Familiar Letters From a Father to His Children, on "The Times of the Gentiles."

 
No. 10.
MY DEAR CHILDREN, ― You must transport yourselves to the year 336 B.C. at which time Alexander, at the age of 20, became king of Macedon, and captain of the confederate forces for the invasion of Asia. He is thus spoken of in Daniel 8 “Behold, and he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the earth: and the he goat had a notable horn between the eyes.” But I must still linger over the previous centuries, in cadet that I may shew you how his family came into power. If you take up a history of Greece you will find the times which properly belong to history, divided into epochs, during which certain cities had the supremacy. Thus there was first in Athenian, then a Spartan, and lastly a Theban supremacy. They were always fighting for headship, and Persia, who had long given up any lopes of conquering the mainland, received their exiles, and subsidized this party or that, in order to keep up these dissensions and pursue her own plans of rule by intrigue; so that, notwithstanding her inferiority in arms man to man, against the Greeks she still virtually ruled them. Thus, in the year 387, during the Spartan supremacy, he Persian king settled a peace between the states of Athens on one side and himself and he Spartans on the other, in the following terms: ― “King Artaxerxes thinks it just, that the cities in Asia and all the islands of Clazomenæ and Cyprus should belong to him. He Liao thinks it just, to leave all the other Grecian titles independent, except Lemnos, Imbros and Scyros, which are to belong to Athens, as of old. Should any parties refuse to accept this peace, I will make war upon them,” &c. &c. The rise of Macedon came to pass as follows: ―They were lot Greeks, but Illyrians, and had remained unnoticed during the more splendid career of the Grecian states; but their sovereigns claimed descent from an Hellenic stock, and so were allowed to contend at the various public games. The early history of the country is involved in obscurity, and it was not till the accession of Philip, father of Alexander the Great, at the age of 23. (B.C. 359), that its greatness began. By little and little he secured his frontiers, and then, by means of the weakness which a war, called the Social war, entailed upon Athens, which was it that time recovering her supremacy, he gradually encroached upon her power and her dominions. He was aided also by the war called Sacred, connected with the temple at Delphi, which Further embroiled the states of Greece, and by taking part with the Oracle there, betrayed his ambitious designs to become master of Greece. All this was foreseen by Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, who directed his celebrated Philippics against him. At length war was declared between Athens and Macedon, and victory declared for the latter, at the famous battle of Cheronœa, and from this time Greece was at his feet. Very shortly afterward he was stabbed (B.C. 336), after a reign of 24 years, at the celebration of his daughter’s nuptials with a neighboring prince, and Alexander became king. Before this he had been celebrated both in arms and letters. His education had been carried on and his mind cultivated, by the care of Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, and he had commanded a wing of the army at the battle of Cheronœa, and had materially contributed to the success of the day. I must not forget to mention that Philip at his death had completed his plans for the invasion of Asia in the ensuing spring as captain-general of all Greece against Persia to which he had been elected by a sort of general council, and in which office his son succeeded him. But previous to Alexander’s departure for Asia, he had to infuse a salutary dread of his character and of his arms into his European neighbors all around him. Perhaps never were his energies and military talents more tested than in his campaign across the Danube again the Getæ and Triballi, thence back again into Illyria against the Illyrians, the old enemies of his house, and thence to quell a revolt at Thebes which ended in the destruction of that city These campaigns were finished in one spring summer, and autumn. He now prepared to invade Asia. Whilst Darius Codomanus had abundance of resources (for if he could no depend upon the valor of his own subjects, he could command the services of thousands of Greek mercenaries) and a full treasury, Alexander, it is sap, had only sixty talents in till treasury, a heavy debt, and a supremacy over the other Greek states held upon such a precarious authority, that it was disputed on several occasions, even when his success over the Persians was known, and indeed was never acquiesced in by Athens or Sparta. But he had the resources of his own indomitable courage; and with a strong confidence in his destiny undertook the legacy bequeathed to him by his father, with a force of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five hundred cavalry, ―all from Europe although not all Greeks. Of this whole number twelve thousand infantry were Macedonians and fifteen hundred cavalry. If, my dear children, in these letters I leave the history very meagre, for every school-book has these subjects in more detail, it is that I write to draw your attention to the ways of God with men if I may so say, in providence, irrespective a that intimate relation which He holds with us as Father who believe in the name of His dear Son, and are cleansed from our sins through His blood. I hinted before, that we have no such direct display of the power of God to the Persian kings like that to the Babylonian. We have still less in the Grecian. Nebuchadnezzar owned Daniel’s God (after the vision of the image, chapter 2), as “a God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.” After his madness he “blessed the Most High, and praised....and honored Him that liveth