Iran in Prophecy

Iran in Bible ProphecyThe Prince of Persiaby: Darrell G. YoungOctober, 2004Iran is a nation that figures prominently in the news these days. Three years ago (Sept. 2001) after the terrorist attacks upon America, President George Bush mentioned the nation of Iran and depicted it as being one of the notorious members of the now infamous “axis of evil” nations. Still, most people in the West know very little about Iran, and the vast majority of American’s are completely unaware of the history of the US relationship with Iran, and the fact that the region of Iran actually has had a long and significant role in world affairs. While Persia has had ties deeply rooted in world history, the direct American-Iranian relationship only commenced in the late 1930’s. Persia joined the allied forces against Germany in 1943, and thus the World War II Mid-east theatre provided the stage that began the rather brief history of the US-Iranian relationship. It is a relationship that has also undergone a complete about face since the 1970’s. Within the scope of this remarkable turn in geo-political affairs in the international relationship between Iran (Persia) and the United States are a host of highly significant factors relative to the prophesied signs of the times, and imminent world events in these Last Days. It was 2540 years ago that the Old Testament prophet Daniel first came into contact with the empire of the Medes and Persians. On a fateful night in 536BC, while King Belshazzar and his ruling company partied in drunken revelry, Darius, the King of the Medes diverted the Euphrates River and his armies entered into the fortress-palace of Babylon and destroyed it. Thus, as Babylon receded into ancient memory, Persia stepped to the forefront of world power. The Ancient History of Elam (Medo-Persia, or Iran)Iran, the land of the Aryans has a long and rich history. Some of the world's most ancient settlements have been excavated in the Caspian region and on the Iranian plateau. Village life began there around 4000 BC. (post Edenic era) The Aryans appeared here about 2000BC and split into two main groups, the Medes and the Persians. But the geographical region that we know today as the modern state of Iran has been dominated in history by five principle powers. The first tribe to dominate this region was the ancient Elamites, or the descendants of Elam. The five contenders for preeminence in Iran for the first 4000 years of its history have included besides the Elamites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and finally the Medes and Persians. Elam was a son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. The descendants of Elam established the nation of Elam in the southwestern portion of Iran. Elam was bounded on the north by Media and Assyria, on the east and southeast by Persia, and on the south by the Persian Gulf. The Elamites lived primarily in the area east of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. During their history, the Elamites struggled with the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Persians for domination of the Mesopotamian region of the ancient world. The great Babylonian dynasty of UR (Abraham’s original home) was brought to an end about 1950 BC by the Elamites, who destroyed the city and took its king prisoner. The capital of Elam during its entire history was Shushan (Susa). Susa was always the pride and joy of the Elamites and later under the Persians. Susa was a city that stood for 5000 years until tit was otally sacked and raised to the ground by the Mongols in the 13th century AD. The site is present-day Shush, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the Persian Gulf. The Bible also records that an ancient Elamite King named Chedorlaomer led a group of eastern kings on military raids into Palestine about 2000BC. These eastern kings defeated several cities in the Jordan River plain, one city among them being Sodom. Abraham and his allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, with their personal armies, finally defeated Chedorlaomer and his fellow kings and rescued Lot, regaining the wealth the easterners had captured.When Cyrus the Great (reigned 550-529BC) established the Persian Empire, he made Shushan its capital. Darius the Great (ruled about 521-486BC) also built his magnificent royal palace in Sushan. This palace, later occupied by Artaxerxes II (404-359BC), figured prominently in the biblical story of Esther. It was also in the city of Shushan that the prophet Daniel had his vision of the ram and the goat (Daniel 8:2) and where Nehemiah lived in exile. According to a tradition of the Shiite Muslims, the present-day village of Shush (ancient Shushan) is the site of the tomb of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. But from about 2000 to 1800BC, the Elamites expanded their kingdom at the expense of the Mesopotamian city-states, until Hammurabi (about 1728-1686BC) finally put an end to Elamite expansion, and Elam became a virtual province of Babylon until about 1200BC. For the next few hundred years Elam was subjugated by various Baylonian kings.From about 740BC onward, Assyria's power created a more serious threat to the Elamites than did Babylon. Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, conquered Elam about 645 BC. It was upon the death of the ruthless Ashurbanipal, that the Medes and the Persians formed an alliance and destroyed the Assyrian stronghold on Iran. The word “Iran” basically means the land of the Aryans, and this whole area of the Medes-Persians and Elamites had been inhabited by Indo-Europeans who had begun migrating into Iran by entering the plateau from beyond the Caucasus via routes around the Caspian Sea. Those that had settled in the northern and central areas were called the Medes, those that settled in the Fars area were called the Persians. (eastern area of modern Iran shown on map)The Medes emerged as a regional power when they defeated the Assyrians in 610BC by destroying the Biblical Nineveh. By this time the Persians had already taken the part of Elam called Anshan. After the Assyrian Empire was destroyed, the Medes annexed almost all the rest of Elam. Then in 550BC the Persians led by Cyrus challenged the Median Astyages and captured the Median capitol. Cyrus then made peace with the Medians and consolidated what became known as the Medo-Persian Empire. The entire Medo-Persian Empire was then divided into administrative districts, or satraps, which established regional governors under the authority of the King. It may be recalled from Daniel chapter six that after Persia and Media were combined that the King administered 120 satraps, which in turn had three ruling presidents, with Daniel being the chief among them. After the sixth century BC, Elam was never again an independent nation.

