There is one story in the Bible that if I didn't know for a fact it was true, I would find to be dubious and unbelievable.
And that is the story of the first Persian king Shah Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus the Great is easily one of the most bizarre characters in history. His metaphysical system was Zoroastrianism, which means Zoroaster the Archmagus was his prophet. Zoroaster in Greek means undiluted stars. They worshipped Ahura Mazda and read the Avesta.
After Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 540 B.C., he decided for some strange reason to free the 40,000 enslaved Jews who had been captured by Nebuchadnezzar and held in Babylon.
And not only that, he decided to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem.
"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." -- Ezra 1:1-2
Does that make any sense whatsoever? No. Yet nevertheless, we know for a fact this actually happened.
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22 comments:
OIM, you wrote: Does that make any sense whatsoever? No. Yet nevertheless, we know for a fact this actually happened.
To say this you need another independent, non-biblical, non-Jewish indisputable source. Until then, this does not make sense.
If true, I am happy that Cyrus was not a Hitler.
The temple was rebuilt during Cyrus' reign, but whether the LORD told him to do it or not is very debatable.
Obviously outside the scope of the post.
Kings of that age are well known to overturn previous rulers edicts when beginning their reign. From a Jewish perspective, he does look a bit like a messiah...
I should imagine he overturned a great number of Nebuchadnezzar's laws in his early reforms thus:
"One of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London."
--H.F. Vos, "Archaeology of Mesopotamia"
"The British Museum describes the Cyrus Cylinder as "an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda" that "reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms." The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor."
--Hekster, Olivier; Fowler, Richard (2005). Imaginary kings: royal images in the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome.
Jeffery,
"The temple was rebuilt during Cyrus' reign, but whether the LORD told him to do it or not is very debatable."
Question. If the Lord didn't tell him to do it, what on Earth could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing? I think it's one of the strangest things I've ever heard in my life.
KV,
"To say this you need another independent, non-biblical, non-Jewish indisputable source. Until then, this does not make sense."
Do you claim that no such corroborating sources exist?
Do you claim that Cyrus the Great did not in fact conquer Babylon, free the Jews, and rebuild the Temple of God?
OIM,
It is you who claims so by rhetorically asking in your words: Do you claim that Cyrus the Great did not in fact conquer Babylon, free the Jews, and rebuild the Temple of God?
By this question, you are trying to reinforce your lies, mind you, not what is in Bible. IT has to be corroborated by independent sources, otherwise, it is a brainfuck by a beam from wimps.
By the way no God needs a temple by a man who is a Jew or not.
OIM,
To complete the previous post:
It is the charlatans of any faith who claim to build temple of God.
And, only the cowards hide behind God, gods, devils, demons, mediums, etc. You could have stopped in your post without the last sentence - Yet nevertheless, we know for a fact this actually happen.
Honestly, that is your brainfuck. I am also happy that you are starting to understand what is a brainfuck, with a beam or without.
OIM, you asked rhetorically: Do you claim that no such corroborating sources exist?
Again, mind you, the burden is on you, not me, because, you claim that as fact, and all facts must be verified by independent sources, otherwise, it is a result of a brainfuck with a beam or not.
KV,
The burden of proof is on you to prove that there is such a thing as history. You have no evidence and no corroborating evidence of anything.
But since when do you care about corroborating evidence?
I have already shown you corroborating evidence that the sun and moon stood still and presumably you don't believe that even though it is corroborated.
Cyrus the Great King is a hero to Jews. From my view of it, Zoroastrians saved Judaism/The Jews. Darius is also a hero, he helped the Jews rebuild the Temple and there is some debate if the prophet Ezra, and Nehemiah were originally Zoroastrians (not addressed in this article).
