What is the significance of the Medo-Persian Empire in biblical history?

The Persians were located between Media and the Persian Gulf, but very little is known of their history until the time of Cyrus, when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been brought to an end. 2 Chr. 36:22-23. Apparently they were a union of tribes, the ancestors of Cyrus being the chiefs of the leading clan. They conquered Elam ('ANSHAM' on the monuments). Media ruled them in early times, but under Cyrus the yoke was shaken off, and, together with the Medes, they formed the second Gentile empire, succeeding that of Babylon. In the great image of Dan. 2 Nebuchadnezzar was represented by the head of gold. The empire that followed was an 'inferior' one, represented by the breast and arms of silver. Dan. 2:31-39. This refers to the Medo-Persian kingdom. It was inferior in that the nobles concurred in the king's laws, and the king could not alter them: the power was depreciated from gold. It is further described as a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between the teeth, an emblem of its power and rapacity. To it was said, "Arise, devour much flesh. " Dan. 7:5.

The history in Dan. 5 relates that it was Darius the Mede that 'took the kingdom.' He was the first head of the empire, and his taking the kingdom does not clash with Cyrus taking the city of Babylon, which is implied in Isa. 45:1-2. See BABYLON. On the death of Darius, Cyrus succeeded and reigned in Babylon, and from thence the Persian element prevailed in the empire. The Persians are mentioned before the Medes in Esther 1:19. This agrees also with the above passage in Dan. 7 which represents the bear as raising itself on one side.

The first mention of them is when Shalmaneser took Samaria and carried away the Israelites, placing some of them 'in the cities of the Medes.' 2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:11. Under Cyaxares (about B.C. 634) a Median empire was founded. He is called Ahasuerus in Dan. 9:1. He pushed his conquests westward, and was able to overthrow the Assyrian empire. Astyages succeeded Cyaxares, but Cyrus the Persian was rising in power and subdued Astyages, but allowed him to reign as king, and he was probably Darius the Mede of Daniel. The kingdom was called at first that of the 'Medes and Persians,' as in Dan. 5:28; Dan. 6:8, 12, 15; but, at a later period, the Persians had the pre-eminence (cf. Dan. 8:3), and are mentioned first. Esther 1:3, 14, 18. They conquered Babylon and Asia Minor. On the death of Astyages, Cyrus reigned alone. It became the second great empire of the Gentiles. See DANIEL. There were some bearing the name of Medes present at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The Medes and Persians are considered to have been branches of the Aryan race and were one in origin, language, religion, etc. Esther 10:2; Isa. 13:17; Isa. 21:2; Jer. 25:25; Jer. 51:11, 28; Dan. 8:20; Acts 2:9. Darius in Dan. 5:31 is called the MEDIAN.

Let it be remembered that before this time the Assyrian kingdom had been incorporated with the Babylonian empire, and that by this time the Babylonian empire itself had passed away. Cyrus succeeded to the empire by force of arms, extending its territories, thus forming the Medo-Persian empire—the second world-empire prophesied in Scripture.

But what kingdom does the second or bear-like beast symbolize? The fifth chapter of this book supplies an answer. Belshazzar succeeded Nebuchadnezzar in the kingdom of Babylon. He made a sacrilegious and impious feast to a thousand of his lords. A mysterious hand appeared, and wrote upon the wall those solemn words, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Now the interpretation of one of these words contains the very information we require. The meaning of the concluding word was thus given to Belshazzar by Daniel: "Peres; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." The Medo-Persian kingdom, then, was to succeed that of the Chaldeans. And so the event proved; for we read, in verses 30, 31, that "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom." This is most plain and conclusive. We are not left to conjectures, — nor even to the testimony of profane history. The second great Gentile empire was that of the Medes and Persians.

To this Gentile power also Israel was subject and tributary. Darius appointed Daniel to be chief governor in the kingdom. From the Book of Esther, too, we know that on one occasion King Ahasuerus was induced to decree the destruction of the whole Jewish people. He too was a Medo-Persian monarch, as the last chapter of Esther, as well as other portions of the book, distinctly shows. Then in Ezra 1, etc., we read much both of "Cyrus king of Persia," and of "Artaxerxes king of Persia," and we learn how thoroughly subject to their power, for good or evil, the Jewish nation continued. The "times of the Gentiles" were still fulfilling their slow and — to the Jews — most dreary course.

A brief reference to God's ways in government on the earth will very much simplify and facilitate our understanding of this subject. We learn from the prophet Daniel that, on the utter failure of Israel as the depositary of God's power in the earth, the dominion was transferred to the Gentiles. Thus, in the interpretation of the great image which Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream, Daniel says: "Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold." (Daniel 2:37-38.) Three empires would follow — the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman; and the last of these, disappearing for a time, would finally revive, but be divided into ten kingdoms, as symbolized by the ten toes of the image, all of which however would be united in a common federation under one supreme head. (Dan. 2:31-43; Dan. 7; Rev. 13 and 17.) These empires reach down to the end, but the last is superseded, and indeed destroyed, by the kingdom of Christ; for "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up. a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Dan. 2:44; see also Rev. 19:11-21, and Rev. 20.) Now the period which embraces the whole of these monarchies is termed "the times of the Gentiles," during which, according to the words of our Lord, Jerusalem is to be "trodden down of the Gentiles." (Luke 21:24.) The absence of the Jews therefore from their own land will coincide, or nearly so, with this period. But God's purposes concerning His ancient people will yet be accomplished, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Rom. 11:29.) And hence, together with the completion and rapture of the church, God will commence to deal again with that nation.

