Amazing Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecies on Alexander the Great

Christians turn to the Bible for moral and spiritual inspirations and guidance. They also refer to it for the study of Biblical histories and of prophecies and their fulfillment especially on Jesus who Christians believe is God’s promised Messiah. Moreover, there are also prophesies on famous persons in history and events that already happened or are expected to come. 

There are chapters and verses in the Bible in the Book of Daniel that some Biblical scholars believe to be prophecies on Alexander the Great, the King of Greece and Macedonia who was born in Pella in 356 BC. The prophet Daniel wrote his book about two centuries before the birth and the reign of Alexander of his empire. Following paragraphs are the Biblical verses (King James Version) and the recorded historical events that fulfilled the prophecies:

Daniel Chapter 8: 1-8

“In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at first. And I saw a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was in Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great. And as I was considering, behold, a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake the two horns: and there was no power in the ram, to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and he stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.”

Daniel Chapter 8: 19-22 identified the vision’s meaning of the ram and the he goat

“And he said, behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which thou saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.”

Above verses hinted that the ram with two horns was the Persian and the Medo-Persian Empire. And the he goat was the succession of Greek Kings that would rule empires in Asia and parts of Europe and Africa. The first horn which represented the first king was believed to be Alexander the Great. That the goat came from the west and came not touching the ground was a figurative interpretation of the geographical location of Greece and Macedonia relative to Persia the former being west from Persia and are separated by sea to Asia. At age 20 Alexander quelled rebellions in Greece and unified the forces of Greece and Macedonia under his control as king. He then launched his campaigns beyond Greece and against the Persian Empire which perennially threatened Greece with invasion. Alexander’s forces defeated King Darius III much numerically superior forces in every battle. The fall of the Persian Empire also went with it her dominions such as Persia, Babylonia, Syria, Israel, Egypt and Asia Minor among others. The Persian Empire, the ram, was completely crushed.  Alexander, considered a highly educated man in his time, he being a student of Aristotle, endeavored to introduce the Greek culture, knowledge and language to his subjects in conquered territories. Greek became the lingua franca of the known ancient world. Despite his success, Alexander would not rest on his laurel. He launched more military campaigns to conquer India. However, his troops were pushed to the limits of their endurance. At the river Hyphasis in northern India his battle-weary troops which comprised Greek, Macedonians and other nationalities from his empire mutinied and refused to go any further. Alexander was forced to capitulate, and together with his troops marched back to Babylon through sea and desert routes. The hostile and difficult terrains back to Babylon took a heavy physical and morale toll to the troops and their king. They suffered many casualties in their march because of disease, hunger and thirst. The troops’ oneness with the king, and their willingness to endure hardship with him showed their loyalty and admiration to him despite their previous misunderstandings. The wounds that Alexander had sustained in battles, his exposures to harsh environments in his campaigns, his years of excessive drinking and the death of Hephaestion, his close friend and confidante might have affected his psychological and physical well being. In Babylon, after a drunken spree, Alexander was suddenly afflicted with fever. And not the best physicians at that time could save him from death. He was just 32 years old. This fulfilled the prophecy that when the he goat waxed very great, and was strong its first horn was broken.   

                     

Daniel Chapter 11:3-4

“And the mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 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.”

Previous verses said of four notable horns to replace the first horn that was between the eyes of the he goat. When he died Alexander left no clear will as to who should replace him when he would be gone. With the power vacuum, his generals promptly fought among themselves to secure a territory from the still undivided empire left by Alexander for them to rule as king and establish their own dynasty. This fulfilled the prophecy that four horns would arise to replace the one that was broken. Alexander’s son, Alexander IV, his wife Roxana, and his mother Olympias fall victims to his generals’ ambitions to rise to power. Alexander’s family was murdered by Cassander who then became the king of Greece and Macedonia. This fulfilled the prophecy that none of Alexander’s heirs would inherit his throne or his empire.

Related posts:

Alexandria, Egypt, the Eternal City of Alexander the Great https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2015/03/alexandria-egypt-eternal-city-of.html

History’s Great Love Story: Cleopatra and Anthony https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/02/historys-great-love-story-cleopatra-and.html

The Glory and the Death of Alexander the Great https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-glory-and-death-of-alexander-great.html

Spices, the Food Commodity that Changed the World

Photo credit: Judepics

In ancient times spices and other goods from India, China and Africa passed through the silk routes in Asia into Europe. The conquest of Alexander the Great of the Persian Empire and his military campaigns in India saw the introduction of European Hellenistic language and culture to Asia. This also facilitated the exchange and trade of commodities such as silk, spices among others between Europe and Asia. The Roman Empire which supplanted the Greeks in Asia was also an instrument for the exchange of goods, culture and knowledge throughout the Roman Empire which spanned Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. The conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great facilitated the spread of Christianity throughout the ancient Roman world.

