Fleeting Power
In the end, only God’s kingdom will prevail and endure forever. All other political entities are transitory. Already they are passing away. Despite human pretensions, History demonstrates the impermanence of political power and governments. Rome endured for a thousand years, but its empire fell all the same. Like life itself, political power is fleeting, and regimes often collapse quickly and unexpectedly when their allotted time expires. Only the “Kingdom of God” will last forever.
At the height of his power, the absolute monarch of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, boasted before Heaven and Earth, “Is not this Babylon the great and exceptional kingdom that I built by the MIGHT OF MY POWER and for the glory of my majesty?” His boast was not an idle one. Babylon was one of the greatest powers of the Ancient World.
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| [Photo by Dim 7 on Unsplash] |
After destroying the remnants of the Assyrian Empire, and having subjugated Syria and the Kingdom of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar expanded Babylonian dominion up the border of Egypt. But his presumptuous words and imperial ambitions received an immediate response from an angelic figure:
- “O King Nebuchadnezzar the dominion has departed from you…until you come to know that it is the Most-High who has dominion over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he pleases, he gives it” - (Daniel 4:28-33).
Consequently, the king lost his rational mind and was driven by society to live like an animal outside the city. After “seven seasons,” his mind restored, he lifted his eyes to Heaven and declared:
- “I, Nebuchadnezzar, my eyes to the heavens did uplift, and my understanding returned to me, and the Most-High I blessed, and to him that lives everlastingly I rendered praise and honor, whose 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 own pleasure deals he with the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth, and none there is who can smite upon his hand or say to him, What hast thou done?” – (Daniel 4:34-35).
From time immemorial, kings, emperors, dictators, prime ministers, and presidents have engaged in the imperial conceit of this magnitude - the Babylonian monarch’s boast was nothing new. His kingdom was the greatest and most exceptional political power of his day.
EMPIRES RISE AND FALL
Nevertheless, within two generations the Neo-Babylonian empire was overthrown and replaced by an even greater power, the “Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.” It has been thus throughout human history. Nebuchadnezzar should have known better. Previously, he learned the same lesson when he received a troubling dream that only Daniel could interpret.
The king 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. But a “stone cut out without hands” struck the great image, pulverizing it, and that small and unimpressive “stone” became the “mountain that filled the whole earth” - (Daniel 2:31-45).
Nebuchadnezzar’s “great image” represented four successive would-be world powers, beginning with the Neo-Babylonian Empire. But the final kingdom of God alone would fill the whole Earth after the demise of these four imperial upstarts. Thus, from the start, the end of the Babylonian empire was inevitable.
Political power will pass from one regime to the next until the day God “sets up a Kingdom for the ages that shall not be destroyed.” The “stone” that destroyed the “great image” of Nebuchadnezzar symbolized the everlasting Kingdom appointed by Yahweh that is destined to replace ALL EXISTING POLITICAL POWERS.
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 own purposes, He gives dominion to even the “BASEST OF MEN.” Nebuchadnezzar himself declared to Daniel that “Your God is God of gods and Lord of kings.” Hence, the pagan ruler acknowledged that his sovereignty was derived from a higher power.
Political authority comes from God, and no government can reign without His say-so. THERE IS NO EXCEPTION TO THE RULE. This is a key theme of the Book of Daniel - GOD GIVES RULERSHIP TO WHOMEVER HE PLEASES.
It begins in the first paragraph of the Book. The capture of Jerusalem, the captivity of Judah, and the destruction of its Temple all occurred in accord with God’s purposes - “The Lord gave the king of Judah into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand with the vessels of the House of God” - (Daniel 1:1-2).
HIS PURPOSES
Despite the national disaster of Jerusalem’s capture, Yahweh used Daniel to direct the policies of the Babylonian Empire. He enabled His prophet to do what none of the astrologers, priests, “wise men,” economists, bankers, or soothsayers of Mesopotamia could do – Recount and interpret the king’s dream. The result of his insight into the king’s dream was his elevation to a high position where he influenced the course of the latest incarnation of the World Empire - (Daniel 2:1-49).
Thus, God uses His sovereign power to accomplish His purposes regardless of human intentions, machinations, successes, and failures. He is never surprised by events. Kingdoms endure until He decides otherwise. Rulers who arrogate to themselves prerogatives that belong only to God risk removal from power.
History confirms that all kingdoms, empires, and regimes WITHOUT EXCEPTION collapse and disappear sooner or later. Greece, Rome, and Byzantium all rose to great heights only to collapse.
No nation today is an exception to the rule. Not one is indispensable to God and His purposes. His redemptive plan is to fill the whole Earth with His righteous reign under the authority of His Messiah.
All other governing powers are impermanent realities - fleeting powers and “perishing meat.” In the grand scheme of things, investing time and resources in the political institutions of this age is a fool’s errand.
HIS KING AND KINGDOM
Yahweh promised a coming day when the Messiah would sit at His right hand and rule until He made all his enemies his footstool. He would give His Son the “uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.” Though the nations would rage and oppose “His Anointed One,” he was destined by the Creator of all things to rule them all - (Psalm 2:6-9, 110:1-4).
The New Testament is explicit and uncompromising. Not only is Jesus this “Son” and “anointed” ruler, but his Messianic reign on the “Throne of David” began following his death and resurrection. As the risen Jesus declared to his disciples - “ALL authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me.”
Before his enthronement, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Gift of the Spirit, and then they would become his witnesses “to the uttermost part of the earth,” an echo of the second Psalm - (“the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession”). As the Gospel is proclaimed among the nations, the reign of the Messiah advances across the planet.
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.” Because of his obedience, He gave him the “name which is above every name” - (Ephesians 1:20-22, Philippians 2:6-11).
By his death, he “despoiled the powers and principalities,” triumphing over them. Through 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 existing political powers constitute “perishing meat.”
Thus, Yahweh’s “anointed” reigns over all things, and there are no exceptions to this PRESENT reality or his authority. By the time of his return “on the clouds of Heaven,” the “stone cut without hands” will fill the whole Earth, and all other regimes and kingdoms will vanish forever.
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