Empires and Exodus

Empires rise and fall, abusing power and oppressing people.

But God rescues His people into freedom to worship Him.

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History of Empires

Ancient Kings and Kingdoms

History repeats itself - or more accurately it rhymes. The majority of history is characterised by manual labour and feudalistic survival. While modern (western) civilization may seem more advanced than it was thousands of years ago, human nature has not changed since Adam and Eve left the garden. Empires, kingdoms and communities continue to rise and fall, built and destroyed by human hands. Still, they have not yet achieved the global utopia of a world free from suffering. Some kings value freedom more than others, but the perfect kingdom has yet to arrive.

The first attempted empire was Babel. It was an ambitious project until God destroyed it. The oldest living empire today is Egypt. In archeology Egypt is known by its symbols of pyramids and phalanxes. In Scripture, Egypt is as a picture of the world and oppression. Genesis recounts how Abraham was lured to Egypt and how his decedents (Israel) set up home there, only to end up as slaves. Despite its wealth, Egypt was a land of suffering and death. Pharaohs claimed to be 'gods'. They enslaved the Jews and fed babies to crocodiles. Exodus records how God used Moses to rescue His people from slavery. As God brought His people into the freedom of the Promised Land, He gave them the Law, so as a nation they might know how to live.

But freedom would not last forever. Israel demanded their own earthly king. Despite the reign of King David, the hearts of the people wandered and soon a succession of evil kings arose who oppressed the people. Eventually foreign kings arose, conquered Israel and exiled the Jews to another kingdom - Babylon. While in exile, the prophet Daniel received a terrifying vision of Israel's future - Daniel 2. The vision was of a statue representing four coming global kingdoms:

Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome

The 4 empires rested on feet of Iron and Clay which represents a final empire which will be destroyed by a rock from heaven at the end of time. That rock is the return of Jesus Christ. Recorded history shows the rise and fall on these kingdoms. When the Roman political empire (Iron) fell - largely because of its own internal debauchery - the world did not end. Instead, the world entered the ‘Dark Ages’ (500AD-1500AD) where the known world was ruled by the Roman Catholic Church and their proxies, or Eastern caliphates and dynasties. These times were feudalistic and tough.

After 1,000 years, in the 15th century, the printing press was invented. Mass communication commenced the age of modernity. The spread of knowledge spurred a series of religious and political revolutions. 'Bottoms-up movements’ emerged. No longer was the narrative limited to the 'enlightened' ruling class. The common man was able to express questions, ideas, dreams and demand representation. Ideological and industrial revolutions occurred. In Europe, nation states formed uneasy alliances through the Peace of Westphalia. The times held hope and promise for freedom and prosperity. Along with the United States, the 'Western world order' was born and began to spread its wings to all the world - including Eastern dynasties in a colonialization movement. Today the world has become 'globalised'. It's geo-political structure can be described as a mixture of Iron and Clay.

Revolutions and Cycles

Nothing New Under the Sun?

While world empires have risen and fallen through conquest, they have often ebbed and flowed through moral and social revolutions. Revolutions profoundly change the fabric of a society and how it operates. While history is an overlapping and progressive continuum, for the sake of distinction, here is a summary of the revolutionary inflection points from over the last 500 years of modernity.

IDEOLOGICAL REVOLUTIONS

typically defined by the search for truth (rules and authority)

15th-16th Centuries: The Renaissance led to religious reformation and new nation states
17th-18th Centuries: The 'Enlightenment' led to scientific progress, global exploration and colonisation.
19th-20th Centuries: Democratic representation led to freedom, prosperity, conflict and war.
21st Century...still unfolding… Postmodern thought and emerging identity theories [woke]

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS

typically defined by the source of energy and technology for economic production

1st Revolution - Pre 1750: Manual labour using materials such as Bronze and Iron
2nd Revolution - 1750-1880: Steam powered machines accelerate production and transportation
3rd Revolution - 1880-Today: Electricity/fuel brings power and travel to the masses
4th Revolution - Emerging: Biotechnology mines the internet of bodies, augmenting life and data

GENERATIONAL CYCLES

Our current nation states were born out of modern ideological and industrial revolutions. But, alongside each revolutionary age, there are shorter generational cycles and patterns that can be observed. In his book, the Fourth Turning, William Strauss surmises that history moves in cycles that mirror the length of a generational lifespan (e.g. 70-90 years). Significant events book-end these cycles. The last 500 years of history have been the most documented. So we can quite clearly see how these cycles have manifest themselves in the growth of the Western world, firstly in Europe and then the United States.

Western Civilisation

Today's Empire and Its Challenges

Out of the collapse of the 'Holy Roman Empire', individual nation states were formed. Despite this Europe continued to undergo many wars and revolutions. The 1789 French Revolution was an attempt to replace religion with pure secularism. The German revolution to establish a 3rd Reich (Realm) resulted in the holocaust and WW2. The Russian Revolution replaced the Czar with an engineered marxist system. In the 21st century, a rising Islamic caliphate is spreading across the globe.

The United States of America was established as a republic of states out of the recognition of the depravity of humanity and its proclivity towards sin. The US government was deliberately designed to be localised and slow moving with a system of checks and balances in its institutions. For better or worse, the US became the dominant player in the Western world - largely because of its military and monetary power on which other nations are so dependent. However, in the 1960s the US started a cultural revolution of 'decadence' which is spreading across the globe.

