KFLCC Kingdom Economics

Money and the Rise and Fall of Empires

S IX B IBLICAL E MPIRES From a Biblical observation, there have been six empires, beginning with the Egyptian empire in the book of Genesis and ending with the Roman empire that existed at the time of Christ’s ministry and beyond, into the fifth century. The Egyptian empire is seen in the latter part of the book of Genesis and the first twelve chapters of Exodus. The second empire was the Assyrian, under whose power the ten northern tribes of Israel were captured and scattered (1 Kings 11:31-35). Eventually the Assyrian monarchy began to decline and was swallowed up by the third empire rising from the ancient land of Shinar. This empire, ruled by king Nebuchadnezzar, is noted in Scripture as the king and the army of Babylonians that invaded Judea, destroyed Jerusalem, burned the Temple to the ground, and seized the sacred golden vessels from the Temple (Jeremiah 51-52). King Nebuchadnezzar is the central character in the first four chapters of the book of Daniel. The mighty and wealthy Babylonian empire was eventually overthrown by the Medes and Persians, who set up their world headquarters in the city of Babylon for 220 years. The next Biblical empire, the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great, brought an end to the Persian power and a rise in Hellenism, a term identifying the cultural and social influence of the Greeks upon the nations and lands they conquered. The Greek language became the common language in every nation where the Greeks ruled or influenced the government. Even the New Testament was written in the Koine Greek language of the common people. Finally, the Greek empire capitulated to the Roman empire, which ruled in the time of Christ, the apostles, the early church, and the Apostolic and Anti Nicene fathers through the fourth century AD. The Western branch of the Roman empire eventually collapsed and was overrun by ten Germanic tribes when the last Roman emperor was disposed in AD 476. Why did each empire last for only a season and then fall? The simplistic explanation is that each empire engaged in a war with another rising empire and was defeated. A further explanation is that each empire gained economic strength for an extended season, and used their prosperity to construct temples, build cities, and amass a large army. Then eventually, they spent themselves into debt they could not repay. As their debt and financial obligations to debtors grew larger, the economies

11