Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great	Create Date: 22-Apr-2020
	Last updated: 29-Mar-2021
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Sections

1	Why Know about Alexander the Great	2	So Called Silent Years - Book of Daniel
3	The Man Who Conquers Quickly	4	The Four Who Inherited
5	The Key Historic Event Pointing to the Future

Why Know about Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great is an important man in history in both the Christian and non-Christian world history because:

He is written in about in the Book of Daniel in advance before his birth.
One of his successors performs a very grievous act against God that is known as the first Abomination of Desolation, which is prophesized to happen again in the Tribulation Period by the Antichrist.

So Called Silent Years - Book of Daniel

There is a period of history in between the last book of the Old Testament and the New Testament that is often called the "Silent Years" because there were no prophetical writings or prophets. While there was no writing from the Prophets, the period of time was written in advance within the Book of Daniel with such accuracy that critics have said that the book of Daniel had to be written after the events, which is easily proven wrong by the following points:

The Septuagint Old Testament dates back to the period of 285-247, which contains the Book of Daniel.
The Dead Sea Scrolls have the Book of Daniel, and the scrolls date back to at least 408 BC.
Periodicity of the Book of Daniel regarding:
(a) The grammar,
(b) Etymology, and
(c) Choice of words
were specific for the time period that proves that the Book of Daniel was written between 604 BC and 565 BC (if link missing)

excerpt screen capture from the link in point 3:
The primary point of old historical scriptural copies from several sources, besides the two noted, is the old parchments do not contradict one another. The scribes, from different geographical areas which were COPYING scriptures, did not conspire with one another to make sure there were no contradictions.
The Book of Ezekiel in verse 28:3 mentions the Prophet Daniel where the Book of Ezekiel was written between 593 and 565 BC.

Ezekiel 28:3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

Josephus in the book "Antiquities of the Jews" discusses the encounter with Alexander the Great in Jerusalem around 332 BC, where the Book of Daniel is mentioned as shown below in this screen capture excerpt from Josephus's book. See this link for full "Antiquities of the Jews".

The scriptures shown were most likely the parchments that is modern-day Daniel chapter 2 and 8, specifically Daniel 8:21, which are listed in the table shown in the next section of this topic.

Note that there are some Christian faiths which like to point to the Apocrypha books, as being written during or around the time of the Silent Years. Most Christians, if not all, would absolutely desire more and more books that are inspired and cannon from the Holy Spirit, where the Apocrypha Books are not.

The Man Who Conquers Quickly

The Book of Daniel contains many fascinating prophetic verses that all of us should be aware:

The Angel Gabriel visits Daniel to give a message giving the exact day that the Messiah would present Himself to Israel.
God gives interpretations to dreams to Daniel for the ruler of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar.
We learn about empires that are setup who will be Israel's adversaries and one another's.
Daniel has visions which the Angel Gabriel gives Daniel understanding.

Regarding details of the four points, the scriptures in the Book of Daniel's informs us about a man who conquers with such quickness that his adversaries were powerless against him. Historians, who match up the Biblical account in Daniel, point to the man called Alexander the Great, which the scriptures identify from Greece in Daniel Chapter 8. Alexander the Great had an amazing and interesting career that distinguishes him as one of the greatest military tacticians of history.

Before giving more details on Alexander the Great, in approximately 602 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar has the first dream which Daniel interprets in Daniel 2:31-44. The dream entails "an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance". Here are the parts of the statue with Daniel's interpretation given to Daniel was from God:

The following table is a high-level summary that is listing the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the vision, with explanation, given to Daniel by the Angel Gabriel that overlap the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar.

Part	Description	Interpretation	Scripture Reference	Scripture excerpts
a	Gold Head	Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar	Daniel 2:37-38	..Thou art this head of gold...
b	Silver Chest and Arms	Medo-Persian Empire	Daniel 2:39	..And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee..
			Daniel 8:20	The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
c	Bronze Belly and Thighs	Grecian Empire	Daniel 2:39	..And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee..
	*Alexander the Great*		Daniel 8:21	21 And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king
	After Alexander's death there were	Four who divided the empire, but not with his power	Daniel 8:22	22 And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.
d	Iron Legs	Roman Empire	Daniel 2:40	..And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:..
e	Iron and Clay Feet	Final Kingdom on Earth (Antichrist, Kings of the East, Nephilim)	Daniel 2:41-43
f	Not part of statue	God of Heaven Kingdom of Eternity	Daniel 2:44-45

The "Bronze Belly and Thighs" represented the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great which is split up into four pieces after Alexander's death at young age. Biblical Scholars, using history and Daniel Chapter 8's vision of the Goat and Ram, enabled the establishment:

