between The Lord’s designs of:
(a) the father figure in families,
(b) governments in cities and nations,
and (c) hegemon nations among the family of nations??
Let’s Review
Babylon was the first major hegemon city-state (Daniel 2). King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream, and Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7), both signified the rise and fall of four world hegemon nations or city-states of declining glory and increasing ruthlessness, and both culminated in significations of the eternal Kingdom of The Lord and his glorified saints from across the ages.
These events were excerpts of The Lord’s ‘prophetic strategic mapping’ of historical highlights during the 2nd-to the-7th ages of human history. By foretelling the future in this manner, Jesus, pre-incarnate, proves that He is The Lord God. 1 Moreover, these events prove He designed, allowed and empowered some nations to exert various kinds of influences over other nations in order to achieve His various strategic objectives (blessing and punishing) in the Earth. His objectives are ‘righteous in His sight’, irrespective of how they may appear to us. The Bible is clear that one such objective is/was to develop, then use hegemon nations of significant military strength to wage wars against less militarily-endowed, targeted nations as a form of His judgments for their protracted, gross, unrepented sinfulness. (See point #2 in Jeremiah 9:24) History reveals these hegemon nations were later severely judged as well.
‘God-rails’ to Guard
There are ‘plausible parallelisms’ between the three hegemon-type designs The Lord ordained for humanity, namely:
(a) the family, righteously guided, cared for, and disciplined by a capable father and husband,
(b) city and national governments, dutifully caring for, and disciplining their citizens, and
(c) regional and global hegemon nations, exercising varying types and degrees of positive influences, discipline, and unknowingly/possibly), some of The Lord’s intended judgments over less endowed nations.
These designs were established as His ‘God-rails to guard’ achievement of His righteous objectives across The Earth. Chief among His objectives is to ‘keep a tight lid’ on sinfulness by raising Godly offspring who are instructed, and who walk in righteous ways. Yet, given our sinful nature, He foreknew the declining glory and increasing ruthlessness of His designs would encounter. He foreknew we would increasingly give-in to devilish temptations to rebel against and cast-off every righteous restraint. For example, mentally review the extent to which the traditional father and husband role in families has been degraded since the global flood, i.e., during the 2nd and 3rd ages of history. Recall, Sarah called Abraham, ‘lord’. (1 Peter 3:6) Also, ponder how governments and politics have been increasingly corrupted and degraded in response to politicians’ insatiable greed and questionable integrity, and citizens’ unhinged desires for unrestrained freedoms, especially freedoms to do more of what The Lord calls …sin.
These scenarios of declining glory and increasing ruthlessness, parallel what happened eons ago in Heaven. The Bible reveals angels are hierarchically-organized in ranks and files, and are endowed with various specialized, exceptional gifts and powers, including authorities over other angels. (Sounds familiar?) Lucifer (now satan) was a top angel in charge of worship. (Isaiah 24:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-15) His proximity and access to The Throne of God, upon which Jesus sits (Revelation 22:1-3), triggered fierce jealousy to the point that he rebelled, with the help of many other angels. This rebellious crew was ex-communicated from Heaven, fell to Earth where they later witnessed the creation of Adam and Eve. Their rebellion against The Lord ...continues through us, at the personal, family, society, national and international levels, including hegemony.
Hegemony Today
After World War II (1945), the U.S. led the development and broad adoption of a bifurcated (two-part) ‘rules-based international order’ – which is, effectively, an ordered, international, institutional (not a national) hegemony. It features:
1. A set of rules encouraging peaceful, predictable, and cooperative behavior among nation states, rules that are consistent with liberal values and principles, and
2. A set of formal institutional bodies, such as the United Nations and its broad list of partner organizations and agencies, NATO, etc., that serve to legitimize and uphold these rules, and provide forums to discuss and settle disputes. A key role is reserved for powerful states to help preserve and defend the system.
This triggers the question, where and how does this system fit into the statue dream and vision that King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel respectively had about the succession of major hegemon states, culminating in The Lord’s eternal Kingdom?? Embraced by a considerable mix of strong and weak nations, the rules-based international order could possibly be signified by the two feet and 10 toes in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream. 2
Today, 78 years since they were established, the two parts of this order are widely regarded as inadequate and impotent to achieve their core objectives, including the U.N. Charter’s Article 1 that has never been achieved: …to maintain international peace and security. 3 Moreover, it is apparent that this order has followed the same degeneracy path as The Lord’s other ‘God-rail’ designs… declining glory and increasing ruthlessness. Nations that were/are the subjects of this unique type of hegemony, ‘grew up’ and are increasingly rebelling’ against any and ALL external authorities – casting off all restraints. 4
The world is increasingly struggling with the challenges of uncontrollable climate change, illegal international migration, unimaginable water shortages, unstoppable biological diversity, and unmanageable lawlessness and strife. And the effects of the predicted, next global resurrection and rapture of The Lord’s true saints from this 3rd age of history will exponentially add new challenges to this mix! As far as The Lord is concerned, all things are on time and on track in His predictions of ‘deepening spiritual darkness and lawlessness’ that will usher in the GLORIOUS LIGHT of His Millennial Kingdom, the 5th age of history.
Against this backdrop, increasingly, individuals, families, societies, nations and ‘wanna be’ hegemon nations, have become ‘a law unto themselves’, increasingly strife-torn, undisciplined, rebellious, sinful -- unrighteous, selfish, corrupt, rogue, and generally lawless, both within and without, i.e., internally, and externally, vis-à-vis their neighbors, their region, and across the world.
Can you?? 5
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1 See: Human History Ages (Series) and also Is Jesus God? (Series)
2 Part 2 discusses other plausible options.
3 See: In the Days of These Kings (Part 4, The UN-potent UN)
4 The same thing happens in families. As children become teens and young adults, parental influences and authority wane, or evaporate. But things took a significant turn when fathers and husbands rebelled against their traditional role. As goes the core family, the so-called ‘building block’ of society, so go societies and nations and, it seems also…the rules-based international order!
5 See: The rules-based international order is ending. What will replace it?