forever,” &c. He praises and extols “the King of heaven, all whose works are truth....and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.” (4:37.) With regard to Cyrus (Ezra 1:11Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, (Ezra 1:1)), it is said “The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus;” and he says, “The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem. “We know not in what way the communication was made. Daniel was certainly alive at the time. (Daniel 10:11In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. (Daniel 10:1).) But with Alexander there was no communication vouchsafed, except, as profane history (namely, Josephus) affirms, by a dream. The story is as follows: ―Alexander, somewhere about the time of his siege of Tyre, marched to Jerusalem. The High Priest Jaddeus (Jaddua, Nehemiah 12:2222The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded chief of the fathers: also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian. (Nehemiah 12:22)), anxious as to his own course owing to his allegiance to Persia, was desired, in a vision, to put on his robes, open the temple gates, and go out with the body of priests to meet him. When Alexander saw this great procession, he went forth alone to meet it, and prostrated himself before the holy name on the miter of the High Priest. (Exodus 28:36, 39:30.) One of his chief officers drew near, surprised, and inquired why he, before whom all prostrated themselves, paid that honor to the High Priest of the Jews. His answer was, “Whilst I was yet in Macedonia, I saw him in the same dress in my dreams. And as I was deliberating in what manner I should conquer Asia, he exhorted me not to hesitate, but to cross over with confidence, as he would deliver the Persian empire into my hands. As this spectacle reminds me of the vision in my sleep, and of the exhortation, I conclude that my expedition was undertaken under Divine Providence, that I shall conquer Darius (the battle of Arbela had not then taken place), put an end to Persian domination, and succeed in all my plans.” It is said that afterward the book of Daniel was shown him, and the prediction that a Greek was destined to overthrow the Persian empire. A scene like this affords matter for reflection. Perhaps in some such way does God deal with every instrument through whom He effects his more marked purposes upon this earth. We may be sure of this, that He gives them unbounded confidence in their own destiny, although not always by a dream, or in a manner which themselves could point out. This was eminently the case with Alexander. He never falters, and from the first treats Asia as his own. No other reply did he ever vouchsafe to the embassies of Darius, who was endeavoring to treat him as his equal, than that Persia was already his own and that, for whatever he wanted, he must appear before him as a suppliant. We may say, that in the state of heart of Alexander― a man who sacrificed to the gods of every country which he conquered, and in every capital which he entered, it was impossible that Jehovah could communicate with him openly―what fellowship could He have with the shrine at Delphi? (and at this time the whole of Greece was given over to a debased, though outwardly a splendid idolatry) yet he was not the less, though unconsciously, an instrument in His hands for carrying out His own purposes. I am not at all sure that, besides the declension in the value of the metal of the statue from gold to silver and from silver to brass, serving to mark the lest absolute character of each monarchy, from the stern dictatorship of Nebuchadnezzar through the somewhat aristocratic character of rule in Persia, down to what it really was―the military chieftainship of Alexander, these metals may not also indicate the feebler sensible dependence which their monarchs had on God himself, in consequence of His less marked connection with them.
But we must return to Alexander. As soon as he had settled his affairs in Europe, he carried over his army, by means of his fleet, to Abydos and whilst he left it marching along the sea coast northwards, he himself, with a small attendance, made for Troy, where he sacrificed to Achilles, with Homer in his hand. The Persian commanders meanwhile held a council of war, as to where they were to meet the foe, and eventually determined to resist his passage over the Granicus, a river which, rising in Mount Ida, flows into the Hellespont, now called the sea of Marmora. Here a bloody battle was fought, against 20,000 Persian cavalry and a like number of Greek mercenaries (infantry), entirely to the advantage of Alexander. History tells us that his advance out of Greece had been so sudden and rapid as to disconcert all plan on the part of the Persians; and in the same way he attacked the enemy, by rushing eagerly into the Granicus, almost immediately he saw them, notwithstanding the remonstrance of his veteran general Parmenio. And as from this time forward his career was one continued success: I shall adduce a remarkable passage out of Daniel to shew the complete agreement of history with the Scripture. Daniel 8:55And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. (Daniel 8:5): “And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground.... And he came to the ram which had two horn;....and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and emote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand against him but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him.” This description exactly suits the energy displayed by Alexander, and the feelings which imbued him until Persia lay lifeless at his feet. I mention in conclusion, that the effigy on the coins of Alexander has often ram’s horns worked in as an ornament of all head. We may suppose they were coined after his conquest of Persia. I shall continue the accounts of Alexander’s victories in my next letter. ―Your affectionate Father.