The second empire, after the Babylonian Empire, was the Medo-Persian Empire, Daniel 8:20
The third empire, after the Medo-Persian Empire, was the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great, Daniel 8:21
The fourth empire, had a tie between it and the fifth empire because of the "iron" verse reference. There were a few other empires after the Grecian Empire, but the scriptures (beside the Book of Daniel) are pointing to an empire where the Roman Empire is the only one which:
(a) Contained all or some of the lands that the Grecian empire controlled.
(b) Was relevant to the nation of Israel.
(c) Would be dealing with the Messiah.
The fifth empire, using the patterns of the scriptures, has a tie between the predecessor because of the "iron" verse reference, where these points are discernable: Daniel 2:43 and other scriptures.
(a) Would contain all or some of the lands of the fourth empire.
(b) Would have a mixture of the seed of men and something else, that some Biblical Scholars identify as the Nephilim. The mixture would be temporary, which also points to the temporary purposes of the Antichrist using the world's false religions, people with no faith and false wonders that can be possibly fake UFOs to have people take on the Mark of the Beast.
(c) Would draw in the Kings of the East into a failed battle of Armageddon.
The sixth empire is not an empire, but the 1,000 Millennial Kingdom of God that is ruled by Jesus Christ, which then flows into Eternity after the Great White Throne of Judgment. Daniel 2:44 and other scriptures.

In the Book of Daniel chapter 8, Daniel has a vision of a goat that conqueror "without touching the ground". The metaphoric goat will be conquering with such speed as that was almost as if the feet of this conquer are not touching the ground. It fights with extreme rage against the metaphoric two-horned ram.

Daniel 2:43-44	43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another by the seed of men, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
Daniel 8:5-8	5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. 7 I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. 8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.
Daniel 8:18-22 Angel Gabriel visits Daniel	18 While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet. 19 He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. 20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.
Daniel 8:9	Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.

The Angel Gabriel visits Daniel and helps Daniel to understand the vision received, which is how we knew the identification of the Empires that were also listed in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Five important points of many:

The two-horned ram is Medo-Persian Empire.
The goat is the King of Greece.
The first King of Greece will be replaced with four kingdoms.
The four kingdoms will not have the unified power of the one kingdom. The most of the parts of western half of Alexander's empire that was divided will be eventually conquered by the "Iron Legs" kingdom, Rome, that is in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of Daniel 2:40. Most of the parts of the eastern half will become part of the future Parthian Empire.
One of the kingdoms of Alexander's empire will come against the "beautiful land", Daniel 8:9, which is Israel.

When looking at the historical perspective, the Medo-Persian Empire ruler was King Darius III who fought against Alexander the Great invading army. The staggering aftermath was Alexander's army of 50,000 destroyed Darius's army of somewhere between 2,000,000 to 2,500,000 soldiers.

Note that we do not know how many of Darius's soldiers were at the primary battle in 334 BC, but the ratio was around 40 Persians to 1 Macedonian-Grecian soldier, which shows the deadly skills of Alexander's soldiers and Alexander's military superior tactics and strategies. Additionally, some historians note that at the time of King Darius III:

The Medo-Persian empire had previously suffered skirmish defeats already against the Grecian army before the invasion by Alexander the Great.
There were civil wars and other rebellions in the Medo-Persian empire that weakened the empire. One conflict was with the Magian Priests who tried to overthrow the ruler.
At the decisive war between Alexander and Darius, the Medo-Persian army failed to cut off Alexander's army's supply lines.
Alexander fought the battle in a narrow strip of land between a ridge and sea that neutralized the Medo-Persian armies' superior number of soldiers.

Another very important point in Daniel's vision recorded in Daniel chapter 8 dealing with Alexander the Great, and the succeeding kingdoms coming out of Alexander's empire, was the attack against the "beautiful land", which is Israel.

The Four Who Inherited

As detailed above in this topic, the descriptions of Daniel's interpretations by the Angel Gabriel point to:

Alexander the Great, who conquered the Achaemenid Persion empire of Darius III, and
The subsequent four Kingdoms which come out of Alexander’s empire after his death.

During the 22 years it took to divide up the Kingdom after Alexander's death, eventually:

Cassander took Macedonia and Greece.
Lysimachus took Thrace, Bithyania and most of Asia Minor.
Seleucus I took Syria, Lands to the east, towards India.
Ptolemy I Soter took Egypt, Cyrene, Arabia Petraea and a few parts of Asia Minor.

The Seleucid empire would eventually disintegrate and be conquered by the Parthians. The Seleucids empire contained Israel and parts of Persia, where the Persians and Hebrews suffered greatly under the Seleucid domination, which somewhat bonded the Jews with the Persians.