-Regarding Cyrus/Darius policy.
livius.org/da-dd/darius/darius_i_6.html
"Another relevant example of Darius' religious policy is Jerusalem. Cyrus had promised the Jews that they could rebuild the temple of their God, but there had been opposition from the Samarians, who received support from the satrap of Syria, the Babylonian Tattenai. (An intersting appointment.) The prophet Haggai, however, demanded that the Jews, nineteen years after coming home, would actually start the construction of the temple. The inhabitants of Jerusalem sent a messenger to Susa to ask Darius what to do: build a temple as Cyrus had permitted, or not build a temple, as Tattenai requested? Darius ordered a search in the archives and allowed the construction of the sanctuary. On 1 April 515, the temple of Jerusalem was inaugurated. Probably, Darius had recognized in the God of the Jews his own supreme god Ahuramazda."
If Cyrus the Great (and/or Darius) was a devout Zoroastrian, he would have striven toward a life of, "good thoughts, good words, and good deeds". What better 'good deed' than freeing a fellow religiously devout/benevolent people and helping them get back on their feet?
A truly religious person does great things whenever the opportunity presents itself. Belief and servitude to a good and just G0d is a great motivator. - I can ask myself, "why do I donate money to people I don't even know/other causes...?". The answer is clear to me: G0d's influence through G0d's teachings inspire me. G0d is Holy, I seek to walk in His ways.
-
On the other side of things... a view I do not endorse, but enjoy musing over. The article is a bit long, but interesting. It makes a case viewing Cyrus as a man who was very coy, and used religion to win people over and conquer them without a fight... somewhat like Alexander the Great. It also portrays Judaism, and Christianity being "secret" versions of Zoroastrianism/Mithraism/Mazdaism.
"The Secrets of Zoroastrianism
By: Mark Willey"
iranchamber.com/religions/articles/secrets_of_zoroastrianism.php
Yikes! What if all this is true???
Perhaps G0d merged two of His peoples into one. "Ahura-Mazda" means, "The First Life - The Giver of Life"... a term which could describe the Judeo-Christian G0d. - The Jews are not the oldest people in the world.
Alexander the Great has also has some profound influence in the history of the Jews.
http://www.aish.com/jl/h/48929692.html
Caesar, and Augustus were pretty good as well... not heroes (to Jews, to my knowledge), but good men.
"By the way no God needs a temple by a man who is a Jew or not."
G0d may have no use for a Temple, but His people do.
Are you familiar with "the golden calf" story? I will assume, yes.
G0d was going to destroy all of the Israelites for being idolatrous and worshiping a golden calf when Moses went left to converse with G0d and receive Torah, a forty day period. - Moses argued against the destruction of his people with three main arguments;
Reason one: Moses believed the Israelites were in authentic despair. They were scared Moses was not coming back (39 days had passed), and had no way to take care of themselves, and the guy who was taking care of them (Moses) had been gone a long time, the Hebrews had no idea of what future was coming to them... they were rag-tag slaves with no education... so they went to the ONLY form of religion they knew, Egyptian-like idolatry. - When G0d heard Moses argument explaining this state, He realized it was true. G0d then realized His people needed practices resembling what they had always known religion to be (idoltry) to remind the "stiff-necked Jews" constantly of the fact they are involved in a religion where G0d takes care of them... all the little Jewish trinkets and stars, hamsas, candles, curly sideburns, no wearing wool and linen together, having fringes on clothing, customs and the holidays are an eternal reminder of the "golden calf" incident, and the expansion of the covenant to include "forgiveness"... this continued understanding is why a Temple was needed by the Jewish people. - Many, many, many of the Jewish Commandments in Torah (the 613 Mitzvoth) involve the use of a/the Temple to make sacrifices (ask me why Jesus was silly), again, a necessary reason for the Temple.
The other reasons were not as relevant to the Temple...
Reason two: Moses said, "You must uphold Your promise to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. - a slight side argument was all three of the Patriarchs had faith in G0d because they knew him to not only be Righteous ("experiencing" G0d as Eloheinu), but also Forgiving ("experiencing" G0d as Adonai)... as opposed to the main body of Jews only knowing G0d to be righteous/lawful. G0d was asked to "show" Himself as Adonai to all of Israel. And G0d made a display of forgiveness by not destroying His people... to establish the same covenant with all Israel, as the Patriarchs had.
-Jews say a daily prayer three times each day to commemorate this occurrence:
"Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad", which means "Every Israelite hear this, The Lord is our G0d, The Lord is One". Again, G0d does not need prayers, His people do.
