Between Cyrus and Darius the Great there were three kings that ruled Persia:
Ahasuerus/Cambyses, Smerdis and Gaumata the Magian.
Darius the Great was the fourth king and he orchestrated the Battle of Marathon in 490BC against the Greeks. Darius did not expect the outcome:
“The Greek triumph in the Persian Wars (490-479 BC) was the outcome of their common struggle, for the first time, as a nation to defend their fatherland and the supreme ideal of freedom.” (from: Democracy and the Battle of Marathon by Spyros Mercouris)
Alexander the Great was king of Macedon and Greece 336 – 323 BC.
He never lost a battle and carved out a vast empire greater than that of Babylon and Persia.
Alexander the Great is in Babylon at the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II.
Alexander is taking the role of king of the empire that he had just conquered and expanded, but dies aged 32. Imperial power does not remain within Alexander’s family.
Perdiccas, one of Alexander’s generals, assumes kingship, but does not have the leadership qualities of Alexander nor the loyalty of the other generals. He loses control of Egypt to his subordinate, Ptolemy. In less than 200 years the Romans take control of this fragmenting Greek empire.
Antiochus Epiphanes is outside Alexandria after coming from his victory over Cyprus. Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VI are co-regeants of Egypt at the time and go out to do battle, but the ods are not looking that great in their favour. The irony is that they don’t need to win any battle because the Roman senate’s representative Gaius Popillias Laenas presents Antiochus with an ultimatum to evacuate Egypt and hand back Cyprus immediately. Antiochus tells Gaius he needs time to consider this ultimatum. Gaius then draws a circle on the ground around Antiochus and demands that Antiochus give his decision before he should leave this circle. Antiochus was humiliated but was allowed to return to Jerusalem, where he was able at that point to exercise his power under Rome.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes plunders Jerusalem and attempts to annihilate Judaism. The result was the establishment of the Maccabean resistance that was able to cleanse the sanctuary and neutralise Antiochus.
It is from the temple cleansing that the Festival of Lights/Feast of the Dedication/Hanukkah was born.
Antiochus Epiphanes prefigures dictators and regimes who attempt to destroy the Jews, Jerusalem and all traces of the bible-based perspective.
A world war sparked in the Middle East.
The prelude to the rise of Antichrist, the one that all nations and religions will look to in order to keep society from total collapse.
Will this include the fulfillment of the Isaiah 17:1 Damascus prophecy?
Isaiah 17:1
מַשָּׂ֖א דַּמָּ֑שֶׂק
The Damascus pronouncement-burden:
הִנֵּ֤ה דַמֶּ֨שֶׂק֙ מוּסָ֣ר מֵעִ֔יר
Behold Damascus, removed from cityhood,
וְהָיְתָ֖ה מְעִ֥י מַפָּלָֽה׃
And that she has become a mangled heap of ruination!
The rise of Antichrist, who establishes the majestic tabernacle/tabernacles
of his palace amidst seas by Mt Holiness Beauty.
Could this be in Jerusalem and include world-wide holographic manifestations
among the religio-political world order power centres?