Empires Rise and Fall

Imperial arrogance and idolatry are the legacies of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first but not last attempt to build a world empire.

Human history is dominated by tyrants and empires determined to subjugate nations and populations.  This plan has been underway since time immemorial. It will reach its climax shortly before Christ’s return when Satan gathers his earthly forces in his final attempt to annihilate the saints of God. It will be the final act of the war between the World Empire and the Kingdom of God.

This biblical perspective is historical, spiritual, and eschatological. It traces this war through history, provides insights into the larger cosmic battle being waged behind the scenes, and tells us how it will end in the future with the final confrontation between the “Beast from the Sea” and the “Lamb.”

[World Empire Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash]

Thus, for example, the “Serpent” that beguiled Eve in Eden is found in the Book of Revelation as the “Ancient Serpent” who wages war on “those who have the Testimony of Jesus.” In the end, the “Lamb” destroys Satan and his allies, and the men who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes” prevail and reign with Christ - (Revelation 12:1-17; 20:1-10).

This ancient story begins with the Tower of Babel incident if not earlier with Nimrod, perhaps the first ruler of Babel, and arguably, a forerunner of the “Beast from the Sea,” a story that is echoed in the Book of Daniel when the latest ruler of “Shinar,” Nebuchadnezzar, gathered all nations to pay homage to the great golden image he set up in the “Plain of Dura” – (Daniel 1:1-2, 3:1-6).

The Neo-Babylonian Empire was not a new political entity, but the latest version of Satan’s effort to conquer all humanity and destroy the saints, a plan that has been ongoing since the dawn of human civilization.

In the Book of Genesis, God stopped the rulers of Babel from completing the “high tower” in the “plain of the land of Shinar” by diversifying the single language spoken at the time and dispersing the resulting linguistic groups. This was the origin of the Babylonian Empire - (Genesis 11:1-9).

Originally, the “whole earth was of one language.” The descendants of Noah migrated to Mesopotamia and dwelt “in the land of Shinar,” the Hebrew equivalent of ‘Sumer,’ and they began to build a city with a high tower that would “reach the heavens and, thus, make us a name, lest we be scattered across the whole earth.”

In the beginning, God commanded Adam to “multiply, replenish and subdue the earth,” the same command reiterated to Noah after the Flood. Instead of heeding the divine directive, humanity moved to Mesopotamia and built a new civilization to “make a name” for itself, and ‘Babylon’ is characterized in the Bible by its presumptuousness and idolatrous conceit - (Genesis 1:28, 9:1, Isaiah 14:13-14, Jeremiah 32:20).

If humanity united under one language, its wickedness would become boundless. By confounding human languages, God caused the nations to spread across the Earth, and He thwarted man’s first attempt to impose a centralized imperial government.

The Bible calls this Mesopotamian city ‘Babel’, the place where “Yahweh confounded the language of all the earth.” The name may be related to the Hebrew word balal, meaning, “confusion.” At that time, the “whole earth was of one speech.” When men began to dwell in “Shinar” or Sumer, they built a city with a tower of “great height” in the “plain” to mark their achievements and prevent the dispersal of humanity.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR

Likewise, in the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar attempted to reverse God’s judgment against ancient Babel by gathering representatives from every nation to be educated in the language of Babylon, the “tongue” of the World Empire. He also commanded all nations to pay homage to the “great image” that he “set up in the plain of Dura.” Nebuchadnezzar decreed that “all peoples, races, and tongues” should bow before his image.

The whole Earth would be united under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. By the universal use of the Babylonian “tongue” and by the worship of the king’s great golden image - (Genesis 11:2, Daniel 3:1-7).

Despite appearances, the Book of Daniel insists from its first paragraph that God reigns over the kingdoms of the world and grants rulership to whomever He pleases. It presents an identifiable Theology of History - (Daniel 1:1-2, 2:20-21, 4:17).

The Book begins by recounting how Nebuchadnezzar overthrew the king of Judah and removed the golden vessels from the Temple to the “treasure-house of his god in the land of Shinar.” In the king’s mind, no doubt, this was a tribute to the superiority of his god or gods.

However, the destruction of Judah occurred because “the Lord gave it into the king’s hand.” Nebuchadnezzar was Yahweh’s instrument of judgment on the wayward people of Israel.

The subjugation of Judah created a theological dilemma for patriotic members of Israel since the Babylonians had conquered what remained of the Israelite Kingdom, and the name of their new overlord, Nebuchadnezzar, included the name of the Mesopotamian god Nebo. From a human perspective, the pagan gods of Babylon had triumphed over the God of Israel.

