Iran in the Bible: The Forgotten Story | Presented by Our Daily Bread Films

DO YOU KNOW ME?

I AM IRAN. I AM PERSIA.

WE ARE AN ANCIENT PEOPLE.

WE'RE NOT ARABS, AS MANY THINK.

FOR CENTURIES IRAN WAS KNOWN AS PERSIA.

WE BECAME THE LARGEST EMPIRE THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN.

BUT PART OF OUR STORY IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN.

SOME OF OUR GREATNESS HAS FADED FROM MEMORY.

YET, THE PROPHETS AND WRITERS OF THE BIBLE, LIKE DANIEL, ISAIAH, AND EZRA, REMEMBER OUR STORY.

AND WHAT'S SURPRISING IS THAT THE HEBREW BIBLE SPEAKS OF PERSIA AS CHOSEN BY GOD,

CHOSEN FOR THE GOOD AND FOR THE BLESSING OF ALL PEOPLE.

WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE HEBREW BIBLE ARE PROPHECIES, PEOPLE AND EVENTS DESCRIBING PERSIAN KINGS,

EPIC BATTLES, AND ROYAL DECREES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, AND STILL DO.

WHAT MAY SURPRISE MANY TODAY ABOUT PERSIAN HISTORY...

IS THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE BECAME ONE OF THE FAVORED PEOPLE GROUPS OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.

AND PERHAPS MOST SURPRISING OF ALL IS HOW THE HEBREW BIBLE...

DESCRIBES IN INTRICATE DETAIL HOW BOTH PERSIA AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE...

HELPED TO FULFILL AN ASTONISHING PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRAHAM.

ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, FOR THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM TO BE FULFILLED,

BOTH PERSIAN AND JEWISH HISTORIES HAD TO INTERSECT. AND THEY DID.

JOHN LEE: ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...

IS ITS LINKS WITH OTHER CULTURES.

IN PARTICULAR, WE KNOW THAT THE HISTORIES OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...

AND OF THE BIBLE ARE DEEPLY INTERLINKED. WE CAN SEE EVENTS, PEOPLE, AND PLACES...

THAT APPEAR BOTH IN OUR SOURCES FOR ANCIENT PERSIA AND IN THE BIBLE.

EDWIN YAMAUCHI: I HAVE TAUGHT ANCIENT HISTORY, INCLUDING PERSIAN HISTORY,

FOR MANY YEARS, AND I BROUGHT ALL OF THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL,

BIBLICAL, AND CLASSICAL SOURCES TOGETHER...

TO PRESENT A NARRATIVE OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS...

AND THEIR INTERACTION BOTH WITH THE GREEKS AND WITH THE HEBREWS.

LEE: THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WAS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST EMPIRE...

THAT THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE.

BEFORE THE TIME OF PERSIA, NO ONE ELSE HAD MANAGED TO BRING TOGETHER...

LANDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE BLACK SEA,

ALL THE WAY TO THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY, INTO A SINGLE POLITICAL UNIT.

NARRATOR: PERSIA'S EMPIRE INCLUDED NOT ONLY THE COUNTRY OF IRAN TODAY,

BUT IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN,

TURKEY, SYRIA, JORDAN,

ISRAEL, EGYPT, AND MANY MORE.

THE CITY OF PERSEPOLIS BECAME THE GREATEST CITY IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.

PERSEPOLIS IS AN AMAZING SITE.

IT INCLUDES A COMPLEX OF PALACES, AUDIENCE HALLS,

FORTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER BUILDINGS ALL BUILT ON A HUGE PLATFORM...

FOUR TIMES AS LARGE AS THE ACROPOLIS, CARVED ON THE LOWER SLOPES OF A MOUNTAIN.

THE APADANA, OR THE AUDIENCE HALL, IS THE MOST REMARKABLE BUILDING, PERHAPS, OF ALL.

IT'S BEEN ESTIMATED THAT AN AUDIENCE OF 10,000 PEOPLE...

FROM ALL OVER THE EMPIRE COULD HAVE COME THERE.

AND IN THE STAIRCASES THERE ARE REMARKABLE SCULPTURES, ORIGINALLY PAINTED, NO DOUBT,

OF DELEGATIONS FROM 23 NATIONS BRINGING GIFTS TO THE PERSIAN KING.

