THE TRAIL OF EMPIRE

Waipa Post, Volume 51, Issue 3694, 6 December 1935, Page 9

THE TRAIL OF EMPIRE

TRACED FROM ITS BEGINNINGS. AN INTERESTING SURVEY. (By A.L.) Part I. In looking back over history, it would appear that the prevailing desires of the peoples of the earth has been that of acquiring power, and accumulating wealth. To achieve these objects in life, seems to be the sole ambition of the average man, and we must admit that people in this twentieth century, are faithfully following in the footsteps of those who have gone before. In spite of the injunction, “What doth it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul,” a man pursues his wilful way, and continues to be disobedient to the Divine call. - : What is Empire but the accumulation of power , and wealth, into the hands of certain races, or peoples, to be used for the benefit of the people, or for their degradation? Where instances of that power being used for the benefit of the people occur, such instances gleam out in history, with such clarity that following generations look back upon them with wonder. When such power has been used for ulterior purposes, the reverse is the case. And so I give here a brief description of the various peoples who come within the scope of our study:—

Chaldea, the centre of- the first » Babylonian Empire, was situated mostly to the westward of the river Euphrates. It had Northern Arabia on the west, Persia on the east, Assyria on the north east, and Mesopotamia on the' north west. Through these territories into the Persian Gulf flowed the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The Garden of Eden was supposed to be in the region where these two rivers joined, and where, we are told, God created man. We can understand that such a situation would be delightful in itself,, and well adapted for the’ spread of mankind throughout the world. Here Nimrod erected the first Kingdom, that we know of on earth. In this region was the Plain of Shinar, where the Tower of Babel was built. From Babel the posterity of Noah gradually dispersed. Those of Japhetic origin moved northward, and peopled the northern half of Asia. The descendants of Shem peopled the southern half of Asia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Arabia, Chaldea, Persia and Judea. The Canaanites, descended from Ham, son of Noah, dwelt in that land, which later became known as the Land of Canaan. The Egyptians are also descended from Ham, through Mizriam. Ferrar Fenton refers to Egypt as the land of Mitzer, and the Egyptians as the Mitzeraim. The Philistines were also a branch of the Mitzer family (vide Chronicles 1, verses 11 and 12). The Edomites sprang from Esau, the grandson of Abraham, and brother of Jacob. We all know that Jacob’s, name was changed to Israel, and his descendants became known as Israelites.

By conquest the Edomites seized the country south of Judea, which bad formerly been occupied by the Horites. This region included the mountains. of Seir. While the Israelites groaned under their Egyptian taskmasters, the Edomites became a powerful nation. Being excluded from the peculiar privileges of Abraham’s seed, . the Edomites mingled freely with the heathen.

The Cushites, or Ethiopians, were descended from Ham’s eldest son, Cush. For many years part of them resided on the south east of Babylon, and west of Persia. That country is still called Susiana, which means the country of Cush. Part of these Cushites, after long continuance about. Babylon, moved westward into' Ara-« bia, and for a time dwelt . about the eastern gulf of the Red Sea. From thence they gradually migrated into Abyssinia, southward of Egypt, and the country which is holding our interest at the present time. About 950 8.C., during a civil war in Egypt, Terah, an Ethiopian, appears to have seized the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean, and Cyrus the Persian King in turn, raided northern Ethiopia, whilst later the Romans, Saracens and the Turks repeated the process. Ever since the conversion of the eunuch in A.D. 35 (Acts 8: 26th to 29th verses) Christianity has been know ( n there. Neither the repeated attempts of the Saracen or the Turkish Mohammedans (nor of the European Papists) have beer, able to establish in Ethiopia their respective delusions. The people of the Third Empire, the Greeks, are credited with being descended from Javan, the fourth son of Japhet, while the Medes are also stated to be of Japhetic origin. The Romans are also stated to be of Japhet, by another son of Gomer.

1 These .elements of people of various and opposing factions, comprised the basis of nations at the time of the rise of Babylon. There were many other groups of peoples, besides those referred to, such as the Amelakites, the Moabites, Ammonites, etc., but they did not affect the course of world empire, like those described.

As already stated, Nimrod the Chaldean erected the first Kingdom that we know of. Not long after Ashur, a descendant of Shem, erected another Kingdom at Nineveh. How long the ancient Kingdom of Babylon or Shinar, established by Nimrod com tinued, we cannot with certainty determine.

