Alexander the Great learned about his prophetic role from a courageous Jewish priest.
The Jews were in trouble, and they knew it. Spurred on by spiteful accounts of their arrogance, Alexander the Great was marching to Jerusalem, no doubt to wreak havoc. In his party, the Phoenicians and Chaldeans eagerly awaited the spoil they would loot from the Holy City. God’s people had been free for only a short time, and it now appeared as if they would be plunged again into bondage.
Upon this threat, the Jews made sacrifices and prayed for protection and guidance. God gave them both. The High Priest had a dream in which he was instructed to meet the invading king in the garments of his order, with the city adorned and the gates open. Thereupon, the city was adorned and the gates opened, and the priests in their priestly robes went out with the people following to meet the coming Grecian conqueror.
Most likely, Alexander expected to meet a closed city of stubborn resisters. However, as he approached the city, he was impressed by the reverence of the company which had come out to meet him. As he drew near to investigate, he recognized someone. You see, the high priest wasn’t the only one to whom God had given a dream. Alexander had dreamt as well. In fact, the man he recognized was the very man who in his dream had told him that his invasion of Persia would be a success.
That man was the High Priest. And he now stood before him. Alexander was so moved that he went to worship at the temple. But the plot thickens. After he had worshiped at the temple, the priests showed him the book of Daniel and expounded its prophecies, particularly the ones that related directly to him. Now he was captivated. His attitude changed, his vengeance dissipated, and he gave the Jews several important privileges, including legal autonomy.
As this story shows, God does take care of his people. But God also gave the priests an opportunity to witness to Alexander the Great and teach him about his place in prophecy and the God of prophecy. Could you show a king his place in prophecy and tell him of the God that wrote that prophecy? In this case, prophecy helped to avert a serious disaster and showed a pagan king the wonders of the true God. How well do you know Bible prophecy?