LEE: PERSEPOLIS IS A PLACE WHERE MANY DIFFERENT HISTORIES COME TOGETHER.

THE BIBLE IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SOURCE...

FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PERSIAN EMPIRE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE PARTICULAR PEOPLE WITHIN...

WITHIN THAT EMPIRE, AND WHILE IT'S NOT A HISTORICAL SOURCE...

IN THE SENSE THAT WE WOULD THINK OF HISTORIES,

IT CERTAINLY PRESERVES A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION,

AND A... A VERY IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE,

AND FOR THAT REASON IT'S AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR STUDYING...

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE.

NARRATOR: THE BIBLE CONTAINS 240 REFERENCES RELATED TO IRAN OR PERSIA.

THE NAME PERSIA AND PERSIANS ARE FOUND 33 TIMES IN SIX BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE.

CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING, IS NAMED 19 TIMES.

PERSIA'S KING DARIUS IS LISTED 15 TIMES.

PERSIA'S KING AHASUERUS, ALSO CALLED XERXES, IS FOUND 12 TIMES.

PERSIA'S KING ARTAXERXES IS LISTED 13 TIMES.

OTHER PERSIAN PEOPLE AND PLACES ARE FOUND ANOTHER 148 TIMES.

MOST PEOPLE, INCLUDING MOST IRANIANS, ARE NOT AWARE OF THE FACT...

THAT THE HISTORY OF IRAN AND THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE...

INTERSECT AT PROFOUND LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES.

NARRATOR: AND IT WOULD TAKE OVER 1,000 YEARS BEFORE GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM...

WOULD INTERSECT PERSIAN HISTORY.

WHILE LIVING IN JERUSALEM, THE PROPHET ISAIAH GAVE AN UNUSUAL PROPHECY,

A PROPHECY THAT SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED THE NAME CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING,

MANY YEARS BEFORE HE WAS BORN.

NOW, ISAIAH LIVED ABOUT 700 BC, AND CYRUS DOES NOT COME ONTO THE SCENE UNTIL,

ROUGHLY SPEAKING, 150 YEARS LATER.

ISAIAH THE PROPHET, REMARKABLY, PREDICTED THAT THE LORD WOULD USE...

A FUTURE KING OF THE PERSIANS NAMED CYRUS,

KOORUSH, WHOM HE CALLS "THE ANOINTED ONE."

TREMPER LONGMAN III: THIS PHRASE "ANOINTED ONE" IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

IT MEANS "MESSIAH" AND IS TYPICALLY CONNECTED TO KINGS.

WHEN ISAIAH CALLS CYRUS THE MESSIAH, THERE'S NO RITUAL BEHIND IT.

A FLASK OF OIL WASN'T POURED OVER HIS HEAD. BUT IT'S A METAPHORICAL USE,

MEANING THAT THIS IS A PERSON WHOM GOD IS GOING TO USE FOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE IN HIS PLAN.

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IN THE SCRIPTURES...

WHERE A NON-ISRAELITE IS CALLED THE MESSIAH OF GOD, THE ANOINTED OF GOD.

IN ISAIAH CYRUS IS CALLED THE MESSIAH, BUT ALSO THE SHEPHERD.

NOW, SHEPHERD IS ACTUALLY A VERY FREQUENTLY USED IMAGE THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST FOR KINGS.

AND GOD CALLS CYRUS HIS SHEPHERD FOR A REASON.

THE SHEPHERD RESPONSIBILITY IS JUST TO WATCH, TO FEED,

TO TAKE CARE, TO NURTURE, TO LEAD, AND THAT'S WHAT CYRUS DID.

CYRUS DID THAT IN LINE WITH GOD'S PLANNING, THAT GOD WANTED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE.

LONGMAN: ISAIAH CONSIDERS CYRUS SOMEONE...

WHO IS CHOSEN TO GUIDE AND TO LEAD THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD,

AND, SPECIFICALLY, EVEN HIS OWN PEOPLE, THE JEWS.

NARRATOR: AND NO ONE COULD HAVE IMAGINED HOW KING CYRUS WOULD HELP TO FULFILL...

THE 1,000-YEAR-OLD PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, TO BECOME A BLESSING TO THE WORLD.

TODAY IN IRAN THE TOMB OF CYRUS STILL STANDS AS A MARKER IN HISTORY.