The History of the Medes and Persians (Iran)Persia was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. In fact, it was the Persian Empire that defeated and replaced the Babylonian Empire of Biblical fame. The Persians flourished and dominated the near-east geo-political landscape from 539-331BC. (The Bible records the fall of the Babylonian Empire to the Persians, setting the stage for the return of the Hebrew people to Jerusalem about 538-445BC, following their long period of captivity by the Babylonians that lasted seventy years from 606-536BC) The Old Testament actually contains many references to the nation of Persia and its representatives. There are many references to the "kings of Persia," and to several of the most notable of the Persian Kings, such as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes. The prophet Daniel (8:20) speaks of the "kings of Media and Persia, and Daniel 10:13 mentions the "prince of the kingdom of Persia." The Book of Esther also refers to the dual "powers of Persia and Media.” Daniel 5:28 prophesied that Belshazzar's kingdom would be "given to the Medes and Persians. In fact, the narrative of Daniel chapter five includes the fact that Babylon fell to the Median King Darius, on the very night that Belshazzar saw the infamous handwriting on the wall.The Persians apparently sprang from a people from the hills of Russia known as Indo-Aryans. As early as 2000BC, they began to settle in Iran and along the coast of the Black Sea. Two of these Indo-European tribes settled on the Elamite border and to the east of the Zagros mountain range. The first known references to them are made in the inscriptions of Shalmaneser III (858-824BC). They are noted as the Parsua (Persians) and Madai (Medes).The first mention of a Persian chieftain refers to his role as an ally aligned against Sennacherib of Assyria. His son was called "King, Great King, King of the City of Anshan." His grandson fathered Cyrus II, who is one of the most celebrated kings in world history. Cyrus II was the literal founder of the mighty Persian Empire. Cyrus II ascended to the Parsi throne located in Anshan in 559 BC. He conquered the Median King Astyages. (the grandfather of his wife) Then he defeated Lydia (about 546BC) and Babylon (about 536 BC), finally establishing the Persian Empire. Cyrus' rule was a result of the sovereignty of God. In contrast to previous rulers, especially the Assyrians, Cyrus was humane and benevolent toward those whom he defeated. It was Cyrus, the Persian king who issued the decree restoring the Jews to their homeland, following their long period of captivity by the Babylonians. (see II Chronicles 36:22-23; and Ezra 1:1-4)Cyrus was the founder of the central governing system under which each province, or satrapy, was governed by an official who answered to the king. However, he allowed a remarkable degree of freedom of religion and customs for the vassal states, including Palestine. He developed roads, cities, postal systems, and legal codes, and treated the subject nations kindly and humanely. Cyrus accomplished all of this because he was God's tool, just as Assyria, who conquered the northern portion of Israel, was God's rod of anger. Hence the Bible usually refers to Cyrus in favorable terms (see Isaiah 44:28; 45:3)Cambyses II (530-522BC), the son of Cyrus, reigned after his father. During his reign, Egypt was added to the list of nations conquered by Persia. The next Persian king, Darius I (521-486BC), was not a direct descendant of Cyrus but was of the royal Achaemenid bloodline. It was Darius I that was defeated by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon in 490BC. This is the same King Darius who, in his second year, ordered the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt after work on it had been discontinued for 14 years. (see Ezra 4:24; and 6:1) He also gave a generous subsidy that made it possible to complete the Temple construction. The extent of the Persian Empire under Darius is reflected in the writings of Esther. (India to Ethiopia) (see Esther 1:1; and 10:1) This vast territory was nearly 4,900 kilometers (3,000 miles) long and 800-2,400 kilometers (500 to 1,500 miles) wide.Xerxes ruled Persia from 486 to 465BC. As Xerxes was actually Ahasuerus, he is the king mentioned in the Book of Esther. Esther did not become queen until the seventh year of his reign, which would have been about 478BC. This was two years after Xerxes devastating defeat at Salamis (480BC) which ended Persia's last hope for conquering Greece, and laid the foundation for the rise of Alexander the Great.Another Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus I (464-424BC), illustrates one of the ironies of history. This minor Persian king was of major importance because of his connection with the Hebrew people. Apparently two of the three returns of the Jewish people from captivity in Babylon occurred during his reign. The second return was apparently under Ezra. This was made possible because of the generosity of Artaxerxes. The third return occurred in 445BC and is recorded in Nehemiah, and this date is notorious in the landmarks of Bible prophecy, especially as it relates to the first coming of Jesus. (Daniel 9: 24-27) The specific purpose of this return to Jerusalem allowed by Artaxerxes was to rebuild the city walls, and it also laid the foundation for the circumstances surrounding the geo-political events in Jesus lifetime.The religion of the ancient Persians was centered around Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster believed in dualism in which Ahura Mazda (Ormazd) headed the gods of goodness (Amesha Spentas) and Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) headed the gods of evil (daevas). After the decline of Persia, the region of Iran was left open to become one of the first countries to be occupied by the early Islamic empire which burst outward from Arabia in the seventh century. Persia has ever since maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language and adhering to the strict Shia interpretation of I

