Photo by Gunnar Bach Pedersen
I have read
some of the writings of Josephus Flavius. He lived from AD 37 – 100 AD. Some
scholars have not accepted his account of history, but many do. I believe God
moved upon him to write about God, Jesus, the Scriptures and the history of the
Jews.
He wrote in both Aramaic and Greek
and was writing for the Gentiles who had no knowledge of the Scriptures and
Jewish history.
In Part 1,
The Antiquities of the Jews, I came upon a chapter that dealt with Alexander
the Great and his treatment of the Jews. It was fascinating, and I think many
of you would like to know how God spared his people from being killed by
Alexander. I will now quote from the book only:
“Now
Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to Jerusalem: and Jaddua
the high priest, when he heard that, was in an agony, and under terror, as not
knowing how he should meet the Macedonians, since the king was displeased at
his foregoing disobedience.
He therefore
ordained that the people should make supplications, and should join with him in
offering sacrifices to God, whom he besought to protect that nation, and to deliver
them from the perils that were coming upon them. Whereupon God warned him in a
dream, which came upon him after he had offered sacrifice, that he should take
courage and adorn the city, and open the gates; that the rest appear in white
garments, but that he and the priests should meet the king in the habits
(clothing) proper to their order, without the dread of any ill consequences,
which the providence of God would prevent.
Upon this,
when he rose from his sleep, he greatly rejoiced and declared to all the
warning he had received from God according to which dream he acted entirely,
and so waited for the coming of the king.
And when he
heard Alexander was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the
priests and the multitude of the citizens. The procession was venerable, and
the manner of it different from that of the other nations…The Phonecians and
the Chaldeans that followed Alexander thought they would have liberty to
plunder the city, and torment the high priest to death, which is the reverse of
what happened.
Alexander,
when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests
stood clothed with fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet clothing,
with his mitre on his head having the golden plate on which the name of God was
engraved, he approached them by himself and adored that name, and first saluted
the high priest. The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute
Alexander, and encompass him about; whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest
were surprised at what Alexander had done, and supposed him disordered in his
mind.
However,
Parmenlo alone went up to him and asked how it came to pass that when all
others adored him, he should adore the high priest of the Jews? He replied, “I
did not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with that high priesthood.
For I saw this very person in a dream, in this very clothing, when I was at
Dios, in Macedonia, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion
of Asia.
He exhorted
me to make no delay, but boldly pass over the sea thither, for he would conduct
my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians. So, having seen no
other in that clothing and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that
vision and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this
army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy
the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what
is in my own mind.
And when he
had said this to Parmenlo, and had given the priest his right hand, the priests
ran along beside him as he came into the city. He went into the temple and made
a sacrifice to God, according to the hight priest’s directions and
magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests. And when the book
of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should
destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person
intended. Then he was glad and dismissed the multitude…”
"I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Psalm 116:1
"It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding." Daniel 2:21