The Chaldeans appear to have sprung from Arphaxad, the third son of Shem. It is presumed that Tig-latli-Pileser formed them into a nation, and made Nabonassar, his youngest son, King. This occurred about the year 750 B.C. This King Nabonassar is also known as Baladan, and is referred to in 2nd Kings 20:12.

Some fifty years later Esarhaddon reunited Chaldea to liis Assyrian Empire, and he and his son held it for sixty years. At last Nabopalassar, the governor of it, and perhaps the just heir to the throne, made himself king. Nebuchadnezzar, his son, succeeded him, and erected a new empire upon the one he received. Raising an army of 300,000 warriors, he routed the troops of Plia-roah-Necho, King of Egypt, and captured Carchemish, putting all the garrison to the sword. Having assisted Cyazares the Mede in the overthrow of Nineveh, he, with a formidable army of Chaldeans, Scythians, and others, subdued the Syrians, Jews, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites and part of the Arabs. Enraged by the Syrians’ withdrawment of their persons and wealth, after he had besieged them for thirteen years, he wreaked his fury upon the Philistines, and Egyptians who had assisted them, and also terribly alarmed Ethiopia and Libya. Wherever he prevailed he burned the cities and murdered or transported the inhabitants, leaving behind him a desolate wilderness. The people who survived were generally made slaves. (2nd Kings, 20th chapter, 17th and 18th verses). Having finished his conquests, Nebuchadnezzar abandoned himself to idolatory, pride and excesses. Out of his immense spoils he formed a monstrous golden image to Bel, his principal god, who, he imagined, had rendered him so successful. This image is believed to have been 90 feet in height and 9 feet in breadth. His subjects were peremptorily commanded to worship it, under pain of being immediately burnt.

By expending his spoils, and employing his captives on his buildings at Babylon, he made his city, the wonder of mankind. Babylon towered to a height never reached by his successors. Laid out in a perfect square, sixty miles in circumference, fifty miles on each side. For the following description of Babylon I am indebted to the book “Daniel and the Revelation,” by Uriah Smith: Surrounded by a wall, 350 feet high and 87 feet thick, with a moat or ditch around this, of equal cubic capacity with the wall itself; divided into 67G squares, each 2\ miles in circumfer ence, by its 50 streets, each 150 feet in width, crossing each other at right, angles, 25 running each way, every one of them straight and level, and 15 miles in length; its 225 square miles of enclosed surface, divided as just described, laid out in luxuriant pleasure grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnificent buildings—this city with its 60 miles of moat, its 60 miles of outer walls, its 30 miles of river wall through its centre, its 150 gates of solid brass, its hanging gar dens, rising terrace above terrace, till they equalled in height the walls themselves, its temple of Belus, three miles in circumference, its two royal palace, one 3$ and the other eight miles in circumference, with its subterranean tunnel under the river Euphrates connecting these two pal aces, its perfect arrangement for convenience, ornament and defence, and its unlimited resources—this city, containing in itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world, was itself another and still mightier wonder. Never before saw the earth, a city like that, never since has it seen its equal.

Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar, in the prime of life, bold, vigorous and accomplished. Another account of the hanging gardens is given by Mr J. H. Brendon, F.R.H.S. His statement is as follows: But in all Babylon there was no building to rival the hanging gardens. Of this all who saw, and have described the city, are unanimous. The fiamework of the gardens was made largely of stone. That is not the least, remarkable feature. The hanging gardens were the only Babylonian structure in which hewn stone was use! to any considerable extent. It is liaid for us to appreciate the limitations under which architects worked in the basin of the Tigris, and the Euphrates, where a stone door socket was a rich gift of a king to his god, and was rescued from one ruin after another, to be reused and proudly re-dedicated—-it is still harder for us to imagine whence, and at what cost, all the stone that must have been required for the gardens, was obtained. Balconies raised one above the other, is just exactly what the hanging gardens were. They comprised, in fact, a series of wide stone teiraces, supported by arches, and rose like, a giant. stairway, to -a height of 350 -feet, -the whole structure being strengthened by a surrounding wall 20 feet thick. On each of the terraces was a layer of mould so deep as to make it possible not only for plants and flowering shrubs to be grown, but

fruit bearing trees as well. A wide flight of steps ascended from each terrace to the one above. Picture these lofty terraces, their many arches festooned with flowering creepers, and all the platform ablaze with the most gorgeously scented and coloured flowers, which Asia, the then known world, could produce, shaded from the too hot sun by trees laden in their season with rich and luscious fruits. With this background in our minds we can appreciate something of the glamour and glory of the hanging gardens of Babylon.

