Chapter 51 Yahweh's Exile Ends

The Persians he ruled were of the Aryan race.That is to say, they were not a Semitic race like the Babylonians, Assyrians, Jews, and Philistines, but they belonged to the same broad category of people from which our ancestors descended.Originally these tribes seem to have lived in the plains on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. On an unknown day, they left their hometown and started a great migration. Some tribes traveled westward to settle among the native European populations, but killed or subjugated them soon after. Other tribes went south and occupied the Iranian plateau and Indian plains.The Persians and the Medes jointly occupied several mountainous areas, which had become extinct due to the brutal conquest of the Assyrian army.

Here they organized a republic based on grazing.From this humble beginning, the Kingdom of Persia grew, and later it was upgraded to an empire by the conquest of Cyrus. Cyrus himself was a very distinguished man.He resorted to war only when intrigue and diplomacy failed.He did not march against Babylon until he isolated the mighty city from all its vassals and allies.It's a long process. It took almost two decades, a period that coincided with the heights of the Jewish exile. From the very beginning, they suspected that "Cyrus" was the Messiah who, at the urging of Yahweh, would deliver them from the Babylonian yoke.They waited with bated breath for Cyrus' conquest.At first they heard that Cyrus was at war with the Capedusians.

After a while, passers-by told them that Cyrus was at war with Chrysas, king of Lydia.Chrysus was a good friend of Sauron, the Greek legislator. Later, it was rumored that a fleet was being built in Asia Minor, ready to invade the coast of Greece. The prophets of the entire church watched the man's progress with unreasonable enthusiasm.As soon as they heard the news that the Persians had won another victory, all the people immediately sang songs of praise and hope. Babylon's days (they were sure) were numbered.This wicked city refuses to listen to Jehovah. Jehovah will punish her for her sin.

Finally, the impossible happened and the city of Babylon fell.The Jewish exiles celebrated the event with great joy.Then they rushed forward to kiss the feet of their new masters, and asked to be allowed to return to their homeland. Cyrus did not object. He prides himself on tolerance. Subjects of all nationalities in the old Babylonian empire were immediately allowed to return home.Cyrus, however, went further than this. He has a Roman indifference to other people's personal opinions. If a Jew or a Phoenician or a Sicilian prefers their god to that of the Persian, so be it. They can build temples according to their wishes.

They can decorate the temple with their imagination or leave it empty, as they please. As long as they promise to pay taxes and obey the overseers or governors sent by the king, they can arrange their political and religious life according to their wishes, and the king will ensure that no one dares to interfere. The idea of ​​returning all the Jewish exiles to Canaan catered to a very practical consideration of the shrewd ruler, who wished to make Persia a maritime state. The Phoenician cities had obeyed his will. But between Phoenicia and Babylon there are the ruins of Palestine. There is a need to bring this desert back to life.

The Babylonians tried this before, sending immigrants to the old kingdom of Israel.These immigrants mixed with the remaining half-starved population to form a new race called the Samaritans.Descendants of the Samaritans can still be found today in the countryside of northern Palestine. They never thrived.They were a strange amalgam of Hebrews, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, and Phoenicians, held in contempt by the pure Jews of the former kingdom of Judah.When Cyrus began to restore order in Palestine, he first sought out the descendants of the captives taken from Israel, but found not a single one of these exiles or their children.They have been completely absorbed by their Babylonian neighbors, and their fate is as much a mystery today as it was in 538 BC.

On the other hand, dealing with Jews is easy.They still maintain the integrity of the race. A decree in 537 BC ordered them to return to Jerusalem immediately.At the same time, they were allowed to rebuild the holy temple.He also returned to them all the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had brought to Babylon about forty years ago, and encouraged them to build Jerusalem into a new capital, reviving the lost but not forgotten glory of Solomon's time. After half a century of prayer, the prophet's prophecy became reality. The exile of the children of Jehovah was over. The Jews were free to leave their cages.