZAR ATTACKED JERUSALEM IN HIS FIRST YEAR. 118 00:12:45,734 --> 00:12:49,200 WE DON'T HAVE ANY DIRECT CONFIRMATION OF THAT ATTACK, 119 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,867 BUT WE DO HAVE CONFIRMATION OF HIS SECOND ATTACK IN 597 BC, 120 00:12:53,866 --> 00:12:59,232 AND OF HIS THIRD ATTACK IN 587 OR 586 BC, 121 00:12:59,232 --> 00:13:02,899 DURING WHICH HE DESTROYED THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 122 00:13:02,899 --> 00:13:09,966 WELL, DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW COMRADES WERE AMONG THOSE WHO WERE DEPORTED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 123 00:13:11,933 --> 00:13:17,000 NARRATOR: THE PROPHET DANIEL WAS ONLY A TEENAGER WHEN HE WAS EXILED TO BABYLON. 124 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,600 DANIEL MAY HAVE WONDERED WHAT WOULD NOW HAPPEN TO GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM... 125 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,899 TO BLESS THE WORLD THROUGH HIS PEOPLE. 126 00:13:24,899 --> 00:13:32,132 COVERING HUNDREDS OF MILES, THE DEPORTATION WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS. 127 00:13:32,133 --> 00:13:37,834 THEY TRAVELED NORTH ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE, PAST THE CITY OF DAMASCUS, 128 00:13:37,833 --> 00:13:40,466 AND AROUND THE TOP OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT, 129 00:13:40,466 --> 00:13:45,000 THEN INTO THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER BASIN IN THE DIRECTION OF BABYLON. 130 00:14:07,667 --> 00:14:10,567 AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF EXILE IN BABYLON, 131 00:14:10,567 --> 00:14:14,265 THE ELDERLY PROPHET DANIEL READ WORDS FROM THE PROPHET JEREMIAH... 132 00:14:14,265 --> 00:14:17,132 THAT CAUSED DANIEL TO THINK AGAIN ABOUT JERUSALEM. 133 00:14:31,332 --> 00:14:34,833 JEREMIAH'S PROPHECY ABOUT JERUSALEM GAVE DANIEL HOPE. 134 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,567 SO DANIEL BEGAN TO PRAY. 135 00:15:45,399 --> 00:15:49,366 BUT HOW? HOW WOULD A RETURN HOME BE POSSIBLE... 136 00:15:49,366 --> 00:15:53,232 UNDER THE MIGHTY GRIP OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE? 137 00:15:53,232 --> 00:15:55,899 ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, KING CYRUS, 138 00:15:55,899 --> 00:15:59,766 CALLED THE ANOINTED AND THE MESSIAH OF GOD, WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING. 139 00:16:01,667 --> 00:16:03,966 CYRUS WAS A REMARKABLE MILITARY CONQUEROR. 140 00:16:03,966 --> 00:16:07,165 STARTING FROM A VERY SMALL KINGDOM IN WHAT IS TODAY SOUTHERN IRAN, 141 00:16:07,166 --> 00:16:12,166 HE RAPIDLY EXPANDED AS FAR WEST AS WHAT IS TODAY TURKEY, OUT INTO CENTRAL ASIA, 142 00:16:12,166 --> 00:16:16,500 AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, INTO MESOPOTAMIA, WHERE HE CAPTURED BABYLON, 143 00:16:16,500 --> 00:16:21,299 MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT CITY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME, IN 539 BC. 144 00:16:29,866 --> 00:16:33,666 NARRATOR: AFTER CONQUERING BABYLON, CYRUS ISSUED A DECREE, 145 00:16:33,667 --> 00:16:37,233 A DECREE THAT COMPLETELY CHANGED THE WAY KINGS RULE CONQUERED PEOPLES. 146 00:16:39,432 --> 00:16:41,933 AND THAT FOREIGN POLICY WOULD BEGIN TO OPEN THE WAY... 147 00:16:41,933 --> 00:16:45,466 FOR GOD'S PROMISE OF BLESSING TO THE WORLD TO BE FULFILLED. 148 00:16:47,366 --> 00:16:49,466 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTUAL FINDS... 149 00:16:49,466 --> 00:16:54,633 IN ALL OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY WAS THE CYRUS CYLINDER. 150 00:16:54,633 --> 00:16:57,867 THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A FOOTBALL-SIZED CLAY OBJECT... 151 00:16:57,866 --> 00:17:01,366 THAT WAS FOUND IN BABYLON IN THE 1870S, 152 00:17:01,366 --> 00:17:05,633 AND IT RECORDS A DECREE ISSUED BY CYRUS OF PERSIA... 