WEBVTT 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.099 DO YOU KNOW ME? 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:13.032 I AM IRAN. I AM PERSIA. 00:00:13.032 --> 00:00:15.032 WE ARE AN ANCIENT PEOPLE. 00:00:18.367 --> 00:00:20.766 WE'RE NOT ARABS, AS MANY THINK. 00:00:24.632 --> 00:00:28.299 FOR CENTURIES IRAN WAS KNOWN AS PERSIA. 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:31.966 WE BECAME THE LARGEST EMPIRE THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN. 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:36.533 BUT PART OF OUR STORY IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN. 00:00:45.633 --> 00:00:50.432 SOME OF OUR GREATNESS HAS FADED FROM MEMORY. 00:00:50.432 --> 00:00:58.933 YET, THE PROPHETS AND WRITERS OF THE BIBLE, LIKE DANIEL, ISAIAH, AND EZRA, REMEMBER OUR STORY. 00:00:58.933 --> 00:01:05.799 AND WHAT'S SURPRISING IS THAT THE HEBREW BIBLE SPEAKS OF PERSIA AS CHOSEN BY GOD, 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:09.667 CHOSEN FOR THE GOOD AND FOR THE BLESSING OF ALL PEOPLE. 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:29.767 WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE HEBREW BIBLE ARE PROPHECIES, PEOPLE AND EVENTS DESCRIBING PERSIAN KINGS, 00:01:29.766 --> 00:01:36.199 EPIC BATTLES, AND ROYAL DECREES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, AND STILL DO. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.734 WHAT MAY SURPRISE MANY TODAY ABOUT PERSIAN HISTORY... 00:01:43.733 --> 00:01:48.399 IS THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE BECAME ONE OF THE FAVORED PEOPLE GROUPS OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 00:01:50.566 --> 00:01:54.299 AND PERHAPS MOST SURPRISING OF ALL IS HOW THE HEBREW BIBLE... 00:01:54.299 --> 00:01:58.632 DESCRIBES IN INTRICATE DETAIL HOW BOTH PERSIA AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE... 00:01:58.632 --> 00:02:02.733 HELPED TO FULFILL AN ASTONISHING PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRAHAM. 00:02:32.233 --> 00:02:36.533 ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, FOR THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM TO BE FULFILLED, 00:02:36.532 --> 00:02:41.265 BOTH PERSIAN AND JEWISH HISTORIES HAD TO INTERSECT. AND THEY DID. 00:02:43.032 --> 00:02:45.632 JOHN LEE: ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 00:02:45.633 --> 00:02:48.100 IS ITS LINKS WITH OTHER CULTURES. 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:51.400 IN PARTICULAR, WE KNOW THAT THE HISTORIES OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:58.099 AND OF THE BIBLE ARE DEEPLY INTERLINKED. WE CAN SEE EVENTS, PEOPLE, AND PLACES... 00:02:58.099 --> 00:03:03.233 THAT APPEAR BOTH IN OUR SOURCES FOR ANCIENT PERSIA AND IN THE BIBLE. 00:03:03.233 --> 00:03:08.400 EDWIN YAMAUCHI: I HAVE TAUGHT ANCIENT HISTORY, INCLUDING PERSIAN HISTORY, 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:13.266 FOR MANY YEARS, AND I BROUGHT ALL OF THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL, 00:03:13.265 --> 00:03:16.667 BIBLICAL, AND CLASSICAL SOURCES TOGETHER... 00:03:16.667 --> 00:03:21.233 TO PRESENT A NARRATIVE OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS... 00:03:21.233 --> 00:03:26.165 AND THEIR INTERACTION BOTH WITH THE GREEKS AND WITH THE HEBREWS. 00:03:26.165 --> 00:03:29.133 LEE: THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WAS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST EMPIRE... 00:03:29.133 --> 00:03:32.834 THAT THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. 00:03:32.834 --> 00:03:36.066 BEFORE THE TIME OF PERSIA, NO ONE ELSE HAD MANAGED TO BRING TOGETHER... 00:03:36.066 --> 00:03:39.900 LANDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE BLACK SEA, 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:43.165 ALL THE WAY TO THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY, INTO A SINGLE POLITICAL UNIT. