As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. – Daniel 8:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 4, 2017): Daniel 8

For most of ancient history, Greece existed as a collection of city-states. I grew up dreaming of the stories of battles between Athens and Sparta. But because they were independent states, strength was often missing from Greece. And fights like the fabled ones between Athens and Sparta were not rare. It seemed, at times, like the Greek States were constantly involved in a struggle with each other, a fact that left them open to being conquered.

Such was the situation in Greece as Philip II of Macedon rose to power in his city-state. Persia ruled over the Greek States, and over much of the known world. Philip came to power in 359 B.C.E and almost immediately began to re-establish the city-state of Macedon as a power within the independent Greek States. Philip was an excellent diplomat, but he also used marriage alliances to achieve his political aims. Philip is also credited with molding the Macedonian Army into an elite fighting force. The result was that Philip was able to succeed where others had failed. He united the Greek States under one banner and presented the world with an alternative to Median-Persian rule. Philip II had set his nation on a path that would inevitably mean conflict with the ruling powers of the known world, the Medo-Persian or Achaemenid Empire which had emerged out of present day Iran.

And then Philip II was assassinated in 336 B.C.E. The assassin was one of Philip’s bodyguards. He attempted to escape after killing Philip but tripped on a vine and was killed by Philip’s other three guards. The fate of the Greece and Achaemenid Empires hinged on what might happen next. And what happened next was that Alexander III of Macedon rose to the Macedonian throne. The young man was classically trained and had been a student of Aristotle. He was 20 when his father died, and the Greeks proclaimed him as King on the spot. Alexander III was now made responsible for lifting the Persian veil off of the Greek Islands.

And that is precisely what he did. Daniel’s description of a king that was still a couple of centuries in the future turns out to be very accurate. The two horned ram didn’t stand a chance against the one horned goat (Greeks from ancient times were known as the “goat people”). The goat with a single horn struck with rage against the ram (one of Alexander’s personality traits was a short temper). According to Daniel, the goat crossed the known world without touching the ground. According to history, Alexander not only won every battle that was presented to him, finishing with a record of 20-0, but he also reshaped the world and culture. He made Greek culture the standard for the known world which continued to unite the world for centuries after his death. (Alexander died suddenly only thirteen years after his rise to power. Who knows what he might have accomplished if he had lived beyond his thirty-three years.)

In the end, the goat with one horn earned the name which history has bequeathed to him. He was Alexander the Great.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel 9

Happy Independence Day to my American Friends.