DO YOU KNOW ME?
I AM IRAN. I AM PERSIA.
WE ARE AN ANCIENT PEOPLE.
WE'RE NOT ARABS, AS MANY THINK.
FOR CENTURIES IRAN
WAS KNOWN AS PERSIA.
WE BECAME THE LARGEST EMPIRE
THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN.
BUT PART OF OUR STORY
IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN.
SOME OF OUR GREATNESS
HAS FADED FROM MEMORY.
YET, THE PROPHETS AND WRITERS OF
THE BIBLE, LIKE DANIEL, ISAIAH,
AND EZRA, REMEMBER OUR STORY.
AND WHAT'S SURPRISING IS
THAT THE HEBREW BIBLE SPEAKS
OF PERSIA AS CHOSEN BY GOD,
CHOSEN FOR THE GOOD AND
FOR THE BLESSING OF ALL PEOPLE.
WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE HEBREW
BIBLE ARE PROPHECIES, PEOPLE AND
EVENTS DESCRIBING PERSIAN KINGS,
EPIC BATTLES, AND
ROYAL DECREES THAT CHANGED
THE WORLD, AND STILL DO.
WHAT MAY SURPRISE MANY TODAY ABOUT PERSIAN HISTORY...
IS THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE
BECAME ONE OF THE FAVORED PEOPLE
GROUPS OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
AND PERHAPS MOST SURPRISING OF
ALL IS HOW THE HEBREW BIBLE...
DESCRIBES IN INTRICATE
DETAIL HOW BOTH PERSIA
AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE...
HELPED TO FULFILL AN ASTONISHING PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRAHAM.
ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW
BIBLE, FOR THE PROMISE TO
ABRAHAM TO BE FULFILLED,
BOTH PERSIAN AND JEWISH
HISTORIES HAD TO INTERSECT.
AND THEY DID.
JOHN LEE: ONE OF THE MOST
INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE
HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...
IS ITS LINKS WITH
OTHER CULTURES.
IN PARTICULAR,
WE KNOW THAT THE HISTORIES
OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...
AND OF THE BIBLE ARE DEEPLY
INTERLINKED. WE CAN SEE EVENTS,
PEOPLE, AND PLACES...
THAT APPEAR BOTH
IN OUR SOURCES FOR ANCIENT
PERSIA AND IN THE BIBLE.
EDWIN YAMAUCHI:
I HAVE TAUGHT ANCIENT HISTORY,
INCLUDING PERSIAN HISTORY,
FOR MANY YEARS, AND I BROUGHT
ALL OF THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL,
BIBLICAL, AND CLASSICAL
SOURCES TOGETHER...
TO PRESENT A NARRATIVE
OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS...
AND THEIR INTERACTION BOTH WITH
THE GREEKS AND WITH THE HEBREWS.
LEE: THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WAS
CERTAINLY THE LARGEST EMPIRE...
THAT THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN
IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE.
BEFORE THE TIME OF PERSIA,
NO ONE ELSE HAD MANAGED
TO BRING TOGETHER...
LANDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
TO THE BLACK SEA,
ALL THE WAY TO
THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY,
INTO A SINGLE POLITICAL UNIT.
NARRATOR: PERSIA'S EMPIRE
INCLUDED NOT ONLY THE COUNTRY
OF IRAN TODAY,
BUT IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN,
TURKEY, SYRIA, JORDAN,
ISRAEL, EGYPT, AND MANY MORE.
THE CITY OF PERSEPOLIS
BECAME THE GREATEST CITY
IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
PERSEPOLIS IS AN
AMAZING SITE.
IT INCLUDES A COMPLEX
OF PALACES, AUDIENCE HALLS,
FORTIFICATIONS,
AND OTHER BUILDINGS ALL
BUILT ON A HUGE PLATFORM...
FOUR TIMES AS LARGE AS
THE ACROPOLIS, CARVED ON THE
LOWER SLOPES OF A MOUNTAIN.
THE APADANA, OR THE AUDIENCE
HALL, IS THE MOST REMARKABLE
BUILDING, PERHAPS, OF ALL.
