lease begin by reading the Shema out loud and continue trying to memorize it.

“Hear, O Israel. The LORD is our God. The LORD alone. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Amen.”

During the 400 years between the time of Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, and the coming of Christ, a man by the name of Alexander the Great lived. Some people believe that Alexander was the “goat” in Daniel’s vision in Daniel 8:5-8.

Read Daniel 8:5-8.

Alexander was groomed to be a more refined leader. From age 13 to 16 the renowned philosopher, Aristotle, tutored him. Through this training, Alexander took on Aristotle’s religious beliefs. Aristotle believed that God was the Creator, but after creation He was “hands-off” as far as the Earth was concerned. Alexander also took on Aristotle’s belief that the stories of the Greek gods were mythical. Because of these beliefs, Alexander was much more tolerant of the Jewish religion.

Upon his father’s assassination, Alexander became king at the age of 20 and set out to conquer the “world”. He died at the early age 33 after conquering the Middle East. The map shows all of the area that was conquered by Alexander the Great. It stretched from Macedonia to Egypt through Babylonia and Persia to the edge of India.

Map credit: Encyclopedia Britanica

In God’s world, timing is everything. The time was not right for Jesus to come to earth until the stage was set. Alexander unknowingly played a big part in preparing the way for Jesus.

This huge amount of land that was conquered by Alexander became an area that was firmly rooted in Greek culture, was open to trade throughout, and was a place where everyone spoke the same Greek language. It had been centuries since there was a common language over such a wide area of land. The events at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 document the time when God confused the language of men so they could not understand each other and scattered them all over the earth. Here, Alexander unites mankind in language once again.

Jewish people who were spread throughout the region began to speak Greek instead of Aramaic. This led to the translation of the Jewish Bible into Greek. Therefore, the Jewish Bible and the prophecies within it were available throughout a huge region where people all spoke the same language. The stage was now set for Jesus and for the news about Him to spread quickly

Source:
Ray Vander Laan – That the World May Know
Revel Bible Dictionary
Jewish History.org
Encyclopedia Britanica
“The Language of the New Testament Times” by Dr. Ray Register