a book you can trust part 1 egyptinbiblehistoryda-ip.getmyip.com/pdf/publications/awake...

Awake! November 2010 15

EGYPT, famous for its pyramids and theNile River, was the first world power of

Bible history. Under its shadow the nation ofIsrael was formed. Moses, who penned thefirst five books of the Bible, was born andeducated in Egypt. Do secular history andarchaeology corroborate what Moses wroteabout that ancient land? Consider some ex-amples.

Trustworthy History

Titles and terms. Accurate history is oftenrevealed in the details—customs, etiquette,names and titles of officials, and so on. Howdo the books of Genesis and Exodus, the firsttwo books of the Bible, measure up in this re-spect? Regarding the Genesis narrative aboutJoseph, a son of the patriarch Jacob, as wellas the Bible book of Exodus, J. Garrow Dun-can says in his book New Light on Hebrew Or-igins: “[The Bible writer] was thoroughly wellacquainted with the Egyptian language, cus-toms, beliefs, court life, and etiquette and of-ficialdom.” He adds: “[The writer] employsthe correct title in use and exactly as it was

used at the period referred to. . . . In fact,nothing more convincingly proves the inti-mate knowledge of things Egyptian in the OldTestament, and the reliability of the writers,than the use of the word Pharaoh at differ-ent periods.” Duncan also states: “When [thewriter] brings his characters into the pres-ence of Pharaoh, he makes them observe thecorrect court etiquette and use the correctlanguage.”

Brickmaking. During their period of slav-ery in Egypt, the Israelites made bricks out ofclay mixed with straw, which served as a bind-ing material. (Exodus 1:14; 5:6-18)� Someyears ago, the book Ancient Egyptian Materi-als and Industries stated: “In few places has[brickmaking] been practised more than inEgypt, where sun-dried bricks still are, as theyalways have been, the characteristic buildingmaterial of the country.” The book also men-tions “the Egyptian practice of using straw in� If you do not have a Bible but have access to

the Internet, you can check the scriptures electronically atwww.watchtower.org. There you will see the box “Read theBible Online.”

A BOOK YOU CAN TRUST

Part 1

Egypt in Bible HistoryThe Bible was written over a period of some 1,600 years. Its history and prophecyare linked to seven world powers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece,Rome, and Anglo-America. Each of these will be considered in a series of sevenarticles. The objective? To show that the Bible is trustworthy and inspired of Godand that its message is one of hope for an end to the suffering caused by humanmisrule.

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making bricks,” thus corroborating that addi-tional detail recorded in the Bible.

Shaving. Hebrew men of ancient timesgrew beards. Yet, the Bible tells us that Jo-seph shaved prior to appearing before Pha-raoh. (Genesis 41:14) Why did he shave? Toconform with Egyptian custom and etiquette,which considered facial hair to be a sign ofuncleanness. “[The Egyptians] prided them-selves on being clean-shaven,” says the bookEveryday Life in Ancient Egypt. In fact, cos-metic sets consisting of razors, tweezers, andmirrors, along with their containers, havebeen found in tombs. Clearly, Moses was ameticulous chronicler. The same can besaid of other Bible writers who documentedevents relating to ancient Egypt.

Business enterprises. Jeremiah, who wrotethe two books of Kings, gave specific de-tails regarding King Solomon’s trade in hors-es and chariots with the Egyptians and theHittites. A chariot cost “six hundred silverpieces, and a horse . . . a hundred and fifty,”or one quarter the cost of a chariot, the Biblestates.—1 Kings 10:29.

According to the book Archaeology and theReligion of Israel, the Greek historian Herodo-tus and archaeological findings both confirmthat a lively trade in horses and chariots wascarried on during the reign of Solomon. Infact, “a standard exchange rate of four . . .horses for one Egyptian chariot was estab-lished,” the book states, corroborating the fig-ures given in the Bible.

Warfare. Jeremiah and Ezra also mentionthe invasion of Judah by Pharaoh Shishak,specifically stating that it occurred “in thefifth year of [Judean] King Rehoboam,” or993 B.C.E. (1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chronicles12:1-12) For a long time, the only record ofthat invasion was the one found in the Bible.Then there came to light a relief on the wallof an Egyptian temple at Karnak (ancientThebes).

The relief depicts Shishak standing beforethe god Amon, Shishak’s arm raised in theact of smiting captives. Also recorded are thenames of conquered Israelite towns, many ofwhich have been identified with Biblical sites.Additionally, the document mentions “The

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Clearly, the Bible writers did not penfiction. Recognizing their accountabilityto God, they wrote truth, even when doingso was unflattering—as in the case of Shi-shak’s victories in Judah. Such candor con-trasts sharply with the varnished, exaggerat-ed chronicles of the ancient Egyptian scribes,who refused to record anything that might beuncomplimentary to their rulers or people.

Trustworthy Prophecy

Only Jehovah God, the Author of theBible, can unfailingly predict the future.Note, for example, what he inspired Jeremi-ah to foretell concerning two Egyptian cities—Memphis and Thebes. Memphis, or Noph,was once a prominent commercial, political,and religious center. Yet, God said: “Noph it-self will become a mere object of astonish-ment and will actually be set afire, so as to bewithout an inhabitant.” (Jeremiah 46:19) Andso it turned out. The book In the Steps of Mo-ses the Lawgiver says that “the titanic ruins ofMemphis” were pillaged by Arab conquerors,who used them as a quarry. It adds that today

“within the circuit of the ancient city not astone protrudes above the black soil.”

Thebes, earlier called No-amon or just No,suffered a similar fate, along with its impo-tent gods. Concerning this onetime capital ofEgypt and principal center of the worship ofthe god Amon, Jehovah said: “Here I am turn-ing my attention upon Amon . . . and uponPharaoh and upon Egypt and upon her gods. . . And I will give them into . . . the hand ofNebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon.” (Jere-miah 46:25, 26) As prophesied, the Babylo-nian monarch conquered Egypt and its prom-inent city of No-amon. Then, after Persianruler Cambyses II dealt another blow to thecity in 525 B.C.E., it steadily declined, finallybeing completely ruined by the Romans. Yes,accurate prophecy puts the Bible in a class ofits own, giving us confidence in what it saysabout our future.

A Hope You Can Trust

The very first prophecy recorded in the Bi-ble was penned by Moses during the timeof the Egyptian world power.� Found at Gen-esis 3:15, the prophecy states that God would� The prophecy recorded at Genesis 3:15 was stated by God

in the garden of Eden and was later recorded by Moses.

This colossal fallen statue found near Memphis once stood about 40 feet (12 m) tall

produce a “seed,” or offspring, who wouldcrush Satan and his “seed”—those who adoptSatan’s wicked ways. (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8)The primary “seed” of God proved to be theMessiah, Jesus Christ.—Luke 2:9-14.

Christ’s reign will encompass the entireearth, from which he will remove all wicked-ness and oppressive human governments. Nolonger will ‘man dominate man to his inju-ry.’ (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Moreover, like Joshuaof old, who led Israel into the Promised Land,Jesus will safely lead “a great crowd” of God-fearing humans into a far greater “PromisedLand”—a cleansed earth that will be trans-formed into a global paradise.—Revelation 7:9, 10, 14, 17; Luke 23:43.

