On January 20, 2019, a unique and not so common event was experienced by millions of people in the United States – a total lunar eclipse. Having been over three years since lunar totality could be seen across such a wide swath of the country, NASA officials decided to release a map depicting the path of the eclipse and how the event could be observed. The path of the eclipse would begin in the northwest corner of the U.S., travel the length of the nation before exiting off the coast of South Carolina. The path would virtually split the nation in half. What seemed like an insignificant detail at the time has now become a surprising display of the current state of affairs in the United States – a country divided in two.
Luke 11:16-17 KJV — And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
We live in a time where we are always looking for a sign from above. What will tomorrow bring? Only God knows the answer, but if we were looking for a particular sign, then it was provided. Skeptics will claim it’s just mere coincidence, but we cannot deny the significance the map NASA provided represents. A symbolic line had been drawn and now a choice had to be made. Right or wrong, left or right, or maybe we should just say, Godly or ungodly? A line has been drawn in the sand and this has been done before.
The Scribes and Pharisees had brought a woman before Jesus who had been caught in the act of adultery. Demanding justice and punishment, they tested Jesus, not willing to admit to themselves their own sin and hypocrisy in the matter. Jesus kneeled and wrote in the sand. Suddenly, the accusers became convicted about their knowledge and involvement with the very same woman. A line had been drawn and then Jesus spoke;
John 8:7 KJV — “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
Their combative and sinful nature had been revealed, then one by one they departed and no accusers remained. The Lord forgave the woman and told her to sin no more. As for the Scribes and the Pharisees, they continued with testing and challenging Jesus.
Not just the United States, but the whole world is facing their own hypocrisies, not willing to turn to God Jehovah for repentance and guidance. Now sitting in a position of power, they truly believe they have the formula for an everlasting reign.
What most historians miss in their studies can be called the missing dimension in world affairs. The missing dimension is the role God plays in the rise and fall of great empires. The Bible is a chronicle of ancient kingdoms rising and falling according to God’s plan and purpose. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome are all mentioned in scriptures. All played key roles in working with the nation of Israel and the Church founded by Jesus Christ. Even today, the lessons of empires embedded in the Bible apply as we watch the modern world move toward what Christ said would be the end of the age.
Shortly after the turn of the century, many around the world began to express their displeasure with the way their local and national governments were being operated. The difference between the “have’s” and the “have not’s” became greater and especially after the 2016 and 2020 Presidential Elections. In the United States, the rhetoric of hatred, anti-conservatism and deceit became and continues to be the trending nature of their society. Political candidates and news media outlets have bombarded the public with their philosophies, theories and misinformation to convince the American people they are the answer for what is wrong in our world. The turmoil has also given the opportunity for anti-government factions and socialistic, pro-marxist political groups, such as Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA, to rise to prominence. Attacking conservative family values, racial diversity and promoting lawlessness, along with anarchy, eliminating God as part of any solution. With God not being a part of the equation, it makes a lot of people wonder, how secure is their future?
To get an idea of what the future may bring, we must look and understand what has happened in the past.
The prophetic book of Daniel lists Babylon as the first in a line of empires to impact the world from the time of the fall of Jerusalem to the end of the age. Daniel found himself at the seat of the empire dealing with a succession of rulers beginning with Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 2:1-6 KJV — And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
The magicians, astrologers and the Chaldeans could not satisfy the king and so the decree had gone out to kill all the wise men when Daniel was brought before Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 2:16-23 KJV — Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.
Once again Daniel was brought before King Nebuchadnezzar. The dream was a window to upcoming events and unlocks the rest of prophecies of the Book of Daniel which unlock the Book of Revelation. Daniel wrote King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream prophetically. At the time, what he wrote had not yet come to pass.
Daniel 2:28 KJV — But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days…
At certain times, God has used dreams to communicate with people. The dream God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, through Daniels’s interpretation, is an overview of world events in the millennia that was to come as well as the latter days up to the time of the Second Coming of Christ. The dream revealed the time and length of empires is limited, including Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.