In 167 BC, Israel gained independence in the Maccabean Revolt which is recorded in 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees and “The Jewish War” by Flavius Josephus. A short-time after gaining independence, Israel came under the rule by the Hasmonean Dynasty, before becoming a buffer-type of neutral state were control of the Israel territory was being fought over, nearly continuously, by the Parthian Empire and Roman Empire. Note that the Parthian Empire contained the areas once ruled by the Medo-Persians and other areas.

Some very high-level milestones dates detailing the area of Israel:

Pompey the Great was the first Roman to conquer Jerusalem in 63 BC from the Hasmoneans during a civil war occuring in the area.
Marcus Licinius Crassus led Roman Legions into Israel in 55 BC to plunder and pillage. Subsequently, Roman Legions were defeated in the Battle of Carrhae with the loss of 30,000 men that included the commander Craccus. The Parthians conducted a counterattack of Armenia, Syria and Palestine (area of Israel).
In 49 BC, there was a civil war in Rome with Julius Caesar that led to his murder, and Mark Antonius (Mark Antony) taking control of the Roman Eastern Areas.
In 40 BC, Parthian control was regained of the areas around Jerusalem under Antigonus II Mattathias. During this time, the Roman Senate with help from Mark Antony proclaimed Herod “King of the Jews”
In the years of 39 to 38 BC, Rome largely defeated the Parthian Army in the area but could not take Jerusalem. The Roman General, Publius Venidius Bassus, installed Herod to the throne of the area but Herod had to rule from outside of Jerusalem in Judea, Samaria and Galilee. During subsequent sieges of Jerusalem, Herod was finally able to rule from Jerusalem albeit under nearly constant threat of a Parthian invasion. This is important to know because of the visit by the Magi looking for the birth of the Messiah.

The Key Historic Event Pointing to the Future

This is an excerpt from the Abomination of Desolation topic.

In the period of 175 to 164 BC, the 8th king of the Seleucid Dynasty, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ruled until his death in 164BC. The Seleucid Empire lasted from 312 to 63 BC and was one four divisions created from Alexander the Great's empire after Alexander's death. The first ruler of the Seleucid Empire was Seleucus I Nicator, who one of Alexander's Generals, and where the naming of the empire originated. Of the four divisions of the Alexander the Great's Empire, the Seleucid Empire is of Biblical interest because it partially controlled the region of Israel.

The Book of Daniel, written between 604 and 532 BC, writes prophetically about the 600 years prior to Jesus Christ's birth which gives amazing multiple details that include the exploits of Alexander the Great and the legacy of divisions in the areas that affect Israel. The details in the prophecies were challenged by some historians as being written after the events transpired, but were unaware that there are copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint Bible that are dated several hundred years before Jesus Christ with the Book of Daniel in them, plus the proofs in this article.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is sited by history as trying to create Greek culture, including Hellenistic worship, into Israel. The historical record of his ascension and career:

Was most likely the brother of an earlier Cleopatra of Egypt. This is not the famous Cleopatra of 30 BC.
Became King after the murder of his brother, Seleucus Philpator, where the next heir, Seleucus's son Demetrius, should have taken the throne but was being held as hostage in Rome. The hostage status was done by bribes and flattery made by Antiochus Epiphanes. This was predicted by Daniel 11:21.
After coming into power in 175, Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Egypt and defeated the Ptolemy King but was forced by Rome to leave.
Upon leaving Egypt, Antiochus Epiphanes made Israel a buffer state between his kingdom and Egypt, where he plundered and desecrated the Holy Temple and Jerusalem
In 167 BC, he took his army into Jerusalem to enforced Hellenistic practices which he was already doing throughout his kingdom. Outlawed the following religious practices of Israel:
(a) Sacrificing animals to God by the Levites.
(b) Required Israelites to work on Seleucid projects on Sabbath days.
(c) Would not allow an Israelite baby boy to be circumcised, and if found the baby would be killed.
(d) Stopped all religious practices and rituals of Israel.
He stationed a Syrian guard of soldiers in a garrison permanently to punish by death anyone practicing Judaism.
In the Temple at Jerusalem, he had an altar erected for worship of Zeus, which is the Abomination of Desolation against God.

In the non-inspired book of 1 Maccabees 1:44-49, that contains historical information, the information records the penalty of death and ordnances required of Israel under Epiphanes.

Maccabees 1:44-49

44 And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, 45 to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane Sabbaths and festivals, 46 to defile the sanctuary and the priests, 47 to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and other unclean animals, 48 and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, 49 so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances. 50 He added, “And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die.”

Daniel 11:21

And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

After the event of setting up an alter to Zeus in the Holy of Holies, in the Temple of Jerusalem, this action caused Israel to revolt under the leadership of the Maccabee priestly family which lead to a victory against Antiochus Epiphanes and the expulsion from Jerusalem and most of Israel. The Temple was cleaned and the event is celebrated even today as Hanukkah.

For more information see Abomination of Desolation topic.

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