That precious hope calls to mind yet an-other prophecy recorded during the time of

ancient Egypt. Found at Job 33:24, 25, theprophecy states that God will deliver humanseven from “the pit,” or the grave, by meansof a resurrection. Yes, in addition to thosespared through the coming destruction ofthe wicked, many millions now dead will beraised to life with the prospect of everlastinglife in Paradise on earth. (Acts 24:15) “Thetent of God is with mankind,” says Revela-tion 21:3, 4. “He will wipe out every tear fromtheir eyes, and death will be no more, neitherwill mourning nor outcry nor pain be any-more.”

Trustworthy history and prophecy—thattheme will continue in the next article in thisseries, which will focus on ancient Assyria,the world power that followed Egypt.

In 1896 in an Egyptian funerary temple,archaeologists found what has been calledthe Merneptah Stela. This black granite pillarboasts of the achievements of EgyptianKing Merneptah, believed to have reigned inthe late 13th century B.C.E. Inscribed on thestela is a hymn, which reads, in part: “Israel islaid waste, his seed is no more.” This is theonly known reference to Israel in ancient Egyp-tian texts and the earliest reference outsidethe Bible.

The stela was made during the Biblicalperiod of the Judges, an era documented inthe Bible book of that name. However, unlikethe self-applauding chronicles of the pha-raohs, the book of Judges sets out both theexploits and the failures of Israel. Concerningthe failures, Judges 2:11, 12 states: “The sonsof Israel fell to doing what was bad in the eyesof Jehovah and serving the Baals [Canaanitegods]. Thus they abandoned Jehovah . . . ,who had brought them out of the land ofEgypt.” Such candor characterizes the entireBible.

THE MERNEPTAH STELA

Todd Bolen/Bible Places.com

18 Awake! November 2010

THE very mention of Assyria to people ofthe ancient Middle East may have made

their blood run cold. According to the Biblebook of Jonah, when that prophet received anassignment from God to preach a judgmentmessage in the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, hefled in the opposite direction! (Jonah 1:1-3)Perhaps that was so because of the Assyrians’fearsome reputation.

Trustworthy History

The Bible prophet Nahum described Nin-eveh as “the lair of lions” and “the city ofbloodshed.” He added: “Prey does not depart!There is the sound of the whip and the soundof the rattling of the wheel, and the dashinghorse and the leaping chariot. The mountedhorseman, and the flame of the sword, andthe lightning of the spear, and the multitude


Part 2

Assyria in Bible HistoryThis is the second in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of “Awake!”that discuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to showthat the Bible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is oneof hope for an end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of hisfellow man.

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Awake! December 2010 27

of slain ones, and the heavy mass of carcass-es; and there is no end to the dead bodies.They keep stumbling among their dead bod-ies.” (Nahum 2:11; 3:1-3) Does secular histo-ry corroborate the Bible’s description of an-cient Assyria?

The book Light From the Ancient Past callsAssyria “the ruthless fighting machine whosecalculated frightfulness was the terror of itsenemies.” The following is the way one As-syrian king, Ashurnasirpal II, boasted of histreatment of those who opposed him:

“I built a pillar over against his city gate,and I flayed all the chief men who had revolt-ed, and I covered the pillar with their skins;some I walled up within the pillar, someI impaled upon the pillar on stakes, . . . andI cut off the limbs of the officers, of the roy-al officers who had rebelled. . . . Many cap-tives from among them I burned with fire,and many I took as living captives.” Whenarchaeologists excavated Assyrian royal pal-aces, they found the walls decorated with de-pictions of horrendous treatment being met-ed out to captives.

In the year 740 B.C.E., Assyria conqueredSamaria, the capital of the northern kingdomof Israel, and took its people into exile. Eight

years later, Assyria invaded Judah.� (2 Kings18:13) The Assyrian King Sennacherib de-manded of Judean King Hezekiah a tributeof 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of sil-ver. The Bible record states that this tributewas paid. Even so, Sennacherib insisted thatthe capital of Judah, Jerusalem, also surren-der unconditionally to him.—2 Kings 18:9-17,28-31.

At Nineveh archaeologists have found anaccount of the same events in the annals ofSennacherib. In the text, which is inscribedon a hexagonal clay prism, the Assyrian kingboasted: “As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did notsubmit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of hisstrong cities, walled forts and to the countlesssmall villages in their vicinity, and conquered(them) . . . Himself [Hezekiah] I made a pris-oner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like abird in a cage.” Sennacherib then claims thatHezekiah sent him “30 talents of gold, 800talents of silver, precious stones, . . . (and)all kinds of valuable treasures,” inflating thenumber of silver talents that he actually re-ceived.

Note, though, that Sennacherib does notclaim to have conquered Jerusalem. In fact,he says nothing about the crushing defeathis army suffered through divine interven-tion. According to the Bible, God’s angel tookthe lives of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in onenight. (2 Kings 19:35, 36) Says scholar JackFinegan: “In view of the general note of boast-ing which pervades the inscriptions of the As-syrian kings, however, it is hardly to be ex-pected that Sennacherib would record such adefeat.”


About a hundred years before the fall ofthe Assyrian Empire, Isaiah declared that� After the reign of King Solomon, the 12-tribe nation of Is-

rael was split. Judah and Benjamin formed the southern king-dom; and the other ten tribes, the northern kingdom. Jerusa-lem was the capital of the southern kingdom, and Samaria wasthe capital of the northern.

Prism containingSennacherib’s boastabout his invasion ofJudah

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Jehovah God would call those proud con-querors to account for their insolence to-ward his people. “I shall make an account-ing for the fruitage of the insolence of theheart of the king of Assyria and for the self-importance of his loftiness of eyes,” Jeho-vah said. (Isaiah 10:12) Furthermore, God’sprophet Nahum foretold that Nineveh wouldbe plundered, its gates would be opened toits enemies, and its guards would flee. (Na-hum 2:8, 9; 3:7, 13, 17, 19) The Bible prophetZephaniah wrote that the city would become“a desolate waste.”—Zephaniah 2:13-15.

Those prophecies of destruction were ful-filled in 632 B.C.E. That is when Nineveh fellto the combined forces of the Babyloniansand the Medes, bringing the Assyrian Empireto an inglorious end. A Babylonian chronicleof that event states that the conquerors “car-ried off the vast booty of the city and the tem-ple” and turned Nineveh “into a ruin heap.”Today the desolate waste that was once Nine-veh is marked by mounds of ruins on the eastbank of the Tigris River, opposite the city ofMosul, in Iraq.

Assyria’s destruction also contributed tothe fulfillment of yet another Bible prophe-cy. Earlier, in 740 B.C.E., Assyria took theten-tribe kingdom into exile. About the sametime that Assyria did this, God’s prophet Isa-iah foretold that Jehovah would “break theAssyrian,” “tread him down,” and bring Isra-el back to its homeland. Isaiah wrote: “Theremnant of his people who will remain overfrom Assyria . . . , he [God] will collect to-gether.” That is exactly what occurred—abouttwo hundred years later!—Isaiah 11:11, 12;14:25.