THE OUTSTANDING MONUMENT AT PASARGADAE, WHICH IS STILL QUITE INTACT,

IS THE TOMB OF CYRUS HIMSELF, MADE OUT OF WHITE LIMESTONE THAT EXTENDS ABOUT 35 FEET IN HEIGHT.

NARRATOR: WHEN CYRUS BECAME THE KING OF PERSIA, BABYLON WAS THE DOMINANT WORLD POWER.

BABYLON'S CAPITAL WAS LOCATED IN WHAT IS, TODAY, MODERN IRAQ.

EARLY IN THE 500S BC THE RULING DYNASTY OF BABYLON...

HAD CONQUERED THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND DEPORTED THEM BACK TO THE CITY OF BABYLON,

AND THAT'S WHERE THEY WERE, IN EXILE, WHEN CYRUS CAME TO BABYLON IN 539 BC.

NARRATOR: ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE THERE WERE SPIRITUAL REASONS...

WHY THE JEWISH DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM WERE DEPORTED TO BABYLON.

ABRAHAM'S DESCENDANTS, ISRAEL, WAS CALLED TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS.

THAT IS, THEY WERE TO LOVE GOD IN SUCH A WAY...

AND OBEY HIM THAT GOD WOULD SHOWER HIS BLESSINGS UPON THEM.

AND THEN THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD SEE THIS AND BE ATTRACTED TO THIS GOD.

AND IN THIS WAY, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO REACH THE NATIONS.

BUT OF COURSE, THE STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNFORTUNATELY TOO MUCH OF...

GOD'S PEOPLE NOT ACTING IN THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD...

AND BECOMING AN OBSTACLE TO PEOPLE BEING DRAWN TO THE TRUE GOD.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE GREATEST OF THE NEO-BABYLONIAN KINGS.

HE BEGAN RULING IN 605 BC. ACCORDING TO THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL,

NEBUCHADNEZZAR ATTACKED JERUSALEM IN HIS FIRST YEAR.

WE DON'T HAVE ANY DIRECT CONFIRMATION OF THAT ATTACK,

BUT WE DO HAVE CONFIRMATION OF HIS SECOND ATTACK IN 597 BC,

AND OF HIS THIRD ATTACK IN 587 OR 586 BC,

DURING WHICH HE DESTROYED THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON.

WELL, DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW COMRADES WERE AMONG THOSE WHO WERE DEPORTED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

NARRATOR: THE PROPHET DANIEL WAS ONLY A TEENAGER WHEN HE WAS EXILED TO BABYLON.

DANIEL MAY HAVE WONDERED WHAT WOULD NOW HAPPEN TO GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM...

TO BLESS THE WORLD THROUGH HIS PEOPLE.

COVERING HUNDREDS OF MILES, THE DEPORTATION WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS.

THEY TRAVELED NORTH ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE, PAST THE CITY OF DAMASCUS,

AND AROUND THE TOP OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT,

THEN INTO THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER BASIN IN THE DIRECTION OF BABYLON.

AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF EXILE IN BABYLON,

THE ELDERLY PROPHET DANIEL READ WORDS FROM THE PROPHET JEREMIAH...

THAT CAUSED DANIEL TO THINK AGAIN ABOUT JERUSALEM.

JEREMIAH'S PROPHECY ABOUT JERUSALEM GAVE DANIEL HOPE.

SO DANIEL BEGAN TO PRAY.

BUT HOW? HOW WOULD A RETURN HOME BE POSSIBLE...

UNDER THE MIGHTY GRIP OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE?

ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, KING CYRUS,

CALLED THE ANOINTED AND THE MESSIAH OF GOD, WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.

CYRUS WAS A REMARKABLE MILITARY CONQUEROR.

STARTING FROM A VERY SMALL KINGDOM IN WHAT IS TODAY SOUTHERN IRAN,

HE RAPIDLY EXPANDED AS FAR WEST AS WHAT IS TODAY TURKEY, OUT INTO CENTRAL ASIA,

AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, INTO MESOPOTAMIA, WHERE HE CAPTURED BABYLON,

MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT CITY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME, IN 539 BC.

NARRATOR: AFTER CONQUERING BABYLON, CYRUS ISSUED A DECREE,

A DECREE THAT COMPLETELY CHANGED THE WAY KINGS RULE CONQUERED PEOPLES.

