God and the empires

The first mention in the Bible of a socialistic state is Egypt. The mastermind behind it was Joseph (Genesis 47:13-26). But after the godly Joseph had died there came Pharaohs who were corrupted by the power they had over the people. When they became absolutely corrupted by their absolute power, they enslaved the Israelites (Exodus 1:8-11). God dealt with them by bringing plagues until they freed the Hebrews (Exodus 5:1-12:51).

The Israelites ruled themselves for a few centuries but eventually became more wicked and ungodly than the nations around them (Ezekiel 5:6). God was not going to have his name associated with the pagan religious practices which were instituted by Solomon (1 Kings 11:4-6) and reached their extreme during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:11). These customs included child sacrifices and prostitution. The Jews first became vassals of Egypt (2 Kings 23:33) and then Babylon. But when they acted treacherously against Nebuchadnezzar he destroyed the illustrious temple Solomon had built and deported the people.

The godly Israelites in Babylon rose to power, like Joseph in Egypt, and exercised considerable influence over the affairs of the empire. Among them were Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians Daniel remained in office. Other Jews who became prominent in the Persian empire include Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Mordecai. God did not abandon his people in captivity but made even their enemies to treat them kindly (Psalm 106:45-46) and allow them to go back to their land and rebuild the temple (Ezra 6:14).

Of course the devil was not sleeping during this time. In the land of Israel he had inspired Jezebel to kill God’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4). In Babylonia satan caused Daniel to be thrown to the lions and his friends to be cast into an oven. When Esther was queen of Persia she was able to avert the massacre of all the Jews.

After Alexander conquered the Persians, many Jews took on Greek as their first language. This was still the case during and after the lifetime of Jesus (Acts 6:1). There was a concerted effort by Alexander’s successors in Syria to “Hellenise” the world. The Old Testament was translated into Greek and was no doubt read by Greek intellectuals. (Even before this time Plato may have learned from Moses: https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/did-plato-get-his-ideas-bible/.)

Before the era of the Maccabees the Seleucid empire in Damascus imposed Greek culture and religion on the Jews. The faithful Jews revolted and managed to throw off the yoke of the oppressor Antiochus IV. For a brief period the Israelites could rule themselves again and worship in the temple which had been rebuilt during the time of Ezra a few centuries earlier. But they had constant power struggles among themselves. Their infighting gave the Romans, who had in the meantime replaced the Seleucids in Syria, the opportunity to occupy and rule them.

Soon after that a Jew was born who influenced and is still influencing all empires. We should have no fear that God has absconded. He invaded the Roman empire which caused them to adopt Christianity as the official religion of the state. He is still caring for the faithful followers of Jesus. He also watches over the Israelis and the Jews who constitute the remnant of his ancient people and he will not renege on his covenant with Abraham.