A Promise You Can Trust

Long before Nineveh’s fall, while her kingsstill struck terror into the hearts of their en-emies, Isaiah foretold the coming of a verydifferent kind of ruler. He wrote: “There hasbeen a child born to us, there has been a son

given to us; and the princely rule will come tobe upon his shoulder. And his name will becalled . . . Prince of Peace. To the abundanceof the princely rule and to peace there will beno end, upon the throne of David and uponhis kingdom in order to establish it firmly andto sustain it by means of justice and by meansof righteousness, from now on and to time in-definite. The very zeal of Jehovah of armieswill do this.”—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

The rulership of the “Prince of Peace,” Je-sus Christ, will embrace the entire earth.Psalm 72:7, 8 says: “In his days the righteousone will sprout, and the abundance of peaceuntil the moon is no more. And he will havesubjects from sea to sea and from the River[Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.”

Through this mighty “Prince of Peace,” Je-hovah God will fulfill the promise at Psalm46:8, 9: “Come, you people, behold the ac-tivities of Jehovah, how he has set astonish-ing events on the earth. He is making warsto cease to the extremity of the earth. Thebow he breaks apart and does cut the spear inpieces; the wagons he burns in the fire.”

As a prelude to the fulfillment of this Bibleprophecy, Jehovah’s Witnesses are carryingout a Bible education program that teachespeople the ways of peace, as Jesus did. In-deed, not man, but God will fulfill the Bibleprophecy recorded at Isaiah 2:4: “They willhave to beat their swords into plowshares andtheir spears into pruning shears. Nation willnot lift up sword against nation, neither willthey learn war anymore.” In contrast, todaythe world and its rulers spend a trillion dol-lars a year on military endeavors!

Accurate history and prophecy put the Bi-ble in a class of its own, demonstrating tothose sincerely searching for the truth that itis indeed a book worthy of our trust. In thenext article in this series, we will consider an-cient Babylon, the capital of the third greatempire of Bible history.

SITUATED on a fertile plain some50 miles (80 km) south of modern-day

Baghdad, the ancient city of Babylon was tru-ly magnificent. With massive double wallsand a surrounding moat, Babylon seemedimpregnable. The city was renowned for itsmajestic temples, hanging gardens, and tem-ple towers. As one of the greatest cities ofthe ancient world, Babylon has recently beendubbed the city of wonders.

In the Bible, it was named “Mistress ofKingdoms” and was the capital of the third

world power of Bible history. (Isaiah 47:5)Like the Egyptian and the Assyrian empiresbefore it, the Babylonian Empire played aprominent role in Bible history, enabling usto compare what the Bible says about it withwhat secular sources say.

Trustworthy History

The Bible book of Daniel tells us that aman by the name of Belshazzar once ruled asking in Babylon. (Daniel 5:1) However, somesecular sources have stated in the past that


Part 3

Babylon in Bible HistoryThis is the third in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that theBible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope foran end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

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Awake! January 2011 11

Belshazzar, though power-ful, was never king. Was theBible wrong? Archaeologistshave uncovered a number ofclay cylinders in the ruins ofUr in Mesopotamia. The cu-neiform inscription on onecylinder included a prayerby Babylonian King Nabo-nidus for “Bel-sar-ussur, myeldest son.” Later findingsconfirmed that Belshazzarhad “acted as regent for morethan half his father’s reign,”states the New Bible Dictio-nary, “during which time he wasto all intents and purposes king.”

History also shows that ancient Babylonwas an extremely religious city, rife with as-trology and divination. For example, at Eze-kiel 21:21, we read that the king of Babylonresorted to divination in order to deter-mine whether to attack Jerusalem. The king“looked into the liver,” the Bible says. Whythe liver? The Babylonians used this or-gan in quest of omens. The book Mesopota-mian Astrology tells us that at just one site

in ancient Babylon, archaeologists found“32 [clay] liver models, all inscribed” withomens.

Noted archaeologist Nelson Glueck oncesaid: “I have excavated for thirty years with aBible in one hand and a trowel in the other,and in matters of historical perspective I havenever found the Bible to be in error.”


How would you respond if someone toldyou that a major capital—such as Beijing,Moscow, or Washington, D.C.—would be-come an uninhabited ruin? You would right-ly be skeptical. Yet, that is what happenedwith ancient Babylon. Some 200 years in ad-vance, about the year 732 B.C.E., JehovahGod inspired the Hebrew prophet Isaiah toput in writing a prophecy about the demiseof mighty Babylon. He wrote: “Babylon, thedecoration of kingdoms, . . . must become aswhen God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.She will never be inhabited, nor will she re-side for generation after generation.”—Isaiah13:19, 20.

But why would God foretell Babylon’s de-struction? In 607 B.C.E., Babylonian armiesdestroyed Jerusalem and took the survivorsoff to Babylon, where they were treated cruel-ly. (Psalm 137:8, 9) God foretold that his peo-ple would have to endure this bitter treat-ment for 70 years because of their own wickeddeeds. Then God would deliver them and letthem return to their homeland.—Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10.

True to God’s prophetic Word, in539 B.C.E.—just as Judah’s 70-year exile wasabout to end—the seemingly invincible cityof Babylon was overthrown by Medo-Persian

“I have excavated for thirty years. . . , and in matters of historicalperspective I have never foundthe Bible to be in error.”—Nelson Glueck

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armies. In time, the city became a heap of ru-ins—just as predicted. No human could fore-tell such a striking achievement. Without adoubt, the act of prophesying, or foretellingevents in advance, sets the Author of the Bi-ble—the true God, Jehovah—apart from anyother god.—Isaiah 46:9, 10.


Yet another prophecy is having a remark-able fulfillment in our day. The prophecyinvolves King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonand a dream that he had about an immenseimage. The body was divided into five parts—the head, the breasts and arms, the belly

and thighs, the legs, and the feet—each onewith a different metal composition. (Daniel2:31-33) These metal parts stood for a suc-cession of governments, or kingdoms, thatstarted with Babylon and continues down tothe Anglo-American World Power, the sev-enth of Bible history.—Daniel 2:36-41.

Daniel discloses that in the feet and toesof the image, there was a noteworthy changeof materials. How so? Pure metal was re-placed with a mixture of iron and moistclay. By way of explanation, Daniel toldNebuchadnezzar: “Whereas you beheld ironmixed with moist clay, they will come to bemixed with the offspring of mankind; but

One of the most remarkable propheciesregarding the downfall of Babylon involvedits conqueror, King Cyrus of Persia. Nearlytwo centuries before Cyrus rose to power,Jehovah God mentioned him by name andforetold that he would be the one to conquerBabylon.

Pointing forward to Cyrus’ conquest,Isaiah was inspired to write: “This is whatJehovah has said to his anointed one, toCyrus, whose right hand I have taken holdof, to subdue before him nations, . . . toopen before him the two-leaved doors, sothat even the gates will not be shut.” Godalso foretold that the Euphrates River would,in effect, dry up.—Isaiah 45:1-3; Jeremiah50:38.