The latest “King of Babel” was reversing the ancient decree of Yahweh by seizing God’s “house,” gathering scattered nations to “Shinar,” and imposing his pagan tongue on one and all.  Judah’s tribute included high-ranking exiles sent to Babylon to be educated in its culture and language.

All this constituted a national catastrophe for the Jewish nation, yet the book of Daniel declares that it was the Lord who gave all this into the hands of the pagan enemy of Israel - (Daniel 1:4).

The Hebrew verb translated as “gave” in the Book’s opening sentence is applied several more times in the first chapter.  First, God gave the kingdom of Judah into the “hand of Nebuchadnezzar.” Second, Daniel was “given favor and sympathy with the prince of the eunuchs.” Third, Yahweh gave Daniel and his companions “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom.” And fourth, Daniel was “given” the understanding of all visions and dreams.

The Babylonian king put Daniel and his friends to the test and “found them ten times better than all the scribes and enchanters who were in his realm.” Therefore, these Jewish exiles were promoted to serve in the Babylonian court. Despite the disaster that had befallen Judah, events demonstrated that God was using these lowly exiles to achieve His purposes and direct the course of human history - (Daniel 1:17-20).

THE KING’S DREAM

In Chapter 2 of Daniel, events occurred in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar before the completion of Daniel’s Babylonian education. His successful interpretation of the king’s dream was not attributable to his newly acquired Babylonian knowledge base, but to the “discernment in all visions and dreams” given to him by God.

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream that troubled him. He commanded the wise men of Babylon to reveal its contents and meaning, which they were unable to do. Enraged, the king ordered the destruction of all the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel intervened by requesting a time when he could make the dream’s interpretation known, and then he prayed for the revelation of “this mystery.” Yahweh responded by revealing the king’s dream and its interpretation to the Prophet. Daniel responded by praising the God who “removes kings and sets up kings.”

Daniel next revealed the dream and its interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, through the Prophet, God showed Nebuchadnezzar “what things must come to pass in latter days” - (Daniel 2:19-45).

The king dreamed of a large image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet, part iron and part clay. Then a stone “cut out without hands" struck the image on its feet and shattered it into pieces, after which the stone became a “great mountain that filled the whole earth.”

The image’s “golden head” represented King Nebuchadnezzar. The silver breast symbolized an inferior kingdom that would succeed him, likewise, the brass belly and thighs. The stone carved “without hands” represented the final kingdom established by God, one that would “break in pieces and consume all” the preceding regimes. In this, “God had shown the king what things must come to pass after these things” - (Daniel 2:37).

In reaction, Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself before Daniel and exalted him to rule over the province of Babylon. He declared that Yahweh was “the God of gods, Lord of kings, and the Revealer of Mysteries.”

Thus, the mighty pagan ruler acknowledged God’s sovereignty over nations and history. His own sovereignty was derived from the “Most-High God,” and in this way, Yahweh revealed the future of the World Empire. The rise and fall of empires was under His control.

IMPERIAL HUBRIS

In Chapter 3, the king attempted to implement his dream by “making an image of gold.” The entire image that he “set up” was covered in gold, not just its head. He was determined to magnify his achievements and declare to all mankind that his kingdom was an everlasting one. Had he not dreamed it?

At his command, all the “satraps, nobles, pashas, chief judges, treasurers, judges, lawyers, and all provincial governors were assembled to the dedication of the image… and they stood before it.” All were commanded to “render homage to the image that the king had set up,” and anyone who refused was cast into a fiery furnace - (Daniel 3:1-6).

The “great image” represented the absolute sovereignty of the Babylonian Emperor over all the “peoples, races and tongues.” The Aramaic verb translated as “set up” is the same one used in Chapter 2 for the God who “sets up” kings. Nine times in Chapter 3 the text states that Nebuchadnezzar “set up” his image, a Babylonian challenge to the sovereignty of the God of Israel.

Some of the Chaldean “wise men” used the situation to settle scores for their earlier failure. Though loyal to the king, the Jewish exiles would not worship the golden image. When Nebuchadnezzar heard this, he gave the three men a choice - Give allegiance to the image or suffer a fiery death. “Who is the god that will deliver you out of my hand?”

The three exiles were cast into the furnace but miraculously survived its overheated flames. Nebuchadnezzar saw them “walking in the fire” with a fourth figure, one he described as “like a son of the gods. With fear, he summoned the exiles to exit the furnace and addressed them as the “servants of the Most-High God.”

Because the exiles survived unscathed, he “blessed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego,” for He had “changed the king’s word” by delivering His “servants.” The king then issued a decree to “all peoples, nations and tongues” that anyone who spoke against Yahweh would be slain - (Daniel 3:13-25).