AND THAT FOREIGN POLICY WOULD BEGIN TO OPEN THE WAY...

FOR GOD'S PROMISE OF BLESSING TO THE WORLD TO BE FULFILLED.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTUAL FINDS...

IN ALL OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY WAS THE CYRUS CYLINDER.

THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A FOOTBALL-SIZED CLAY OBJECT...

THAT WAS FOUND IN BABYLON IN THE 1870S,

AND IT RECORDS A DECREE ISSUED BY CYRUS OF PERSIA...

UPON HIS TAKING THE CITY OF BABYLON IN 539... 538 BC.

THIS IS A BARREL-SHAPED CLAY CYLINDER,

WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN, THAT IS, IN THE ANCIENT SEMITIC LANGUAGE,

THAT WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN CALLED HORMUZD RASSAM,

WHO WORKED FOR THE BRITISH MUSEUM, IN THE CITY OF BABYLON.

AND WE KNOW THAT THE PERSIANS, ESPECIALLY UNDER CYRUS,

ALLOWED CAPTIVES TO GO BACK. AND THIS PROCLAIMS A DIFFERENT POLICY FROM THAT...

PURSUED BY THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS BEFORE,

WHO HAD TRANSPORTED POPULATIONS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER BUT DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO RETURN.

SO THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT BECAUSE IT SHOWS US HOW THE PERSIANS...

ARE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY APPEAL TO LOCAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS...

IN ORDER TO GAIN SUPPORT FOR AND ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR RULE.

CYRUS WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN USING A... A TRADITIONAL FORMAT, THIS KIND OF INSCRIPTION,

TO PROCLAIM THAT HE RESPECTED THE GODS OF BABYLON,

THAT HE WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN EXILED OR DEPORTED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES,

AND THAT HE WOULD RESTORE GODS BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL PLACES.

CYRUS WAS THE FIRST KING IN HISTORY THAT ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT HE HAD CONQUERED...

TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED TO.

LEE: TODAY YOU CAN VISIT THE UNITED NATIONS BUILDING IN NEW YORK...

AND SEE A COPY OF THE CYRUS CYLINDER,

WHICH IS ACTUALLY A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM TODAY.

IN THE BIBLE, IT TALKS ABOUT HOW CYRUS GIVES PERMISSION...

FOR THE JEWS TO RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND COMMISSIONS THEM TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE.

AND THIS IS AN AMAZING AND IMPORTANT THING AND PART OF GOD'S PLAN.

REV. MANSOUR KHAJEHPOUR: THE FACT THAT GOD USES IRAN AND PERSIA...

BASICALLY TO TAKE CARE OF THE CAPTIVES OF ISRAEL,

NOT JUST TO BLESS A NATION, BUT TO MAKE THAT NATION A BLESSING TO ALL NATIONS,

ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH, IS A GREAT FACT TO BE REMEMBERED.

EVEN TODAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY,

IT'S REPORTED THAT 70 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD...

LIVE IN COUNTRIES WHERE THEY DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP.

BUT IN CYRUS, THE GREAT PERSIAN KING, WE ENCOUNTER A VERY OPEN-MINDED, TOLERANT KING,

WHO ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT HE HAD CONQUERED TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED.

SO CYRUS ACTUALLY IS A... IS... IS A KING WHO INSTALLED FREEDOM OF RELIGION,

AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. THIS IS... WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 2,500 YEARS AGO.

NARRATOR: THE PROPHET ISAIAH NOT ONLY WROTE ABOUT CYRUS AS A MESSIAH OF GOD,

BUT ALSO ABOUT A FUTURE MESSIAH WHO WOULD BE MORE THAN JUST A MAN.

AND THE PASSAGE TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS KINGDOM WILL BE AN ETERNAL KINGDOM.

AND IT JUST DAWNED ON ME THAT THIS SON WHO IS TO COME, THIS CHILD WHO IS TO BE BORN,

WHO, ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 7:14, WILL BE BORN OF A VIRGIN,

AND HE WILL BE CALLED IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US,

THIS SON IS NOT JUST ONE PROPHET IN THE LONG LINE OF PROPHETS.

THIS SON IS GOING TO BE MIGHTY GOD, AND HE WILL ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL KINGDOM.