153 00:17:05,633 --> 00:17:10,667 UPON HIS TAKING THE CITY OF BABYLON IN 539... 538 BC. 154 00:17:10,666 --> 00:17:13,899 THIS IS A BARREL-SHAPED CLAY CYLINDER, 155 00:17:13,900 --> 00:17:17,432 WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN, THAT IS, IN THE ANCIENT SEMITIC LANGUAGE, 156 00:17:17,432 --> 00:17:21,333 THAT WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN CALLED HORMUZD RASSAM, 157 00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:24,967 WHO WORKED FOR THE BRITISH MUSEUM, IN THE CITY OF BABYLON. 158 00:17:24,967 --> 00:17:30,567 AND WE KNOW THAT THE PERSIANS, ESPECIALLY UNDER CYRUS, 159 00:17:30,567 --> 00:17:37,467 ALLOWED CAPTIVES TO GO BACK. AND THIS PROCLAIMS A DIFFERENT POLICY FROM THAT... 160 00:17:37,467 --> 00:17:41,867 PURSUED BY THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS BEFORE, 161 00:17:41,866 --> 00:17:50,633 WHO HAD TRANSPORTED POPULATIONS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER BUT DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO RETURN. 162 00:17:50,633 --> 00:17:55,165 SO THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT BECAUSE IT SHOWS US HOW THE PERSIANS... 163 00:17:55,165 --> 00:17:59,700 ARE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY APPEAL TO LOCAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS... 164 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:04,767 IN ORDER TO GAIN SUPPORT FOR AND ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR RULE. 165 00:18:04,767 --> 00:18:11,165 CYRUS WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN USING A... A TRADITIONAL FORMAT, THIS KIND OF INSCRIPTION, 166 00:18:11,165 --> 00:18:13,532 TO PROCLAIM THAT HE RESPECTED THE GODS OF BABYLON, 167 00:18:13,532 --> 00:18:17,432 THAT HE WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN EXILED OR DEPORTED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES, 168 00:18:17,432 --> 00:18:21,767 AND THAT HE WOULD RESTORE GODS BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL PLACES. 169 00:18:21,767 --> 00:18:27,734 CYRUS WAS THE FIRST KING IN HISTORY THAT ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT HE HAD CONQUERED... 170 00:18:27,733 --> 00:18:32,066 TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED TO. 171 00:18:32,066 --> 00:18:34,700 LEE: TODAY YOU CAN VISIT THE UNITED NATIONS BUILDING IN NEW YORK... 172 00:18:34,700 --> 00:18:37,333 AND SEE A COPY OF THE CYRUS CYLINDER, 173 00:18:37,333 --> 00:18:41,100 WHICH IS ACTUALLY A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM TODAY. 174 00:18:41,099 --> 00:18:46,632 IN THE BIBLE, IT TALKS ABOUT HOW CYRUS GIVES PERMISSION... 175 00:18:46,633 --> 00:18:54,299 FOR THE JEWS TO RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND COMMISSIONS THEM TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE. 176 00:18:54,299 --> 00:18:58,834 AND THIS IS AN AMAZING AND IMPORTANT THING AND PART OF GOD'S PLAN. 177 00:19:51,599 --> 00:19:56,899 REV. MANSOUR KHAJEHPOUR: THE FACT THAT GOD USES IRAN AND PERSIA... 178 00:19:56,900 --> 00:20:01,500 BASICALLY TO TAKE CARE OF THE CAPTIVES OF ISRAEL, 179 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:06,834 NOT JUST TO BLESS A NATION, BUT TO MAKE THAT NATION A BLESSING TO ALL NATIONS, 180 00:20:06,834 --> 00:20:10,000 ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH, IS A GREAT FACT TO BE REMEMBERED. 181 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,432 EVEN TODAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY, 182 00:20:12,432 --> 00:20:16,099 IT'S REPORTED THAT 70 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD... 183 00:20:16,099 --> 00:20:20,966 LIVE IN COUNTRIES WHERE THEY DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. 