three kings of Persia (2)

Darius I, the Great, was the third king after Cyrus II, the Great, and reigned in Persia for the period 522-486BC. During his entire reign, the governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and his companions, the Persians who were in the region beyond the River, were against the re-building of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. They bribed agents to work against the them and to frustrate their plans.

In 520BC the governor’s letter of complaint went to his superior, the satrap who had charge of Babylon and the country west of the Euphrates, no records of the decree of Cyrus II instructing the re-building were found among the archives kept at Babylon. However, a further search found the memorandum at Ecbatana, where Cyrus had resided. Darius I confirmed this decree and ordered his officials to help the Jews.

Darius I reorganized the satrapies. His system of military commanders, introduction of coinage, legal and postal systems lasted as long as the empire of Persia. These facilities and the autonomy allowed to the subject people contributed to the stability of the empire. Under such a system the small community of Jews in Judah (only 42,360 people returned to Judah in response to the Persian king’s decree) was sustained. Jewish officers were appointed to govern them.

We can see how God had preserved the people of Israel in history. Indeed, during the entire period of re-building of the Temple and later the wall, the enemies of the Jews were harassing and threatening them. But God had raised powerful foreign kings to grant the people of God justice, favor and protection. All these fulfilled the promises of God spoken through the prophets of God long before they actually happened.

Indeed, by granting favor to the people of Israel, the Persian kings too continued to sustain their power and considerable prosperity. The Persian Empire which was established by Cyrus the Great lasted from 559BC to 651AD (interrupted by Moslem conquest). The main religion of ancient Persia was Zoroastrianism, but after the seventh century, it was replaced by Islam.

Believers Should Stand Firm

Now, dear brothers and sisters,[a] let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness[b] is revealed—the one who brings destruction.[c] 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

Believers Should Stand Firm
13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first[d] to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, 17 comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

Footnotes:

2:1 Greek brothers; also in 2:13, 15.
2:3a Some manuscripts read the man of sin.
2:3b Greek the son of destruction.
2:13 Some manuscripts read chose you from the very beginning.

The above passage is quoted from the Holy Bible 2 Thessalonians 2 NLT

Three kings of Persia (1)

We read how three Persian kings (559-424BC) appeared in Jewish history. Who are they and what did the Bible say about them. Most importantly how did these kings treat the Jewish people and their God? We shall read them in three short blogs.

The Indo-European Persians were nomadic pastoralists from S Russia, probably entered the Iranian plateau late in the 2nd millennium BC. The Achaemenes was claimed as founder of the dynasty by later kings. The three kings we mention here were his descendants.

All Scriptures are quoted from the Bible New King James Version (NKJV).
1.Cyrus II, the Great. (=Darius the Mede?) 559-530BC. 2 Ch.36:22-23; Ezr.1:1-4,7-8;5:13-17;6:3; Is.44:28;45:1; Dn.1:21;5:30;6:28;10:1
2.Darius I, the Great. 522-486BC. Erz.4:5;5:6-7;6:1; Hg.1:1; Zc.1:1
3.Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) 465-424BC. Ezr.7:1,21-26; Ne.2:1-8

CYRUS II
Cyrus II defeated Babylon in 539BC. He gave back the Jews the precious vessels looted from the Temple of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. More important, he gave royal authorization for the rebuilding of the Temple to any Jew who wished to return to Judah. (Ezr.1:1-4) He appointed a Jewish prince, Sheshbazzar, as governor. (Ezr.5:14)

Cyrus fulfilled the prophecies of Jeremiah 29:10 of the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile, and Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 of Cyrus being raised to carry out God’s purpose.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus says the Lord, “After seventy years re completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good words toward you, and cause you to return to this place.”

Isaiah 44:28 Who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”

2 Ch.36:22-23 That the above prophecies be fulfilled in the first year of Cyrus’ reign, the Lord stirred Cyrus’ spirit and he made proclamation to allow the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the God of Israel. Cyrus confirmed this in writing, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And he has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!”
Isaiah 45:1-7 God described Cyrus as His anointed, and promised, “To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron…I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me…that there is none beside Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other…”

Indeed, Cyrus II was the grandson of Cyrus I and he rebelled against his Median overload, killed him and took over his capital in 550Bc, and defeated the seemingly all powerful invincible Babylon in 539BC. He conquered other kingdoms too. Daniel prospered during his reign.