GOD USED THAT KING CYRUS AND THE EVENTS AROUND HIM,

AND THE FUTURE KINGS IN THE LAND OF PERSIA TO FULFILL HIS ABSOLUTE PROMISE...

THAT THERE WILL BE THE MESSIAH, CHRIST, THE MESSIAH TO COME ON EARTH,

AND BEING BASICALLY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.

NARRATOR: AND IT WAS JESUS WHO DESCRIBED HIS PURPOSE FOR LIVING.

AND IT WAS ALSO ISAIAH THE PROPHET WHO SPOKE OF A SERVANT OF GOD...

WHO WOULD SUFFER AND DIE FOR ALL PEOPLE.

THAT MESSAGE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM,

PRESERVED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY BY INTERVENTION OF DIFFERENT NATIONS, INCLUDING THE PERSIANS,

FULFILLED IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOSOM OF THE ISRAELITE FAMILY,

PREPARED THE ROAD AND THEIR HEARTS AND MELTED MANY HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY,

AND NOW OF THAT NATION, THE PERSIAN NATIONS AND THE ARABS,

AND THE ELAMITES AND THE TURKS AND THE CHINESE AND ALL NATIONS...

ARE BLESSED TODAY. THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLE.

THAT PROMISE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM IS FOR EVERY TRIBE, EVERY NATION.

A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS THE MESSIAH,

AS HIS DISCIPLES WERE GATHERED IN JERUSALEM,

THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD FELL ON THEM.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD BIRTHED THE CHURCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES.

THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT PEOPLE HAD COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD...

TO CELEBRATE THE JEWISH FEAST IN JERUSALEM.

BUT MANY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT REALIZE THAT THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE GROUPS...

THAT ARE MENTIONED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2 VERSE 9: PARTHIANS, MEDES, AND ELAMITES,

ARE PEOPLE GROUPS FROM IRAN. IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE PRESENT IN JERUSALEM,

WHETHER THEY WERE JEWS WHO HAD LIVED IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...

SINCE THE TIME OF THE EXILE OR THE GOD-FEARING PEOPLE,

IRANIANS THAT HAD COME TO FAITH IN THE TRUE GOD...

BECAUSE OF THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

NEVERTHELESS, IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE THERE IN JERUSALEM.

IRANIANS WERE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

AND WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN IRANIANS WENT BACK TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES,

THEY TOOK THE MESSAGE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS THE MESSIAH TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

WE LOOK AT CHURCH HISTORY HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER.

THE IRANIANS TOOK THE GOSPEL, THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS,

TO CHINA THROUGH THE SILK ROAD.

IN FACT, THE CHINESE PEOPLE CALLED CHRISTIANITY THE PERSIAN RELIGION,

BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD THE GOSPEL FROM PERSIAN CHRISTIANS, PERSIAN FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.

SO I AM VERY PROUD, I FEEL VERY HONORED AS AN IRANIAN FOLLOWER OF JESUS...

THAT GOD HAS USED THE PEOPLE OF IRAN IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY...

TO BRING HOPE AND HEALING TO THE NATIONS.

I THINK A PERSIAN RUG CAN BE A BEAUTIFUL SYMBOL OF HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN HISTORY,

HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT A RUG, ONE SIDE OF IT CAN LOOK VERY ROUGH.

THE KNOTS, THE THREADS, THE... THE BACK SIDE OF A RUG MIGHT NOT LOOK VERY BEAUTIFUL.

BUT YOU HAVE FAITH THAT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RUG,

THERE IS A GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL PATTERN RICH WITH DIFFERENT COLORS AND TEXTURES.

I BELIEVE THAT'S HOW WE NEED TO LOOK AT HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN THE WORLD.

IT MIGHT LOOK VERY MESSY FROM OUR SIDE OF HISTORY RIGHT NOW,

BUT WE HAVE FAITH THAT THIS GOD WHO... WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO BLESS THE NATIONS,

THIS GOD WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO ESTABLISH THE SHALOM, THE PEACE,

THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, THAT HE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

ONE DAY THE PATTERNS WILL MAKE SENSE.

ONE DAY WE WILL SEE THE GLORY OF GOD'S WORK IN OUR LIFE...

JUST THE WAY WE SEE AND ENJOY THE GLORY OF A PERSIAN RUG.