Iran's Greatest Leader Was Pro-Zionist

Iran today is one of the most "anti-Zionist" countries on earth. Consider a statement made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the "World Without Zionism" conference in Asia in October of 2005:

"Our dear Imam [referring to Ayatollah Khomeini] said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front. This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world."

Iran's leaders were not always as politically petty (i.e. creating foreign enemies in order to manipulate their people into "patriotically" following a despicable little man) and hate-filled as the regime there today (including Iran's ordering of the killing of writers in other countries e.g. the 1989 Iranian assassination order for the British writer Salman Rushdie, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his "services to literature"). There was a brighter time when the most powerful pro-Zionist leader in the world was an Iranian. He is known as Cyrus of Persia, or Cyrus the Great.

Iran was long-known as Persia - one of the most ancient nations of humanity. The English translation of "Persia" is based upon the ancient Greek name for Cyrus the Great's empire, variously verbally rendered (keeping in mind that the Greek alphabet is different than the Roman a to z alphabet that is used for English) as Perses, Persica or Persis - which meant country. It was only in the 1930s that a Shah (king) of Iran requested that foreign diplomats use the term "Iran," a word that is merely a variant pronunciation of "Aryan," an ancient name for the people of the country of Persia.

"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me"

The Babylonian Empire (see Ancient Empires - Babylon) that conquered and took the people of Judah away into exile in Babylon was itself later conquered by the Persian Empire (see Ancient Empires - Persia). While the LORD brought about the fall of Judah (see Israelite Monarchy - The Southern Kingdom; also Who Were The First Jews?) to the Babylonians, the LORD declared that their exile was to last only 70 years - a prophecy that was given to the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah's Field). Notice that Cyrus, the greatest king of Iran that ever existed, recognized and obeyed the LORD, the only true God i.e. "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me."

"^36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: ^36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

^36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah [see The Prophets: Jeremiah] might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

^36:23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up." (2 Chronicles 36:20-23 KJV)

In so doing, Cyrus didn't only fulfill a prophecy about Judah. Cyrus himself was prophesied, by name, before he was even born, by the prophet Isaiah (see The Prophets: Isaiah) - before the people of Judah had been taken away into exile by Babylon. The LORD (see also The First Christian Church) prophesied about Cyrus rebuilding Jerusalem before Jerusalem fell. The LORD specifically said to Cyrus, before he was even born, "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name."

"^44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." (Isaiah 44:28 KJV)

"^45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; ^45:2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: ^45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. ^45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." (Isaiah 45:1-4 KJV)

Cyrus not only permitted the return to Zion (see the Fact Finder question below), but supplied the people of Judah with all that they needed to do so. Cyrus even returned the articles that the Babylonians had looted from the Temple.

"^1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

^1:2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ^1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. ^1:4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

^1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. ^1:6 And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. ^1:7 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods; ^1:8 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah." (Ezra 1:1-8 KJV)

Cyrus the Great was also very close to one of the greatest prophets of the LORD - Daniel (see The Prophets: Daniel). The prophecies that began in the time of the Babylonians continued through the reigns of the Persian kings Darius and Cyrus.

"^6:28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." (Daniel 6:28 KJV)

"^10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision." (Daniel 10:1 KJV)

Fact Finder: Is "Zionism" about the return of the people of Judah to Jerusalem, or is it moreover about the return of Jesus Christ to rule the world - as Cyrus the Great of Iran understood?
See Anti-Zion Is Anti-Christ

This Day In History, September 25

275: Marcus Claudius Tacitus was proclaimed the Emperor of Rome after the assassination of Aurelian (see also Whatever Happened To Those Romans?).

1396: At Nicopolis, the Ottomans under Sultan Bajazet inflicted a severe defeat on the Church of Rome "Crusaders" led by "John the Fearless" of Nevers and King Sigismund of Hungary (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire).

1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first known European to sight the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the entire Pacific Ocean, and all lands anywhere that were touched by it, for Spain.

1555: In Germany, the Peace of Augsburg was declared. It was the first effort in The Holy Roman Empire to allow Lutheranism (Protestantism) and Catholicism to exist together in the Holy Roman Empire (which by then was officially known as the Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation).

1629: The Truce of Altmark was signed. The 6 year peace settlement between Sweden and Poland ended the 1625-1629 phase of the Polish-Swedish War of Succession (1600-1660).

1644: Ole Romer was born. The Danish scientific researcher and astronomer was the first to accurately determine the speed of light - 186,000 miles per second. Light can travel around the entire earth 7 times in 1 second, or travel from the earth to the moon in just over 1 second. It takes light about 8 minutes to travel from the sun to the earth.

1726: The French-heritage Acadians of eastern Canada (some of those who left went to Louisiana where "Acadian" became known as "Cajun") signed a British oath of allegiance on the condition they did not have to fight the French.

1818: The first human blood transfusion took place at a hospital in London, England.

1956: A transatlantic telephone cable between Britain and Canada was inaugurated with an exchange of greetings between London and Ottawa. Reaching from Oban, Scotland, to Clarenville, Newfoundland, the $42,000,000.00 cable consisted of 2 lines laid 30 kilometers apart on the ocean floor.

1996: Israeli troops and Palestinian security forces exchanged gunfire in Jerusalem and in other areas in Israel, set off by Palestinian opposition to an Israeli historical research tunnel dug in Jerusalem in the area of the Temple Mount (see also Raiders Of The Lost Ark). The confrontation was described as the heaviest fighting in Jerusalem since the area was captured by the Jews during the 1967 Six Day War.