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:48.367 NARRATOR: PERSIA'S EMPIRE INCLUDED NOT ONLY THE COUNTRY OF IRAN TODAY, 00:03:48.366 --> 00:03:52.899 BUT IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, 00:03:52.900 --> 00:03:58.133 TURKEY, SYRIA, JORDAN, 00:03:58.133 --> 00:04:01.567 ISRAEL, EGYPT, AND MANY MORE. 00:04:09.332 --> 00:04:13.966 THE CITY OF PERSEPOLIS BECAME THE GREATEST CITY IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.033 PERSEPOLIS IS AN AMAZING SITE. 00:04:18.033 --> 00:04:22.600 IT INCLUDES A COMPLEX OF PALACES, AUDIENCE HALLS, 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:27.200 FORTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER BUILDINGS ALL BUILT ON A HUGE PLATFORM... 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:33.332 FOUR TIMES AS LARGE AS THE ACROPOLIS, CARVED ON THE LOWER SLOPES OF A MOUNTAIN. 00:04:33.333 --> 00:04:40.066 THE APADANA, OR THE AUDIENCE HALL, IS THE MOST REMARKABLE BUILDING, PERHAPS, OF ALL. 00:04:40.065 --> 00:04:44.099 IT'S BEEN ESTIMATED THAT AN AUDIENCE OF 10,000 PEOPLE... 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:47.000 FROM ALL OVER THE EMPIRE COULD HAVE COME THERE. 00:04:49.432 --> 00:04:56.199 AND IN THE STAIRCASES THERE ARE REMARKABLE SCULPTURES, ORIGINALLY PAINTED, NO DOUBT, 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:01.500 OF DELEGATIONS FROM 23 NATIONS BRINGING GIFTS TO THE PERSIAN KING. 00:05:03.966 --> 00:05:08.699 LEE: PERSEPOLIS IS A PLACE WHERE MANY DIFFERENT HISTORIES COME TOGETHER. 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:11.366 THE BIBLE IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SOURCE... 00:05:11.367 --> 00:05:17.633 FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PERSIAN EMPIRE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE PARTICULAR PEOPLE WITHIN... 00:05:17.632 --> 00:05:21.466 WITHIN THAT EMPIRE, AND WHILE IT'S NOT A HISTORICAL SOURCE... 00:05:21.466 --> 00:05:23.800 IN THE SENSE THAT WE WOULD THINK OF HISTORIES, 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:26.934 IT CERTAINLY PRESERVES A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION, 00:05:26.934 --> 00:05:29.200 AND A... A VERY IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE, 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:32.199 AND FOR THAT REASON IT'S AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR STUDYING... 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.866 THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.065 NARRATOR: THE BIBLE CONTAINS 240 REFERENCES RELATED TO IRAN OR PERSIA. 00:05:48.065 --> 00:05:54.599 THE NAME PERSIA AND PERSIANS ARE FOUND 33 TIMES IN SIX BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:59.100 CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING, IS NAMED 19 TIMES. 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:04.000 PERSIA'S KING DARIUS IS LISTED 15 TIMES. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:10.533 PERSIA'S KING AHASUERUS, ALSO CALLED XERXES, IS FOUND 12 TIMES. 00:06:10.533 --> 00:06:15.233 PERSIA'S KING ARTAXERXES IS LISTED 13 TIMES. 00:06:15.233 --> 00:06:20.033 OTHER PERSIAN PEOPLE AND PLACES ARE FOUND ANOTHER 148 TIMES. 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:26.000 MOST PEOPLE, INCLUDING MOST IRANIANS, ARE NOT AWARE OF THE FACT... 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.966 THAT THE HISTORY OF IRAN AND THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE... 00:06:29.966 --> 00:06:34.233 INTERSECT AT PROFOUND LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:40.567 NARRATOR: AND IT WOULD TAKE OVER 1,000 YEARS BEFORE GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM... 00:06:40.567 --> 00:06:42.800 WOULD INTERSECT PERSIAN HISTORY. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:02.199 WHILE LIVING IN JERUSALEM, THE PROPHET ISAIAH GAVE AN UNUSUAL PROPHECY, 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:07.666 A PROPHECY THAT SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED THE NAME CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING, 00:07:07.666 --> 00:07:09.933 MANY YEARS BEFORE HE WAS BORN. 00:07:12.033 --> 00:07:17.300 NOW, ISAIAH LIVED ABOUT 700 BC, AND CYRUS DOES NOT COME ONTO THE SCENE UNTIL, 00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:20.633 ROUGHLY SPEAKING, 150 YEARS LATER. 