IT'S BEEN ESTIMATED THAT
AN AUDIENCE OF 10,000 PEOPLE...
FROM ALL OVER THE EMPIRE
COULD HAVE COME THERE.
AND IN THE STAIRCASES THERE
ARE REMARKABLE SCULPTURES,
ORIGINALLY PAINTED, NO DOUBT,
OF DELEGATIONS FROM
23 NATIONS BRINGING GIFTS
TO THE PERSIAN KING.
LEE: PERSEPOLIS IS
A PLACE WHERE MANY DIFFERENT
HISTORIES COME TOGETHER.
THE BIBLE IS AN EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT SOURCE...
FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PERSIAN
EMPIRE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
ONE PARTICULAR PEOPLE WITHIN...
WITHIN THAT EMPIRE, AND WHILE
IT'S NOT A HISTORICAL SOURCE...
IN THE SENSE THAT
WE WOULD THINK OF HISTORIES,
IT CERTAINLY PRESERVES A GREAT
DEAL OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION,
AND A... A VERY
IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE,
AND FOR THAT REASON
IT'S AN INVALUABLE
RESOURCE FOR STUDYING...
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
AND ITS RELATIONS WITH
THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
NARRATOR: THE BIBLE
CONTAINS 240 REFERENCES
RELATED TO IRAN OR PERSIA.
THE NAME PERSIA AND PERSIANS
ARE FOUND 33 TIMES IN SIX
BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE.
CYRUS, PERSIA'S FIRST KING,
IS NAMED 19 TIMES.
PERSIA'S KING DARIUS
IS LISTED 15 TIMES.
PERSIA'S KING AHASUERUS,
ALSO CALLED XERXES,
IS FOUND 12 TIMES.
PERSIA'S KING ARTAXERXES
IS LISTED 13 TIMES.
OTHER PERSIAN PEOPLE AND PLACES
ARE FOUND ANOTHER 148 TIMES.
MOST PEOPLE,
INCLUDING MOST IRANIANS,
ARE NOT AWARE OF THE FACT...
THAT THE HISTORY OF IRAN
AND THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE...
INTERSECT AT PROFOUND LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES.
NARRATOR: AND IT WOULD
TAKE OVER 1,000 YEARS BEFORE
GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM...
WOULD INTERSECT PERSIAN HISTORY.
WHILE LIVING IN JERUSALEM,
THE PROPHET ISAIAH GAVE
AN UNUSUAL PROPHECY,
A PROPHECY THAT SPECIFICALLY
IDENTIFIED THE NAME CYRUS,
PERSIA'S FIRST KING,
MANY YEARS BEFORE HE WAS BORN.
NOW, ISAIAH LIVED ABOUT
700 BC, AND CYRUS DOES NOT
COME ONTO THE SCENE UNTIL,
ROUGHLY SPEAKING,
150 YEARS LATER.
ISAIAH THE PROPHET,
REMARKABLY, PREDICTED THAT
THE LORD WOULD USE...
A FUTURE KING OF
THE PERSIANS NAMED CYRUS,
KOORUSH, WHOM HE CALLS
"THE ANOINTED ONE."
TREMPER LONGMAN III:
THIS PHRASE "ANOINTED ONE"
IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
IT MEANS "MESSIAH" AND IS
TYPICALLY CONNECTED TO KINGS.
WHEN ISAIAH CALLS
CYRUS THE MESSIAH,
THERE'S NO RITUAL BEHIND IT.
A FLASK OF OIL WASN'T
POURED OVER HIS HEAD.
BUT IT'S A METAPHORICAL USE,
MEANING THAT THIS IS A PERSON
WHOM GOD IS GOING TO USE FOR
A SPECIAL PURPOSE IN HIS PLAN.
THIS IS THE ONLY
TIME IN THE SCRIPTURES...
WHERE A NON-ISRAELITE
IS CALLED THE MESSIAH
OF GOD, THE ANOINTED OF GOD.