Greek historians Herodotus and Xeno-phon confirm the fulfillment of this amaz-ing prophecy. They reveal that Cyrus divert-ed the Euphrates River, causing its waters torecede. Cyrus’ armies thus gained accessto the city through its gates, which had beenleft open. As foretold, mighty Babylon fell“suddenly,” in one night.—Jeremiah 51:8.

FORETOLD BY NAMEThe Bible book of Revelation

mentions a symbolic harlot named“Babylon the Great.” (Revelation 17:5)What does this harlot represent?The evidence points to its being areligious entity.

Ancient Babylon was an extremelyreligious city, having over 50 templesdedicated to various deities. The Bab-ylonians believed in trinities of godsand an immortal soul that at deathwould descend to a dark nether-world. There, “human existence be-yond the grave is at best only a dis-mal, wretched reflection of life onearth,” says Funk & Wagnalls NewEncyclopedia.

In time, those teachings spreadthroughout the world. Today they,or modified versions of them, can befound in the religions of Christendom.Together, these religions make up amajor part of the global religious enti-ty Babylon the Great!

BABYLON THE GREAT

they will not prove to be sticking together,this one to that one, just as iron is not mix-ing with molded clay.” (Daniel 2:43) Yes,mixing iron and clay results in a fragileunion; there is no “sticking together.” Howaccurately this describes the politically di-vided world in which we live today!

Daniel also reveals another significant de-velopment. In his dream, King Nebuchad-nezzar saw a stone that was cut out of a largemountain. This stone was lifted up, and “itstruck the image on its feet of iron and ofmolded clay and crushed them.” (Daniel 2:34) What does that mean? Daniel himselfanswers: “In the days of those kings [dur-

ing the time of the final world power] theGod of heaven will set up a kingdom thatwill never be brought to ruin. And the king-dom itself will not be passed on to any oth-er people. It will crush and put an end toall these kingdoms, and it itself will stand totimes indefinite.” (Daniel 2:44) That proph-ecy pointed forward to a Kingdom unlikeany other government known to mankind.Its King is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Asmentioned in previous articles of this series,Jesus will crush Satan and all his followers,human and spirit, thus bringing about uni-versal peace and harmony.—1 Corinthians15:25.

Babylonians worshippedtriads of deities. Symbolsof one such trinity—Sin,Shamash, and Ishtar—areshown here

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16 Awake! February 2011

THE ruins of palaces and royal tombs pro-vide only a glimpse of the grandeur, pow-

er, and wealth of the ancient dual empire ofMedia and Persia. Before the two kingdomsunited, Media was the dominant kingdom.But in 550 B.C.E., the Medes came under thecontrol of Persian King Cyrus II, who there-after ruled over the kingdom of Medo-Persia.Centered in the region north of the Per-sian Gulf, this vast realm eventually stretchedfrom the Aegean Sea to Egypt to northwest-ern India and included Judea.

Medo-Persia ruled over the Jewish nationfor more than 200 years—from the overthrowof Babylon in 539 B.C.E. until Medo-Persia it-self was defeated by the Greeks in 331 B.C.E.Numerous Bible books comment on signif-icant events that occurred during that time.

Trustworthy History

The Bible tells us that King Cyrus II freedthe Jews held captive in Babylon, allow-ing them to return to Jerusalem and rebuildGod’s temple, which the Babylonians had de-stroyed in 607 B.C.E. (Ezra 1:1-7; 6:3-5) Cor-roborating this account is a clay documentknown as the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in

1879 in the ruins of ancient Babylon. The in-scription identifies Cyrus by name and de-scribes his policy of returning previouslycaptured peoples and their religious objectsto their native lands. The Bible writer Isa-iah recorded Jehovah’s prophetic words con-cerning Cyrus: “ ‘All that I delight in he willcompletely carry out’; even in my saying ofJerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of thetemple, ‘You will have your foundation laid.’ ”—Isaiah 44:28.

In fact, Cyrus ordered that funds for tem-ple reconstruction “be given from the king’s


Part 4

Medo-Persia in Bible HistoryThis is the fourth in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that the Bibleis trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope for an end tothe suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

house,” says Ezra 6:3, 4. This amazing state-ment harmonizes with secular history. “It wasa consistent policy of Persian kings to helprestore sanctuaries in their empire,” says thebook Persia and the Bible.

The Bible tells us that opposers of the Jewslater wrote to Darius the Great (also calledDarius I) challenging the Jews’ claim that Cy-rus had authorized the reconstruction of thetemple. Darius commanded that a search bemade for the original written decree. The out-come? A scroll containing Cyrus’ decree wasfound at Ecbatana, the capital. In response,Darius wrote: “I, Darius, do put through anorder. Let it [temple reconstruction] bedone promptly.” Opposition to the work thenceased.�—Ezra 6:2, 7, 12, 13.

Secular history supports these details. Forone thing, Ecbatana was the summer resi-dence of Cyrus, and he may have issued hisdecree from there. Also, archaeological dis-coveries show that Medo-Persian kings tooka keen interest in religious matters affectingtheir realm and wrote letters to resolve dis-putes.


In a divinely inspired dream, the proph-et Daniel saw a series of four beasts risingout of the sea, each representing a succes-sive world power. The first beast, a winged� The name Darius is applied to at least three kings.

lion, represented Babylon. The second was“like a bear.” The account continues: “This iswhat they were saying to it, ‘Get up, eat muchflesh.’ ” (Daniel 7:5) The fearsome bear pic-tured Medo-Persia.

True to Daniel’s prophecy, Medo-Persiadisplayed a voracious appetite for conquest.Not long after Daniel’s vision, Cyrus de-feated the Medes and then waged war againstneighboring Lydia and Babylon. His sonCambyses II conquered Egypt. Later Medo-Persian rulers expanded the empire even far-ther.

How can we be sure of this interpretation?In a separate but related vision, Daniel saw aram “making thrusts to the west and to thenorth and to the south.” The prophecy wasfulfilled when Medo-Persia made “thrusts”against other nations, including mighty Bab-ylon. An angel of God interpreted this vision,saying to Daniel: “The ram that you saw pos-sessing the two horns stands for the kings ofMedia and Persia.”—Daniel 8:3, 4, 20.

Furthermore, some two centuries beforeBabylon’s defeat, the prophet Isaiah foretoldboth the name of the conquering Persianking—who was not yet born—and his strate-gy for taking Babylon. Isaiah wrote: “This iswhat Jehovah has said to his anointed one, to

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The Cyrus Cylinder describes the policy ofreturning captives to their homelands

Cyrus’ tomb can stillbe seen in the ruins ofancient Pasargadae,in present-day Iran

Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of,to subdue before him nations, . . . to open be-fore him the two-leaved doors, so that eventhe gates will not be shut.” (Isaiah 45:1) BothIsaiah and Jeremiah foretold that Babylon’s“rivers,” or canals fed by the Euphrates Riv-er, which served as a protective moat, wouldbe dried up. (Isaiah 44:27; Jeremiah 50:38)The Greek historians Herodotus and Xeno-phon confirm the Bible’s prophetic accuracy,including the fact that the Babylonians werereveling on the very night that Cyrus took thecity. (Isaiah 21:5, 9; Daniel 5:1-4, 30) Havingdiverted the Euphrates River, Cyrus’ armiesentered the city through open gates along theriver, encountering little resistance. In onenight mighty Babylon fell!

