Persian Reign

I dread the first class after midterms--usually information is super dry and uninteresting.  However, this class was surprisingly interesting.  It talked about the period under which the Persians ruled.  He began, introducing the rule of the 2nd Temple, mentioning that it is between 539 BCE-70 CE.  He then continued to speak about the importance of Prophet Ezekiel, and how he was exiled to Babylon in 596 BCE.  He compared Prophet Ezekiel to a "crazy" entrepreneur that you would see on Third Street, preaching absurdities.  Ezekiel had a utopian dream of a new Jerusalem.  That is, in the midst of the 2nd Temple being reconstructed, and eventually destroyed, Ezekiel felt that God was relentlessly there.  Olden perceptions suggested that God was physically tied to the Temple.  However, after the Temple was destroyed, the people were in a frenzy.  Instead, Ezekiel compared God to the ark of the covenant, saying God's presence is mobile; he is not physically tied to any landmark, but rather Jerusalem as a city.  Professor Cargill continues to talk about the Persian reign, saying that the ruler, King Cyrus now fosters the image of a "liberator," valorizing the return to Persia.  In his reign, Cryus was viewed by Judean exiles as the great deliverer, bringing a "Persian Messiah."  I feel that it was interesting when Professor Cargill said "the Biblical author must rationalize history, even if it involves a foreigner as God's chosen deliverer."  With this persian rule, the poverty of Jerusalem increased.  Persian Jerusalem was marked by a depopulated, heavily taxed, conflicted Jerusalem.  At this point, it seems as if there is no hope for Jerusalem.