IN ISAIAH CYRUS IS CALLED THE
MESSIAH, BUT ALSO THE SHEPHERD.
NOW, SHEPHERD IS ACTUALLY A VERY
FREQUENTLY USED IMAGE THROUGHOUT
THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST FOR KINGS.
AND GOD CALLS CYRUS
HIS SHEPHERD FOR A REASON.
THE SHEPHERD RESPONSIBILITY
IS JUST TO WATCH, TO FEED,
TO TAKE CARE, TO NURTURE, TO
LEAD, AND THAT'S WHAT CYRUS DID.
CYRUS DID THAT IN LINE
WITH GOD'S PLANNING, THAT GOD
WANTED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE.
LONGMAN: ISAIAH CONSIDERS
CYRUS SOMEONE...
WHO IS CHOSEN TO GUIDE AND TO
LEAD THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD,
AND, SPECIFICALLY,
EVEN HIS OWN PEOPLE, THE JEWS.
NARRATOR: AND NO ONE COULD
HAVE IMAGINED HOW KING CYRUS
WOULD HELP TO FULFILL...
THE 1,000-YEAR-OLD PROMISE
TO ABRAHAM, TO BECOME
A BLESSING TO THE WORLD.
TODAY IN IRAN THE TOMB
OF CYRUS STILL STANDS
AS A MARKER IN HISTORY.
THE OUTSTANDING
MONUMENT AT PASARGADAE,
WHICH IS STILL QUITE INTACT,
IS THE TOMB OF CYRUS HIMSELF,
MADE OUT OF WHITE LIMESTONE THAT
EXTENDS ABOUT 35 FEET IN HEIGHT.
NARRATOR: WHEN CYRUS BECAME
THE KING OF PERSIA, BABYLON
WAS THE DOMINANT WORLD POWER.
BABYLON'S CAPITAL WAS LOCATED
IN WHAT IS, TODAY, MODERN IRAQ.
EARLY IN THE 500S BC THE
RULING DYNASTY OF BABYLON...
HAD CONQUERED THE JEWISH
PEOPLE AND DEPORTED THEM
BACK TO THE CITY OF BABYLON,
AND THAT'S WHERE THEY WERE,
IN EXILE, WHEN CYRUS CAME
TO BABYLON IN 539 BC.
NARRATOR:
ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW BIBLE
THERE WERE SPIRITUAL REASONS...
WHY THE JEWISH
DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM
WERE DEPORTED TO BABYLON.
ABRAHAM'S DESCENDANTS,
ISRAEL, WAS CALLED TO BE
A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS.
THAT IS, THEY WERE TO LOVE
GOD IN SUCH A WAY...
AND OBEY HIM THAT GOD WOULD
SHOWER HIS BLESSINGS UPON THEM.
AND THEN THE NATIONS
OF THE WORLD WOULD SEE THIS
AND BE ATTRACTED TO THIS GOD.
AND IN THIS WAY, IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT, GOD'S PEOPLE WERE
TO REACH THE NATIONS.
BUT OF COURSE,
THE STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
IS UNFORTUNATELY TOO MUCH OF...
GOD'S PEOPLE NOT ACTING
IN THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD...
AND BECOMING AN OBSTACLE
TO PEOPLE BEING DRAWN
TO THE TRUE GOD.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
WAS THE GREATEST OF
THE NEO-BABYLONIAN KINGS.
HE BEGAN RULING IN 605 BC.
ACCORDING TO THE FIRST CHAPTER
OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL,
NEBUCHADNEZZAR ATTACKED JERUSALEM IN HIS FIRST YEAR.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY DIRECT
CONFIRMATION OF THAT ATTACK,
BUT WE DO HAVE CONFIRMATION
OF HIS SECOND ATTACK IN 597 BC,
AND OF HIS THIRD ATTACK
IN 587 OR 586 BC,
DURING WHICH HE DESTROYED
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON.
WELL, DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW
COMRADES WERE AMONG THOSE WHO
WERE DEPORTED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
NARRATOR: THE PROPHET
DANIEL WAS ONLY A TEENAGER
WHEN HE WAS EXILED TO BABYLON.