This event, in turn, led to the amazing ful-fillment of another prophecy. The prophetJeremiah had earlier foretold that God’s peo-ple would be exiled in Babylon for 70 years.(Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10) That prophecywas fulfilled right on time, and the exiles wereallowed to return to their homeland.


Shortly after Medo-Persia conquered Bab-ylon, Daniel recorded a prophecy that shedslight on a most important event in the accom-plishment of God’s purpose for mankind.The angel Gabriel informed Daniel precise-ly when the Messiah—the “seed” promisedat Genesis 3:15—would appear! God’s angelsaid: “From the going forth of the word torestore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messi-ah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, alsosixty-two weeks,” a total of 69 weeks. (Dan-

iel 9:25) When did this prophetic period be-gin?

Although Cyrus permitted the Jews to re-turn to their land soon after the fall of Bab-ylon, many years later Jerusalem and its wallswere still in disrepair. In 455 B.C.E., King Ar-taxerxes granted permission to his Jewishcupbearer Nehemiah to return to Jerusalemand take the lead in the rebuilding work. (Ne-hemiah 2:1-6) This marked the start of the 69weeks.

The 69 weeks, however, were not literalweeks of seven days but weeks of years. Infact, some Bible translations render the ex-pression “weeks” as “weeks of years.”� (Dan-iel 9:24, 25) The Messiah would appear aftera period of 69 “weeks” of 7 years each—a to-tal of 483 years. The prophecy was fulfilled in29 C.E. when Jesus was baptized, exactly 483years from 455 B.C.E.�

The precise fulfillment of Daniel’s proph-ecy adds to the abundant evidence confirm-ing Jesus’ identity. This evidence also con-firms our hope for the future. Jesus, as Kingof God’s heavenly Kingdom, will bring an endto harsh human rule. Thereafter, he will fulfillmany more Bible prophecies, including thosepointing forward to a resurrection of the deadto endless life in Paradise on earth.—Daniel12:2; John 5:28, 29; Revelation 21:3-5.� Among the Bible translations that use the phrase “weeks

of years” are the following: Tanakh—A New Translation of theHoly Scriptures, The Complete Bible—An American Translation,and The Bible—Containing the Old and New Testaments, byJames Moffatt.� For a detailed discussion of the prophecy, including a dia-

gram setting out the 69 weeks of years, see pages 197-199 of thebook What Does the Bible Really Teach?

455 B.C.E. 29 C.E.

From the time the command was given torebuild Jerusalem until the appearance of theMessiah was exactly 483 years

IN THE fourth century B.C.E., a youngMacedonian named Alexander propelled

Greece� onto the world stage. In fact, hemade Greece the fifth world power in Biblehistory and eventually came to be called Alex-ander the Great. The preceding empires wereEgypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Medo-Persia.

After Alexander’s death, his empire frag-mented and began to wane. However,Greece’s influence by way of its culture, lan-guage, religion, and philosophy endured longafter the political empire ceased.

Trustworthy History

The Bible record does not mention thatany prophets of God were active during theera of Greek supremacy, nor were any in-spired Bible books written then. Neverthe-less, Greece is featured in Bible prophecy.Additionally, the Christian Greek Scriptures,commonly called the New Testament, of-ten refer to Greek influence. In fact, mainlyin Israel there was a group of ten Hellenis-tic cities called the Decapolis, from a Greek� The references to Greece in this article are to ancient

Greece before the first century and do not relate to anymodern-day national boundaries.

word meaning “ten cities.” (Matthew 4:25;Mark 5:20; 7:31) The Bible mentions thisregion several times, and secular history andthe impressive remains of theaters, amphi-theaters, temples, and baths verify its exis-tence.

The Bible also makes many references toGreek culture and religion, especially in the


Part 5

Greece in Bible HistoryThis is the fifth in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that theBible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope foran end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

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About 200 yearsin advance, Bibleprophecy pointedto Alexander theGreat

17

18 Awake! March 2011

book of Acts, which was written by the physi-cian Luke. Consider a few examples:

Describing events that occurred during theapostle Paul’s visit to Athens in 50 C.E., theBible states that the city was “full of idols.”(Acts 17:16) Historical evidence confirmsthat Athens and its suburbs were filled withreligious idols and shrines.

Acts 17:21 says that “all Athenians and theforeigners sojourning there would spend theirleisure time at nothing but telling somethingor listening to something new.” The writingsof Thucydides and Demosthenes attest to theAthenian preoccupation with conversationand debate.

The Bible specifically states that “the Ep-icurean and the Stoic philosophers took toconversing with [Paul] controversially,” eventaking him to the Areopagus to hear more ofwhat he had to say. (Acts 17:18, 19) Athenswas known for its many philosophers, includ-ing Epicureans and Stoics.

Paul refers to an Athenian altar inscribed“To an Unknown God.” (Acts 17:23) Altarsdedicated to an unknown god were possiblyerected by Epimenides of Crete.

In his speech to the Athenians, Paul quotesthe words, “for we are also his progeny,” at-tributing the words, not to a single poet, butto “certain ones of the poets among you.”(Acts 17:28) These Greek poets evidentlywere Aratus and Cleanthes.

For good reason, one scholar concluded:“The account of Paul’s visit in Athens seemsto me to have the flavor of an eye-witness ac-count.” The same could be said of the Bible’sdescription of Paul’s experiences in Ephesusof Asia Minor. In the first century C.E., thiscity still retained its affinity for pagan Greekreligion, most notably the worship of the god-dess Artemis.

The temple of Artemis, one of the sevenwonders of the ancient world, is mentioneda number of times in the book of Acts. For

GREECE

EGYPT

MEDIA

PERSIA

INDIA

THE GRECIAN EMPIRE

The Bible accurately foretold the conquests of Alexanderthe Great and the breakup of his empire

Awake! March 2011 19

example, we are told that Paul’s ministry inEphesus angered a silversmith named Deme-trius, who had a flourishing business makingsilver shrines of Artemis. “This Paul,” saidan angry Demetrius, “has persuaded a con-siderable crowd and turned them to anotheropinion, saying that the ones that are made byhands are not gods.” (Acts 19:23-28) Deme-trius then stirred up an angry mob, who be-gan to shout: “Great is Artemis of the Ephe-sians!”

Today you can visit the ruins of Ephesusand the site of the temple of Artemis. More-over, ancient inscriptions from Ephesus veri-fy that idols were made in honor of the god-dess and that a guild of silversmiths wasactive in the city.


About 200 years before the time of Alexan-der the Great, Jehovah God’s prophet Danielwrote concerning world domination: “Look!there was a male of the goats coming fromthe sunset upon the surface of the wholeearth, and it was not touching the earth. And

as regards the he-goat, there was a conspicu-ous horn between its eyes. And it kept com-ing all the way to the ram possessing the twohorns, . . . and it came running toward it in itspowerful rage. And . . . it proceeded to strikedown the ram and to break its two horns, andthere proved to be no power in the ram tostand before it. So it threw it to the earth andtrampled it down . . . And the male of thegoats, for its part, put on great airs to an ex-treme; but as soon as it became mighty, thegreat horn was broken, and there proceededto come up conspicuously four instead of it,toward the four winds of the heavens.”—Dan-iel 8:5-8.

