In the following study there is a lot of historical reading. Why? Because history is prophecy unfolded. Predicted before it occurs and verified afterwards, this is prophecy. You don't have to read it all if you don't want to- no one will force you to read anything, but if you've happened upon this study by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's leading, please consider allowing yourself to be bored and confused by it if necessary. The fact exists that God predicted our history and He did so to lead us to comprehend that all that has been predicted will come to pass inevitably. He will save us, we will gain eternal, everlasting life through His Son, our Savior. That salvation will be undeserved, unmerited, a gift to us. Our Savior will return and a last trump will sound and all who die will rise to meet the Lord, their Savior in the air. Those who are alive when He returns will also rise and all will be changed to immortality. This isn't a MOVIE of the week, this is reality, this is truth. All this will come to pass and for people to say they had never been warned, that they never had a chance to know the truth, that will be a lie.
We have a chance to know the truth.
By the grace of God may we take the chance on the truth.
All through the mercy of our Lord, our Savior, now and forever!!!
Amen.
******* Continuing our prophecy study-- Please GO back and read the study from the beginning to gain full understanding of where we are if you haven't been following this study daily. Thank you :) God bless you! *******
Dan 10:18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
Dan 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Dan 10:20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
Dan 10:21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.
Strengthened, Daniel is given further information- information he was to record for us, for those in the future, for those who would live through these times to look back and know that the God of Daniel was truly the One and Only God we could believe in without fail. Is there any other reason for prophecy?
It warns, it reveals, it removes doubt IF the listener allows the truth of the matter to be understood.
You could show all this to someone and they'd still shrug it off, they'd still be defiant against believing in God. People will twist things until they can get their own opinions across, the opinions that shout to the world they will not be swindled by anyone or anything, they're too darn smart for that. Whatever the reason people choose to disbelieve, whatever the reason people decide they'd rather believe in themselves than a proven God, their decisions are influenced by Satan and they are deceived by him. A whole world except a very few will be deceived. Knowing this fact, we have to pray unceasingly that we are not among those deceived.
Prophecy allows us to believe that if the prophecies come true in all the past, then the future prophecies will also come to pass- there is no stopping them.
Daniel predicted the world's future from that point on until its end ushered in by God claiming victory over evil, by God's kingdom being realized. Because God knew many would doubt, He gave many, many facts, many pieces to the puzzle to be put together throughout time. We who are living now have the advantage over so many who lived as the history was being made. We who are living at the end will have no excuse to give for why we have not been able to see God's hand at work. We who are living at the end cannot hold ignorance up as an excuse. There are no excuses for unbelief, none.
Let's go through more of these prophecies given and pray unendingly for understanding, for enlightenment into ALL TRUTH! We do not want to be deceived by Satan, we do not want to be among those fooled into losing our eternal lives.
Dan 11:1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
Dan 11:2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
Three kings in Persia would stand up and then a fourth richer than all the others. Through the fourth's strength and riches -Greece would be affected.
Is this history? Do we have an historical account of this occurring?
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1st King-
When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.E., Cambyses was employed in leading religious ceremonies.[4] In the cylinder which contains Cyrus' proclamation to the Babylonians, Cambyses' name is joined to his father's in the prayers to Marduk. On a tablet dated from the first year of Cyrus, Cambyses is called king of Babylon, although his authority seems to have been ephemeral. Only in 530 B.C.E., when Cyrus set out on his last expedition into the East, did Cyrus associate Cambyses with the throne. Numerous Babylonian tablets of the time date from the accession and the first year of Cambyses, when Cyrus was "king of the countries" (i.e., of the world).