As before, praise and acknowledgment of God were heard on the lips of the powerful pagan ruler who also acknowledged the three Jewish exiles to be the servants of the “Most-High God.” Once more, the ruler of the latest incarnation of the World Empire acknowledged the sovereignty of the God of Israel.

Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and thus, the sovereignty of Yahweh over historical events was demonstrated once more. The presumptions of even the world’s most powerful political machine could not thwart His purposes.

Similarly, Chapter 4 begins and ends with Nebuchadnezzar as the sole ruler of the Empire, and he once again acknowledged the sovereignty of God:

• “Blessed is the Most-High who lives forever! I praise and honor the One whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. Before Him, all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and according to his own pleasure, He deals with the Host of Heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.”

History remembers Nebuchadnezzar as a great builder and conqueror who established an empire from the Persian Gulf to the gates of Egypt, a realm mightier than any preceding one. In contrast, Scripture remembers him as an instrument employed by Yahweh to achieve His ends, despite the plans of the Babylonian king.

PERSIA TAKES CENTER STAGE

Chapter 5 begins on the last evening of the Babylonian Empire before its conquest by the kingdom of the “Medes and Persians.” Babylon’s last king, Belshazzar, gave a feast in which his retinue drank wine from the vessels that had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar from Yahweh’s Temple while “praising the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.”

In that same hour, a hand began to write on the wall. Disturbed, Belshazzar summoned the enchanters, soothsayers, and the “wise men of Babylon” to interpret the writing, but none could do so.

As before, Daniel was summoned to interpret the writing: ‘Mene, Mene Tekel Upharsin.’ The clause represents Aramaic words associated with monetary weights - Mene, the equivalent of the Hebrew “talent,” Tekel from the Jewish shekel, and Peres from upharsin for “half-pieces,” the “half-mina.” The last term provides a double wordplay – First, on the name “Persia,” the power about to overthrow Babylon, and second, on the Aramaic verb for “divide” which is from the consonantal stem p-r-s.

The Aramaic phrase signified that “God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end” (mene), “you are weighed in the balances and found wanting” (tekel), and “your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (peres). Thus, Yahweh’s sovereignty was on full display as imperial sovereignty was transferred from Babylon to the “Medes and Persians.”

That night, the “Medes and Persians” captured the city and slew Belshazzar. Through the words of the Jewish exile, Yahweh had deposed a king and cast down his empire while causing another realm of even greater magnitude to assume the imperial role.

The Book of Daniel demonstrates that Yahweh rules over history. The plans, intentions, and dictates of even the most powerful ruler cannot thwart His purposes, and the defeat of His people by a pagan power is no barrier to His redemptive plans.

In the Book of Revelation, Satan infiltrates humanity and inflicts the Church with the final version of this imperial power, the “Beast from the Abyss/Sea.” It will prosecute its great vicious war against the “saints,” those who have the “faith and testimony of Jesus.” Five kingdoms have come and gone already, one was standing in John’s time, presumably the Roman Empire, but a “seventh” and most terrible empire will appear on the Earth before the end - (Revelation 17:9-14).

This “Beast from the Sea” will be the “seventh, but also an eighth” since it will be of the same lineage as its forbears, but also something far worse. It will combine all the characteristics of Daniel’s four “beasts from the sea,” the lion, bear, leopard, and the monstrous beast with “ten horns and seven heads,” into one final beastly system.

This Beast’s preferred weapon for enforcing its will is economic control. No one “could buy or sell” without the Beast’s mark, and like King Nebuchadnezzar, it will require all nations and peoples to give homage to its image. Any man who refuses to comply will be put under economic sanction or even be killed - (Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:1, 13:7, 13:1-18, 17:9-14).

Today, another incarnation of the World Empire is striding across the planet. Only time will tell if this latest version will become the imperial power that executes the Dragon’s final effort to destroy the saints or fall like its six predecessors.

Regardless, we must take care to give our allegiance to Jesus and his Kingdom alone. Otherwise, we may find ourselves bearing the imperial “Mark of the Beast,” and consequently, our name will be erased from the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• Vanishing Empires - (Only God’s kingdom will prevail and endure. All other political powers and regimes are fleeting. Already they are passing away)

• Land of Shinar - (The arrogant acts of Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel parallel the incident at the Tower of Babel in Genesis)

• God Grants Sovereignty  - (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)

• The Ancient Régime - (The Beast of Revelation embodies the ancient imperial power that has stalked the saints since the Tower of Babel incident)