The Strand Study Bible

BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS (From Malachi to Matthew)

T he close of the OT canon left Israel divided. Most of the nation was dispersed throughout the Medo-Persian Empire due to Babylon’s three previous invasions upon Judah and Jerusalem from 606-586 BC. A remnant, however, had returned to Judah in 536 BC to re-establish Temple worship. This small group of Jews, mostly from the tribe of Judah (Ezra 1-2), would end up dividing into two religious sects: the Pharisees and Sadducees, over the next two hundred years (from 536-336 BC), while under Persian rule. Then came the Graeco-Macedonian Empire under Philip II of Macedon in 359 BC. The father of Alexander the Great, Philip was a unique character. The son of a barbarian king named Amyntas, Philip was a small man with one eye and a gimpy leg, who was a habitual womanizer and drunkard; yet he was an extraordinary organizer and leader in war. In a matter of twenty years (from 359 thru 339 BC), Philip extended Macedonian control south to central Greece and east to the Sea of Marmara, appropriated and developed the Theban technique, backed it up with Calvary, and emerged as the most barbaric and mercenary power Greece had ever known. His goal was to do what no Greek had ever done –unite all of Greece in an effort to bring down the mighty Persian Empire. By 338 BC Philip II had unified nearly all the Grecian states. However, his plans to conquer the Persian Empire were cut short when in 336 BC a young Macedonian noble named Pausanias assassinated him. Immediately upon Philip’s death Alexander acted swiftly, seizing power by making sure of the loyalty of the army and speedily executing all faction leaders opposed to him as well as possible rivals for the throne. Like his father, Alexander charged the world like an enraged animal (Dan 8:5-7,21), and would pounce upon the Persian Empire with the speed of a big cat (Dan 7:6). He shattered everything in his path, including those Greeks who opposed his father’s dream of conquering the world. Under the influence of Aristotle, his personal tutor, Alexander would become one of the greatest leaders to ever rule an empire. According to the New Age Encyclopedia , one of the most ancient sources of information about Alexander’s life is Flavius Arrianus ( Anabasis of Alexander - second century AD), based principally upon the accounts of Aristobulus and Ptolemy (one of Alexander’s marshals). Plutarch ( Lives - c. AD 100) also gave us a biography of Alexander’s life, as did Quintus Curtius Rufus (first century AD), and Diodorus Siculus (first century BC). 1 The following is his personal story: Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia in northern Greece in 356 BC in the shadow of Mount Olympus, the home of the gods (Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, etc.). He had unusual parents. His father (Philip II), a barbarian by nature, fell in love with his mother, Olympias, when she was about twelve years old. The daughter of the king of Epirus, Olympias was but one of Philip’s seven wives. She was beautiful and highly intelligent, yet she was also manipulative, possessive, and ruthless. Addicted to weird religious cults, she is even said to have slept with snakes. Olympias claimed descent from Achilles (the leading character from Homer’s poem the Iliad - c. 750 BC) and often reminded her young Alexander that his real father was not Philip, but Ammon, the God of ancient Egypt. Throughout all of his campaigns, Alexander carried a copy of the Iliad , which he almost knew by heart. He would often think of himself as Achilles. By the time Alexander was entering his teenage years, he was already starting to show signs of extraordinary and remarkable leadership. John Gunther, in his book called Alexander The Great , recorded one such example, when Alexander saw his chance to tame a wild horse he later named Bucephalus. He notes: King Philip’s scouts had just returned from a foray into the neighboring hills, and they had bought some horses in the market… Alexander, fascinated by the excitement of this spectacle and the beauty of the horses, watched eagerly... Then a horse was brought in whom nobody, not even King Philip himself, could master… Now as he watched the animal, Alexander noticed something peculiar… The boy ran up to the giant horse, from whose eyes fury and terror were still darting. Grasping the bridle quickly, Alexander turned the animal full-face into the burning sun and kept him pointed in that direction… After a few minutes the horse’s rapid panting began to slow down–a sign that he had become less agitated. He lowered his majestic head for the fraction of a second, and Alexander, with one bound, took advantage of this movement to leap up on the animal’s back… Alexander then returned to where Philip stood open-mouthed… To master Bucephalus was easy, Alexander explained. He had noticed that when the animal was first led out into the open courtyard his back was to the sun. Thus, his body cast a shadow that terrified him... The boy shrewdly watched for his chance and turned the horse around, so that the shadow was not before him. Then he waited till Bucephalus tamed down… Philip kissed Alexander on the head. ‘My son,’ he declared, with great emotion, ‘Macedonia will not be big enough for you. You will need a kingdom of your own! 2 * Good leadership learns to pay attention to details By the time his father died in 336 BC, Alexander found himself at war again with all the Grecian states his father had

1457