00:07:20.632 --> 00:07:26.432 ISAIAH THE PROPHET, REMARKABLY, PREDICTED THAT THE LORD WOULD USE... 00:07:26.432 --> 00:07:29.099 A FUTURE KING OF THE PERSIANS NAMED CYRUS, 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:32.700 KOORUSH, WHOM HE CALLS "THE ANOINTED ONE." 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:58.333 TREMPER LONGMAN III: THIS PHRASE "ANOINTED ONE" IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. 00:07:58.333 --> 00:08:04.300 IT MEANS "MESSIAH" AND IS TYPICALLY CONNECTED TO KINGS. 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:11.533 WHEN ISAIAH CALLS CYRUS THE MESSIAH, THERE'S NO RITUAL BEHIND IT. 00:08:11.533 --> 00:08:16.467 A FLASK OF OIL WASN'T POURED OVER HIS HEAD. BUT IT'S A METAPHORICAL USE, 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. 00:08:23.567 --> 00:08:26.333 THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IN THE SCRIPTURES... 00:08:26.333 --> 00:08:31.734 WHERE A NON-ISRAELITE IS CALLED THE MESSIAH OF GOD, THE ANOINTED OF GOD. 00:08:31.733 --> 00:08:37.399 IN ISAIAH CYRUS IS CALLED THE MESSIAH, BUT ALSO THE SHEPHERD. 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:47.399 NOW, SHEPHERD IS ACTUALLY A VERY FREQUENTLY USED IMAGE THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST FOR KINGS. 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:02.366 AND GOD CALLS CYRUS HIS SHEPHERD FOR A REASON. 00:09:02.366 --> 00:09:06.099 THE SHEPHERD RESPONSIBILITY IS JUST TO WATCH, TO FEED, 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:10.300 TO TAKE CARE, TO NURTURE, TO LEAD, AND THAT'S WHAT CYRUS DID. 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:16.000 CYRUS DID THAT IN LINE WITH GOD'S PLANNING, THAT GOD WANTED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.000 LONGMAN: ISAIAH CONSIDERS CYRUS SOMEONE... 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:26.332 WHO IS CHOSEN TO GUIDE AND TO LEAD THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD, 00:09:26.332 --> 00:09:30.299 AND, SPECIFICALLY, EVEN HIS OWN PEOPLE, THE JEWS. 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.133 NARRATOR: AND NO ONE COULD HAVE IMAGINED HOW KING CYRUS WOULD HELP TO FULFILL... 00:09:36.133 --> 00:09:41.233 THE 1,000-YEAR-OLD PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, TO BECOME A BLESSING TO THE WORLD. 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:48.066 TODAY IN IRAN THE TOMB OF CYRUS STILL STANDS AS A MARKER IN HISTORY. 00:09:49.866 --> 00:09:53.332 THE OUTSTANDING MONUMENT AT PASARGADAE, WHICH IS STILL QUITE INTACT, 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. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:07.033 NARRATOR: WHEN CYRUS BECAME THE KING OF PERSIA, BABYLON WAS THE DOMINANT WORLD POWER. 00:10:07.033 --> 00:10:11.033 BABYLON'S CAPITAL WAS LOCATED IN WHAT IS, TODAY, MODERN IRAQ. 00:10:13.667 --> 00:10:17.767 EARLY IN THE 500S BC THE RULING DYNASTY OF BABYLON... 00:10:17.767 --> 00:10:22.233 HAD CONQUERED THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND DEPORTED THEM BACK TO THE CITY OF BABYLON, 00:10:22.232 --> 00:10:27.466 AND THAT'S WHERE THEY WERE, IN EXILE, WHEN CYRUS CAME TO BABYLON IN 539 BC. 00:10:36.633 --> 00:10:39.800 NARRATOR: ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE THERE WERE SPIRITUAL REASONS... 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.032 WHY THE JEWISH DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM WERE DEPORTED TO BABYLON. 00:10:44.866 --> 00:10:49.899 ABRAHAM'S DESCENDANTS, ISRAEL, WAS CALLED TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS. 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:53.933 THAT IS, THEY WERE TO LOVE GOD IN SUCH A WAY... 00:10:53.933 --> 00:10:59.132 AND OBEY HIM THAT GOD WOULD SHOWER HIS BLESSINGS UPON THEM. 00:10:59.133 --> 00:11:07.500 AND THEN THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD SEE THIS AND BE ATTRACTED TO THIS GOD. 