Now ask the good rabbi where & when the the Jews become so prophetic, when they realize & recieve all the examples kind, righteous & tolerant behaviors, taken from the example of their Persian Messiah liberator, the King of Kings , Cyrus the Great. (its also the same period where the height of prophets are inspired too)
examiner.com
Cultural evolution & exchange, at its finest,,,,
A Persian Jewish Messiah Cyrus the Great
examiner.com
Jewish religion, Jesus is not a worshipped as a divine Messiah. They believe the true Messiah has not appeared and the Messianic Age is not yet present. However, there is another who was referred to as divine Messiah for his kind and righteous behavior toward the Jews, as well as his fulfillment of Jewish biblical prophecy and profound affect on Judaism. To understand why this man - a Persian king - was called divine Messiah, we must go back to a dark period in Jewish history.
Babylonian Captivity
In 587 BCE, the Jewish nation was obliterated by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city wall and the holy Temple, together with the houses of the most important citizens. He also blinded King Zedekiah, who was taken captive to Babylon, together with many others. This traumatic event was known to the Jewish people as the Babylonian Captivity.
Judah became a Babylonian province called Yehud Medinata (Yehud being the Babylonian equivalent of the Hebrew Yehuda, or Judah, and medinata the word for province), putting an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. There the Jews remained for nearly half a century. The forced exile ended in 538 BCE after the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great.
When Cyrus conquered Babylon, he posed as both a liberator and a supporter of the local gods, and once in power, pursued a careful policy of religious toleration. The most important example of this was his allowing the Jews to return to their homeland.
The Babylonian Captivity and the subsequent return to Israel were seen as one of the pivotal events in the biblical drama between Yahweh and his people of Israel. Just as they had been predestined for, and saved from, slavery in Egypt, in the logic of the Bible, it had been prophesied that the Israelites would go into captivity to the Babylonians for their idolatry and disobedience to Yahweh, and then be delivered once more. Thus, unknown to him, Cyrus had fulfilled Jewish biblical prophecy.
The Babylonian Captivity had a number of serious effects on Judaism and the Jewish culture. For example, the current Hebrew script was adopted during this period, replacing the traditional Israelite script.
This period saw the last high-point of biblical prophecy in the person of Ezekiel, followed by the emergence of the central role of the Torah in Jewish life; according to many historical-critical scholars, it was edited and redacted during this time, and saw the beginning of the canonization of the Bible, which provided a central text for Jews.
Who was Cyrus the Great?
Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and Caucasus. From the Mediterranean Sea and the Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.
Cyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. He is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. In fact, he could be called the world’s first humanist. A humanist operates on the principle of respect for individuals. Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity.
So far, there has not been clear evidence indicating that Cyrus practiced a specific religion. However, his liberal and tolerant views towards other religions have made some scholars consider Cyrus a Zoroastrian king.
The religious policies of Cyrus are well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historic accounts. Cyrus initiated a general policy that can be described as a policy of permitting religious freedom throughout his vast empire. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.
Cyrus' policy of generosity toward the conquered became standard Persian practice; among the imperial peoples of history, the Persians remain outstanding in their ready toleration of local customs and religions.
Rebuilding the Temple
As pointed out above, Cyrus’ religious policy was evident in his treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple. Cyrus the Great also left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion through his Edict of Restoration.
Cyrus’ Edict of Restoration is fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra:
In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: “Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.” (Ezra 6:3-5)
As a result of Cyrus's policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as Messiah, a divinely appointed leader, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6). Isaiah 45:13: I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says Yahweh Almighty. (This is not to say Jews saw Cyrus as the true Messiah yet to come.)
The captivity and subsequent return to the Land of Israel and the rebuilding of the Second Temple in the Jerusalem are considered significant events in Jewish history and culture, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of Judaism. |