DANIEL MAY HAVE WONDERED
WHAT WOULD NOW HAPPEN TO
GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM...
TO BLESS THE WORLD
THROUGH HIS PEOPLE.
COVERING HUNDREDS OF MILES, THE
DEPORTATION WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE
JEWISH PEOPLE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS.
THEY TRAVELED NORTH ON
THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE,
PAST THE CITY OF DAMASCUS,
AND AROUND THE TOP
OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT,
THEN INTO THE TIGRIS
AND EUPHRATES RIVER BASIN
IN THE DIRECTION OF BABYLON.
AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS
OF EXILE IN BABYLON,
THE ELDERLY PROPHET
DANIEL READ WORDS FROM
THE PROPHET JEREMIAH...
THAT CAUSED DANIEL TO THINK
AGAIN ABOUT JERUSALEM.
JEREMIAH'S PROPHECY ABOUT
JERUSALEM GAVE DANIEL HOPE.
SO DANIEL BEGAN TO PRAY.
BUT HOW? HOW WOULD
A RETURN HOME BE POSSIBLE...
UNDER THE MIGHTY GRIP
OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE?
ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW
BIBLE, KING CYRUS,
CALLED THE ANOINTED
AND THE MESSIAH OF GOD,
WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
CYRUS WAS A REMARKABLE
MILITARY CONQUEROR.
STARTING FROM A VERY
SMALL KINGDOM IN WHAT
IS TODAY SOUTHERN IRAN,
HE RAPIDLY EXPANDED AS FAR
WEST AS WHAT IS TODAY TURKEY,
OUT INTO CENTRAL ASIA,
AND PERHAPS MOST
IMPORTANTLY, INTO MESOPOTAMIA,
WHERE HE CAPTURED BABYLON,
MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT
CITY IN THE WORLD AT
THAT TIME, IN 539 BC.
NARRATOR:
AFTER CONQUERING BABYLON,
CYRUS ISSUED A DECREE,
A DECREE THAT COMPLETELY
CHANGED THE WAY KINGS RULE
CONQUERED PEOPLES.
AND THAT FOREIGN POLICY
WOULD BEGIN TO OPEN THE WAY...
FOR GOD'S PROMISE OF BLESSING
TO THE WORLD TO BE FULFILLED.
ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT TEXTUAL FINDS...
IN ALL OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY WAS THE CYRUS CYLINDER.
THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A
FOOTBALL-SIZED CLAY OBJECT...
THAT WAS FOUND IN BABYLON
IN THE 1870S,
AND IT RECORDS A DECREE
ISSUED BY CYRUS OF PERSIA...
UPON HIS TAKING THE CITY OF BABYLON IN 539... 538 BC.
THIS IS A BARREL-SHAPED
CLAY CYLINDER,
WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN, THAT IS,
IN THE ANCIENT SEMITIC LANGUAGE,
THAT WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN
CALLED HORMUZD RASSAM,
WHO WORKED FOR THE BRITISH
MUSEUM, IN THE CITY OF BABYLON.
AND WE KNOW THAT THE PERSIANS,
ESPECIALLY UNDER CYRUS,
ALLOWED CAPTIVES TO GO BACK.
AND THIS PROCLAIMS A DIFFERENT
POLICY FROM THAT...
PURSUED BY THE ASSYRIANS
AND BABYLONIANS BEFORE,
WHO HAD TRANSPORTED POPULATIONS
FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER BUT
DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO RETURN.
SO THE CYRUS CYLINDER IS A
VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT BECAUSE
IT SHOWS US HOW THE PERSIANS...
ARE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY
APPEAL TO LOCAL CUSTOMS
AND TRADITIONS...
IN ORDER TO GAIN SUPPORT FOR
AND ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR RULE.
CYRUS WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN
USING A... A TRADITIONAL FORMAT,
THIS KIND OF INSCRIPTION,
TO PROCLAIM THAT HE RESPECTED
THE GODS OF BABYLON,
THAT HE WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN EXILED OR DEPORTED
TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES,
AND THAT HE WOULD RESTORE GODS
BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL PLACES.