To whom did those words apply? Danielhimself answers: “The ram that you saw pos-sessing the two horns stands for the kingsof Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goatstands for the king of Greece; and as for thegreat horn that was between its eyes, it standsfor the first king.”—Daniel 8:20-22.

Think about that! During the time of theBabylonian world power, the Bible foretoldthat the succeeding powers would be Medo-Persia and Greece. Moreover, as noted earli-er, the Bible specifically stated that “as soonas it became mighty, the great horn”—Alex-ander—would be “broken” and would be re-placed by four others, adding further thatnone of them would be Alexander’s posterity.—Daniel 11:4.

That prophecy was fulfilled in detail. Alex-ander became king in 336 B.C.E., and with-in seven years he defeated the mighty PersianKing Darius III. Thereafter, Alexander con-tinued to expand his empire until his prema-ture death in 323 B.C.E., at the age of 32. Nosingle individual succeeded Alexander as ab-solute ruler, nor did any of his offspring. Rath-er, his four leading generals—Lysimachus,Cassander, Seleucus, and Ptolemy—“pro-claimed themselves kings” and took overthe empire, states the book The HellenisticAge.

Statue of the Ephesiangoddess Artemis

An altar dedicatedto an unknown god

20 Awake! March 2011

During his campaigns, Alexander alsofulfilled other Bible prophecies. For exam-ple, the prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah,who lived in the seventh and sixth centu-ries B.C.E., foretold the destruction of thecity of Tyre. (Ezekiel 26:3-5, 12; 27:32-36;Zechariah 9:3, 4) Ezekiel even wrote that herstones and dust would be placed “in the verymidst of the water.” Were those words ful-filled?

Consider what Alexander’s troops did dur-ing their siege of Tyre in 332 B.C.E. Theyscraped up the ruins of the earlier mainlandcity of Tyre and cast the debris into the sea tobuild a causeway to the island city of Tyre.The strategy succeeded, and Tyre fell. “Theprophecies against Tyre have been accom-plished, even to the minutest details,” said a19th-century explorer of the site.�


Alexander’s conquests did not bring abouta peaceful, secure world. After reviewing theancient Greek period of rule, one scholar ob-served: “The essential condition of the com-mon people . . . had changed little.” This sit-uation is often repeated throughout history� As foretold by Ezekiel, the first conquest of Tyre occurred

at the hands of Babylonian King Nebuchadrezzar. (Ezekiel26:7) Thereafter, the city was rebuilt. This rebuilt city was theone destroyed by Alexander, fulfilling in every detail the wordsof the prophets.

and confirms yet again the Bible statementthat “man has dominated man to his injury.”—Ecclesiastes 8:9.

Poor rulership, however, will not continueindefinitely, for God has established a govern-ment that is far superior to any conceived byman. Called the Kingdom of God, it will re-place all human rulerships, and its subjectswill enjoy true and lasting peace and security.—Isaiah 25:6; 65:21, 22; Daniel 2:35, 44; Rev-elation 11:15.

The King of God’s Kingdom is none otherthan Jesus Christ. In contrast with power-hungry, aloof human rulers, Jesus is motivat-ed by love for God and humankind. Concern-ing him, a psalmist foretold: “He will deliverthe poor one crying for help, also the afflictedone and whoever has no helper. He will feelsorry for the lowly one and the poor one, andthe souls of the poor ones he will save. Fromoppression and from violence he will redeemtheir soul.”—Psalm 72:12-14.

Is he the kind of Ruler you want? If so, youwill do well to consider the sixth world powerof Bible history—Rome. Indeed, it was duringthe Roman era that the foretold Savior wasborn and made his indelible imprint on hu-man history. Please read the sixth article inthis series, which you will find in the next is-sue of this magazine.

TYREAlexander’scauseway

MA

INLA

ND Landfill over

the years

MODERN-DAY TYRE1/4 mile

400 meters

Alexander fulfilled Bible prophecy when he used the rubble of the oldmainland city of Tyre to build a causeway to the island city

JESUS founded Christianity, and his fol-lowers spread it abroad during the days of

the Roman Empire. You can still see Romanroads, aqueducts, and monuments in suchlands as Britain and Egypt. Those Romanremains are real. They remind us that Jesusand his apostles were also real, as were thethings they said and did. As a case in point,if you walk on the ancient Appian Way, youare walking the same path that the Christianapostle Paul may have traveled on his way toRome.—Acts 28:15, 16.

Trustworthy History

The Bible record of Jesus and his disciplesincludes numerous references to historicalevents in the first century. Notice how care-fully the Bible writer Luke flagged the yearthat saw two extremely important events: the


Part 6

Rome in Bible HistoryThis is the sixth in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that theBible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope foran end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

Paul traveled alongthe Appian Way

Tiberius Caesar isone of many Romanofficials mentionedin Luke’s Gospel

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commencement of the ministry of John theBaptist and the baptism of Jesus, at whichpoint he became the Christ, or Messiah.Luke wrote that those events occurred in“the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberi-us Caesar [29 C.E.], when Pontius Pilatewas governor of Judea, and Herod was dis-trict ruler of Galilee.” (Luke 3:1-3, 21) Lukealso mentioned four other important officials—Philip (Herod’s brother), Lysanias, Annas,and Caiaphas. All seven names have beencorroborated by secular historians. For now,though, let us consider Tiberius, Pilate, andHerod.

Tiberius Caesar is well-known, and hisphysical appearance has been depicted inartwork. The Roman Senate appointed himas emperor on September 15 of the year14 C.E., when Jesus was about 15 years ofage.

Pontius Pilate’s name appears with that ofTiberius in an account written by Romanhistorian Tacitus shortly after the Bible wascompleted. In regard to the term “Chris-tian,” Tacitus wrote: “Christus, from whomthe name had its origin, suffered the extremepenalty during the reign of Tiberius at the

hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pi-latus.”

Herod Antipas is known as the man whobuilt the city of Tiberias by the Sea of Gali-lee. He also made his residence there. Herodprobably had John the Baptist beheaded inTiberias.

Bible accounts also refer to notable eventsof Roman times. Concerning the time of Je-sus’ birth, the Bible says: “Now in those daysa decree went forth from Caesar Augustusfor all the inhabited earth to be registered;(this first registration took place when Quiri-nius was governor of Syria;) and all peoplewent traveling to be registered, each one tohis own city.”—Luke 2:1-3.

Tacitus and Jewish historian Josephusboth refer to Quirinius. Confirmation thatsuch registrations occurred is found in a Ro-man governor’s edict preserved in the BritishLibrary. It reads: “Seeing that the time hascome for the house to house census, it is nec-essary to compel all those who for any causewhatsoever are residing out of their districtsto return to their own homes.”

The Bible also mentions “a great fam-ine . . . in the time of [Roman Emperor]

An inscriptionbearing the nameof Pontius Pilate

12 Awake! April 2011

Claudius.” (Acts 11:28) First-century histori-an Josephus corroborates this account. Hewrote: “A famine did oppress them at thattime, and many people died.”

