In the time of Malachi, the nation of Medo-Persia had already risen to great prominence in the world. They had conquered Babylon some one hundred years earlier, sending the Jews home, but their conquest of the world did not stop there. Cyrus, before his death, had set his eyes on and captured the Greek coastal cities along Asia Minor; and after his death the nation went on to take Egypt under the leadership of Cyrus’ son, Cambyses. However, it was after the death of Cambyses that Persia began to wither from within.
Following the rule of Cambyses, a man named Darius usurped the throne, and to avoid division among the people he adopted strict and cruel punishments for any who tried to rebel. This harsh treatment, though effective in scaring the people into submission, never resulted in allegiance to Darius. What did result was contempt on the part of the people and inability to unite the vast Persian empire on the part of Darius. The Greeks and Egyptians both eventually revolted against Persia, loosening her hold on them both. Shortly thereafter Darius died.
From Darius’ reign on, Persia was never the same again. Following Darius as king, eleven others sat on the Persian throne, concluding with Darius III who reigned from 335-331 B.C. It was in the same year, however, that Darius III came to power that in faraway Macedonia another young man rose to prominence among his people named Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon, and soon to be ruler of Greece. Alexander was educated under the renowned scholar Aristotle, and by the age of eighteen he already controlled the left arm of the Greek army. It was, however, just three years later that Philip was killed and the kingship fell upon Alexander. Because of Persia’s control of certain Grecian city-states, Greece had never had a united government; and Philip’s goal had been to form a league of Greek nations to unite all of Greece. Dying before his plan could be accomplished, Alexander made it his priority. In 333 B.C., Alexander lead Greek forces to victory over Darius and Persia at Issus, and then two years later Persia fell for good, bringing world power to the Greek empire and earning Alexander the title “the Great.”
For twelve to thirteen years, Alexander ruled Greece in a masterful way. The empire expanded and Greek culture permeated the society, especially in Palestine. Of the many rewards of Greek culture was namely a universal language. Greek quickly became the vernacular of daily conversation, and when the church was established that universal language contributed to the ability of the gospel to reach across the inhabited world. Alexander ruled Greece until in 323 B.C. he set sail on a voyage around Arabia and died of a serious fever before returning. He was just thirty-three years of age. His only son was born after he died, and thus no heir was of age to take control immediately. A struggle for power between Alexander’s seven generals lasted for seven years, and finally in 315 B.C. four of them solidified power in four regions of Greece: Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Cassander.
Over the next few decades these groups warred among themselves passing control of Palestine, including Jerusalem, from one to another. It was during the Seleucids’ control of Palestine, though, that a king named Antiochus IV Epiphanes went on a rampage in Jerusalem, defiling the temple and slaughtering untold numbers of Jews. Due to the spread of Greek culture, which many believed to be an attack on Judaism, and Antiochus’ cruelty, a group of Jews arose to defend their ancestral faith. This group, called the Hasidim, began what is referred to as the Maccabean revolt around 170 B.C. Without going into too much detail, a dispute over the priesthood saw the Maccabean control give way to a group known as the Hasmoneans. Then it was around 40 B.C. when an inward dispute between the Pharisees and their leader and the Sadducees and their leader weakened Jerusalem leading Pompey, the general of the Roman army, to intervene, and seeing an opportunity he besieged Jerusalem, bringing them under Rome’s power. Thus begins the New Testament with Palestine controlled by Rome with Herod the Great as governor of Judea, and the one responsible for killing countless babies in an attempt to dispose of the Christ.
With the progression of Babylon giving way to Persia, Persia giving way to Greece, and Greece giving way to Rome, Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the great image and the explanation given by Daniel (Daniel 2) was fulfilled. It would be in the days of the Roman kings that “the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44). The fullness of time was about to come. God’s eternal plan was unfolding perfectly. The setting is right and the circumstances are as expected. Now enters, Jesus Christ.