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more kings in the Persian Empire,
but only the first four following
Cyrus were of impor tance for the
purpose of this prophecy. They
were Cambyses, pseudo-Smerdis,
Darius and Xerxes. lt was the last ,
or Xerxes, who was the richest of
all and stirred up war with
Greece.
Then King Philip of Macedonia
planned a great war to conquer the
Persian Empi re, witb an army
made up mostly of Grecians. He
died before the plans were com–
pleted. But his son, Alexander the
Great, took over bis plans, and
invaded Persia. He met tbe Persian
army at the Battle of Issus, 333
B.C. (Dan. 8:2, 5-6). Then be
swept down into Egypt, and then to
a final crushing defeat of the Per–
sian Empire at the Battle of Arbel–
la, 331 B.C., after whicb Alexander
marched on a conquest clear to
India, sweeping all before him.
Notice now verse 4 of the proph–
ecy: "And when he shall stand up,
his kingdom shall be broken, and
shall be divided toward the four
winds of heaven; and not to his pos–
terity, nor according to his domin–
ion which he ruled: for bis kingdom
shall be plucked up, even for others
beside those."
How marvelously-bow accu–
rately-that carne to pass. We
quote from one of the authoritative
histories,
A Manual of Ancient
History
(Student Series) by Raw–
linson: "Cut off unexpectedly in
the vigor of early manhood [the
33rd year of his age, J une, 323
B.C.], he [Aiexander] left no
inheritor, either of his power or of
his projects" (p. 237). The Empire
was left leaderless and in confusion,
but out of this emerged, by the year
30 l B.C., four divisions, just as
prophesied, by a division of the
Empire into four divisions by Alex–
ander's generals. They were:
l. Ptolemy (Soter), ruling
Egypt, part of Syria and Judea.
2. Seleucus (Nicator), ruling
Syria, Babylonia and territory east
to India.
3. Lysimachus, ruling Asía
Minor.
4. Cassander, ruling Greece and
Macedonia.
Thus was the prophecy of verse 4
fulfilled to the letter.
Now notice wbat follows. From
here tbe propbecy foretells the
activities only of two of these four
d ivisions: Egypt, called "king of
the south," because it is south of
Jerusalem; and the Syrian king–
dom, the king of the north, just
north of Judea. It is because the
Holy Land passed back and forth
between those two divisions, and
because their different wars were
principally over possession of
Judea, that the prophecy is con–
cerned with them. Here is verse
5:
"And the king of tbe sou th
[Egypt] shall be strong, and one of
his princes; and he shall be strong
above h im, and have dominion; his
dominion shall be a great domin–
ion." In history, we learn that tbe
original Ptolemy I , called Soter,
became strong and powerful, devel–
oping Egypt beyond the greatest
dreams of Alexander. One of his
princes, or gen-
erais, Seleucus
Nicator, also became strong and
powerful. And, in 312 B.C., taking
advantage of Ptolemy's being tied
up in a war, he established himself
in Syria, and assumed the diadem
as king.
Verse 6 says, "And
in
the end of
years they shall join themselves
together; for the king's daughter of
the south shall come to the king of
the nor th to make an agreement
[margin , "rights" or "equitable
conditions," or "marriage union"]:
but she shall not retain the power
of the arm; neither shall he stand,
nor his arm: but she sball be given
up, and they that brought her, and
he that begat her, and he tbat
strengthened her in these times."
Fulfilled to the Lette r!
At the end of 50 years, this
occurred exactly as described!
Syr ia's ruler, the king of the
nor th, at this time was Antiochus
II, called Theos. His wife was
named Laodice. And, says Rawlin–
son's
Ancient History,
page 251,
"Her influence ... engaged him in
a war wíth Ptolemy Philadelpbus
[king of tbe south], B.C. 260,
which is terminated, B.C. 252, by a
marriage between Antiochus and
Bernice, Ptolemy's daughter."
The prophecy says "he that
begat her" shall be given up. Also
that she shall not retain the power
of the arm, neither shall the king of
the nortb, whom she married ,
stand. All three are to come to
their end. Notice how accurately
this carne to pass.
Says Rawlinson 's
His–
tory,
pages 251 and 252:
"On the death of Philadel–
phus [he that begat ber],
B.C. 247, Antiochus repu–
diated Bernice, and took
back his former wife, Laod–
ice, who, however, doubtful
of his constancy, murdered
him to secure the throne for
her son Seleucus
( JI )
B.C.
246 ... Bernice ... had been
put to death by Laodice. "
Nowhere in all the Bible is
there so literal a prophecy,