Called several times in scripture 'the king of Persia,' though from the monuments he is found to have been also king of Elam, and is otherwise called the founder of the Persian empire. On his taking Babylon, the second great Gentile empire of Daniel was set up. He was prophesied of by name long before his birth; that he would be God's shepherd, to perform all His pleasure, and that he would say to Jerusalem, "Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." He is also called the anointed of Jehovah, to subdue nations (type of Christ restoring Judah in the last days). Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:1. When the 70 years' captivity of which Jeremiah prophesied, were expired (Jer. 25:12; Jer. 29:10) God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, and a proclamation was made that the house of the Lord God of Israel was to be rebuilt, and permission was given to the captives to return. He also restored the holy vessels that had been carried from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was called the first year of Cyrus, when he began to reign alone over Babylon. Ezra 1:1-11; 2 Chr. 36:22-23. This would be about B.C. 536, the 70 years of captivity having begun in B.C. 606, the date of the first captivity of Judah. Daniel continued till the reign of Cyrus, and speaks of his third year. Dan. 6:28; Dan. 10:1.

This was fearful. There is, however, restoration. There is a return of captives from Babylon. Jerusalem is regained, rebuilt, repeopled. The house of God is raised up again, and the worship of His name and the service of His altar are observed again. But this state of things was something quite new. Israel was not now a nation set in their own land, as they had been under Joshua and the Judges; nor a kingdom with one of their own children on the throne, (such a throne as the glory could accompany) as under David and David's sons. The people were now the vassals of the Gentile. They were debtors to the Gentile for permission to occupy the land of their fathers, and to observe the laws and do the service of their God. They were the subjects of the Persian, and their ruler was his vicegerent.

In order to explain this singular omission, let us first look at the circumstances in which the Jews found themselves in the book of Esther.

At the time of the decree issued by Cyrus, which came at the end of 60 years of captivity, a considerable number of Jews, who saw in this decree the fulfillment of the word of God, returned to the land, under the leadership of Zerubbabel. Ezra lead others back at a later time. This emigration included 42,360 persons. No doubt, more than once, individuals returned to Jerusalem from Babylon or other areas of the empire, in order to worship, or to bring gifts (see, for example, Zechariah 6:9-10). But, in a general way, whether out of indifference for Jerusalem and the temple, or whether out of love for comfort, self-interest, or any other reason, a great part of Judah and Benjamin remained in the Persian provinces where they had established themselves. The emigrants answered to the mind of God by returning to Jerusalem, but the others did not seem to appreciate the humiliation of their servile condition, and remained there where they were. It goes without saying that we exempt from this category of personalities those like Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Mordecai, whose official functions retained them under direct dependence on the Persian monarchy. Those who returned, without being acknowledged by God as a nation (for the sentence which had declared them to be Lo-Ammi* had not been recalled) had relations with the Lord individually and even collectively, despite the complete absence of national relations with Him. And it pleased Him to support them, bringing them into the understanding of His thoughts through their leaders, teachers and prophets, so as to maintain their faith and encourage them. God's purpose was to prepare them to receive the Messiah, and, if they would receive Him, to re-establish them as a nation and once again call them my people. We know how all these plans of grace toward Israel were interrupted by the rejection of Christ. We know how, after this rejection, the Church was formed by the Holy Spirit and how finally the restoration of Israel was postponed to a time yet future, as described by the prophets. Despite everything, the beginnings of the restoration of Judah and Benjamin were particularly blessed, as Ezra, Nehemiah, and the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi testify.

The condition of the people who had preferred to remain in the land of their captivity, was, on the contrary, most unfortunate. Although they enjoyed an outward prosperity, they were not only Lo-Ammi, like their brothers restored to the land of Palestine, but they were deprived of any communication whatsoever between themselves and God. God was hidden from them; He had turned His face away from them. A heavy veil of sorrow and abandon weighed upon this people. They had neither the energy of faith (since that energy had not manifested itself at the time of the decree issued by Cyrus), nor even the enjoyment of individual relationships with God. Israel's sun had set. There was no longer even a lamp to guide their feet in the night which had enveloped them. Whereas other had gone up toward the light, or rather had drawn near the light by returning to Jerusalem, these people had remained seated in the darkness of the shadow of death. Not a single ray of light from the face of God came to pierce through the darkness at this moment. This explains why, religiously, in the book of Esther, everything is plunged into a mysterious shadow. Daily life continues, but the spring of this life is weakened, and more than that: it is destroyed.

The book of Esther deals with the fate of the Jews who remained in Babylon after the 70-year captivity was over. The Babylonian Empire had given way to the Medo-Persian Empire. King Ahasuerus (known in history as Xerxes I) ruled over the 127 provinces composing that vast empire stretching from Ethiopia to India (Esth. 1:1).

PERSIA. — Silver (Dan. 2:39); Bear (chap. 7:5); Ram (chap. 8:3). Cyrus named before he was born (Isa. 44:28 45:5). Jews returned by his decree (Ezra 1:1-4).