Australia was not founded as an equal society. The first European settlers were either convicts within a penal colony or the prison officers who policed the convicts. While the convicts may have possessed a bent towards resisting government control, the prison officers possessed a bent towards harshly enforcing compliance without compassion. Decedents of those two groups still form part of Australian society today. In both the US and Australia, indigenous culture took a back seat to the more dominant Western culture. Today, the 'sins' of past Western culture are shouted loudly and signalled with virtue.

A strong sense permeates the air that the Western world order is ending. The zeitgeist or 'spirit of the age' is changing. Eastern empires and dynasties are once again rising. Alliances between China, Russia, India and Iran (BRICS) are emerging. Western nations are questioning their very foundations and adopting the marxist framework of 'oppressors vs. the oppressed'. The winds of revolution are fuelled by both ideology and technology. The tension is more than a battle between the 'good' Western and 'evil' Eastern hemisphere. The battle we face is a cosmic power struggle over humanity's future.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12

Politically, it is possible that both the Western World and Eastern Hemisphere could equally pose a serious threat to the future freedom of citizens worldwide. Before Jesus' return, it is possible that a powerful Eastern Kingdom conquers the world and imposes a social credit system on everyone. It is also possible that the West prevails and does similar. Regardless, it seems a woke West and an authoritarian East are both moving towards a totalitarian surveillance state model. This could be a new and final Babylon if you will. And it matters little whether the central command is in Beijing, Brussels or Washington D.C. Ultimately, as believers, our hope is in the rock - the one who rules out of 'Jerusalem' - the Son of David - Jesus Christ.

Egyptian Ideology

Escaping Worldly Philosophies

There is nothing new under the sun. Returning to Egypt, we see that it is God's timing, not a human uprising, that rescues His people. The account of God rescuing his people out of Egyptian slavery and into the freedom of the Promised Land is both a historical event and the pattern of our human story. Egyptian Pharaohs were totalitarian rulers devoid of compassion. Puffed up in their own minds, they believed they became gods who enslaved the people. The drumbeat in Exodus was ...

"‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me."

Exodus 8:1

God miraculously rescued his people out of Egypt. He used plagues and miracles that belittled the Egyptian gods. Unlike the movie, Exodus: God's and Kings, it was not the Israelites military prowess that defeated the Egyptians. God used the hubris of Pharaoh himself to destroy his army at the bottom of the Red Sea. Yet, rather than be grateful and remember the miraculous victory, the Israelites complained and begged to return to the slavery they knew.

"It took one day for God to take the Israelites out of Egypt

and 40 years to take Egypt out of the Israelites."

Today, God's people are the church. Yet, like the Israelites before them, the hearts of the collective church - and individuals at large - are often longing for the Egyptian world. Returning to Egypt is a desire to return to worldly culture, philosophies, and even its gods. Worldly culture manifests itself in a system of 'government worship', nature worship, love of money, centralised control and sexual decadence. For the believer, trying to worship true and living God while dwelling in Egypt feels conflicting. Like the Israelites, the church longs for its rescue so it can freely worship the Lord in the ultimate Promised Land.

"Freedom needs a place to be free"

Jeremy Boreing

Implications

Contrasting Worldviews

Egyptian ideology is returning to the West. We may not be building pyramids, but we are tearing down statues that honour our Christian heritage. Into this void an ancient spirit is seeking to usher in a 'new age' and spirit. In the last 50 years, Australia increasingly became multi-cultural - embracing a heady brew of religious practices. This change has diluted our shared Christian values. As an example, public funded events now include burning rituals to idols of stone and wood as part of DarkMofo. The gods of earlier empires - Osiris, Baal, Ashtaroth and Molech - are returning.

In Matthew 12:43-45, Jesus warns us that when a person or society allows unclean spirits back, they return much stronger. As public Christianity erodes, so does the value of freedom - replaced by 'totalitarian compliance'. How are we to wrestle against principalities and powers?

Firstly, believers should make this cultural change a matter of prayer and determine ahead of time that we will only worship the true and Living God.
Secondly, we need to speak up and name principalities and powers that oppose God. They may manifest themselves in a woke political policy or marxist social movement, but they are just re-hashed versions of the serpent's Ancient Lie
Finally, We need to see that the Ancient Lie is 'You will be like god, creating your own destiny'. The Ancient Lie synthesises atheism, humanism and all non-Christian religions into a false global religion called - Man's Rules

The cultural fruit between a nation that honours God's Rule and one that follows Man's Rule is a stark contrast.

GOD'S RULE

Virtue

Freedom

Order

Liberty

Localisation

Pro-humanity

Peace

Life

MAN'S RULE

Surveillance

Slavery

Chaos

Authoritarianism

Centralisation

Anti-humanity

War

Death

In conclusion, God's has not forgotten His people. We are not to lose heart because God will fulfil all of His Promises. The conspiracies we observe today were predicted and they mirror the pattern of human history. As His people, we need to make sure we do not forget that God mocks their plans. He will smash as a rock upon His return.

You will break them with a rod of iron, you will dash them to pieces like pottery.

Psalm 2:9

We need to teach our children to remember the Lord, so they won't desire to go back to Egypt. We need to call to His followers to come out of Egypt and show them the path to freedom in God's Promised Land. Today, God offers that same freedom to all people today who are willing to follow His Son into the eternal promised land.