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"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. ."--2 Pet. 3:3-4 |
The Berean Christadelphians |
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Index
Chronological Charts |
The Decree of Cyrus 
Of all the dates in this Chronology, we have no doubt but that our Persian dates in general are, at first glance, the most controversial. Archeologists and historians are pretty set on the dates they have chosen for the Persian rule. We have read much of their work with a very critical eye, looking hard for the mistakes, but our conclusions are that they have good reason to be satisfied. The archeological and historical evidence for the modern dates is overwhelming. Unlike the earlier periods where most honest archeologists would not strenuously object to a fluctuation of significant numbers of years, this period is well documented in several independent world histories, including Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian and Persian. There is also significant astronomical evidence for these periods. The accuracy of history has frustrated Bible expositors on this matter. Jeremiah's prophesy that Israel would be subject to Babylon for 70 years is strained beyond measure by them, abandoning the old true interpretation for what can only be called modern junk. When the dates for Jeremiah's prophesy were BC 612 for the captivity of of Israel to BC 542 for the reign of Cyrus, the period of 70 years lined up nicely. But the change in dates set up a conflict that religionists have struggled with, quite unnecessarily. Jeremiah's prophesy is right. Of that there can be no question. Babylon would reign over Israel for 70 years. As the fall was in BC 604, the reign must have continued to BC 534, even though Babylon fell to Cyrus in 538 BC. I will here explain why our date for the decree of Cyrus (BC 534 as opposed to modern archeology's BC 539) is not out of harmony with modern archeological finds. The commonly written thought by modern archeologists is that Babylon invaded Israel in the first of Nebuchadnezzar in BC 604. As the date for the invasion of Babylon has decreased, the date for the reign of Cyrus has decreased as well, but not proportionally. For instance, while the date for the conquering of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar has come down 8 years, (BC 612 - 604) the date for the conquering of Babylon by Persia has only been decreased by 3 (from BC 542 to BC 539.) This sets up a conflict with the prophesy of Jeremiah, being only 65 years, instead of the Scripturally required 70 years. In modern writings, archeologists and chronologists have generally set the date for the freeing of the Jews at BC 539, but this date is not consistent with their own findings. Archeologists believe (through corresponding Greek documents) that Cyrus was fighting in Asia Minor in BC 539 when a weak and tumultuous Babylon became an opportunity for Cyrus, and he left Asia Minor to go to Babylon to conquer the city. The ancient historian Herodutus writes that he did not immediately conquer Babylon, as the BC 539 date would suggest. Rather, he undertook a massive engineering project, diverting the Euphrates River out from under the wall of Babylon, so his troops could march into the city under the river gates, on the river bed. It is generally agreed that his troops did not enter the city until March of the following year, BC 538. Further, after the fall of Babylon, it is agree by archeologists that Cyrus himself, does not become King of the city. They believe (as the Scriptures teach) that Darius the Mede was first set in charge of the city. Modern historians believe that Darius was a governor, appointed by Cyrus and that Darius the Mede rules the city for one year. Historians believe this Darius to be a close relative to Cyrus, generally assumed to be an uncle, and that the sharing of power with the Medes was part of the over all agreement for cooperation between Media and Persia. The Bible account does not list him as a governor, but rather as a King. His actual rank is not relevant here, except as it bears on the question of when did Cyrus become King of Babylon. But what is relevant is that it is Darius the Mede who rules Babylon in that first year, from March BC 538 to 537 BC. The Scriptures indicate that Darius' reign is for at least two years. This would seem to be indicated from the two datings for Cyrus' reign in the book of Daniel. Dan. 1:21 says that Daniel continued to the first year of Cyrus, while Daniel 10:1 records a prophesy made by Daniel in the third year of Cyrus. The third year of Cyrus must come after (or be concurrent) with the first of Cyrus that Daniel continued to. It is not uncommon for joint reigns to be recorded thus. The previous two years then, were the two years reigned over by Darius the Mede. After Darius yielded power to Cyrus, the focus of Daniel's numbering becomes Cyrus, rather than Darius. This too, appears consistent with the archeology. The archeology record indicates that Cyrus enters Babylon the year following his victory, entering the city BC 537, and that after the following year (which would be 536 BC), in 535 BC, Cyrus is crowned king of Babylon in a large display. This brings the two year reign of the Darius the Mede of the Bible, and the one year reign for Darius the Mede of Archeology into consistency. The Bible has Darius ruling two years, with Cyrus becoming the point of focus in the third year. Archeology has him ruling one year, (538-537 BC;) yielding to Cyrus in the following year (537-536 BC;) who delays his coronation another year till Cyrus crowned King of Babylon in the fourth year following the victory, (535 BC.) Archeology records this crowning, but historians ignore its significance, and herein lies their problem. They date the decree to return the Jews to Israel, from the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, BC 539 while it is apparent that Cyrus himself numbered his reign from his crowning in Babylon BC 535. Archeology records that Cyrus declared the Jews free in his second year. The Bible says he freed the Jews in his first year. One year, in archeological terms, is not a significant time period, as it can be explained simply by the use of different calendars. If Cyrus made his decree a year after his inauguration, but before Spring, this would account for the difference in the two records. In any case, if Cyrus declared the Jews free in his second year of actual reign in Babylon, the date would be BC 534 as we know it must have been. For a complete detailed hypotheses on how these dates may have worked out, see Cyrus' Dating Hypotheses. Our conflict then, is not with the archeological evidence, but rather with the historian's interpretation of that evidence. Cyrus says that in his second year he freed the Jews. We all agree with that. The question is, the second year from when? Historians go back to BC 539 for this declaration, arguing that this is when Cyrus actually became king of Persia, and argue that the Jews were freed upon Darius entering the city, BC 538. They argue the freeing of the Jews in the second year, is from the second year of his beginning to eye Babylon. But this is not the only possible reading of Cyrus' writings. It is just as reasonable to suggest that the freeing of the Jews occurred after Cyrus himself became King in Babylon. There can be no question that Cyrus himself weighed his coronation in Babylon as a very significant thing. He clearly thought of himself as a "liberator" of Babylon, rather than as a "conqueror." In fact, modern historians fall all over themselves in their praise for Cyrus as the first author of civil rights for the people, based upon Cyrus' actions as "king of Babylon" where he not only reestablished the Jews in their homelands, but many other peoples and religions as well. As we have seen, both by Scripture and by archeology, Cyrus is crowned king of Babylon in BC 535 and if he freed the Jews in the first year, the date for the decree could be as late as BC 534 without doing violence to the Scriptural record.. Thus the reign of Babylon over the Jews would be 70 years (BC 604 - BC 534) as required by the prophesy of Jeremiah. There would be another 70 years for the work of the four carpenters to get all the decrees necessary for the construction of Jerusalem (BC 534 - BC 464) and then 490 years (the prophesy of 70 weeks) from this decree to the crucifixion of Christ, (AD 27). Return to the Chart of the Times of the Gentiles
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