Years of Silence 1

Cunaxa: 70 miles north of Babylon. Battle took place on the left bank of the Euphrates River The Greek “Thread”: Ever since Darius the Great had attacked the Greeks, the Greeks and the Persians had been rivals. Now with victories over the Persians, the confidence of the Greeks continues to grow that the Persians can be defeated. 2

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Artaxerxes Ochus ( B.C.): Conquered Phoenicia and Tyre; subdued a revolt on Cyprus; reconquered Egypt. Sent aid to a king of Thrace who was under attack by the king of Macedon, Philip. 3 The Jewish “Thread”: Nehemiah & Ezra had worked hard to convince the Jews to keep themselves separate from their neighbors. The law of Moses forbade them from marrying foreign wives and husbands. Seems that the Jews began to learn their lessons and the faithful Jews kept themselves as a separate people no matter where they were living. They began to pride themselves more and more as special people. The word “gentile”: The original words Goy (Hebrew) and Ethnos (Greek) refer to "peoples" or "nations".

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Artaxerxes Ochus ( B.C.): Conquered Phoenicia and Tyre; subdued a revolt on Cyprus; reconquered Egypt. Sent aid to a king of Thrace who was under attack by the king of Macedon, Philip. 4 The Jewish “Thread”: The term gentiles is derived from Latin, used for contextual translation, and not an original Hebrew or Greek word from the Bible. Latin and later English translators selectively used the term gentiles when the context for the base term "peoples" or "nations" referred to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible. Following Christianization of the Roman Empire, the general implication of the word gentile became "non-Jew".

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Artaxerxes Ochus ( B.C.): Conquered Phoenicia and Tyre; subdued a revolt on Cyprus; reconquered Egypt. Sent aid to a king of Thrace who was under attack by the king of Macedon, Philip. 5 The Jewish “Thread”: From the beginning, the sabbath had been a day of “holy convocation” or sacred assembly (Lev. 23:3). These sabbath assemblies became even more important while the Jews were in captivity. They would meet and read from their law and from the prophets. This was the beginning of their synagogues. By the time the apostles and other saints went out into the Mediterranean world to preach the gospel, they found a synagogue in nearly every city.

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Artaxerxes Ochus ( B.C.): Conquered Phoenicia and Tyre; subdued a revolt on Cyprus; reconquered Egypt. Sent aid to a king of Thrace who was under attack by the king of Macedon, Philip. 6

7

The Greek “Thread”: Philip of Macedon ( B.C.) The Macedonians were mountain people, farmers, and dealers in horses. The name Macedonia (Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía) comes from the ancient Greek word μακεδνός (Makednos). It is commonly explained as having originally meant "a tall one" or "highlander", possibly descriptive of the people. 8

The Greek “Thread”: Philip of Macedon ( B.C.) Philip redesigned the army of Macedon adding a number of variations to the traditional hoplite force to make it far more effective. He added the hetairoi, a well armored heavy cavalry, and more light infantry, both of which added greater flexibility and responsiveness to the force. He also lengthened the spear and shrank the shield of the main infantry force, increasing its offensive capabilities. Philip began to rapidly expand the borders of his kingdom. 9

The Greek “Thread”: Alexander At sunset on the night Alexander was born (July 20/21, 356 B.C.), there was a glow in the eastern sky. It was taken as an omen indicating the direction to which Alexander’s career would take him. 10

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Artaxerxes Ochus ( B.C.): Conquered Phoenicia and Tyre; subdued a revolt on Cyprus; reconquered Egypt. Sent aid to a king of Thrace who was under attack by the king of Macedon, Philip. One of Artaxerxes generals, Bogoas, poisoned him and placed his own son upon the throne. 11

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Arses ( B.C.): When Arses showed signs of thinking for himself, Bogoas killed him and placed Darius upon the throne. The Greek “Thread”: Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy, Hephaistion, and Cassander. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. 12

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Darius III ( B.C.): The Greek “Thread”: Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modeled on the old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth), and announced his plans to attack and overthrow the Persian Empire 13

Years of Silence The First “thread”: Persian History Darius III ( B.C.): The Greek “Thread”: Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C. Alexander was only 20 years old when Philip’s commanders informed him that he was now the king of Macedon. 14

Alexander moved against Thebes, captured it and burned the city. The other Greek cities quickly recognized Alexander as the commander-in-chief of all the forces in the Hellenic Alliance. 15

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History (Alexander the Great) In 334 B.C., Alexander begins his march into Asia Minor. 16

17

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History (Alexander the Great) Alexander’s Macedonians had fought together as a unit for a generation. They were not terrified of battle. The first thoroughly trained army in the history of warfare. 18

19 Issus

Darius III, the Persian king, became afraid and fled the field of battle. 20

21

22 Ezekiel 26:12 Zech. 9:3-4

23

Alexander died at the age of

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History The conquest of Alexander changed the course of world history. It brought about an unprecedented mixing of east and west. Historically, since his life was cut short by his early death, the impact of Alexander was not exerted so much by what he did personally, as by the actions of his successors who fought for control of his empire. 25

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History Perdiccas: guardian of the his family Ptolemy: ruled Egypt Seleucus: ruled Babylon Antipater: ruled Macedonia & Greece Antigonus: ruled Asia Minor 26

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History Perdiccas: guardian of the his family assassinated in 321 B.C. Ptolemy: ruled Egypt Seleucus: ruled Babylon Antipater: ruled Macedonia & Greece Antigonus: ruled Asia Minor << became guardian of family 27

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History Perdiccas: guardian of the his family assassinated in 321 B.C. Ptolemy: ruled Egypt Seleucus: ruled Babylon Antipater: ruled Macedonia & Greece assassinated in 318 B.C. Antigonus: ruled Asia Minor His son, Cassander took over 28

Years of Silence The 2nd “thread”: Greek History After multiple battles to try and gain control, a treaty of peace (Peace of Ipsus) was signed in 301 B.C. Ptolemy Soter: received Egypt as his portion Seleucus Nicator: received Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, Babylon, Media, and on to India Antiochus Gonatas: received Macedon, with Greece as a semi- independent kingdom under his control 29

Ptolemy Soter Seleucus Nicator Antiochus Gonatas 30 Syria Egypt