After the death of his father in August 530, Cambyses became sole king. The tablets dating from his reign in Babylonia run to the end of his eighth year, in March 522 B.C.E. Herodotus (3.66), who dates his reign from the death of Cyrus, gives him seven years five months, from 530 B.C.E. to the summer of 523.[5]
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2nd King-
Bardiya (Greek: Smerdis) (Old Persian: Bardiya;[2] Ancient Greek: Sµ??d??) (possibly died 522 BCE) was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life, he may have ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or he may have been impersonated by a magus called Gaumata.[3]
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3rd King-
Darius I Hystaspes, or Darius the Great, king of Persia [522-486 BCE]. Through his father Hystaspes, Darius belonged to the Achaemenid family, as did Cyrus The Great and his son Cambyses II, but to a different branch of this family. When Cambyses was in Egypt, during the last year of his reign, a certain Gaumata usurped the throne by pretending to be Bardiya, Cambyses' brother, who had been assassinated secretly before Cambyses started out for his Egyptian campaign in 525 BCE. When Cambyses learned of this usurpation he immediately set out for Persia, but on the way, while in Syria, he died in July, 522 BCE, as the result of either an accident or suicide, leaving no heir. Darius, a distant cousin of Cambyses, at once set out to gain the throne for himself. With some helpers he slew the Smerdis/Gaumâta or false Bardiya in September, 522 BCE, and assumed the kingship. However, he had to fight against a number of other pretenders and rebels. It took more than a year (522-521 BCE) of hard fighting to put down revolts associated with Bardiya's claim to the throne. Almost every province of the empire was involved in the conflict, including Persia and, most particularly, Media. He finally emerged from the struggle the
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4th King-
Immediately after seizing the kingship, Darius I of Persia (son of Hystaspes) married Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). They were both descendants of Achaemenes from different Achaemenid lines. Marrying a daughter of Cyrus strengthened Darius' position as king.[1] Darius was an active emperor, busy with building programs in Persepolis, Susa, Egypt, and elsewhere. Toward the end of his reign he moved to punish Athens, but a new revolt in Egypt (probably led by the Persian satrap) had to be suppressed. Under Persian law, the Achaemenian kings were required to choose a successor before setting out on such serious expeditions. Upon his great decision to leave (487-486 BC),[2] Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius' failing health then prevented him from leading the campaigns,[3] and he died in October 486 BC.[3]
Xerxes was not the oldest son of Darius, and according to old Iranian traditions should not have succeeded the King. Xerxes was however the oldest son of Darius and Atossa hence descendent of Cyrus. This made Xerxes the chosen King of Persia.[4] Some modern scholars also view the unusual decision of Darius to give the throne to Xerxes to be a result of his consideration of the unique positions that Cyrus the Great and his daughter Atossa have had.[5] Artobazan was born to "Darius the subject", while Xerxes was the eldest son born in the purple after Darius' rise to the throne, and Artobazan's mother was a commoner while Xerxes' mother was the daughter of the founder of the empire.[6]
Xerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October–December 486 BC[7] when he was about 36 years old.[2] The transition of power to Xerxes was smooth due again in part to great authority of Atossa[1] and his accession of royal power was not challenged by any person at court or in the Achaemenian family, or any subject nation
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Invasion of the Greek mainland
Main article: Greco-Persian Wars
Darius left to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. From 483 BC Xerxes prepared his expedition: A channel was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, two bridges were built across the Hellespont. Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Xerxes, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Egyptians and Jews.[11]
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus bridge; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful.[12] Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus exaggerated to be more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. The actual Persian strength was around two to three hundred thousands. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.
Thermopylae and Athens
At the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf. The delay caused by the Spartans allowed Athens to be evacuated.
What happened next is a matter of some controversy. According to Herodotus, upon encountering the deserted city, in an uncharacteristic fit of rage particularly for Persian kings, Xerxes had Athens burned. He almost immediately regretted this action and ordered it rebuilt the very next day. However, Persian scholars dispute this view as pan-Hellenic propaganda, arguing that Sparta, not Athens, was Xerxes' main foe in his Greek campaigns, and that Xerxes would have had nothing to gain by destroying a major center of trade and commerce like Athens once he had already captured it.
At that time, anti-Persian sentiment was high among many mainland Greeks, and the rumor that Xerxes had destroyed the city was a popular one, though it is equally likely the fire was started by accident as the Athenians were frantically fleeing the scene in pandemonium, or that it was an act of "scorched earth" warfare to deprive Xerxes' army of the spoils of the city.
At Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. The Battle of Salamis (September 29, 480 BC) was won by the Greek fleet, after which Xerxes set up a winter camp in Thessaly.
Due to unrest in Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at Plataea.[14] The Greeks also attacked and burned the remaining Persian fleet anchored at Mycale. This cut off the Persians from the supplies they needed to sustain their massive army, and they had no choice but to retreat. Their withdrawal roused the Greek city-states of Asia.
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Clearly this happened AS predicted by God.
Dan 11:3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
What mighty king of note stood up next?
