Posted by Prophetic-Pt 3 [Bibleman] on November 06, 1999 at 01:46:06 {p8g/8h8r5QMRXA6xmpscslyACFuF8c}:
In Reply to: DARIUS I RULED 6 YEARS.. posted by Can you deal? on November 06, 1999 at 00:04:39:
PROPHETICALLY LINKING XERXES WITH ARTAXERXES
Here are the scriptures you need to prove that the Bible establishes that Xerxes and Artaxerxes were the same king.
First, Ezra 6:14,15 says that the king who finsihed building Jerusalem's temple was none other than "Artaxerxes, the King of Persia." This was completed in the sixth year of Darius so we know Darius died that year but also that "Artaxerxes, Longimanus" was his successor.
But there was a prophecy about the fourth king of Persia after Cyrus which said he would be the richest of all Persian kings (and thus would likely rule longer than the rest) and also that he would invade Greece.
Historically that invasion did take place when a king called Xerxes, the son of Darius, invaded Greece. The invasion was only partially successful. However, this was to be done by the "fourth" king after Cyrus.
Thus after Cyrus there was Kambyses, Bardiya, Darius, and Xerxes. Only Ezra 6:14,15 clearly shows Artaxerxes succeeded Darius. So you now just combine the two. Artaxerxes was the fourth king and so he was the richest and also was the fourth. Thus Xerxes and Artaxerxes are the same king, according to the Bible.
Thus, when reducing the Persian Period's 82 years of fake history, we can automatically reduce it by about 52 years just by decreasing the 30-year rule by Darius down to 6 as the Bible says and completely eliminating the 22-year rule of Xerxes.
That just leaves 30 years. Those are reduced from the very long reign of Artaxerxes II which was 47 years reduced to 17 years, which is much more in line with the ages of his father and son.
And finally, there is one more casuality here. Since Artaxerxes and Xerxes were the same king, the Book of Esther cannot be said to be historical at this point. Thus it reverts back to the Jewish fablet it originally was, joining the apocryphal writings where it belongs. Of course, no Christian Bible writer quotes from Esther though they manage to quote from all the other books except for these three: Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Esther and Song of Solomon are easily proven to be uninspired by their content or conflict with inspired scripture.
Cheers,
Bibleman