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:14.633 AND IN THIS WAY, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO REACH THE NATIONS. 00:11:14.633 --> 00:11:23.867 BUT OF COURSE, THE STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNFORTUNATELY TOO MUCH OF... 00:11:23.866 --> 00:11:27.033 GOD'S PEOPLE NOT ACTING IN THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD... 00:11:27.033 --> 00:11:33.633 AND BECOMING AN OBSTACLE TO PEOPLE BEING DRAWN TO THE TRUE GOD. 00:12:33.299 --> 00:12:36.332 NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE GREATEST OF THE NEO-BABYLONIAN KINGS. 00:12:36.332 --> 00:12:42.199 HE BEGAN RULING IN 605 BC. ACCORDING TO THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL, 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.734 NEBUCHADNEZZAR ATTACKED JERUSALEM IN HIS FIRST YEAR. 00:12:45.734 --> 00:12:49.200 WE DON'T HAVE ANY DIRECT CONFIRMATION OF THAT ATTACK, 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:53.867 BUT WE DO HAVE CONFIRMATION OF HIS SECOND ATTACK IN 597 BC, 00:12:53.866 --> 00:12:59.232 AND OF HIS THIRD ATTACK IN 587 OR 586 BC, 00:12:59.232 --> 00:13:02.899 DURING WHICH HE DESTROYED THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:09.966 WELL, DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW COMRADES WERE AMONG THOSE WHO WERE DEPORTED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 00:13:11.933 --> 00:13:17.000 NARRATOR: THE PROPHET DANIEL WAS ONLY A TEENAGER WHEN HE WAS EXILED TO BABYLON. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:21.600 DANIEL MAY HAVE WONDERED WHAT WOULD NOW HAPPEN TO GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM... 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.899 TO BLESS THE WORLD THROUGH HIS PEOPLE. 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:32.132 COVERING HUNDREDS OF MILES, THE DEPORTATION WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS. 00:13:32.133 --> 00:13:37.834 THEY TRAVELED NORTH ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE, PAST THE CITY OF DAMASCUS, 00:13:37.833 --> 00:13:40.466 AND AROUND THE TOP OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT, 00:13:40.466 --> 00:13:45.000 THEN INTO THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER BASIN IN THE DIRECTION OF BABYLON. 00:14:07.667 --> 00:14:10.567 AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF EXILE IN BABYLON, 00:14:10.567 --> 00:14:14.265 THE ELDERLY PROPHET DANIEL READ WORDS FROM THE PROPHET JEREMIAH... 00:14:14.265 --> 00:14:17.132 THAT CAUSED DANIEL TO THINK AGAIN ABOUT JERUSALEM. 00:14:31.332 --> 00:14:34.833 JEREMIAH'S PROPHECY ABOUT JERUSALEM GAVE DANIEL HOPE. 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.567 SO DANIEL BEGAN TO PRAY. 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:49.366 BUT HOW? HOW WOULD A RETURN HOME BE POSSIBLE... 00:15:49.366 --> 00:15:53.232 UNDER THE MIGHTY GRIP OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE? 00:15:53.232 --> 00:15:55.899 ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, KING CYRUS, 00:15:55.899 --> 00:15:59.766 CALLED THE ANOINTED AND THE MESSIAH OF GOD, WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING. 00:16:01.667 --> 00:16:03.966 CYRUS WAS A REMARKABLE MILITARY CONQUEROR. 00:16:03.966 --> 00:16:07.165 STARTING FROM A VERY SMALL KINGDOM IN WHAT IS TODAY SOUTHERN IRAN, 00:16:07.166 --> 00:16:12.166 HE RAPIDLY EXPANDED AS FAR WEST AS WHAT IS TODAY TURKEY, OUT INTO CENTRAL ASIA, 00:16:12.166 --> 00:16:16.500 AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, INTO MESOPOTAMIA, WHERE HE CAPTURED BABYLON, 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:21.299 MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT CITY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME, IN 539 BC. 00:16:29.866 --> 00:16:33.666 NARRATOR: AFTER CONQUERING BABYLON, CYRUS ISSUED A DECREE, 00:16:33.667 --> 00:16:37.233 A DECREE THAT COMPLETELY CHANGED THE WAY KINGS RULE CONQUERED PEOPLES. 