Reason three: Moses stated to G0d, "What will all the other people of the world think when they hear you took the Hebrews out of Egypt, only to destroy them?" - G0d made a covenant with the Jewish people where the Jews are supposed to be, "a light unto other nations", so destroying them would snuff the light to other nations... who would enter a deal with G0d if they knew He destroyed the Jewish people?
:)
Question. If the Lord didn't tell him to do it, what on Earth could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing? I think it's one of the strangest things I've ever heard in my life.
Oils,
You are very fond of thinking that the Ancients were as advanced (or moreso) than we Moderns. The building of one temple is no greater deed than the Restoration undertaken in Europe after WWII, or the 40 acres and a Mule policy of the US Govt after Slavery was abolished.
Why couldn't an Ancient also be a kind, tolerant person without being influenced by some Bronze Age Mountain Animus?
You do not need God to be a tolerant person.
OIM,
YOu wrote: The burden of proof is on you to prove that there is such a thing as history. You have no evidence and no corroborating evidence of anything.
You are wrong and delusional, the burden of presenting corraborative independent evidence is on you, and negation of others concerns are not proof, and really really bad hetoric, and degrading to the university and all the dead old farts who you have been listening to during your brainfuck.
And, please keep your brainfucked nightmare with in your brain. You do need your Lillies.
AS,
So God does not care for a temple, a prayer, but only a good person living a life being good. And, you know, God doesn't care whether he is a Jew or not.
And a good person does not care whether good person is a Jew or not, nor does he believes in God.
Also, watch your 'o' and '0', proper usage is _, underscore, and again, God does not care how you write it.
Jeffery,
"You are very fond of thinking that the Ancients were as advanced (or moreso) than we Moderns."
Correct. This is my belief.
"The building of one temple is no greater deed than the Restoration undertaken in Europe after WWII, or the 40 acres and a Mule policy of the US Govt after Slavery was abolished."
Do you claim that the Soviets freed the Jews from slavery and built them a Temple?
"Why couldn't an Ancient also be a kind, tolerant person without being influenced by some Bronze Age Mountain Animus?
You do not need God to be a tolerant person."
When have atheists ever built the Jews a Temple?
Jeffery,
P.S. I just got Season 1 of Clone Wars on Blu-Ray. ZOMFG!
OIM, you stated: You believe all Jews are congenital liars and that there is no such thing as Persia or meteorites.
NO, only that, OIM lies, unabashedly. It would unfortunate if you are Jewish, because most Jews don't lie, and if you can, listen to Rahm of Obama chief of staff, he is a Jew, and does not lie in a very difficult job. By the way, are you a Jew who is like that guy in the time of Moses built a golden calf?.
Actually, Jews came from India, read Josephous(spell?). With that, they had more advanced knowledge than the nomadic bedouins, so they appropriately invented their god to be more powerful than pagans and went on to establish them a nation.
And, Persians went to India when Islam started marching east.
Just because there is Persia and meteorites don't prove a thing.
OIM,
What about that guy Roberts, whom you made out to be a scientist, while he was having seances with the spirits? By the way, he was a lawyer and he did not think much of Jews, so who defamed him by calling him a scientist, and put him in the same class as Einstein and many other good Jewish scientists.
B. Hussein Obama's Rahm Emanuel is an auto anti-Semite? How embarrassing.
Aaron, Moses brother, constructed the golden calf... the first Koken Gadol, High Priest of G0d... why would such a man do this!?!?!?! A man beloved by G0d!!!
Its a mystery.
one would do quite well to have characteristics of Aaron.
Dirty Oil Jew!
Season two seems rather hit or miss with me... but hey... it's Star Wars, right? I'll take what I can get.
Well, according to Maitreya (www.maitreya.org) Abram/Abraham was Persian and Cyrus knew this. So he released them as he believed they were a part of his subjects and free people. He also respected all beliefs in his kingdom. So he helped them to build their Temple.
This makes sense as Persian kings also married Jewish women and there is still a huge Jewish population in Iran (Persia).
By knowing this his acts do not seem strange at all
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