In the mid 7^th century AD, Islam a new religion swept across Asia. The Islamic army conquered Persia, Egypt, India, the Levant and other places. and an invasion of Europe was imminent. With the conquest came the introduction of Arab culture to the conquered lands and the conversion of their population to the Islamic faith. At the rise of Islam overland route to Europe for the transport of spices was severely restricted and the Arab merchants had the control of the lucrative spice trade, the spice being an expensive and in demand commodity. The Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, the seat of the Islamic power grew rich with the situation.

The strategic city of Constantinople, the then Christendom’s second most important city after Rome and a gateway between Europe and Asia fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453.The city states of Venice and Genoa being in good terms with the Ottoman Empire then gained financial benefits with the rise of power of the Ottomans. While Venice monopolized the spice trade and became fabulously rich with it, the Ottoman Empire imposed heavy taxation on spice and goods that were exported to Western Europe. As a result, spices which were imported from Asia particularly India became more expensive. 

Photo credit: Navy of Brazil

To avoid routes controlled by hostile and non-Christian power, European Kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked for alternative routes to the seas for spice and other commodities. Their competition to dominate the seas for the lucrative spice trade ushered in the Age of Discovery and Exploration. 

Portugal pioneered the endeavor to sail the seas to reach India for the precious spices. An expedition by Bartolomeu Dias crossed the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. King Manuel I of Portugal sponsored four vessels under the command of Vasco da Gama that successfully reached India in 1497. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral in his trip to India was blown westward to what is now Brazil. That incident made the Pacific Coast of the American continents open for explorations by the Europeans. 

Spain to be able to compete with Portugal had to find alternative sea route not controlled by the later. It had to find a westward sea route to reach India since the eastward route was already taken by Portugal. Queen Isabella of Spain sponsored and financed an expedition led by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Sailing westward, his fleet made a landfall on islands that are now called the Bahamas. Believing that he indeed reached India, he called the native there “Indians”. That event was of great significance because it led to the discovery of an unexplored vast track of land, a continent that is called America today.

The unsuccessful attempt of Columbus to reach India via the westward sea route was followed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. With a fleet of five ships he sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean for Moluccas where famed Spice Islands were located. However, he was killed in the Philippines before he could reach his destination. Surviving crews commanded by Sebastian Elcano were able to successfully reach Moluccas. After settling conflicts with the Portuguese, the crews with their only remaining ship that was loaded with spices were able to return to Spain taking the Indian Ocean and Cape of Good Hope sea routes. The crews who made the return-home voyage were the first people to circumnavigate the world.

Other European powers such as Britain and Netherlands later joined the exploration of lands across the seas for the expansion of their territories and for search of treasures. The Spice trade resulted to the “discovery” of undeveloped lands in the American continents and other parts of the world. Later, the perilous voyage to the high seas was no longer a necessity since the Europeans were able to plant and propagate spices in many parts of the world that they had settled in. The spice trade emporiums in India and the Spice Islands in the Moluccas have now lost their economic importance. 

The Age of Discovery and Exploration brought about the wide transfer of peoples, plants, animals, knowledge, cultures and even communicable diseases across the world.  New nations were born or created. It also significantly changed the ethnic composition and the spoken languages of the settled lands. People of European and African descents, most of them speaking their mother tongue, are now in community with the natives in what was then called a “New World”.

The Age of Discovery and Exploration also spread the Christian and the Islamic religions in many parts of the world. Christianity spread largely to the American continent and parts of Asia particularly the Philippines. Islam was spread to South East Asia particularly in such countries as Indonesia and Malaysia by the Arab merchants who were trading with spice and other goods.

Related posts:

Columbus, the Man Who Opened America’s Door to European Settlement and Christian Evangelization https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2015/10/columbus-man-who-opened-americas-door.html

Christianity and Islam, the Religions that Shaped the Course of History https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2022/04/christianity-and-islam-religions-that.html

Tripod, an Indispensable Camera Accessory

There are situations in friends or family gatherings where the photographer needs to have himself in the pictures of the group that he takes. His simplest way to do it is to mount the camera on a tripod and set the self timer to release the shutter. He then rushes to position himself in the group and wait for the shutter to click or the flash to discharge. By using the tripod he is able to frame well the position of the group in the LCD monitor, and by using the self timer he is also able to press the trigger release button even when his hands are off the camera thereby reducing the likelihood of having a camera shake that causes a blur in the picture.