184 00:20:20,967 --> 00:20:27,066 BUT IN CYRUS, THE GREAT PERSIAN KING, WE ENCOUNTER A VERY OPEN-MINDED, TOLERANT KING, 185 00:20:27,066 --> 00:20:32,967 WHO ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT HE HAD CONQUERED TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED. 186 00:20:32,967 --> 00:20:38,367 SO CYRUS ACTUALLY IS A... IS... IS A KING WHO INSTALLED FREEDOM OF RELIGION, 187 00:20:38,366 --> 00:20:43,099 AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. THIS IS... WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 2,500 YEARS AGO. 188 00:20:53,032 --> 00:20:57,567 NARRATOR: THE PROPHET ISAIAH NOT ONLY WROTE ABOUT CYRUS AS A MESSIAH OF GOD, 189 00:20:57,567 --> 00:21:01,967 BUT ALSO ABOUT A FUTURE MESSIAH WHO WOULD BE MORE THAN JUST A MAN. 190 00:21:21,032 --> 00:21:24,899 AND THE PASSAGE TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS KINGDOM WILL BE AN ETERNAL KINGDOM. 191 00:21:24,900 --> 00:21:29,533 AND IT JUST DAWNED ON ME THAT THIS SON WHO IS TO COME, THIS CHILD WHO IS TO BE BORN, 192 00:21:29,532 --> 00:21:33,599 WHO, ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 7:14, WILL BE BORN OF A VIRGIN, 193 00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:36,099 AND HE WILL BE CALLED IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US, 194 00:21:36,099 --> 00:21:39,733 THIS SON IS NOT JUST ONE PROPHET IN THE LONG LINE OF PROPHETS. 195 00:21:39,733 --> 00:21:44,666 THIS SON IS GOING TO BE MIGHTY GOD, AND HE WILL ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL KINGDOM. 196 00:21:44,666 --> 00:21:49,065 GOD USED THAT KING CYRUS AND THE EVENTS AROUND HIM, 197 00:21:49,066 --> 00:21:56,266 AND THE FUTURE KINGS IN THE LAND OF PERSIA TO FULFILL HIS ABSOLUTE PROMISE... 198 00:21:56,266 --> 00:22:02,033 THAT THERE WILL BE THE MESSIAH, CHRIST, THE MESSIAH TO COME ON EARTH, 199 00:22:02,032 --> 00:22:04,599 AND BEING BASICALLY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. 200 00:22:18,599 --> 00:22:21,632 NARRATOR: AND IT WAS JESUS WHO DESCRIBED HIS PURPOSE FOR LIVING. 201 00:22:32,066 --> 00:22:36,133 AND IT WAS ALSO ISAIAH THE PROPHET WHO SPOKE OF A SERVANT OF GOD... 202 00:22:36,133 --> 00:22:38,700 WHO WOULD SUFFER AND DIE FOR ALL PEOPLE. 203 00:23:10,133 --> 00:23:12,432 THAT MESSAGE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM, 204 00:23:12,432 --> 00:23:19,799 PRESERVED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY BY INTERVENTION OF DIFFERENT NATIONS, INCLUDING THE PERSIANS, 205 00:23:19,799 --> 00:23:26,066 FULFILLED IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOSOM OF THE ISRAELITE FAMILY, 206 00:23:26,066 --> 00:23:31,366 PREPARED THE ROAD AND THEIR HEARTS AND MELTED MANY HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY, 207 00:23:31,366 --> 00:23:34,834 AND NOW OF THAT NATION, THE PERSIAN NATIONS AND THE ARABS, 208 00:23:34,834 --> 00:23:39,100 AND THE ELAMITES AND THE TURKS AND THE CHINESE AND ALL NATIONS... 209 00:23:39,099 --> 00:23:43,132 ARE BLESSED TODAY. THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLE. 210 00:23:43,133 --> 00:23:48,866 THAT PROMISE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM IS FOR EVERY TRIBE, EVERY NATION. 211 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:01,700 A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS THE MESSIAH, 212 00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:04,767 AS HIS DISCIPLES WERE GATHERED IN JERUSALEM, 213 00:24:04,767 --> 00:24:09,366 THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD FELL ON THEM. 214 00:24:09,366 --> 00:24:13,666 THE SPIRIT OF GOD BIRTHED THE CHURCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES. 215 00:24:13,666 --> 00:24:17,265 THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT PEOPLE HAD COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD... 216 00:24:17,266 --> 00:24:20,734 TO CELEBRATE THE JEWISH FEAST IN JERUSALEM. 217 00:24:20,733 --> 00:24:24,699 BUT MANY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT REALIZE THAT THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE GROUPS... 