• Photograph from Light Magazine on Prophecy cover.
• A great king of ancient Babylon saw in a dream a huge statue made of different metals with a head of gold. The dream was interpreted for him by the young Jewish prophet Daniel.
• In the background: A replica of Babylon's famous Ishtar Gate.
• Image from Felix Friebe/ istock

Bible Prophecy - Greece

Based on the "Light on Bible Prophecy" special issue.

Part 1:Introduction, part 2 :Iran (Persia), part 3 (this article):Greece, part 4:Rome, part 5:Israel, part 6:The coming world conflict and you.

Greece in Prophecy

Greece was the third empire portrayed in Nebuchadnezzar's image. The bronze-armoured Greeks were represented by the belly and thighs of bronze. The period of transition from the decline of the Medo-Persian Empire to the rise of the Grecian Empire began around 359 BC with the rule of Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Philip succeeded in uniting the warring Greek states and by 338 BC he had visions of the conquest of Persia.

• The most famous Greek build: Temple of Athena on the Acropolis, Athens
• Piture from jebulon CCO 1.0

Alexander's meteoric rise

Alexander began to rule at the tender age of 20 when his father was assassinated. It was under Alexander that we really see the rise of this third "bronze" empire. The brilliant and daring exploits of Alexander began when he took his army across the Hellespont or Dardanelles as it is known today. He defeated a much larger Persian army led by Darius III near Zelea on the River Granicus.

The prophecy of Daniel describes Alexander as "a mighty king" (see Daniel 11:3). He swept across Asia Minor defeating the armies of Darius again at the Battle of Issus. There was now no stopping this ambitious warrior, for his army next marched southwards into the Holy Land. Although the Jewish historian Josephus says that he entered Jerusalem, it seems he was more intent on taking strategic cities. He crushed Tyre the capital city of the Phoenicians, a vital seaport that gave him control over much more of the Mediterranean. Alexander pushed south conquering Philistia and taking Gaza on the way to his real objective, Egypt. When he had subdued Egypt, he founded the city of Alexandria, which became a centre of Greek culture that made its mark on the ancient world.

Alexander then set out to conquer the rest of the Persian Empire. Marching his armies northwards he captured Syria, traversed the Fertile Crescent, entered Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and captured Babylon. Then he marched eastwards into Persia's heartland (now Iran) capturing the major cities of Susa and Persepolis, with their enormous treasures.

• Alexander defeating the Persian King Darius at the battle of Issus – from the Alexander Mosaic at Pompeii.
• Picture from the public domain

Not satisfied with these conquests, Alexander then pushed further east, occupying today's Afghanistan and Pakistan to the River Indus basin, with the Indian sub-continent now lying before him. But at this point, after travelling thousands of miles in his quest to conquer more territory, his generals and soldiers were exhausted and threatened mutiny. Reluctantly he turned back, but now disaster set in. By the time he returned to Babylon he had only a quarter of his original army left.

• The Empire of Alexander the Great.
• Picture from 2022 History of the World

Alexander himself was taken ill with a fever in Babylon and within two weeks he was dead, a young man aged only 32. The history books tell us that he died in June 323 BC. In the short space of twelve years, Alexander had established a Greek Empire in complete control of the ancient world. In all the lands he conquered he founded new cities, some named after him, and a system of rule and culture that transformed the world. It can be truly said that Alexander the Great appeared like a meteor in the political heavens and blazed his trail in history. But now that its charismatic leader had gone, what was to happen to this great empire?

The prophecies of Daniel

How telling are the words of the prophet Daniel, explaining the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's image and the rise and fall of these empires.

He said to the king of Babylon:

"... he (God) changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings."

• Daniel 2:21

We also see how striking the prophecies of Daniel are in describing the rise of Alexander and Greece to power and their subsequent demise:

"And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat (Greece) came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a remarkable horn between his eyes… I saw him confronting the ram (Medo-Persia); he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down... and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.
Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up towards the four winds of heaven... the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king (Alexander). As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, (Alexander's four generals) four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power."

• Daniel 8:5-8, 21-22

This prophecy is colourful and specific. The vision of the powerful one-horned Grecian goat attacking the Persian ram, bounding along hardly touching the ground, is exactly right as a dramatic representation of Alexander's swift triumphant march from Macedonia to the borders of India.

The divided Greek Empire

Daniel tells us in advance what was to happen to this empire. In another prophecy he likens the Greek Empire to a leopard:

"After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it."

