Empires Rise and Fall

Only the Kingdom of God will endure. All other political entities are temporary, and even now, they are in the process of passing away. Despite human pretensions, History demonstrates the impermanence of political powers, ideologies, and institutions. Rome endured for a thousand years, but it fell anyway. Even the mightiest of empires will collapse unexpectedly, and very often, far more quickly than anyone imagined.

Unfortunately, many of us have yet to learn this lesson. Too often, we invest our hopes, energies, and even faith in politicians and political movements that are destined to fail. They are little more than “perishing meat,” to quote Jesus of Nazareth. Sadly, the reliance on political solutions to the plight of humanity is once again rising in far too many churches.

• “Work not for the food that perishes, but for the meat that endures unto life everlasting, which the Son of Man will give you, for upon him has the Father, even God, set his seal” – (John 6:27).

• “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word of the gospel that was preached to you” – (1 Peter 1:24-25).

[Roman Arch - Photo by Christoph Schmid on Unsplash]

At the height of his power, the absolute monarch of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, boasted before Heaven and Earth…:

• “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built as the home of the kingdom, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” – (Daniel 4:30).

This was not an idle boast. Babylon was one of the greatest military and economic powers of the Ancient World. After destroying the Assyrian Empire and subjugating Syria and the Kingdom of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar expanded his dominion to the very borders of Egypt. However, his presumptuous words received a response from a messenger of God:

• “While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from you. And you will be driven from men, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will be made to eat grass as oxen, and seven times will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he pleases” - (Daniel 4:31-32).

Consequently, the King lost his rational mind and was driven by society to live like an animal outside the city walls. After “seven seasons,” his mind restored, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to Heaven and declared:

• “I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to the heavens, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most-High, and to him who lives everlastingly, I rendered praise and honour. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and according to his pleasure he deals with the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth, and there is no one who can smite upon his hand or say to him, What have you done?” – (Daniel 4:34-35).

Since the beginning of human civilization, kings, emperors, dictators, prime ministers, and presidents have engaged in political conceit of the same magnitude as the Babylonian king, flattering themselves and idolizing the State. The boast of Nebuchadnezzar was nothing new, and he was certainly not the last politician to make such claims.

The neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest political power the world had yet seen. Nevertheless, in less than three generations, the Empire was overthrown and replaced by an even greater political power, “the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.” It has been this way throughout History. As a ruler who promoted Babylonian learning and culture, Nebuchadnezzar should have known better.

Nebuchadnezzar had learned the same lesson previously when he received a troubling dream that only Daniel could interpret. He saw a “great image” with a head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron with feet comprised of iron and clay. “A stone was cut out of the mountain without hands” and struck the great image, pulverizing it, and the small unimpressive “stone” became the “mountain that filled the whole earth,” namely, the Kingdom of God:

• “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will the sovereignty of it be left to another people. But it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever” – (Daniel 2:44).

• “And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him” – (Daniel 7:27).

The large image with the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream represented four successive empires, beginning with Babylon. The coming kingdom of God would fill the whole Earth after the demise of the kingdoms and empires of this age. The end of Babylon was inevitable, as is the destruction of all subsequent empires. The only exception is the Kingdom of God - (Daniel 2:31-45, 7:1-8).

• “And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he will reign forever and ever” - (Revelation 11:15).

Political power will pass from one regime to the next until the day God “established a kingdom for the ages that will not be destroyed.” The “stone” that destroyed the large statue in the king’s dream symbolized the everlasting kingdom appointed by God that is destined to replace all existing political powers.

ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSES

In the Book of Daniel, the prophet declared that God alone “changes times and seasons, He removes kings and sets up kings.” According to His purposes, He gives dominion to “the lowest of men.” Nebuchadnezzar himself stated that “Your God is God of gods and Lord of kings.” The pagan ruler acknowledged that his sovereignty was derived from a higher power – (Daniel 2:20-21, 4:17).

Political authority comes from God, and no government can reign unless the God of Heaven allows it. There are no exceptions to this rule. This is the key theme of the Book of Daniel, that God gives rulership to whomever He pleases, and He is the Lord of History.

The theme of God's overlordship begins in the first paragraph of Daniel. The capture of Jerusalem, the captivity of Judah, and the demise of the Temple of Jerusalem all occurred as decreed by the God of Israel:

• “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them to the Land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god” - (Daniel 1:1-2).

• “Now, as for these four (Jewish) youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” - (Daniel 1:17).

Despite the capture of the Kingdom of Judah, God used Daniel to direct the policies of the Babylonian Empire and empowered the prophet to do what none of the astrologers, priests, “wise men,” scribes, bankers, astrologers, “monthly prognosticators,” or soothsayers of Mesopotamia could do; namely, to interpret the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, Daniel was elevated to a high position from which he influenced the course of the neo-Babylonian Empire - (Daniel 2:1-49):

• “The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation? Daniel answered before the king, and said, The mystery which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers show to the king. But there is a God in the heavens who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, what will come to pass in latter days” - (Daniel 2:26-28).

• “Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon” - (Daniel 2:48).

God uses His sovereignty to accomplish His purposes regardless of human intentions and machinations. He is not surprised by events. Kingdoms endure until He decides otherwise. Rulers who arrogate to themselves prerogatives that belong only to God risk removal from office and the destruction of their regimes.

History confirms that all kingdoms, empires, and governments fall sooner or later.  Greece, Rome, and Byzantium all rose to great heights only to collapse. No nation today is an exception to this rule. Not one is indispensable to God and His purposes.

Yahweh promised a coming day when the Messiah will sit at His right hand and rule the nations and “the kings of the Earth” until He makes all his enemies the footstool of Christ - (Psalm 2:6-9, Revelation 1:4-7, 2:26-28, 12:5).

The New Testament is explicit and uncompromising. Not only is Jesus this “anointed” ruler and son of David, but his reign began following his Death and Resurrection. As he declared to his disciples - “All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me” - (Matthew 28:18-20).

When God raised His son from the dead, He placed him “far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, and he put all things in subjection under his feet” - (Ephesians 1:20-22, Philippians 2:6-11).

By his death, Jesus “despoiled the powers and principalities,” triumphing over them. By his resurrection, he became “the firstborn of the dead” and in “all things preeminent.” Already he reigns, and all angels, powers, and authorities have been subjected to him. All other political powers will perish from the Earth.

Thus, the anointed Son of God reigns over all things, and there are no exceptions to this reality. By the time of his return, “the stone cut from the mountain without hands” will fill the whole Earth, and all other regimes, ideologies, and kingdoms will disappear from the Earth.

Everyone who desires to follow Jesus must decide today to which kingdom he or she belongs, and to which king he or she will give absolute allegiance. It is a matter of life and (everlasting) death. Or as Jesus declared:

• “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in the heavens, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also” – (Matthew 6:19-21).

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SEE ALSO:

• God Grants Rulership - (God gave the kingdom of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, but He also equipped Daniel and his companions for service in the court of Babylon)

• Empires and His Kingdom - (Only Daniel could reveal the troubling dream of the Babylonian King, unveiling the future of empires and the final kingdom)

• The World Empire - (Imperial arrogance is the legacy of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first attempt, but certainly not its last, to impose the world empire)

• Chaque Empire Se Termine - (Seul le Royaume de Dieu durera. Toutes les autres entités politiques sont temporaires et, même maintenant, elles sont en train de disparaître)