02.06. From favour to hostility

From favour to hostility

Broadly speaking, lower Mesopotamia lies within present-day Iraq, and the territory to its east within present-day Iran. In biblical times the major peoples of these two countries were of different races, and that is still so today. Iraqis are Arabs, but Iranians are Aryans (‘Iran’ means ‘Aryan’), people of Indo-European stock. In biblical times Iran was commonly known as Persia, and sometimes as Elam, after an ancient kingdom within its borders. Kingdoms to the north of Elam were Media and Parthia.¹

Persia’s period of greatest power was during the reign of the Emperor Cyrus. Among the many kingdoms Cyrus conquered was Media, whose leaders he absorbed into the civil and military leadership of his expanding empire. His greatest victory was in 539 BC, when he conquered Babylon and became undisputed ruler of the region.² The Bible gives a favourable picture of Cyrus, because once he became ruler of Babylon he gave permission for the captive Jews to return to their homeland. He even gave them financial aid to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple.³ Although the Jews who returned were slow to complete their work, the Persian rulers were, on the whole, patient with them. Subsequent Emperors gave the sort of support Cyrus had given.⁴

Meanwhile, back in Persia, other Jews had risen to prominence in the administration. During the reign of one Emperor, a Jewish woman, Esther, became queen, and her cousin, Mordecai, became the Emperor’s chief minister.⁵ In Iran today, however, Jews are few in number and so are Christians. Both groups are barely tolerated in what has become an Islamic police state. They live in a climate of fear where they suffer social isolation and official discrimination 1. Genesis 14:1; Isaiah 21:2; Daniel 8:20; Acts 2:9 2. Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 21:9; Isaiah 45:1; Jeremiah 51:11 3. Ezra 1:1-4; Isaiah 44:28 4. Ezra 5:3-17; Ezra 6:1-12; Ezra 7:11-24; Nehemiah 2:1-10 5. Esther 1:1-3; Esther 2:17

Watering sheep