Additionally, at Acts 18:2, the Bible statesthat “Claudius had ordered all the Jews to de-part from Rome.” Supporting this is a biogra-phy of Claudius, written about 121 C.E. byRoman historian Suetonius. Claudius “ban-ished from Rome all the Jews,” says Sue-tonius, adding that because of their hostilitytoward the Christians, the Jews “were contin-ually making disturbances.”

The Bible says that at about the time ofthe aforementioned famine, Herod Agrippa,clothed “with royal raiment,” gave a speechto an adoring public, who responded: “Agod’s voice, and not a man’s!” Thereafter,the Bible states, Agrippa “became eaten upwith worms and expired.” (Acts 12:21-23)Josephus also recorded this event, adding afew details. He wrote that Agrippa gave hisspeech in “a garment made wholly of sil-ver.” He also said that ‘a severe pain arose inAgrippa’s belly, and began in a most violentmanner.’ He died five days later, said Jose-phus.


The Bible also contains remarkable proph-ecies that were written and fulfilled in Ro-man times. For example, when Jesus rodeinto Jerusalem, he wept and foretold how theRoman armies would destroy the city. “Dayswill come upon you when your enemies willbuild around you a fortification with point-ed stakes,” Jesus said. “They will not leave astone upon a stone in you, because you didnot discern the time of your being inspect-ed.”—Luke 19:41-44.

Jesus’ followers, however, would have op-portunity to escape. How so? Jesus gavethem specific instructions ahead of time.“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by en-camped armies,” he warned, “then know thatthe desolating of her has drawn near. Then

let those in Judea begin fleeing to the moun-tains, and let those in the midst of her [Jeru-salem] withdraw.” (Luke 21:20, 21) Jesus’ fol-lowers may well have wondered, ‘How will weescape from a city under siege?’

Josephus recorded what happened. In66 C.E., when a Roman governor seized fromthe temple treasury taxes that were in arrears,incensed Jewish rebels slaughtered Romanforces and, in effect, declared themselves in-dependent. Later that year, Cestius Gallus,the Roman governor of Syria, marched southwith 30,000 troops, arriving at Jerusalemduring a religious festival. Gallus penetratedthe suburbs and even began undermining thewall of the temple, where the rebels had tak-en refuge. Then, for no apparent reason, Gal-lus withdrew! Excited Jews attacked his re-treating army.

Faithful Christians were not deceived bythis turn of events. They realized that theyhad seen Jesus’ amazing prophecy cometrue: The city had been surrounded by en-camped armies! And now, because these ar-mies had retreated, faithful Christians tookadvantage of this window of opportunity toflee. Many went to Pella, a politically neutralGentile city located in the mountains acrossthe Jordan.

What happened to Jerusalem? The Ro-man armies returned, led by Vespasian andhis son Titus—this time numbering 60,000soldiers. They advanced on the city prior tothe Passover of 70 C.E., trapping both resi-dents and pilgrims who had flocked there forthe celebration. Roman troops denuded thedistrict of trees and built a wall of pointedstakes, just as Jesus had foretold. After aboutfive months, the city fell.

Titus ordered that the temple be pre-served; but a soldier torched it, and theplace was torn down stone by stone—precise-ly as Jesus had predicted. According to Jo-sephus, some 1,100,000 Jews and proselytesdied, the majority from starvation and pes-

Awake! April 2011 13

tilence, and another 97,000 were taken pris-oner. Many were sent to Rome as slaves. Ifyou visit Rome today, you can tour the fa-mous Colosseum, which was finished by Ti-tus after the campaign in Judea. You can alsosee the Arch of Titus, which commemoratesthe conquest of Jerusalem. Yes, Bible proph-ecy is trustworthy in every detail. How im-portant, then, that we take to heart what itsays about the future!


When Jesus stood before the Roman Gov-ernor Pontius Pilate, he spoke of a King-dom, or government, that “is no part of thisworld.” (John 18:36) Indeed, Jesus taught hisfollowers to pray for that royal government.“Our Father in the heavens,” he said, “letyour kingdom come. Let your will take place,as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 6:9, 10) Note that God’s Kingdom will causeGod’s will—not that of proud and ambitiousmen—to be done on earth.

Jesus rules as King in that heavenly King-dom. And in harmony with God’s originalpurpose, he will turn the earth into a globalparadise.—Luke 23:43.

When will God’s Kingdom intervene inhuman affairs? The resurrected Jesus gave anindication of the answer when he spoke tohis apostle John, who was then imprisonedon the island of Patmos during the rule ofRoman Emperor Domitian, the brother of Ti-tus. “There are seven kings,” Jesus disclosed.“Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yetarrived, but when he does arrive he must re-main a short while.”—Revelation 17:10.

When John recorded those words, five“kings,” or empires, had fallen: Egypt, Assyr-ia, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Theone that “is,” or existed at the time of theapostle John, was Rome. Hence, only one re-mained—the final world power of Bible histo-ry. What did it prove to be? How long will itrule? These questions will be considered inthe next issue of Awake!

Titus, son of Vespasian,as shown on a Roman coinMus

´ee de Normandie, Caen, France

The Arch of Titus in Rome commemoratesthe destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.

WE LIVE in a very special and momen-tous time—that of the appearance of

the seventh world power of Bible history.Moreover, this power is the only one men-tioned in the Bible purely as prophecy, forthe previous six were woven into the Bible’shistorical record. Concerning the seven pow-ers, or “kings,” the Bible foretold: “There areseven kings: five have fallen, one is, the otherhas not yet arrived, but when he does arrivehe must remain a short while.”�—Revelation17:10.

A little over 1,900 years ago, when thosewords were written, five of the seven “kings,”or political empires, ‘had fallen.’ They wereEgypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, andGreece. The expression “one is” referredto Rome. But Rome would not last forever.There would be one more empire, but theprophecy stated: “[It] has not yet arrived.”True to Bible prophecy, the seventh ‘king’ didarrive on the world scene! What did this em-pire prove to be? Will it exercise its dominion� Because the empires mentioned in the Bible were usually

ruled by a king, the empires themselves are often referred to as“kings,” “kingdoms,” or both.—Daniel 8:20-22.

indefinitely? If not, how will it exit the worldstage? The Bible leaves us in no doubt.

Reliable Prophecy

The seventh power began to take shapewhen England rose out of obscurity in thenorthwestern corner of the Roman Empire.By the 1760’s, this island nation had becomethe mighty British Empire. Britain contin-ued to grow in wealth and power, and in the19th century, it was the richest and mostpowerful nation on earth. “The British Em-pire,” states one reference work, “was thelargest the world had ever seen.” It “includ-ed 372 million inhabitants and extended over11 million square miles [28 million sq km].”

However, the first world war (1914-1918)moved Britain to embark on a special rela-tionship with the United States, a previouscolony. The result? The British Empire gaveway to the Anglo-American alliance, in manyrespects a dual English-speaking world pow-er that has lasted until the present.—See thebox “A Noteworthy Alliance.”