CYRUS WAS THE FIRST KING IN
HISTORY THAT ALLOWED THE PEOPLE
THAT HE HAD CONQUERED...
TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE WAYS
THAT THEY WANTED TO.
LEE:
TODAY YOU CAN VISIT THE UNITED
NATIONS BUILDING IN NEW YORK...
AND SEE A COPY OF
THE CYRUS CYLINDER,
WHICH IS ACTUALLY
A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL
IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM TODAY.
IN THE BIBLE, IT TALKS ABOUT
HOW CYRUS GIVES PERMISSION...
FOR THE JEWS TO RETURN
TO JERUSALEM AND COMMISSIONS
THEM TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE.
AND THIS IS AN AMAZING
AND IMPORTANT THING
AND PART OF GOD'S PLAN.
REV. MANSOUR KHAJEHPOUR:
THE FACT THAT GOD USES
IRAN AND PERSIA...
BASICALLY TO TAKE CARE OF
THE CAPTIVES OF ISRAEL,
NOT JUST TO BLESS A NATION,
BUT TO MAKE THAT NATION
A BLESSING TO ALL NATIONS,
ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH, IS A
GREAT FACT TO BE REMEMBERED.
EVEN TODAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY,
IT'S REPORTED THAT
70 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION
OF THE WORLD...
LIVE IN COUNTRIES WHERE
THEY DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF
RELIGION OR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP.
BUT IN CYRUS, THE GREAT
PERSIAN KING, WE ENCOUNTER A
VERY OPEN-MINDED, TOLERANT KING,
WHO ALLOWED THE PEOPLE THAT
HE HAD CONQUERED TO WORSHIP GOD
IN THE WAYS THAT THEY WANTED.
SO CYRUS ACTUALLY
IS A... IS... IS A KING WHO
INSTALLED FREEDOM OF RELIGION,
AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP.
THIS IS... WE'RE TALKING
ABOUT 2,500 YEARS AGO.
NARRATOR: THE PROPHET ISAIAH
NOT ONLY WROTE ABOUT CYRUS
AS A MESSIAH OF GOD,
BUT ALSO ABOUT
A FUTURE MESSIAH WHO WOULD
BE MORE THAN JUST A MAN.
AND THE PASSAGE
TALKS ABOUT HOW HIS KINGDOM
WILL BE AN ETERNAL KINGDOM.
AND IT JUST DAWNED ON ME
THAT THIS SON WHO IS TO COME,
THIS CHILD WHO IS TO BE BORN,
WHO, ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 7:14,
WILL BE BORN OF A VIRGIN,
AND HE WILL BE CALLED
IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US,
THIS SON IS NOT JUST ONE PROPHET
IN THE LONG LINE OF PROPHETS.
THIS SON IS GOING TO BE
MIGHTY GOD, AND HE WILL
ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL KINGDOM.
GOD USED THAT KING CYRUS
AND THE EVENTS AROUND HIM,
AND THE FUTURE KINGS IN
THE LAND OF PERSIA TO FULFILL
HIS ABSOLUTE PROMISE...
THAT THERE WILL BE
THE MESSIAH, CHRIST,
THE MESSIAH TO COME ON EARTH,
AND BEING BASICALLY
THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
NARRATOR:
AND IT WAS JESUS WHO DESCRIBED
HIS PURPOSE FOR LIVING.
AND IT WAS ALSO ISAIAH
THE PROPHET WHO SPOKE
OF A SERVANT OF GOD...
WHO WOULD SUFFER AND
DIE FOR ALL PEOPLE.
THAT MESSAGE THAT
WAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAM,
PRESERVED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY
BY INTERVENTION OF DIFFERENT
NATIONS, INCLUDING THE PERSIANS,
FULFILLED IN THE PERSON
OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOSOM
OF THE ISRAELITE FAMILY,
PREPARED THE ROAD AND THEIR HEARTS AND MELTED MANY HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY,
AND NOW OF THAT NATION, THE
PERSIAN NATIONS AND THE ARABS,
AND THE ELAMITES AND
THE TURKS AND THE CHINESE
AND ALL NATIONS...