00:16:39.432 --> 00:16:41.933 AND THAT FOREIGN POLICY WOULD BEGIN TO OPEN THE WAY... 00:16:41.933 --> 00:16:45.466 FOR GOD'S PROMISE OF BLESSING TO THE WORLD TO BE FULFILLED. 00:16:47.366 --> 00:16:49.466 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTUAL FINDS... 00:16:49.466 --> 00:16:54.633 IN ALL OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY WAS THE CYRUS CYLINDER. 00:16:54.633 --> 00:16:57.867 THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A FOOTBALL-SIZED CLAY OBJECT... 00:16:57.866 --> 00:17:01.366 THAT WAS FOUND IN BABYLON IN THE 1870S, 00:17:01.366 --> 00:17:05.633 AND IT RECORDS A DECREE ISSUED BY CYRUS OF PERSIA... 00:17:05.633 --> 00:17:10.667 UPON HIS TAKING THE CITY OF BABYLON IN 539... 538 BC. 00:17:10.666 --> 00:17:13.899 THIS IS A BARREL-SHAPED CLAY CYLINDER, 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:17.432 WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN, THAT IS, IN THE ANCIENT SEMITIC LANGUAGE, 00:17:17.432 --> 00:17:21.333 THAT WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN CALLED HORMUZD RASSAM, 00:17:21.333 --> 00:17:24.967 WHO WORKED FOR THE BRITISH MUSEUM, IN THE CITY OF BABYLON. 00:17:24.967 --> 00:17:30.567 AND WE KNOW THAT THE PERSIANS, ESPECIALLY UNDER CYRUS, 00:17:30.567 --> 00:17:37.467 ALLOWED CAPTIVES TO GO BACK. AND THIS PROCLAIMS A DIFFERENT POLICY FROM THAT... 00:17:37.467 --> 00:17:41.867 PURSUED BY THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS BEFORE, 00:17:41.866 --> 00:17:50.633 WHO HAD TRANSPORTED POPULATIONS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER BUT DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO RETURN. 00:17:50.633 --> 00:17:55.165 SO THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT BECAUSE IT SHOWS US HOW THE PERSIANS... 00:17:55.165 --> 00:17:59.700 ARE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY APPEAL TO LOCAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS... 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:04.767 IN ORDER TO GAIN SUPPORT FOR AND ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR RULE. 00:18:04.767 --> 00:18:11.165 CYRUS WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN USING A... A TRADITIONAL FORMAT, THIS KIND OF INSCRIPTION, 00:18:11.165 --> 00:18:13.532 TO PROCLAIM THAT HE RESPECTED THE GODS OF BABYLON, 00:18:13.532 --> 00:18:17.432 THAT HE WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN EXILED OR DEPORTED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES, 00:18:17.432 --> 00:18:21.767 AND THAT HE WOULD RESTORE GODS BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL PLACES. 00:18:21.767 --> 00:18:27.734 CYRUS WAS THE FIRST KING IN HISTORY THAT ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT HE HAD CONQUERED... 00:18:27.733 --> 00:18:32.066 TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED TO. 00:18:32.066 --> 00:18:34.700 LEE: TODAY YOU CAN VISIT THE UNITED NATIONS BUILDING IN NEW YORK... 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.333 AND SEE A COPY OF THE CYRUS CYLINDER, 00:18:37.333 --> 00:18:41.100 WHICH IS ACTUALLY A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM TODAY. 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:46.632 IN THE BIBLE, IT TALKS ABOUT HOW CYRUS GIVES PERMISSION... 00:18:46.633 --> 00:18:54.299 FOR THE JEWS TO RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND COMMISSIONS THEM TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE. 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:58.834 AND THIS IS AN AMAZING AND IMPORTANT THING AND PART OF GOD'S PLAN. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:56.899 REV. MANSOUR KHAJEHPOUR: THE FACT THAT GOD USES IRAN AND PERSIA... 00:19:56.900 --> 00:20:01.500 BASICALLY TO TAKE CARE OF THE CAPTIVES OF ISRAEL, 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:06.834 NOT JUST TO BLESS A NATION, BUT TO MAKE THAT NATION A BLESSING TO ALL NATIONS, 00:20:06.834 --> 00:20:10.000 ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH, IS A GREAT FACT TO BE REMEMBERED. