The Book of Nehemiah recounts how Persian King Artaxerxes I not only allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall but also assisted him with protection and resources. And the Book of Esther tells how God saved his people, who were living in the Persian Empire under Xerxes I, from genocide. While Xerxes is the reason for the genocide being planned at the instigation of Haman the Agagite, Xerxes later helped to protect the Jews after Esther begged him for mercy.
Purim, the Jewish festival commemorating God’s salvation of his people from the hands of Haman, took place from March 2-3, days after the start of the conflict in Iran. “It wasn’t until more recent times that that relationship [between Persia and Israel] was broken,” Demeter said, “but it wasn’t really broken among the people. It was just the government of this regime. So it’s very important to separate the regime of Iran from the people.”
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In a reel posted to Facebook March 2, Iranian Christian Ramin Parsa and his Israeli wife expressed how much they love each other’s countries, as well as America.
“And just like as we are a couple,” said Parsa, “I pray that Iran, Israel, and America soon become friends and allies. See, we are the people. The people of Iran love the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love the people of Iran.”
What prevents that accord is the “Islamic regime in Iran that is dividing us and hates Israel,” said Parsa. “And we pray that the regime falls and Iran, Israel, and America become [a] three-braided cord that no one can break.”
Referring to “people in the streets…celebrating” with American, Israeli, and Iranian flags, Demeter says “that’s something that more people need to see.”
He has a friend named Hussein who was kicked out of university for questioning Islam. Hussein said that “at university, [authorities] used to paint American and Israeli flags on the ground so that people would walk on them.” Instead, people would walk around the flags.
“When they do walk around the flag, then some people do criticize them,” said Demeter. “But again, the majority of these are agitators that the government pays.”
“Iran was a modern country before the 1979 revolution. Before ’79, women could vote, they dressed in a modern way, and Americans readily vacationed there,” Demeter noted in a Facebook post about the Iran conflict. “Every Iranian wants their country go back to ‘normal’ and be a productive, modern, and free country. Would you join me in praying for this situation and for many Persians to come to know Christ?”
Disclosure: The author provides financial support to the ministry referenced in this article.
