Prophets and Prophecies about Alexander the Great

Very little of our literature mentions the prophecies made by the Babylonians or the predictions made by prophets about Alexander the Great. Just like the majority of the clay tablets that have been so far deciphered never made it to the ancient Greek world and consequently never to our Western world, the prophecies have been kept away from us also.

I was made aware of the very existence of those clay tablets during the Zenobia Congress that was held a couple of years ago in Amsterdam and where Prof. dr Bert van der Spek, who specialized in classic and ancient Near Eastern studies at the VU University of Amsterdam, mentioned them. It is a new way to “adjust” history as it came to us through ancient authors. Thanks to these tablets, an entire astronomical diary could be pieced together. What caught my attention was the 29th Ahû-tablet from the Book of Heaven which reads: “When on the 13th or 14th day of the month Ulûlu the moon eclipses […] there will be an intruder to [unreadable: arrive, attack or raid] with rulers from the west; during eight years he will exercise his kingship; he will defeat enemy armies; and there will be opulence and wealth on his path; he’ll constantly pursue his enemy; his luck has no end”. The 13th day of the month Ulûlu corresponds to 20 September 331 BC when a moon eclipse was predicted. During this eclipse, the planet Jupiter disappeared and the planet Saturn appeared instead, which was considered as a presage that a king would lose his empire. Ten days later, the Great King Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great during the Battle of Gaugamela on 1 October 331 BC. Eight years later the Macedonian conqueror died on 11 June 323 BC in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon.

As to the predictions, there is one related by Ezekiel 26-3:10 made in 588 BC. Here we read that many peoples have attacked Tyre, starting with the Babylonians who destroyed the city on the mainland. In the operation, defense towers were demolished, walls torn down and houses demolished. Afterward, the Greeks came and threw the rubble, stones, and beams into the sea and turned the city on the island into a barren rock on which the city was never rebuilt. After the destruction of Tyre, Alexander went to Jerusalem. The Israelites who were familiar with the prophecies granted him free passage to Egypt. The symbol of a radiant sun (also known as the Macedonian star) was used by Alexander the Great all over his empire and is to be found in the family tomb in the village of Vergina. His star blazed briefly but very brightly. In just eleven years, he managed to conquer the entire known world. He was King of Macedonia, hegemon of the Corinthian League, Pharaoh of Egypt, Shah of Persia, and King of Asia. Nevertheless, none of these titles went to his successors! So much for Alexander’s passage mentioned by Ezekiel. More details can be found at this Bible Gateway site.

The rise and fall of Alexander’s empire were also revealed in great detail to Prophet Daniel, two centuries before the king’s rule. In a nutshell, this is what has been reported to us:

In a vision of 603 BC, four successive empires are being presented as a large statue of which the Babylonian empire is the head made of pure gold to be succeeded by three empires, successively represented by a silver chest, thighs in bronze and legs of iron. The third empire of bronze would be overthrown by the Greeks under Alexander the Great and dominate the entire world. The iron legs would turn out to be the Roman Empire that split in two, the Western and the Eastern Empires.

The next vision from around 549 BC presented the four empires as four big beasts. The first beast representing Babylon was a lion with eagle’s wings. The second (Medo-Persian) empire was represented as a bear holding three ribs between his teeth (Media, Lydia, and Babylonia), and the third empire by a four-headed leopard with four wings on his back representing the expeditious conquest of Alexander the Great.

In a vision from around 547 BC the mighty kingdoms of Media and Persia were represented by a ram with two horns. The ram, however, is being defeated by the Greek empire in the shape of a fast-moving male goat coming from the west that has a large horn between his eyes. The large horn of the ram represents the first king. According to the explanation of this vision, four empires emerged from the four horns that arose from the broken one. This empire never reached the power of the first king.

In 536 BC, Daniel had a vision revealing that the fourth Persian King would use his wealth to conquer the Greek empire. After this, a heroic king would appear in the Greek empire. His power would be great but his rule short-lived, after which his empire would fall apart to be distributed over the four corners of the world but would not fall in the hands of his own children. The newly formed kingdoms would not be as powerful as under the leadership of the heroic king. More details can be looked up at the site of Lamb & Lion Ministries.

It is evidently easy to explain visions afterward and I am not saying that all the above is true or interpreted in the correct way, but at least it should make us rethink history in a different way. Predictions and prophecies in antiquity were seen very differently than what we do today. It has nothing to do with our horoscopes or soothsayers. Yet we must agree that with hindsight it is not difficult to recognize Alexander in the different prophecies.

Maybe one day we will find the key to unlock these mysteries. After all, there is much more between heaven and earth than what we are aware of.