A study in governments (part 2)

Babylon, the cradle and mother of all civilizations was the home of tremendous wealth and opulence, the following empires attempting to rival the “good old days” of Babylon but failing to copy it fully. Babylon the Great, sat as the gateway between the west and the east. Its economy was extremely affluent with a constant flow of merchandise sent from the Atlantic regions, across the Mediterranean Sea, and into Babylon, on its way to the Orient. The city was laid out with forethought and design and many of the buildings were elaborate and very costly. In the center of the city rose the majestic high place with the sacrificial temple on its pinnacle. It was a revival of the ancient tower of Babel, the namesake of the empire. No city in the world could match this one for sophistication. Surrounding this pearl in the desert was a double wall for protection, measuring 100 feet in thickness. Moving under the walls and through the city was the wide river Euphrates. All this was described by the “head of gold”. (Dan. 2:38)

Babylon had taken God’s Law enforcement for the known world from Israel. In place of a sanctified, priest-like kingdom influencing the world with a blend of mercy and justice, a crude, hard worldly nation became the kingdom of kingdoms. This came as a rebuke to the people of God to show them the high state Israel could have known. They had not taken God or His Law seriously and firmly upheld His commandments. They had lost sight of the provisions Jehovah had given them to obey Him. They were no longer able to lead the world.

Babylon had a worldly monarchy. The king believed in traditional king-worship, but God saw that he had a good heart. King Nebuchadnezzar was a man who meant business—no half-hearted service was acceptable. An honest man, he demanded his subjects be forthright. He esteemed courage of conviction and was no respecter of persons. Though a product of the prevailing pagan sense of righteousness, in God’s eyes he and his government represented the kingly bearing of God. Next to the king stood a most faithful counselor who had proven himself a capable administrator and a wise, courageous advisor. Daniel was a noble man of God, and as the king’s conscience, he helped balance the king’s judgment and bring stability to his government. Without his influence, the king could not have been as successful as he was.

Nebuchadnezzar had to learn some difficult lessons of dependence and submission to Daniel’s God, but he eventually learned them with Daniel’s help. He apprehended a lesson that the leaders of Judah were loath to learn; and through him the world heard a wonderful confession. Through seven years of madness the king learned about taking credit to self rather than giving God the glory for personal accomplishments. He paid a heavy price, but in the end he learned life’s greatest lesson and he could now stand in true nobility because his pride had been laid low. He could stand tall because he was willing to acknowledge his own insufficiency and to surrender his own self-esteem, and to esteem the God of heaven above himself.

Medo-Persia succeeded Babylon. This vast twin-empire ranged from the border of India to Greece and south to Ethiopia. This empire captured Babylon and all its wealth. King Ahasuerus was wealthy enough to have a feast for the princes and nobles of his 127 provinces, the power of the empire, for 180 days. But as silver is inferior to gold, so the empire didn’t have the strength and strict order King Nebuchadnezzar gave it. Cyrus is known as the founder of the empire. He was a wise ruler. He made contact with all the tribal leaders within his provinces and asked them what laws and ways of management they thought would best serve their respective localities. This was recognized by all as a friendly gesture. Cyrus is praised and immortalized to this day. Everyone loved Cyrus.

He established the style of government that would characterize Persian rulers for centuries. Although called a king, by his method, Cyrus’ kingdom resembled less of monarchy and more of a republic, Daniel as the king’s representative, was the first and noblest president under the king (Dan. 6:2). As a president uses the inputs from the senators and representatives throughout his realm in a republic, so did Persian kings listen to their satraps. This type of government was stable because it gave the people some control and that suited them extremely well. Their empire lasted over two hundred years.

Giving the populace the controls of government is lauded as the key to a successful nation. But it has been forgotten that this is true only when the people of that nation can be self-forgetful and can hold the principles of the Divine Law above their own personal interests. When God’s interests and the interests of others are held high, then the national interests, as advocated by the leader, will be strong because the nation’s interests will be treated fairly in the minds of the people with respect to their personal needs. The people will be satisfied with the leadership and desire diplomacy with other nations. However, unless the people can learn self-forgetfulness, especially when the luxuries of world power begin to flow into the empire, they are best ruled by a rod of iron. But the populace never learned self-sacrifice, and the removal of Nebuchadnezzar’s iron rod represents the beginning of the slide toward world ruin. Thus the representation of Persia as silver, as opposed to Babylon as gold.

The Jewish economy and temple had been an influence for good. Through the temple the Holy Spirit was able to present many spiritual lessons to the surrounding nations. Following the Babylonian captivity and the destruction of the Hebrew economy, the temple and Jewish lifestyle was restored by Cyrus. However the temple was lacking in the grandeur and heavenly beauty of Solomon’s temple, the Shekinah glory was not present, and the fervor and way of thinking of the Jews had become tainted by the captivity. They returned to their land, but could not return to innocence. Nationalism replaced the gospel mission. They turned inward and became defensive toward their culture. Within a generation following Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews fell away from that revival, and the next four hundred years was devoid of the voice of reproof and revival and reformation among God’s people, and through them, to the heathen. Religion became devoid of genuine faith in God. Conversion and repentance was few and far between and Jewish religious leaders compensated for the lack of spirituality with tighter controls on the people and more extensive proofs of loyalty required for their religion. The world could not restrain the degradation of paganism which slowly moved it in the direction of self-destruction.