ARE BLESSED TODAY.
THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLE.
THAT PROMISE THAT WAS GIVEN
TO ABRAHAM IS FOR EVERY
TRIBE, EVERY NATION.
A FEW WEEKS AFTER
THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION
OF JESUS THE MESSIAH,
AS HIS DISCIPLES
WERE GATHERED IN JERUSALEM,
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT
THE SPIRIT OF GOD FELL ON THEM.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD
BIRTHED THE CHURCH IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES.
THE BIBLE TELLS US
THAT PEOPLE HAD COME FROM
ALL OVER THE WORLD...
TO CELEBRATE THE JEWISH
FEAST IN JERUSALEM.
BUT MANY PEOPLE MIGHT
NOT REALIZE THAT THE FIRST
THREE PEOPLE GROUPS...
THAT ARE MENTIONED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2 VERSE 9: PARTHIANS, MEDES, AND ELAMITES,
ARE PEOPLE GROUPS
FROM IRAN. IRANIAN PEOPLE
WERE PRESENT IN JERUSALEM,
WHETHER THEY WERE JEWS WHO HAD
LIVED IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE...
SINCE THE TIME OF THE EXILE
OR THE GOD-FEARING PEOPLE,
IRANIANS THAT HAD COME
TO FAITH IN THE TRUE GOD...
BECAUSE OF THEIR CONTACTS
WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.
NEVERTHELESS, IRANIAN PEOPLE WERE THERE IN JERUSALEM.
IRANIANS WERE FILLED
WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
AND WE BELIEVE THAT
WHEN IRANIANS WENT BACK
TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES,
THEY TOOK THE MESSAGE
OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS
THE MESSIAH TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
WE LOOK AT CHURCH HISTORY
HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER.
THE IRANIANS TOOK THE GOSPEL,
THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS,
TO CHINA THROUGH
THE SILK ROAD.
IN FACT, THE CHINESE
PEOPLE CALLED CHRISTIANITY
THE PERSIAN RELIGION,
BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD THE
GOSPEL FROM PERSIAN CHRISTIANS,
PERSIAN FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.
SO I AM VERY PROUD,
I FEEL VERY HONORED AS AN
IRANIAN FOLLOWER OF JESUS...
THAT GOD HAS USED
THE PEOPLE OF IRAN
IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY...
TO BRING HOPE AND HEALING
TO THE NATIONS.
I THINK A PERSIAN RUG CAN
BE A BEAUTIFUL SYMBOL OF HOW
GOD IS AT WORK IN HISTORY,
HOW GOD IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT A RUG,
ONE SIDE OF IT CAN
LOOK VERY ROUGH.
THE KNOTS, THE THREADS,
THE... THE BACK SIDE OF A RUG
MIGHT NOT LOOK VERY BEAUTIFUL.
BUT YOU HAVE FAITH THAT
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RUG,
THERE IS A GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL PATTERN RICH WITH DIFFERENT COLORS AND TEXTURES.
I BELIEVE THAT'S HOW
WE NEED TO LOOK AT HOW GOD
IS AT WORK IN THE WORLD.
IT MIGHT LOOK VERY MESSY FROM
OUR SIDE OF HISTORY RIGHT NOW,
BUT WE HAVE FAITH THAT
THIS GOD WHO... WHOSE PURPOSE
IS TO BLESS THE NATIONS,
THIS GOD WHOSE
PURPOSE IS TO ESTABLISH
THE SHALOM, THE PEACE,
THE KINGDOM OF JESUS,
THAT HE IS ACTUALLY
MAKING A BEAUTIFUL STORY.
ONE DAY THE PATTERNS
WILL MAKE SENSE.
ONE DAY WE WILL SEE
THE GLORY OF GOD'S
WORK IN OUR LIFE...
JUST THE WAY WE SEE AND ENJOY
THE GLORY OF A PERSIAN RUG.
