10 June 323 AD. Alexander the Great dies. As an idolater and pagan, the insatiable one
was never satiated in his lust for fame and glory.
Alexander
III of Macedon was born in 356 BC.
He was a
successful conqueror. He is important in
Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11.
Being
Reformed and conscious of God’s sovereignty, we cite Daniel 11.3-4:
Daniel
11: 3-4
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
3 But a [a]mighty
King shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to
his pleasure.
4 And when he shall stand
up, [b]his
kingdom shall be broken, [c]and
shall be divided toward the [d]four
winds of heaven: and not to his [e]posterity,
nor according to [f]his
dominion, which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up even to be
for others besides [g]those.
Footnotes:
-
Daniel
11:4
For when his estate was most flourishing, he overcame himself with drink, and
so fell into a disease: or as some write, was poisoned by Cassander.
Daniel
11:4
For his twelve chief Princes first divided his kingdom among themselves.
Daniel
11:4
After this his Monarchy was divided into four: for Seleucus had Syria,
Antigonus Asia minor, Cassander the kingdom of Macedonia, and Ptolemy Egypt.
Daniel
11:4
Thus God revenged Alexander’s ambition and cruelty in causing his posterity to
be murdered, partly of the father’s chief friends, and partly one of another.
Daniel
11:4
None of these four shall be able to be compared to the power of Alexander.
Daniel
11:4
That is, his posterity having no part thereof.
He
reportedly was fearless as a lad. He
tamed a horse called Bucephalus, a horse that would accompany his world
conquest.
He
was tutored by Aristotle.
At
age 16, he became a co-regent of Macedon with his father, King Philip, a man
who had united much of Greece including the League of Corinth.
At
20, Alexander’s father died and he took command.
He
went on the offensive. Asia Minor fell.
Palestine fell. He rampaged around the
Mediterranean coastline. He founded and
named a city after himself, Alexandria. 60 other cities adopted the namesake.
He
headed east. The Persians fell. He made it to India by 327, but his wearied
troops forced his retreat westwards.
He
allegedly accepted homage “as a god,” as Dr. Rusten tells it.
He
died 10 June 323 at age 33. In 13 years, he had rampaged around the world
and brought much of the ANE under his influence. His kingdom was split:
Macedonia
and Greece went to Antipater
Thrace
and Asia Minor went to Lysimachus
Syria
went to Seleucus
Egypt
and Palestine went to Ptolemy
The
latter two categories of influence would affect Israel’s history.
One
result was the ubiquity of Greek as the lingua franca. The New Testament was written in Greek and
the OT Septugint was in Greek. Lauded by many, he died a reprobate from eternity
past. The Final Judgment will settle
things up.
Nahum
1:2-3
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
2 God is [a]jealous,
and the Lord revengeth: the Lord revengeth: even the Lord [b]of
anger, the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath
for his enemies.
3 The [c]Lord is
slow to anger, but he is great in power, and will not surely clear the
wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind, and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Footnotes:
-
Nahum 1:2 With his he is but
angry for a time, but his anger never assuageth toward the reprobate, though
for a time he defer it.
Nahum 1:3 Thus the wicked would
make God’s mercy an occasion to sin, but the Prophet willeth them to consider
his force and justice.
Sources
Milns,
R.D. “Alexander the Great.” ABC. 1: 146-150.
Thompson,
J.E.H. “Alexander the Great.” ISBE. Rev. ed. 1:87-9.
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