The Ancient Empire

History repeats itself. It is littered with past efforts by tyrants and regimes to dominate peoples and territories. Each empire may experience some successes. So far, each has floundered and fallen in the end. For example, the Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and Caesar’s imperial realm ceased to exist thousands of years ago.

Unfortunately, this imperial effort never ceases. Today, we find the latest incarnation of the World Empire marching across the globe, imposing its will, seducing Christians, and subjugating nations that refuse its demands.

[Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash]

This raises the question - Why? Why does this pattern repeat? Why do men embrace corrupt and tyrannical powers time and time again despite the lessons of History? Is humanity incapable of learning? That is the cynic’s answer. Or perhaps nefarious groups of conspirators are working behind the scenes from one generation to the next to impose the New World Order?

The Bible provides clear explanations. There is a conspiracy in operation, but it is the ancient strategy of the Devil in his cosmic war against the Creator of all things. His tactics and puppets vary, and he rebrands ideologies as needed, but his objectives remain the same, especially the destruction of the people of God.

In the Book of Daniel, the Babylonian Empire is called the “Land of Shinar,” a reference to the first attempt at global government recorded in the Book of Genesis, the Tower of Babel incident.

Like that first Mesopotamian Kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar tried to impose one language on the many peoples of his domain. Moreover, he erected a great high “image” in the “plain” outside the city where he assembled all the peoples of his realm to pay homage to his majesty and sovereignty – (Genesis 11:1-9, Daniel 1:1-4, 3:1-9).

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great image composed of four sections of different materials. Its golden head represented Nebuchadnezzar, and the remaining sections symbolized three kingdoms that rose in succession after Babylon - (Daniel 2:1-48).

Nebuchadnezzar saw only one figure in his dream. Each of the four kingdoms was a part of a single whole. The Kingdom of God represented by the “stone cut without hands from a mountain” struck the image on its feet, turning the entire edifice into dust - all four kingdoms perished together.

The same reality is in the seventh chapter of Daniel when the prophet saw four “beasts” ascending in succession from the sea. They symbolized kingdoms, beginning with Babylon. The first three possessed the characteristics of known animals – the lion, the bear, and the leopard – (Daniel 7:1-25).

The fourth Beast was so horrific it had no analog in the animal kingdom. It was a monster with “ten horns… diverse” from its three predecessors. This Beast waged “war on the saints.” For a time, “it prevailed against them.” Nevertheless, the fourth kingdom was destroyed when “judgment was made for the saints” by the “Ancient of days,” and the saints “possessed the Kingdom.”

Despite their demise, the lives of the first three “beasts” or kingdoms continued in the fourth realm. “But a lengthening of life was given to them” until the fourth kingdom was thrown down and “given to the burning fire.” As in Chapter 2, the entire structure was destroyed at once.

THE BEAST FROM THE SEA

In the Book of Revelation, Satan is the “Ancient Serpent” determined to destroy the “woman” and her “Son.” This echoes the Genesis story when the “Serpent” tempted Eve in the Garden.

However, though the “Dragon” bit the heel of the “son,” the latter defeated the former when God raised him to His “Throne” and installed him as the “Shepherd of the nations.” The context makes clear the “Son” was Jesus. He “overcame” the Devil by his Death and Resurrection - (Revelation 1:4-7, 12:1-17).

The “Dragon” was expelled from Heaven. He lost his prosecutorial powers. However, he was not done and set out to “wage war” against the “Seed of the Woman, those who have the Testimony of Jesus.” He was next found standing on the seashore as he summoned his “seed” from the Sea, the “Beast” with seven heads and ten horns - (Revelation 13:1-10).

This “Beast from the Sea” featured the same characteristics as Daniel’s four “beasts from the sea” – the “ten heads,” the leopard, the bear, and the lion. However, John saw them ascending in reverse order from Daniel’s vision as if he were looking back through time. John saw only one creature. It combined the features of Daniel’s four separate beasts. It was related to them but was also something beyond them.

John’s single “Beast” exercised all the authority of the “Dragon.” Satan was the power behind the imperial throne, which the “Beast” used to “wage war against the saints, and to overcome them and kill them.” This last clause echoes the language from Daniel where the “Little Horn” waged war against God’s saints - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 13:7).

ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

The preferred weapon of this “Beast” was economic control. It sanctioned any man who refused to give allegiance to it. The World Empire demanded the level of loyalty that belonged to God alone. All men who resisted the Beast were excluded from the economic life of society. No man could “buy or sell” without the Beast’s “Mark” or “Number,” 666.

The “Beast” was allied with ancient Babylon, the “Great Whore” who has been seducing the nations from time immemorial. She was integral to world commerce. No presumptive empire could operate against the people of God without her – (Revelation 18:1-23).

This imperial creature was something the world had seen many times before and since. Its “seven heads” represented seven “kingdoms.” At the time of John’s writing, five of them had fallen in John’s past. The sixth was alive and well, and it could only be the Roman Empire – (Revelation 17:7-12).

Rome fell. However, the world will see the rise of the last “kingdom.” It will be the “seventh,” but it also will be an “eighth.” It will be from the same lineage as its predecessors but also something beyond them.

This final incarnation of the “Beast” will include the combined ambitions and inhumanity of its predecessors - Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, only fueled by the rage of the “Dragon” who lashes out at the people of God in his death throes as his destruction draws near.

Throughout human history, there has been one imperial power driven by Satan to execute the objective of destroying the people of God. History repeats because the “Dragon” has been pushing the same agenda since the beginning. While its form varies, the World Empire continues to pursue this same agenda.

Today, we see a vast imperial power once again marching across the globe, a regime that uses economic sanctions promiscuously against entire nations, peoples, and even individuals who do not acknowledge it as their overlord. It manifests the characteristics of its predecessors, especially those of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar.

Will it succeed and become the “seventh” and final kingdom? Only time will tell. Empires come and go, and they often fall suddenly and unexpectedly. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to ignore the dangers posed by this latest “Beast,” and it is lurking in plain sight.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Theology of History - (Both Revelation and Daniel proclaim the absolute sovereignty of God over the course of History, nations, and rulers)

• The Recurring Empire - (Babylon is both a historical kingdom and the symbol of the repeated rise of the World Empire)

• Religion and Economics - (The False Prophet mimics the Lamb and uses economic control and religious propaganda to advance the Beast’s sovereignty)