Following the Persian came the Greek Empire. With the speed of a leopard, Alexander the Great few across the Persian Empire, subjugating the whole realm within ten years. Only the Himalayan Mountains and dense untamed jungles of southeast Asia stopped him. He was only interested in civilized nations to plunder. When there was no more empire to conquer and all the excitement was gone, he drank himself to death. But he believed his empire would remain strong only through tough leadership. So he gave his empire to his four generals, challenging them to fight for complete control, saying, “May the strongest man win.” Thus through warfare he felt assured of an eternal empire. Prior to his death he established a new form of civil government for the people, a democracy. Alexander had been taught in the best Greek and Egyptian schools and had studied the philosophers, who said that the people should make the laws that will govern themselves—democracy, a government by the people. Greek philosophers had seen what power did to the kings of the past and the emperors of Persia. A Democracy was to be an improvement over the republican form of government of the Persians, whose government was supposed to be an improvement over the monarchies of the “barbaric” past. Democracy painted a wonderful picture. Alexander chose to follow his teachers’ advice. Although tribal Greece may have successfully used democracy, by the time the Greeks rose to power, civilization was becoming corrupted by the ease-filled lifestyle coming of age. Having been “sophisticated” and liberated by philosophy and high-thinking, the world was unprepared to bear the responsibilities that come with the freedoms of democracy. Unless trained in self-denial, liberty will be used as an opportunity for self-indulgence.

A nation begins desiring democracy as a means of avoiding the mistakes of a corrupt government ruling over them. But without the Spirit of God to encircle and protect people, they become partakers of the same corruption they seek to correct. Without a high moral standard and access to divine power to keep that standard, a decline in morality is unavoidable. The Greeks of the 4th century B.C. were no longer comparably innocent and self-effacing, as in older times. In former years they were isolated from worldly affluence and subject to the physical elements as well as the political. But once a people achieves world greatness and the resulting life of ease, their cry is for more freedom, and greater self-government. Deep down their concern is not for the nation, but for their own personal and partisan wants.

As we have seen so far, the center of power shifted slowly from an absolute ruler, as in Babylon, to the populace, in the Greek empire. As time passed, prevailing corruption steadily increased. A malaise set in as love and trust grew cooler due to advancements in conveniences of civilization. The leadership was less and less inclined to rule diligently and the people were less inclined to speak out against corruption. An aristocracy developed; the equity of democracy was only in name. So long as aristocracies exist, true democracy cannot. Both are diametrically opposed, and cannot co-exist. While the people rested their life of ease on the wisdom of the forefathers, the reality was that their societal stability was an illusion. They believed a high standard of living ensures its own longevity. The scripture was fulfilled, “When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened... Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts.” Rom. 1:21-24. Their fantasy was soon to be quickly dissolved.

The Greek civilization flaunted personal freedom. Their skimpy clothing of ancient Egypt which revealed the human body was hailed as a welcome relief from the stuffy conservative styles worn by the Persians. The Greeks applauded it as art, but it was subtle gratification of the lower nature. The age-old rules about respectability and modesty were slipping away forever.

They delved into freethinking, deep philosophy, and literature, all of which threw off the restrictions of tribal societies of the past. Their scientific and mathematical advances were claimed as proof that the higher-critical style of philosophical thinking was superior to old-fashioned, mundane lifestyles and obedience to moral code. It would bring greater freedom of thought and be an unobstructed path to truth. The Greek philosophers studied at Egypt. Atheism from Egypt was fundamental to Greek philosophy. Men sought to find excuses for sin under the guise of the search for truth. They “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Rom. 1:21, 22.

As the free Greek society gave birth to the Roman, Satan pushed decadence upon man without any resistance. Honor, love of country, or loyalty to the leader were no longer present. It was grab all you can get. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”(1Cor. 15:32) The world’s moral worth was bankrupt. The new empire was an organized crime ring. Injustice and lawlessness were accepted and institutionalized by aristocracy and commoners alike.

Julius Caesar soon had an empire he could pass down to his progeny. But by now the world had come to unrecoverable ruin. The Caesars found themselves at constant battles at the fringes of the empire, danger of sedition within the government, and of high unemployment, especially in Rome. For the first time in history a career army was offered to soldiers because it became a full-time work to subdue an angry citizenry.

Murder, intrigue, and bribery were the vehicles to power. A noble character, trust, duty to conscience were laughable character traits. No one in the government could trust his comrade. Like a fearsome drug cartel the Caesars ruled the known world. Survival of the fittest had replaced statesmanship. A career in politics required constant maneuvers and an incessant lookout for wolves in sheep’s clothing, wolves with daggers and poison.

The Roman government claimed to be a republic. This notion came from ancient days when they were simple, rural Etruscans. Four hundred years previous, they were a small farming community in southern Italy. When they were small in their own eyes, they worked out a republican style of local government. The wishes of the community could be pleased through representatives bringing their needs to the consulate, the local political leader. Worldwide morals, however, declined through the centuries. And by the time these Etruscans became a world-dominating force, while they kept the title of republic, they were only a shell of their distant past government. In reality, the Caesars’ government emerged as a dictatorship, the fourth style of government.

Trust in God had long before disappeared, so that even the existence of a Creator was no longer perceived. Human achievements filled their imagination. Pleasure and self-gratification was the popular religion. Debauchery was the great pastime and debased all the regions within the sphere of Rome’s influence. The human race was running quickly toward self-annihilation. The prophecy said, “In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” Dan 8:23-25.

Since the common people were debased and no longer capable of self-government, more stringent laws and heavier penalties were placed upon the rebellious masses, while the ruling class was exempt. Christ rebuked this popular practice adopted by God’s people, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.” Lk. 11:46. The holy Law of God, a wonderful blend of justice and mercy, was blotted from men’s conscience. A human substitute was put in its place, Lex Talionis, the law of retaliation, even for the Jews. No longer an eye for an eye, but a life for an eye. Mercy had disappeared; the principle of justice was distorted into bitter revenge.