The Persian kings were believers. The Bible speaks of them as righteous and Esther married one in a legal marriage. A Jewish woman could not legally marry a non-believer.

I realise why you reject Zoroastrianism as a true religion, but I think you should acknowledge that they believe and always have believed in the same god as the Jews and Christians.

It could be that He moved them there in order to free them later and show His power. But whether it was a plan or not is immaterial for me.

Anyway, we have a 70+ number of people moving to Egypt. Realise that since they all could have had more than one wife and lots and lots of servants, the total number could be well above 500 or even 1000 which makes the growth into several hundred thousand more likely.

The Israelites would also have been in Egypt during the introduction of monotheism/henotheism under Pharaoh Akhenaten. It is likely that many monotheistic Egyptians would have joined the Israelites after Akhenaten's death and the subsequent reversal to Egyptian polytheism. In fact those converts could have been the reason for why Moses felt he had to prove the power of his own god.

Well she did.  Have you ever read the book of Esther?  Her king husband didn't know she was a Jew.  She kept it secret.  He was about to exterminate ALL the Jews and she saved the day by revealing her Jewishness.

So have to disagree with you here Leauki based on scripture including the one I already shared with you about Cyrus. 

Whether he knew or not is irrelevant, as there is (presumably) no law preventing an Iranian king from marrying a Jew.

But the marriage was always considered valid in Judaism, hence the husband must have been a believer.

The scripture clearly says that Cyrus was rigtheous and G-d's annointed. G-d is not in the habit of annointing pagans.

Alright Leauki you wish to believe this, go ahead.  But it's clear from reading the passage it's not true.  I don't know what else to say.  Believe it if you wish. 

he wasn't.  Again, read the passage yourself.  It's clear he wasn't a believer.  He divorced his first wife, had a beauty pagent to find the prettiest girl in the land.  Esther won the pagent.  That was it.  Not a believer.  Valid or not.  She married an unbeliever.  He was just about to kill all the Jews in the land even his wife had she not stepped forward to expose her nationality. 

I've done extensive Bible Studies on this book.  Know it well. 

I haven't done extensive studies. But I simply read it.

It says that Cyrus was righteous and an king anointed by G-d. And I know from history that he was a Zoroastrian and that Zoroastrians believe in a single creator god.

How can a believer in a false god be righteous? How is it possible to be righteous while praying to a false god? How many righteous people do you know who pray to a false god?

Esther's husband was a Zoroastrian too. I read the passage. The things you list happened but they don't say that he wasn't a believer. There is nothing wrong with a divorce. And there is nothing wrong with a beauty contest to find a wife. (Indeed, a king has a duty to have a presentable wife.)

And the king never was about to kill all the Jews specifically. That was his prime minister's doing. The king had no idea what that actually meant. He was made to believe that it was necessary to quell a rebellion.

You might have studied this extensively, but you often overlook individual words.

Someone who violates the first commandment all through his life is not righteous. And in any other situation, if it wasn't about putting down Zoroastrianism, you would never ever argue that it is possible to be righteous while violating the commandments.

What you are proposing is the concept of a righteous murderer, a righteous adulteress, or righteous thief, or a righteous idol-worshipper.

No disagreement here.  I agree. 

I am?  How?  I don't think I understand what you are saying.  According to scripture when an adulteress, a thief or idol worshipper turns from his previous ways (repents) and acknowledges the one true God, he is made righteous.  In the NT it's called being a new creature, a new creation.  We have been washed clean and are as new.  The word is "kainos" in the Greek. 

I didn't overlook any words here Leauki.  I just gave you a quick run down for efficiency sake. 

and nothing to indicate he was.  In fact, you'd have to come away that he wasn't when reading the passage. Usually if there's no faith stated, it's for a reason.   You can't make a conclusion on non evidence. 

Where does it say he was righteous?   I believe he was a Heathen King and everything in history seems to indicate this.  In Proverbs God says he puts ALL kings in their places.  I don't see that he was called righteous at all.....and I'm the one overlooking words?  Well maybe you're adding words? 

"By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.  By me princes rule and nobles even all the judges of the earth."  8:15-16

So this isn't about Cyrus at all, but about God. 

Everything I've read Leauki and I've gone back to the 1500's say there is no evidence that Cyrus was a believer.  He liberated many nations not just the Jews btw.  So if he did believe he was an equally opportunity believer believing in all the diff gods out there. 

Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he has taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more: I will go before you levelling the heights. I will shatter the bronze gateways, smash the iron bars. I will give you the hidden treasures, the secret hoards, that you may know that I am Yahweh. (Isaiah 45:1-3)

Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. (Isayah 41:2)

What indicates this?

The Bible says different.

And history says that he was a Zoroastrian who worships the creator god.

ok.  I was looking in Chap 45 which is what you referred to first and below.....

This man carried out God's plan.  None of us are righteous without God......"as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one."  Romans 3:10 quoting Psalm 14:3. 