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.432 EVEN TODAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY, 00:20:12.432 --> 00:20:16.099 IT'S REPORTED THAT 70 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD... 00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:20.966 LIVE IN COUNTRIES WHERE THEY DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. 00:20:20.967 --> 00:20:27.066 BUT IN CYRUS, THE GREAT PERSIAN KING, WE ENCOUNTER A VERY OPEN-MINDED, TOLERANT KING, 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. 00:20:32.967 --> 00:20:38.367 SO CYRUS ACTUALLY IS A... IS... IS A KING WHO INSTALLED FREEDOM OF RELIGION, 00:20:38.366 --> 00:20:43.099 AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. THIS IS... WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 2,500 YEARS AGO. 00:20:53.032 --> 00:20:57.567 NARRATOR: THE PROPHET ISAIAH NOT ONLY WROTE ABOUT CYRUS AS A MESSIAH OF GOD, 00:20:57.567 --> 00:21:01.967 BUT ALSO ABOUT A FUTURE MESSIAH WHO WOULD BE MORE THAN JUST A MAN. 00:21:21.032 --> 00:21:24.899 AND THE PASSAGE TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS KINGDOM WILL BE AN ETERNAL KINGDOM. 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, 00:21:29.532 --> 00:21:33.599 WHO, ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 7:14, WILL BE BORN OF A VIRGIN, 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.099 AND HE WILL BE CALLED IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US, 00:21:36.099 --> 00:21:39.733 THIS SON IS NOT JUST ONE PROPHET IN THE LONG LINE OF PROPHETS. 00:21:39.733 --> 00:21:44.666 THIS SON IS GOING TO BE MIGHTY GOD, AND HE WILL ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL KINGDOM. 00:21:44.666 --> 00:21:49.065 GOD USED THAT KING CYRUS AND THE EVENTS AROUND HIM, 00:21:49.066 --> 00:21:56.266 AND THE FUTURE KINGS IN THE LAND OF PERSIA TO FULFILL HIS ABSOLUTE PROMISE... 00:21:56.266 --> 00:22:02.033 THAT THERE WILL BE THE MESSIAH, CHRIST, THE MESSIAH TO COME ON EARTH, 00:22:02.032 --> 00:22:04.599 AND BEING BASICALLY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.632 NARRATOR: AND IT WAS JESUS WHO DESCRIBED HIS PURPOSE FOR LIVING. 00:22:32.066 --> 00:22:36.133 AND IT WAS ALSO ISAIAH THE PROPHET WHO SPOKE OF A SERVANT OF GOD... 00:22:36.133 --> 00:22:38.700 WHO WOULD SUFFER AND DIE FOR ALL PEOPLE. 00:23:10.133 --> 00:23:12.432 THAT MESSAGE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM, 00:23:12.432 --> 00:23:19.799 PRESERVED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY BY INTERVENTION OF DIFFERENT NATIONS, INCLUDING THE PERSIANS, 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:26.066 FULFILLED IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOSOM OF THE ISRAELITE FAMILY, 00:23:26.066 --> 00:23:31.366 PREPARED THE ROAD AND THEIR HEARTS AND MELTED MANY HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY, 00:23:31.366 --> 00:23:34.834 AND NOW OF THAT NATION, THE PERSIAN NATIONS AND THE ARABS, 00:23:34.834 --> 00:23:39.100 AND THE ELAMITES AND THE TURKS AND THE CHINESE AND ALL NATIONS... 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:43.132 ARE BLESSED TODAY. THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLE. 00:23:43.133 --> 00:23:48.866 THAT PROMISE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM IS FOR EVERY TRIBE, EVERY NATION. 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:01.700 A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS THE MESSIAH, 00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:04.767 AS HIS DISCIPLES WERE GATHERED IN JERUSALEM, 00:24:04.767 --> 00:24:09.366 THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD FELL ON THEM. 00:24:09.366 --> 00:24:13.666 THE SPIRIT OF GOD BIRTHED THE CHURCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES. 00:24:13.666 --> 00:24:17.265 THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT PEOPLE HAD COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD... 00:24:17.266 --> 00:24:20.734 TO CELEBRATE THE JEWISH FEAST IN JERUSALEM. 