218 00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:29,700 THAT ARE MENTIONED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2 VERSE 9: PARTHIANS, MEDES, AND ELAMITES, 219 00:24:29,700 --> 00:24:35,299 ARE PEOPLE GROUPS FROM IRAN. IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE PRESENT IN JERUSALEM, 220 00:24:35,299 --> 00:24:38,966 WHETHER THEY WERE JEWS WHO HAD LIVED IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 221 00:24:38,967 --> 00:24:42,667 SINCE THE TIME OF THE EXILE OR THE GOD-FEARING PEOPLE, 222 00:24:42,666 --> 00:24:45,132 IRANIANS THAT HAD COME TO FAITH IN THE TRUE GOD... 223 00:24:45,133 --> 00:24:47,866 BECAUSE OF THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. 224 00:24:47,866 --> 00:24:51,767 NEVERTHELESS, IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE THERE IN JERUSALEM. 225 00:24:51,767 --> 00:24:54,600 IRANIANS WERE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. 226 00:24:54,599 --> 00:24:57,933 AND WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN IRANIANS WENT BACK TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES, 227 00:24:57,933 --> 00:25:03,466 THEY TOOK THE MESSAGE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS THE MESSIAH TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE. 228 00:25:03,467 --> 00:25:07,066 WE LOOK AT CHURCH HISTORY HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER. 229 00:25:07,066 --> 00:25:10,366 THE IRANIANS TOOK THE GOSPEL, THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS, 230 00:25:10,366 --> 00:25:12,799 TO CHINA THROUGH THE SILK ROAD. 231 00:25:12,799 --> 00:25:17,966 IN FACT, THE CHINESE PEOPLE CALLED CHRISTIANITY THE PERSIAN RELIGION, 232 00:25:17,967 --> 00:25:23,834 BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD THE GOSPEL FROM PERSIAN CHRISTIANS, PERSIAN FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. 233 00:25:23,834 --> 00:25:29,299 SO I AM VERY PROUD, I FEEL VERY HONORED AS AN IRANIAN FOLLOWER OF JESUS... 234 00:25:29,299 --> 00:25:33,799 THAT GOD HAS USED THE PEOPLE OF IRAN IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY... 235 00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:37,165 TO BRING HOPE AND HEALING TO THE NATIONS. 236 00:25:40,866 --> 00:25:46,633 I THINK A PERSIAN RUG CAN BE A BEAUTIFUL SYMBOL OF HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN HISTORY, 237 00:25:46,633 --> 00:25:49,100 HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES. 238 00:25:49,099 --> 00:25:52,933 WHEN YOU LOOK AT A RUG, ONE SIDE OF IT CAN LOOK VERY ROUGH. 239 00:25:52,933 --> 00:25:58,332 THE KNOTS, THE THREADS, THE... THE BACK SIDE OF A RUG MIGHT NOT LOOK VERY BEAUTIFUL. 240 00:25:58,333 --> 00:26:02,233 BUT YOU HAVE FAITH THAT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RUG, 241 00:26:02,232 --> 00:26:08,466 THERE IS A GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL PATTERN RICH WITH DIFFERENT COLORS AND TEXTURES. 242 00:26:08,467 --> 00:26:12,300 I BELIEVE THAT'S HOW WE NEED TO LOOK AT HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN THE WORLD. 243 00:26:12,299 --> 00:26:16,933 IT MIGHT LOOK VERY MESSY FROM OUR SIDE OF HISTORY RIGHT NOW, 244 00:26:16,933 --> 00:26:22,899 BUT WE HAVE FAITH THAT THIS GOD WHO... WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO BLESS THE NATIONS, 245 00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:28,066 THIS GOD WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO ESTABLISH THE SHALOM, THE PEACE, 246 00:26:28,066 --> 00:26:34,232 THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, THAT HE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A BEAUTIFUL STORY. 247 00:26:34,232 --> 00:26:37,866 ONE DAY THE PATTERNS WILL MAKE SENSE. 248 00:26:37,866 --> 00:26:42,432 ONE DAY WE WILL SEE THE GLORY OF GOD'S WORK IN OUR LIFE... 249 00:26:42,432 --> 00:26:46,200 JUST THE WAY WE SEE AND ENJOY THE GLORY OF A PERSIAN RUG.