Cyrus recognized and gave honor to the God of Israel. This was written in his decree about God’s favor for him to conquer other kingdoms on earth. He also expressed his obedience to God’s command for him to build the temple of God in Jerusalem. (2 Ch.36:22-23; Ezr.1:1-4,7-8;5:13-17;6:3)

“All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And he has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.”

Ezra 6:3-5 recorded the decree of King Cyrus II authorizing the re-building of the Temple of God at Jerusalem. it specified the foundations, the building materials of stones and timber, the payment from the king’s treasure, and the return to Jerusalem all the gold and silver articles which the former Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from the Temple and brought to Babylon, “to be restored and taken back to the temple in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God.”

King Cyrus II was the most powerful ruler then but he acknowledged another who was more powerful than him. He acknowledged and honored the God of Israel. It is interesting to note he knew God wanted him to re-build the temple. Unlike other foreign conquerors he decided to adopt a new system of government. He allowed freedom of worship and local government autonomy through appointing Jewish citizens to be officials. His successors continued his policy which fitted into God’s plan for Israel. By aligning with God’s plan King Cyrus II prospered and his kingdom became strong and powerful just as God had promised through the prophet Isaiah.

July 30, 2016.
(To be continued)

There was a man named Ezra.

There is this Christian teacher who is fully qualified in knowing and teaching the Bible and is filled with the Holy Spirit. At the right time he goes to see the President of the country and the President respects, honors and favors him. The President gives him everything he asks for regarding the matter of following God’s Law to govern the people. The reason? The President believes that by pleasing God he and his family will be blessed instead of cursed. The President is afraid of God’s wrath against “the realm of the President and his sons”.

The President gives this Christian man full authority to access the federal and state treasuries for all the resources he needs for the church, and blanket executive power to execute the following based on Biblical principles in the country selected by God for God’s people:

1.Conduct inquiries into all aspects of lives in the country, to ensure that they are based on Biblical plumb line.
2.Give generous offerings and donations to the church according to God’s will.
3.Provide whatever God requires for the upkeep of His church.
4.Appoint magistrates and judges who know the Bible to govern all the people.
5.Teach the Bible to anyone who does not know it.
6.Anyone who refuses to obey the Bible and the national Constitution will be punished and corrected immediately according to the Law.
7.Tax free status assured for the church and all the church workers. They are exempted from paying all taxes, rates, custom and excise of any kind.

(I have put the above historical record into today’s language, taken from the Bible book of Ezra, Chapter Seven)
The time was in the seventh year of Persian King Artaxerxes’ reign (465-424BC).
The Biblical man is called Ezra. He was a descendant of the chosen high priest Aaron. This Ezra was a scribe well versed in the Law of Moses, which the God of Israel had given to the people of Israel. He was the priest and scribe who studied and taught the commands and decrees of the Lord to Israel. The King of Persia described Ezra as the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven. About 47 years after the completion of the Temple of Jerusalem, Ezra went to ask the king for favor and the king gave him everything he asked for. The king gave him a teaching job in Israel that he was most qualified to do, to teach the Law of Moses, and with absolute authority to ensure the law is practiced and fully complied with. God’s favor was on him. This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.

July 28th 2016

today we run the race of Christian faith

The Race of Faith
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Discipline of God
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”[a]
7 If[b] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Renew Your Spiritual Vitality
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

The Glorious Company
18 For you have not come to the mountain that[c] may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness[d] and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned[e] or shot with an arrow.”[f] 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”[g])

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Hear the Heavenly Voice
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake[h] not only the earth, but also heaven.”[i] 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may[j] serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:6 Proverbs 3:11, 12
Hebrews 12:7 NU-Text and M-Text read It is for discipline that you endure; God . . . .
Hebrews 12:18 NU-Text reads to that which.
Hebrews 12:18 NU-Text reads gloom.
Hebrews 12:20 NU-Text and M-Text omit the rest of this verse.
Hebrews 12:20 Exodus 19:12, 13
Hebrews 12:21 Deuteronomy 9:19
Hebrews 12:26 NU-Text reads will shake.
Hebrews 12:26 Haggai 2:6
Hebrews 12:28 M-Text omits may.

(The Holy Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible: Hebrews 12 New King James Version (NKJV))