00:24:20.733 --> 00:24:24.699 BUT MANY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT REALIZE THAT THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE GROUPS... 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:29.700 THAT ARE MENTIONED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2 VERSE 9: PARTHIANS, MEDES, AND ELAMITES, 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:35.299 ARE PEOPLE GROUPS FROM IRAN. IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE PRESENT IN JERUSALEM, 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:38.966 WHETHER THEY WERE JEWS WHO HAD LIVED IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE... 00:24:38.967 --> 00:24:42.667 SINCE THE TIME OF THE EXILE OR THE GOD-FEARING PEOPLE, 00:24:42.666 --> 00:24:45.132 IRANIANS THAT HAD COME TO FAITH IN THE TRUE GOD... 00:24:45.133 --> 00:24:47.866 BECAUSE OF THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. 00:24:47.866 --> 00:24:51.767 NEVERTHELESS, IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE THERE IN JERUSALEM. 00:24:51.767 --> 00:24:54.600 IRANIANS WERE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. 00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:57.933 AND WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN IRANIANS WENT BACK TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES, 00:24:57.933 --> 00:25:03.466 THEY TOOK THE MESSAGE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS THE MESSIAH TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE. 00:25:03.467 --> 00:25:07.066 WE LOOK AT CHURCH HISTORY HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER. 00:25:07.066 --> 00:25:10.366 THE IRANIANS TOOK THE GOSPEL, THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS, 00:25:10.366 --> 00:25:12.799 TO CHINA THROUGH THE SILK ROAD. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:17.966 IN FACT, THE CHINESE PEOPLE CALLED CHRISTIANITY THE PERSIAN RELIGION, 00:25:17.967 --> 00:25:23.834 BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD THE GOSPEL FROM PERSIAN CHRISTIANS, PERSIAN FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. 00:25:23.834 --> 00:25:29.299 SO I AM VERY PROUD, I FEEL VERY HONORED AS AN IRANIAN FOLLOWER OF JESUS... 00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:33.799 THAT GOD HAS USED THE PEOPLE OF IRAN IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY... 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:37.165 TO BRING HOPE AND HEALING TO THE NATIONS. 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, 00:25:46.633 --> 00:25:49.100 HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES. 00:25:49.099 --> 00:25:52.933 WHEN YOU LOOK AT A RUG, ONE SIDE OF IT CAN LOOK VERY ROUGH. 00:25:52.933 --> 00:25:58.332 THE KNOTS, THE THREADS, THE... THE BACK SIDE OF A RUG MIGHT NOT LOOK VERY BEAUTIFUL. 00:25:58.333 --> 00:26:02.233 BUT YOU HAVE FAITH THAT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RUG, 00:26:02.232 --> 00:26:08.466 THERE IS A GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL PATTERN RICH WITH DIFFERENT COLORS AND TEXTURES. 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. 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:16.933 IT MIGHT LOOK VERY MESSY FROM OUR SIDE OF HISTORY RIGHT NOW, 00:26:16.933 --> 00:26:22.899 BUT WE HAVE FAITH THAT THIS GOD WHO... WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO BLESS THE NATIONS, 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:28.066 THIS GOD WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO ESTABLISH THE SHALOM, THE PEACE, 00:26:28.066 --> 00:26:34.232 THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, THAT HE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A BEAUTIFUL STORY. 00:26:34.232 --> 00:26:37.866 ONE DAY THE PATTERNS WILL MAKE SENSE. 00:26:37.866 --> 00:26:42.432 ONE DAY WE WILL SEE THE GLORY OF GOD'S WORK IN OUR LIFE... 00:26:42.432 --> 00:26:46.200 JUST THE WAY WE SEE AND ENJOY THE GLORY OF A PERSIAN RUG.