The prophecy at Revelation 17:10 comple-ments another prophecy found in the book


Part 7

The Seventh World PowerThis is the final article in a series of seven in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that theBible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope foran end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

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Awake! May 2011 15

16 Awake! May 2011

of Daniel. Daniel wrote about an “immenseimage” that Babylonian King Nebuchadnez-zar saw in a vision given him by God. (Dan-iel 2:28, 31-43) Daniel revealed to the mon-arch that the sections of the body of theimage represented the succession of politicalempires that began with Babylon, the worldpower at the time. (Egypt and Assyria had al-ready come and gone.) History now confirmsthe following:

The head of gold represented the Babylo-nian Empire.

The breasts and arms of silver depictedMedo-Persia.

The belly and thighs of copper pointed toancient Greece.

The legs of iron pictured the Roman Em-pire.

The feet, an amalgam of iron and clay,symbolize the politically and socially incohe-sive state of affairs during the time of theAnglo-American world power.

According to Revelation 17:10, the seventhworld power “must remain a short while.”How long will that prove to be? How will itdisappear from the world scene? And whatwill happen thereafter? Daniel sheds muchlight on these questions.


After describing the aforementioned im-age, Daniel wrote: “A stone was cut out [of amountain] not by hands, and it struck the im-age on its feet of iron and of molded clay andcrushed them.” (Daniel 2:34) What did thisawesome spectacle portend?

Daniel continued: “In the days of those[final] kings the God of heaven will set up akingdom that will never be brought to ruin.And the kingdom itself will not be passed onto any other people. It will crush and put anend to all these [earthly] kingdoms, and it it-self will stand to times indefinite.”� (Daniel2:44, 45) Note these important points:

1. The victorious Kingdom, representedby a large stone, is “set up” by God himself,not by human “hands.” Hence, it is rightlycalled God’s Kingdom.

2. God’s Kingdom “will crush” all humanrulerships, including the seventh world pow-er. Why? All these will refuse to relinquishpower and will face off against God in a finalgreat war at a figurative place called Har–Magedon, or Armageddon. The Bible makesclear that this war involves “the kings of theentire inhabited earth.”—Revelation 16:13,14, 16.� For more information about God’s heavenly Kingdom, see

chapters 8 and 9 of the book What Does the Bible Really Teach?published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Babylon

Medo-Persia

Greece

Rome

Britain and the United States

3. Unlike transitory human governments,including the seven world powers, God’sKingdom “will never be brought to ruin.”Also, it will rule over the entire earth.—Dan-iel 2:35, 44.

The final destruction of God’s opposerswill be a spectacular fulfillment of the proph-ecy at Genesis 3:15, mentioned in the firstarticle in this series. The Seed of the wom-an, Jesus Christ, would crush the symbolicserpent, Satan, and his seed. (Galatians 3:16)Satan’s seed includes all humans who adopthis wicked ways and who promote humanself-determination as opposed to rule by Godand Christ.—Psalm 2:7-12.

This brings us to a very important ques-tion: When will that final destruction oc-cur? Yes, when will the “stone”—God’sKingdom—remove every trace of human rul-ership? The Bible answers that question byway of a “sign” that would identify the lastdays.—Matthew 24:3.

Recognize “the Sign”!

The sign of the end includes global war,“great earthquakes,” “pestilences,” and ma-jor “food shortages.” (Luke 21:10, 11; Mat-thew 24:7, 8; Mark 13:8) Also marking the“last days” would be a serious moral and spir-itual breakdown in society. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Have “all these things” occurred? (Mat-thew 24:8) Yes—to the point that many peo-ple fear the future. The newspaper The Globeand Mail stated: “Some of the most respectedthinkers about science and society are issu-ing alarming prognostications about human-ity coming to an end.”

In one very important respect, however,those prognostications are wrong—humani-ty itself will not end. In fact, the interven-tion by God’s Kingdom guarantees it! Whengiving the sign of the end, Jesus Christ stat-ed: “This good news of the kingdom will bepreached in all the inhabited earth for a wit-ness to all the nations; and then the end will

come.” (Matthew 24:14) How has this proph-ecy unfolded?

In over 230 lands, Jehovah’s Witness-es are proclaiming the Kingdom of God.Indeed, the title of their primary journal isThe Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s King-dom—Jehovah being God’s personal name.(Psalm 83:18) The Witnesses’ program of Bi-ble education is helping countless individu-als and families to replace harmful lifestyleswith clean and peaceful conduct that con-forms to God’s standards. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) As a result, millions of people world-wide are confident that they will gain God’sprotection when his Kingdom intervenes inmankind’s affairs.

Indeed, they will see with their own eyesthe fulfillment of Christ’s model prayer,sometimes called the Lord’s Prayer, whichstates, in part: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will

At a joint press conference withPrime Minister David Cameron of theUnited Kingdom, President BarackObama of the United States affirmedin July 2010: “We can never say itenough. The United States and theUnited Kingdom enjoy a truly specialrelationship. We celebrate a com-mon heritage. We cherish commonvalues. . . . Above all, our alliancethrives because it advances ourcommon interests. . . . When theUnited States and the United King-dom stand together, our people—andpeople around the world—are moresecure and they are more prosper-ous. In short, the United States hasno closer ally and no stronger partnerthan Great Britain.”

A NOTEWORTHY ALLIANCE

18 Awake! May 2011

be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Mat-thew 6:10, King James Version) Have youwondered what life on earth will be like whenall humans love and obey God? The follow-ing Bible passages may help you to under-stand why the expression “good news” is fit-ting.

When God’s Will Is Done on Earth . . .

˘ There will be genuine peace, not just the

absence of war. “Jehovah . . . is making warsto cease to the extremity of the earth. Thebow he breaks apart and does cut the spearin pieces; the wagons he burns in the fire.”(Psalm 46:8, 9) “The meek ones themselveswill possess the earth, and they will indeedfind their exquisite delight in the abundanceof peace.”—Psalm 37:11.

˘ All will have an abundance of food.

“There will come to be plenty of grain on theearth; on the top of the mountains there willbe an overflow.”—Psalm 72:16.

˘ Perfect health will prevail. “No residentwill say: ‘I am sick.’ ”—Isaiah 33:24.

˘ Everyone will have a comfortable home.

“They will certainly build houses and haveoccupancy; and they will certainly plant vine-yards and eat their fruitage. They will notbuild and someone else have occupancy;they will not plant and someone else do theeating.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22.

˘ All forms of suffering will end. “The tentof God is with mankind, . . . and he will wipeout every tear from their eyes, and death willbe no more, neither will mourning nor outcrynor pain be anymore. The former things havepassed away.”—Revelation 21:3, 4.

Do those promises appeal to you? If so, Je-hovah’s Witnesses encourage you to look fur-ther into the Bible. Indeed, by doing so youwill see even more evidence that man’s crueldomination of his fellow man is about to end.You will also see that the Bible is deservingof your full trust, that it truly is inspired byGod.—2 Timothy 3:16.�� To learn more about the Bible, feel free to contact Jeho-

vah’s Witnesses locally, write to the appropriate address listedon page 5, or visit our Web site www.watchtower.org.

The Bible promises that genuine peace willprevail under the rule of God’s Kingdom

a book you can trust part 1 egyptinbiblehistoryda-ip.getmyip.com/pdf/publications/awake...

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