E. B. Pusey
Alexander and the Temple in Jerusalem
Zachariah - "After the captivity, not to speak now of the
prophecy of the four empires in Zachariah, as bearing on
that of Daniel, there is a distinct prediction of the
conflict of the Jews with the Greeks and of their victories
over them. And, before this war, there is a prophecy of a
heavy calamity which falls in succession upon Damascus,
Homath, Tyre, Zidom and the maritime cities of Philistia,
Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, in which calamity the Temple
of God was to be guarded, not by human power, but by His
unseen presence.
'I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because
of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth.
And this, while God should 'smite the power of Tyre in the
sea.'
The selection of the places in of the whole line of country
corresponds very exactly to the march of Alexander after the
battle of Esis, when the capture of Damascus, which Darius
had chosen as the strong depository of his wealth, a Persian
man of rank, confidential officers and envoys, opened Coele-Syria;
Zidon surrendered; Tyre, especially marked out by Zechariah,
(93,4) was taken with great effort after a seven month's
siege. Gaza too resisted for five months, was taken, and, it
is said, (?);
But Alexander passed by with his victorious army and
returned, and Jerusalem remained uninjured. History gives us
no other explanation of Zechariah's prophecy than this
conquest by Alexander; that conquest agrees minutely with
the prophecy. No other event in history does."
Daniel the
Prophet, E. B. Pusey, (Klock & Klock Christian
Publications, 1978.)
pp. 260-262
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