The First and Last Hegemons

Psst…. Hey there,

What do you think might be Heaven’s reason for establishing and allowing hegemony among the nations of the world? ¹ Might we intuit answers by examining the Grand Marshall and Special Entry in history’s parade of hegemons—typically the first and last entries of a parade?

 

Biblically, nations emerged after the flood (Genesis 10–11); historically, our earliest clear nation-state patterns appeared post-Tower of Babel. But why nations? Why were certain nations allowed to grow to the point that they could/would dominate other nations across a range of sectors? And why have they ultimately collapsed under their own weight—successively corroded in morality and coherence?

The Bible indicates nations were a post-Tower of Babel development, in response to The Lord’s command for people to multiply and fill the Earth. Post-flood humans had a better idea than to scatter a thin population across the vast, empty Earth! We know who won that argument! After He confused their languages, they spread far and wide, grouped by languages. That led to the development of unique cultures and social arrangements. It also led to eventual competition, as each nation developed differently, according to its culture, social arrangements, and especially available NATURAL RESOURCES! But I intuit Heaven may have had other, more strategic, ‘story-telling’ purposes in this progression.

 

In Deuteronomy 8:18, the prophet Moses reveals the power to get wealth is a gift from The Lord, to achieve His strategic objectives in human history. To Nebuchadnezzar, a prideful king of Babylon, the prophet Daniel revealed that The God of Heaven had given him …a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He had given them into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, and has made him ruler over them all. (Daniel 2:37-38) In a later vision, The Lord revealed to Nebuchadnezzar that He, The Lord Most High, rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men. (Daniel 4:17) In this vision, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great, fruitful tree seen by all, that fed and sheltered all men and beasts. It depicted Heaven’s perspective of the Babylonian Empire. 

 

It is generally understood that Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar, likely achieved the first effective hegemon status in history. Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s earlier dream (of a statue made of various minerals—from gold, to iron and clay) revealed subsequent nations would similarly achieve this status, but none would be of the quality and grandeur of Babylon. This depiction might signify Heaven’s primary, strategic rationale for allowing hegemon nations. As with all things earthly, human nature kicks in, and does its best to kick ‘all things Heaven’ out of the picture. Nevertheless, The Lord proceeds to unfold His grand strategy for us. 

 

Both The Old and New Testaments give us snippets of The Lord’s plan to lead a GLOBAL Millennial Kingdom (the Millennial Reign age, the pending 5^th age of history), supported by His (then) immortal saints from across the first 4 ages of history. His kingdom will be the ‘special entry’ in the parade of hegemons depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream. 

 

A cursory comparison of Heaven’s symbolic depiction of the Babylonian Empire (the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream), and that of The Lord’s predicted, global Millennial Kingdom, reveals some significant overlaps, though obviously not in geographic scope and grandeur.

Symbolic Bookends: Babylon vs. Christ’s Kingdom

Conclusion

This comparison gives the wise among us to perceive and intuit The Lord’s possible primary rationale for hegemony—Heaven’s repetitive signal of the pending, final hegemon in our history. Why ‘primary’? Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream (Daniel 2) signaled that subsequent hegemon nations (symbolically Medo-Persia/Persia, Greece, Rome, and today’s ‘remnants of Rome’), would sequentially deteriorate in overall quality and grandeur. This is symbolized by their notably less than gold representations in the statue dream—from gold to clay. Human history also reveals another rationale for some hegemons is to serve as Heaven’s instruments to judge lesser nations when The Lord’s Grace to them had expired, with no significant repentance from their gross sinfulness. Repentance is the rationale for Heaven’s Grace to humanity. The obvious issue with this strategy is that every hegemon, including the Babylonian, itself, was subsequently, similarly judged! 

The U.S. currently stands …next in line.

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¹ Hegemony—leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others; aggression or expansionism by large nations, in an effort to achieve world domination.

Hegemon—a nation that has, or exercises hegemony.

² Count them: Babylon, Medo-Persia/Persia, Greece, Rome, U.K., U.S.