• Daniel 7:6

These visions in chapters 7 and 8 of Daniel's prophecy foretold the sequence of events. Alexander had no heir and on his death his Macedonian generals competed to carve up the empire between them. It split into four parts at first, represented by the four wings, the four heads and the four horns. With the death of Alexander the "remarkable horn" was broken and the four "notable ones" took its place, as Daniel foretold:

"four kingdoms shall arise… but not with its power". (Daniel 8:22)

The generals

1. Seleucus,
2. Ptolemy,
3. Lysimarchus and
4. Cassander

controlled the four major parts of the empire. Then, after more conflict among these generals, the empire split into two parts in the hands of Seleucus and Ptolemy, just as the description of the image demanded – the belly and two thighs of bronze. The first, called the Seleucid kingdom, ruled to the north of Israel from Macedonia to the borders of India.

The second, the Ptolemaic kingdom in the south took control of Syria, Cyprus, Palestine (now Israel), Libya and Egypt.

History shows that these two dynasties were then regularly at war with each other to gain control over Syria and Palestine, which became the unfortunate battlegrounds for these two competing powers. These wars were also foreseen by the prophet Daniel. In chapter 11 he refers to "the king of the South" and "the king of the North" fighting with each other over God's land. Many Bible students have studied these prophetic words of Daniel, which cover a very long period of history, from the time of Alexander's Greek Empire right up to modern times. The prophecy ends with the opening words of Daniel chapter 12, which take us to the dramatic future climax, when the Kingdom of God will replace the kingdoms of men (as shown by Nebuchadnezzar's image prophecy, see this image in Prophecy of Iran).

The influence of Greece

The effect of the Greek conquests and occupation can be seen in the names of many of the cities of Israel. Accho, a port on the Mediterranean coast, was called Ptolemais, and BethShean at one stage had the Greek name Scythopolis. In the time of Jesus some of the places where he preached had retained their Greek names, as we find in the gospel records, names such as Perea, Trachonitis and the Decapolis.

• A 2nd Century BC Septuagint manuscript showing part of the Book of Leviticus translated into Greek
• Picture from StephenCooke.com.au

Even more influential was the fact that Greek was the dominant language in the time of Christ. The New Testament was written in Greek, with many manuscripts surviving to the present day. Long before this, the Old Testament had been translated from Hebrew to Greek by order of Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt (285–46 BC) for his library in Alexandria, giving us the valuable Septuagint Version (see picture above).

The famous Rosetta Stone (see picture below) found in Egypt in AD 1799 and now in the British Museum, contains an inscription written in three languages to commemorate the reign of Ptolemy V (205-180 BC). The Greek language and the Egyptian Demotic script enabled the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on the stone to be deciphered.

• The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum

The decline of the Greek Empire

The division of the Greek Empire and its warring factions undermined its power. Palestine fell to the northern Seleucid kingdom in 200 BC and one of its kings, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, tried to force Greek culture on the Jewish people. In 168 BC he set up an altar to the Greek god Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem. This event was also foreseen by Daniel:

"... they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation".

• Daniel 11:31

This blasphemous act was too much for the Jews, sparking a revolt against Greek rule headed by Mattathias the priest, and his five sons. One of the sons called Judas Maccabaeus achieved success by waging guerrilla warfare against the Greeks. This led eventually to the cleansing of the temple in 165 BC and a degree of independence for Judea.

But Rome, the fourth empire of Nebuchadnezzar's image, was now coming on the scene. In time, the Maccabees set up their own dynasty known as the Hasmoneans, even taking the title of kings. They cultivated good relations with Rome, removed the Greeks from power in Samaria and Galilee to the north and ruled most of "The Holy Land". This continued until 63 BC, when the Roman general Pompey occupied Judea and Syria, creating a Roman province in the former Seleucid dominions and giving power over Judea to Herod the Great.

During the last century of Grecian Ptolemaic rule, Egypt came under Rome's protection and guidance, being finally annexed by Rome in 31 BC. The mixture of Roman and Egyptian politics at this time can be seen in the romantic affairs of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony with Cleopatra.

This situation ended in tragedy with Cleopatra committing suicide. She was the last sovereign of the Macedonian dynasty that had ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander.

• Cleopatra VII, the last of the Greek rulers of Egypt – 1st century painting from a villa at Herculaneum

This brings us to the end of the bronze empire of the Greeks and the rise of the fourth Empire, represented in Nebuchadnezzar's image by the two legs of iron.