It is clear, only God knows the length, or should it be said, the life expectancy of an empire, kingdon or nation. There are some who believe they have the knowledge and the wisdom to keep their so-called “utopia” going on perpetually.
If there is one thing we are certain of, the sun will rise in the east. What we are unsure of is the longevity of our lives. The same can be said about regimes and the empires we rule. Since the fall of Adam and Eve and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the human race has had a limited time to achieve prominence and leave a legacy others can admire, especially if the legacy is honorable. For some reason, humanity has a knack for self destruction.
The rejection of God and Jesus in our society, past, present and future, is always the main issue when investigating the fall of great empires and kingdoms.
The problem of idolatry was a lesson King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way. He looked at the kingdom he established and thought it was all done by his wisdom and cunning. Like any despot in history, he was pretty high on himself and when he surveyed the splendor of Babylon in a pride-filled boast, God made him come face to face with reality. He had been warned about his evil ways and cautioned about the consequences of his actions.
Daniel 4:25-32 KJV — That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
He learned a lesson – God’s control of leaders and nations is the critical factor in world affairs. The words of the prophets, including Jesus Christ, teach us the critical lesson needed to understand why nations can suddenly collapse when all the signs say otherwise. The similarities between Ancient Babylon and the United States cannot be easily put aside.
A booming economy, low unemployment and the resurgence of a nation as a world frontrunner had many believing the United States had regained its swagger. Leaders behind the “renaissance” of America began to boast about their ingenuity and education for prosperity. Yet, God was not acknowledged or He was given a low insignificant thanks. Then the bottom fell out.
The world came to a screeching halt. An invisible force was able to take the nations of the world hostage. No one was exempt from a virus which had a suspicious origin and devastated the leading economies of the world. Although the United States may have the ingredients to bounce back from the crisis, many other countries do not have the luxury. Nations look for the U.S. to take the lead and give them the blueprint on how to recover, but not allowing God to direct and guide them would be a practice in futility.
Daniel 5:5 KJV — In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Maybe the nations and their leaders have overstayed their welcome. We, meaning the world, have an uncanny knack of missing the obvious signs and some can’t understand the writing on the wall. Such was the case of King Belshazzar, the son and heir of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Belshazzar’s feast, or the story of the writing on the wall, chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel, tells how Belshazzar held a great feast and drank from the vessels looted in the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. A hand appeared and wrote on the wall. The terrified Belshazzar called for his wise men, but they were unable to read the writing. The queen advised him to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel had reminded Belshazzar, his father Nebuchadnezzar, when he became arrogant, was thrown down until he learned God has sovereignty over the kingdom of men. Belshazzar had likewise blasphemed God and so God sent this hand. Daniel then read the message and interpreted it:
Daniel 5:25-28 KJV — And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting highlights, once again, the fundamental dimension in world affairs. It is God who determines the reign of a kingdom. A key is when a kingdom and its people are “found wanting.” In other terms, this is speaking of sin, breaking God’s laws and not acknowledging the God of creation. Judgment from God can happen swiftly.
Babylon worshipped gods who they neither saw, heard or knew. They did not acknowledge “…the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways…” – Daniel 5:23 KJV. Their problem was the same as virtually all other great empires who rose and fell through time: They did not worship the One True God. They practiced what the Bible calls idolatry, worshipping as God who is not God. The problem is still with us today.
That night Belshazzar was killed and the Persians entered Babylon. As a power, Babylon ended. Absorbed into the Persian kingdom. It was over, taken away like a thief in the night.
We now know the world can be stopped at any given moment. The United States, United Kingdom, Japan and the rest of the world may not survive the next catastrophic event. If, or should we say, when the collapse arrives, whom shall it be to lead us?
Is the world ready for a charismatic leader with an invisible force behind him? An invisible danger we should be praying against so we may not be deceived? “All things must pass” as someone once wrote, it just depends on how soon.
© 9 / 2024 TopicalWave.Com, LLC.
********************************