The right combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO in relation to the ambient light is the basic elements of proper exposure of a picture. In addition, choosing the appropriate white balance setting, focusing the subject on, and holding the camera steady while pressing the shutter release button result in the production of vivid and tack sharp pictures. A fast shutter speed reduces the chance of having blurry pictures. But there are many situations when one needs a long exposure to get the desired effects on the pictures that he is taking. 

   

 Low light or night photography subjects such as moon, fireworks, light trails need long-duration shutter speed, low ISO and mid range aperture such as f8 to f11, the sweet spots of many interchangeable lenses, to have sharp pictures with less noise. In that type of photos it is extremely difficult or even impossible to hand hold the camera without shaking the hands. That is a situation when a tripod comes in handy. It is even more of help if the photographer uses the self timer or a remote control via the infra red wireless signal transmission of the camera where he can release the shutter without depressing the shutter release button. Tripod is also a useful tool in enhancing the quality of image of subject in daylight in such photography genres as portrait, nature and macro among others.                                                                                                                                                              

It is fortunate that some modern digital cameras come with built-in shake reduction feature. DSLRs which do not have it use interchangeable lenses that have image stabilization capability in them.  However, the built in shake reduction feature in the camera body or lens is not a fail-safe guarantee of blur free image in all situation. The best remedy for a camera shake is the use of a tripod. However, there are many situations where tripod is not practical to bring along with or not convenient to use.     

               

Tripods come in variety of maximum height, weight, load capacity, leg sections, type of head and the metals used in legs and other parts. Those with carbon fiber constructions are more expensive than the aluminum ones. The ball type of head is usually a feature of the more expensive tripods. In choosing a tripod, one should consider its weight capacity in relation to the camera and the available lenses that he uses. It should be able to support the weight of his camera and other accessories mounted on it. He should also consider its maximum height and weight. A short tripod that is not proportionate to the photographer’s height or a very heavy one may hamper or limit his movement during his photo activities.                                                                                                        

Regardless whether a point and shoot, bridge, mirrorless or DSLR camera is used, a tripod is an indispensable tool to photographers whether he is an amateur or professional.  A tripod will definitely widen his experience and improve his skill as a photographer. The good thing is that tripod, unlike interchangeable lenses, is one of the cheaper camera accessories.

The 2014 Procession of the Black Nazarene in Cagayan de Oro

January 9, 2014, was the feast of the Black Nazarene. One of the activities for the occasion was a procession. Although it looked like rain, many devotees gathered at the road where the procession of the Black Nazarene would start. At about 3 pm as the carriage of the Black Nazarene was brought on the highway, police neophytes locked arms around it to prevent people from jostling into the Black Nazarene. There were police officers, village police and traffic administrators who accompanied the procession so that it would progress orderly and safely.  

There were already a large number of people who followed the Black Nazarene at the starting point of the procession. The mass of people swelled as other devotees who were waiting along the road for the carriage to pass by joined those who had already followed it. In the main thoroughfares the number of devotees increased even more so that it was difficult for one to get past other people in the midst of the multitude. The size of the crowd was overwhelming.   

                                                                                        

In the course of the procession, some devotees shouted “Viva Señor Jesus Nazareno”. Others were praying the rosary, and still others tossed small towels into the carriage. Towels were caught by the escorts by the hands and wiped them on the sculpture.  The escorts then tossed back the towels to their owners. Devotees believe that towels or other objects that are rubbed on the Black Nazarene would have healing or miraculous powers.    

                                                                      

It seemed that the weather cooperated with the devotees throughout the procession. The sky was cloudy when the procession was about to start. However, it never rained in the afternoon or in the evening and even until the procession reached and ended at the Jesus of Nazareth Parish Church at about 7 pm. 

In Cagayan de Oro it was estimated that the number of people who attended or witnessed the procession was about 100,000. This is a very small number compared to that of Manila whose number of attendance to the similar procession was estimated at about 3 million people.  

The number of people who voluntarily attended the religious procession is an indication of the strong devotion to the Roman Catholic faith by many Filipinos. Despite the challenges faced by the church, many Catholics remain loyal to their faith for good reasons. Roman Catholicism is one of the oldest and original Christian Churches that is founded by Saint Peter himself who was an apostle of Jesus Christ.