Cyrus was a great deliverer of the Jews and many other nationalities.  But I can't find anywhere where he was a believer including the scriptures because it seems clear he was not.  Immediately after, God says "I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God beside me.  I girded thee though you have not known me: "  v5

Why did God say that if Cyrus was a believer?  He's saying, I picked you even as an unbeliever.  It's pretty clear.   So it's clear he's not a believer and I can't see anywhere that he was.  Though used to carry out God's plan, Cyrus did not personally know God as evidenced in his ascribing his victories to "the great gods" and his defeat of the Babylonians especially to Marduk, head god of the Babylonian pantheon. 

Go over to Daniel and you'll read this:

"Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are his: And he changes the times and the season: he removes kings and sets up Kings:"  2:20-21a

God sets up and takes down kings according to his plan.  Saul was annointed as well as the first King of Israel.  But he wasn't a man of God. 

notice the "I's here.  It's not about Cyrus.  It's about God.  God's using Cyrus to do his bidding. 

KFC, it's pointless. Apparently it doesn't matter how often the Bible points out that Cyrus was a righteous king, annointed and guided by the lord, he is still a pagan for you.

I give up.

But I'll also stick to the text and not your problems with Zoroastrianism.

Personally, I don't care if you believe that Cyrus believed in the same god as you. I'm sometimes not sure you and I believe in the same god. But I know that I believe in the same god as Cyrus did.

KFC, can you show any example where G-D annointed a pagan?  I'm not talking about a person pouring oil but where it says G-D's annointed.

As I quoted the Bible refers to Cyrus not only as G-d's annointed but also as a righteous man (from the east).

Here is a very interesting essay on the subject:

http://www.vohuman.org/Article/Zoroastrianism%20and%20Judaism.htm

KFC,

I do wonder, however, what gave you the idea that Zoroastrians did/do not worship the same god as Jews (and Christians) do?

And compared to Muslims, who came after Jesus, what tells you that Zoroastrian belief before Jesus was not absolutely true according to Christian theology? What in Zoroastrianism contradicts Christianity (or Judaism)?

Before the exile, God was a vengeful, bloodthirsty, and jealous anthropomorphic tribal God of fear. After the exile, He became a good, perfect, remote, and universal God of love: identical to Ahura-Mazda. It needed the subsequent missions of Nehemiah and Ezra backed by the Achaemenian Imperial Government's authority to make the Jews ruefully conform to the new ideal of monotheism.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/religion/zoro.html

I wasn't planning on commenting on the current discourse yet I have some free time and sun down isn't for another 6ish hours so here we go.

Just because G-D uses someone or stirs up their heart does not mean HE accepts their entire practices. If you look at Balaam who came from a distant land he was a known medium.  From Scriptures it appears that he had a very limited knowledge of G-D (yet he still had very minimal knowledge of G-D).  G-D spoke through Balaam yet this does not mean that G-D approved of what Balaam was doing or what he has done.  As you go on Balaam gets killed.  The same goes with Pharaoh.  G-D raised up Pharaoh for HIS own purposes.

Now with Cyrus, it is very probable that when Cyrus took over Babylon he found Daniel there, who had been long famed as one of the wisest ministers of state in all the East and it is most likely that it was Daniel who pointed out to Cyrus the prophecy of Isaiah (44:28; 45:1) which pertained to him, Cyrus, and gave him those farther intimations relative to the G-D's will which were revealed to himself.  Even Josephus gave an account that someone showed the Scriptures pertaining to Cyrus in Isaiah.

G-D can use any vessel that he chooses and this doesn't mean that he accepts everything about that vessel.  It would be like me saying that since G-D spoke through Balaam's ass (aka Donkey) that G-D must favor Donkeys over the rest of the animal kingdom since he choose to use a donkey to speak through.

I've already told you before that I don't know enough about Zoroastrianism to teach on this other than to say that this religion was associated with Persia and for centuries one of the mightiest empires on the globe.  Hinduism was indigenous to India and Buddhism also a native of India.  Confucianism was for two thouand years closely associated with China.  Islam associated with the Arabs.  I guess I'm still not getting your interest in the Zoroastrian belief.

I do know that with the expansion of Christianity beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries that Rome and Persia were chronic and deadly enemies.  So there was no love between the two groups.  The Persian rulers as Zoroastrinists had their natural opposition to a growing non-Zoroastrian faith heightened by the fear that Christians were sympathetic to Rome. 

I know in the 5th Century Armenia (a Christian land) was dominated by the Persians and the overlords attempted to impose Zoroastrianism upon the land.  Many Christians suffered martydom under the Persians.  I believe Zoroastrianism was a more or less a state cult furthering ther religion by force. 

Cyrus. 

Can you show me anywhere that he was a believer especially after God just said that even tho Cyrus didn't know him, he was a tool in the hand of the God of the Jews?  I never said that Cyrus didn't have a high regard for the Jewish God but that's not the same as acting as a "believer" in the sense of worship. 

The action of Cyrus and his acknowledgement of YHWH provides no clear proof that Cyrus was a believer but it is evidence of his policy to conciliate captive peoples and their religions, as described in the Cyrus Cylinder.  The efficient Persian government kept its records on scrolls of papyrus or leather at Achmetha.