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Alexander the Great--
Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He succeeded in being awarded the generalship of Greece and, with his authority firmly established, launched the military plans for expansion left by his father. In 334 BC he invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minor and began a series of campaigns lasting ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. Subsequently he overthrew the Persian king Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire.i[›] The Macedonian Empire now stretched from the Adriatic sea to the Indus River.
Following his desire to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back by the near-mutiny of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, without realizing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following Alexander's death a series of civil wars tore his empire apart which resulted in the formation of a number of states ruled by the Diadochi - Alexander's surviving generals. Although he is mostly remembered for his vast conquests, Alexander's lasting legacy was not his reign, but the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered.
Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire until the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which generals, even to this day, compare themselves and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactical exploits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great
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Dan 11:4 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 posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
4 others--
1) Cassander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great’s court in Babylon in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, Antipater, likely to the help uphold Antipater’s regency in Macedon, although a later contemporary suggestion hostile to the Antipatrids was that Cassander had journeyed to poison the King.[1]
Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander certainly proved to be singularly noted amongst the diadochi in his hostility to Alexander's memory.[1] Alexander IV, Roxana, and Alexander’s supposed illegitimate son Heracles would all be executed on his orders, and a guarantee to Olympias to spare her life was not respected.[2] So too, Cassander would restore Thebes, which had been destroyed under Alexander. This gesture was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased King.[3] It was even said that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint. Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him.[4] He was taught by philosopher Aristotle at the Lyceum in Greece.
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2) Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the Thessalian Agathocles from Crannon. He was granted citizenship in Macedon and was educated at the court in Pella. He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II.[1] During Alexander's Persian campaigns, he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BCE, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India.[2] After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos.
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3) Seleucus I (given the surname by later generations of Nicator, Greek : S??e???? ????t?? (Hindi: ????????), i.e. Seleucus the Victor) (ca. 358 BC – 281 BC) was a Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire. His kingdom would be one of the last holdouts of Alexander's former empire to Roman rule. They were only outlived by the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt by roughly 34 years.
After the death of Alexander, Seleucus was nominated as the satrap of Babylon in 320 BC. Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee from Babylon, but, supported by Ptolemy, he was able to return in 312 BC. Seleucus' later conquests include Persia and Media. He formed an alliance with the Indian King Chandragupta Maurya. Seleucus defeated Antigonus in the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC and Lysimachus in the battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. He was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus during the same year. His successor was his son Antiochus I.
Seleucus founded a number of new cities, including Antioch and Seleucia.
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4) Ptolemy I Soter I (Greek: ?t??eµa??? S?t??, Ptolemaios Sot?r, i.e. Ptolemy (pronounced /'t?l?mi/) the Savior), also known as Ptolemy Lagides,[1] c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323 BC – 283 BC) and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 305/4 BC he took the title of pharaoh.
His mother was Arsinoe of Macedon, and, while his father is unknown, ancient sources variously describe him either as the son of Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman, or as an illegitimate son of Philip II of Macedon (which, if true would have made Ptolemy the half-brother of Alexander). Ptolemy was one of Alexander's most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes (bodyguards) attached to his person. He was a few years older than Alexander, and had been his intimate friend since childhood. He may even have been in the group of noble teenagers tutored by Aristotle.[citation needed]
Ptolemy served with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. At the Susa marriage festival in 324, Alexander had Ptolemy marry the Persian princess Artakama. Ptolemy also had a consort in Thaïs, the Athenian hetaera and one of Alexander's companions in his conquest of the ancient world.
When Alexander died in 323 BC Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the empire made at Babylon. Through the Partition of Babylon, he was appointed satrap of Egypt, under the nominal kings Philip Arrhidaeus and the infant Alexander IV; the former satrap, the Greek Cleomenes, stayed on as his deputy. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica.
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Four major generals- four divisions.
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This is history. Factual. We cannot afford to ignore this in favor of soothing tales and ear pleasing words. We cannot shove all this aside because we'd rather just read of love. We need to realize that THIS is all given to us as a result of the love of our Savior. Remember Jesus spoke of Daniel who lived a long, long time before He ever did.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
Jesus' words.
Jesus was directing us to Daniel's prophecies. How can we dare to ignore this?
More tomorrow by the grace of our Savior!
In His amazing, wondrous love!
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