The success of Nebuchadnezzar was amazing, and his pride suffered in consequence. To punish him God by a kind of delirium rendered him for seven years like a beast of the field. It is in the midst of all this glory of the Babylonian Empire that we find Daniel the Prophet, as captive. He appears in Babylon during the first year of the 70 years’ captivity. During most of this time Daniel resided at the court of Babylon, most of the time as Prime Minister.

While taking part in most of the activities of that period, and bearing great responsibilities, he was ever faithful to the God of his fathers. His prophecies are, in some parts, the most remarkable among those recorded in Holy Writ. It was the first pxophecy giving the future trend of world events, from that time, to the end.

The personal history of Daniel reaches down to the time of the Medes and Persians. He is supposed to have died at Shuslian, in Persia, about the year 530 8.C., being then nearly 90 years old. His age would probably prevent him returning to Judea when Cyrup issued his proclamation giving permission tc the Jews to return to their own land, which had lasted for 70 years.

The overthrow of Jerusalem, which commenced this 70 years of exile, was predicted by Jeremiah, and immediately accomplished, about the year 606 B.C. (Jeremiah 25, verses 8-11.) Jeremiah places this captivity in the fourth year of Jehoakim, while Daniel places the captivity in the third year. This discrepancy is caused by Nebuchadnezzar setting out upon this expedition, at the close of the third year of Jekoakim, from which point Daniel reckons. Nine months later Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, and it is from this point Jeremiah reckons.

After this time of distress Paniel and his companions, with many others, found themselves in Babylon. Daniel and his near companions were nourished in the palace of the King. The Chaldeans’ contempt of God their idolatry, astrology, magic and sorcery, their apparent secuiity, luxuiy and avarice; their barbarous murder and oppression of the Jews and other conquered nations, now began to be punished by God. And so Nebuchadnezzar joined with his people in their idolatrous and heathen worship, and took part in their evil pleasures.

In the 2nd chapter of Daniel, Ist verse, we read: “Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep broke from him.”

Let us picture to ourselves a great chamber, in the palace of this King Nebuchadnezzar. In the passage ways leading to this chamber soldiers and attendants are on guard. Everywhere there is a great silence. Father time is ticking off his minutes and hours, with' monotonous regularityinside the chamber a restless form is tossing about upon a bed. It is King Nebuchadnezzar, and he is going through a queer experience. We are told his spirit was troubled. With the coming of day we cam imagine him, with a heavy head, but a determined purpose, commanding his magicians, etc., to be brought before him. The 2nd chapter of Daniel, 3rd verse, states: “And the King said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.” With Nebuchadnezzar it was important than his dream should be interpreted. But the strange part about it all was this, that though he asked for the dream to be interpreted to him, the dream itself had gone from him, as the sth verse in this second chapter of Daniel states.

Speaking in the Syriac dialect of the Chaldean language, these magicians reply to the King as follows: “O King, live for ever; tell thy servants the dream and we will show the interpretation.” What a dilemma they found themselves in when they realised that the King had forgotten his dream. Their mind is revealed by the answer they give, recorded in the 10th and 11th verse.s of this chapter. They said "There is not a man upon the earth that can show the King’s matter. It is a rare thing that the King requireth, and there is none other than can show it, before the King, except the Gods.” And the King Nebuchadnezzar was very angry. These verses contain the record of the desperate struggle between wise men, so called, and the King. The severity of the sentence of death passed upon them was a bold and desperate step, because these people were of the learned and cultured classes. If the work of these magicians was one of fraud or imposition, then the King would see that the system was destroyed. This decree of death included Daniel and his companions. It is important that we follow closely the incidents recorded in this chapter of Daniel, because of its direct bearing upon the great seven times of history,

the 2000, 500 and 20 years of Gentile dominion.

Verse 16 states: “Then Daniel went, in and desired of the. King that he would give him time, and that he would show the King the interpretation.”

Then Daniel returned to his house, and with his companions, prayed “That they would desire mercies of the God of Heaven, concerning the secret.” Verse 19 records the answer: "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel, in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of Heaven.” The interpretation of the dream is recorded also in this second chapter, verses 27 to 45 inclusive. Verses 27 to 35 read: “Thou, O King, sawest and behold a great image. This great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.”

“The image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, liis belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and clay.”

"Tliou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.” “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces to-gether, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the great image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” 38th verse reads: “And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made tliee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of Gold.”

And so Babylon is identified as the first great world empire, as typified by this great image.

(To be continued next week.)