The History of Media and its Association with PersiaMedia was an ancient country of Asia situated west of Parthia, north of the Persian Gulf, east of Assyria and Armenia, and south of the Caspian Sea. The old country of Media is now included in parts of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. The history of the Medes is complex, because it involves many entangling alliances and the rise and fall of several nations. The Medes, like the Persians were an Indo-European people who invaded the rough mountain terrain south of the Caspian Sea. In the ninth and eighth centuries BC, Assyrian kings conducted campaigns against the Medes, forcing them to pay tribute. The mighty Tiglath-Pileser (745-727BC) invaded Media and added part of it to the Assyrian Empire. By 700BC and the era of the Jewish prophet Isaiah, a prosperous realm had been established between the Medes and Persians. Media is first mentioned in the Old Testament as the destination to which Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, deported the Israelites from Samaria around 721BC. The Medes are mentioned in Ezra in connection with Darius' search for the roll containing the famous decree of Cyrus that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. (The prophet Daniel prophesied that King Belshazzar's Babylonian kingdom would fall to "the Medes and Persians") Around 710BC Sargon II of Assyria defeated the Medes and forced them to pay a tribute consisting of the thoroughbred horses for which Media was famous. The Medes, however, increased in strength and joined forces with Babylon. The Medes under Cyaxares and the Babylonians under Nabopolassar captured Asshur, the ancient capital of Assyria, in 614BC. In 610BC this alliance overthrew Nineveh, the proud capital of Assyria, causing the crash of the Assyrian Empire. The seventh century Hebrew prophet Nahum expressed the great relief felt by all the neighboring nations at Nineveh's fall. Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, married Cyaxares' daughter, strengthening the bond between the two countries. During the era of Nebuchadnezzar and the time of Jeremiah (about 605-552BC), the Median kingdom reached the height of its power.Persia was dominated by Media until the time of Cyrus II who was founder of the Persian Empire. In 549BC Cyrus moved against Media and its king Astayges, and joined the kingdoms together. Yet under the Persians, Media remained the most important province of Persia. As a consequence, the dual name, "Medes and Persians," remained for a long time. Medo-Persia, a dual nation, then progressed to become a great empire that ruled Asia until it was conquered by Alexander the Great. (330BC) After Alexander's death, Medo-Persia became part of Syria.The Post Medo-Persian History of IranDarius III, the last Achaemenian (Persian royal) king was defeated in a series of battles starting at 333BC at Issus by Alexander the Great, who died shortly afterwards in 323BC. The Seleucids of Syria then took control of the Persian territory for about 100 years. At around 220BC the Parthian leader Arsaces declared Parthia's independence from Syria. Parthia included the area to the southwest of the Caspian Sea.The Parthians ruled over the Iranian plateau the next 400 years. They were militarily formidable and even challenged the Romans on numerous occasions for the control of the Near-East. The Parthians fought frequent wars against intruding Armenians and Scythians. Finally, a Persian princedom from Fars named Ardeshir I challenged and defeated the Parthian king Artabanus V in 224AD beginning a new dynasty in Iran known as the "Sassanian." The Sassanians considered themselves the heirs of the old Achaemenids. The Sassanian king Khosrow II came close to achieving the Sassanian dream of restoring the old Achaemenid (Persian) boundaries when Jerusalem fell to him and the Byzantine capitol of Constantinople was under his siege. Khosrow II, or Khosrow Parviz as he was better known, over-extended his army and over-taxed the people to the point that when the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-41AD) in a tactical move abandoned his besieged capital and sailed up the Black Sea to attack Iran from the rear, there was no resistance. Heraclius’s Byzantine army then marched through Mesopotamia and western Iran sacking Takht-i Sulayman and the Palace of Dastgerd. The Sassanians never recovered. Internal dissension and a long brutal conflict with the Byzantines left Sassanian Persia prey for the Arabs. In 636AD the Arab Muslims swept into the Euphrates basin, and in a three day battle at Al-Qadissiyeh in present day Iraq, they defeated the last king of the Sassanians and soon the entire Iraq-Iran region fell to the Muslims. From 636AD onward, the Mesopotamian near-east has been the strict domain of the Muslims. While various leaders have come and gone, the one thing that has been constant in Iran-Iraq has been the religious subjugation of the people to either the Shia or Sunni sect of Islam. Persia went from Zoroastrianism to Islam in one fell swoop.

Agreed Rome has little if anything to do with it and the Pope has zero accept that he will fall in line with Antichrist