Following are three outstanding examples of historical events related in the Bible as well as secular history.
The Plague That Saved Jerusalem
The first chapter of the book mentioned above deals with a very significant event in world history according to these historians. William McNeill, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago, writes, “Military events, even seemingly insignificant episodes, can have unforeseen consequences…It seems appropriate to begin this book with such a moment in history, the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, then the seat of the tiny kingdom of Judah, in 701 B.C. That siege, by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was lifted after a large part of his army succumbed to a mysteriously lethal contagion… But what if disease had not intervened…and the usual pillage, rape, murder, and forced exile of the population had been Jerusalem’s lot? What would our lives, our spiritual underpinnings be like 2,700 years later?… Jerusalem’s preservation from attack by Sennacherib’s army shaped the subsequent history of the world far more profoundly than any other military action I know of” (pp. 1-3).
Just as the Assyrians were about to lay a siege to and destroy Jerusalem, obliterating the Jewish faith, suddenly something destroyed most of the Assyrian army and freed Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s defeat is not only recorded in the Bible, but by Herodotus, the Greek historian, in The Histories, written around 450 B.C. He attributes the miraculous defeat of Sennacherib’s army in the campaign against Egypt (which included Israel) to mice overrunning the camp and wreaking great havoc: “An army of field-mice swarmed over their opponents in the night… [and] gnawed through their quivers and their bows, and the handles of their shields, so that on the following day they fled minus their arms and a great number fell” (Book 2:141).
The Bible mentions exactly what brought on the mysterious disease that killed so many in such a short time. After hearing the threats and orders to surrender from the Assyrian military commander, King Hezekiah prayed to God, who answered him through the prophet Isaiah: “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there….’For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ Then the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and…remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword…. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place” (Isaiah 37:33-38). Assyrian records also confirm that Sennacherib was later killed by his sons.
Since Herodotus mentions mice in connection with the destruction of the Assyrian army, some biblical scholars speculate that since mice often are carriers of deadly diseases, such as the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages, something like this could have happened at that time.
God had promised hundreds of years before that the nation of Judah would survive through the centuries, and eventually the promised Messiah would be born there: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah] comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:10).
The Unlikely Greek Naval Victory Over The Persians At Salamis in 480 B.C.
The outcome of this battle was crucial, resulting in the development of western european culture, instead of Europe becoming part of Persian history, culture and religion. German historian Georg Hegel commented about this battle, “The interest of world history hung trembling in the balance. Oriental despotism, a world united under one lord and sovereign, on the one side; and separate states… animated by free individuality, on the other side….” (quoted by Victor Davis Hanson, “No Glory That Was Greece,” What If?, p. 17).
“What if the Persians had won?” historian Victor Davis Hanson asks. “If the rowers commanded by the Greek general Themistocles had not prevailed, would there be, some 2,500 years later a Western civilization in the form we know it? At Salamis, the Greeks were faced with a navy three to four times larger…. The Persian army enjoyed still greater numerical superiority. Yet they lost, and the Greeks were able to establish their empire, and contribute to arts, culture, science—paving the way for Christianity” (p. 35).
The Bible predicted against all odds the Greeks would eventually defeat the Persians and absorb their empire. The battle of Salamis was an important part of that ultimate Greek victory. The prophet Daniel received this prophecy from God, around 540 B.C. before the Persian and Greek empires had arisen on the world scene.
“In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me…by the River Ulai…. standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns….I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; ….suddenly a male goat came from the west….and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. Then he came to the ram that had two horns…and ran at him with furious power. And…attacked the ram, and broke his two horns….and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand… The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece” (Daniel 8:1-7, 20-21).
Although the Persian empire was very powerful, what was prophesied came to pass. Had the Greeks lost at Salamis, they would have been incorporated into the Persian Empire rather than later conquering Persia, as foretold in Daniel. This prophesied conquest of Persia would come with the march of Alexander the Great.
The Near Early Death Of Alexander
Another pivotal moment in world history had to do with Alexander the Great’s conquests. What if he would have been killed at the beginning of his career, as almost happened?
At the Battle of the Granicus River, during the first major military engagement of Alexander against the Persians, he was dealt a devastating blow in the head from an axe that cleaved his helmet. But as the warrior was about to strike the second blow and kill Alexander, a friend came and stabbed the attacker with a spear. Alexander was saved, and went on to conquer most of the known world.
“What if Alexander died at that moment?” asks Princeton historian Josiah Ober: “It would be a world in which the values characteristic of the Greek city-states were lost in favor of a fusion of Roman and Persian ideals…Without the challenge of strong Greek cultural influence and subsequent Roman mismanagement in Judea, Judaism would have remained a localized phenomenon…The New Testament (whatever form it took) would never have been composed in ‘universal’ Greek and so would not have found a broad audience” (“Conquest Denied,” What If?, pp. 55-56).
Alexander’s exploits and that he was destined to be a conqueror, establishing the Greek empire and then die at the height of his power was prophesied hundreds of years in advance. Daniel 8:1-7 describing the goat (Greece) defeating the ram (Medo-Persia) is quoted above concerning the battle of Salamis. Then, in verse 8 we are told: “Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up… And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king [Alexander the Great]. As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power” (Daniel 8:8, 21-22).
An additional prophecy, given to Daniel, also predicted Persia would suffer the consequences of Alexander’s conquests (Daniel 11:1-3), as well as what would happen to Alexander: “And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these” (verse 4). As prophecy predicted, Alexander died an early death (33 years old) and his empire was divided up into four parts and ruled by four of his generals—not by any of his family or descendants.
These three examples remind us that Bible prophecy is behind much of world history—and more importantly, it also predicts what will happen in the future as God reminds us: “Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” (Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT)
