The Lust for Empire by Percy T. Magan

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 18, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28.

The Lust for Empire

By Percy T. Magan

A Thwarted Attempt to Wrest Universal Sovereignty from the Creator

By Percy T. Magan

THE lust for empire and world dominion — each one of the great powers striving to exalt itself — is one of the causes of the present colossal upheaval in Europe. An innate desire for self-exaltation possesses the soul of each of the belligerents.

And this is true not only of the belligerents; it is true also of the would-be peacemakers. On the part of the Vatican there is a determination to thrust herself into such a position between the mighty wrestlers that when the war shall end through her mediation, a restoration of her old-time power, glory, and world empire shall have been brought about. She seeks, in the rôle of a peacemaker, to reëstablish her claim to a power and authority superior to that of kings and rulers of nations; and certain it is that if she is successful, she will use this power as she has used it before, — to force her religion and creed upon the inhabitants of the world, whether they like it or not. She will be true to her motto, "Semper eadem" — always the same. To bring the world beneath her sway, politically and religiously, is the undying purpose of the Vatican.

Rome, in a recently issued papal encyclical, declared that the "root cause" of the war is that her theories in regard to the relation of civil government to religion have been abandoned by the nations.

The "Earth Hunger" Disease

FORTUNE, in one way or another, seems to have smiled upon some of the great powers more than upon others. These have gathered to themselves much of the earth and the things that pertain thereto. Such fear that if they peaceably permit any of their neighbors to share in their acquisitions, it will mean their own undoing in the nerve-racking race for international supremacy.

Other great powers have not been so fortunate. They do not possess as many or as flourishing colonies, and they are determined to secure by force of arms what they consider their just share.

"Earth hunger" is a disease with which all so-called great powers are afflicted. For many years they had been suffering of the malady; and when 1914 came, the fever was running so high that an eruption was due to appear.

Of all the worldly lusts to which the mind of man is heir, the lust for universal empire, civil or religious, is the mightiest. To the unregenerate heart there is nothing like it. Compared with it, the acquisition of gold and silver pales into insignificance. Only a few bold souls have ever dared even to conceive of this, the most entrancing of human ambitions. It is truly a game for kings and popes to play, and few even of these have had the nerve to play it. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Julius Cæsar, and Napoleon Bonaparte have each in turn aspired to the pinnacle of world dominion. And in a religious way, Gregory VII, the famous Hildebrand, was infected with the same germ. It is this insane lust for universal empire, in things religious and things civil, that dominates in the world to-day.

The Right of Universal Empire

BUT there is only One who holds inherent right to universal empire — the Maker of the universe. To Him, by virtue of His creative power, belongs the right to reign — to reign over earth and all mankind; for the Scripture says:

Such, then, was their scheme: one universal empire; one heathen monarch to reign over it; one capital city from which his decrees were to emanate to the entire globe; one tower, or idolatrous temple, from which his heathen religion was to be disseminated to all mankind.

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." Col. 1: 16, 17.

From this it is clear that all thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers are created by the Lord. His, therefore, is the right to prescribe the extent and limits of their authority.

But in the very dawn of time, an attempt was made to wrest this universal sovereignty from the Creator. The story is familiar to most of us, that Satan was once an angel of light, and that he fell from his high estate, and was cast out of heaven. But the cause of his degradation is little known or understood. Concerning this the Scripture states:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." Isa. 14: 12-15.

Lucifer was cast out of heaven because he had said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High." In other words, the thing for which Satan was cast out of heaven was his arbitrary attempt to usurp the throne of God. He had attempted to make himself ruler over the angels of heaven, and he had done this without ascertaining whether they wished to have him rule over them or no. He did not care anything for the doctrine of the consent of the governed. Here lay the origin of that wicked principle of arbitrary rule and authority which has been seen in so many kings and nations from that day down to this.

Satan's Ideal Government

MARK it, Satan did not say, "I will exalt myself," but, "I will exalt my throne." In the very nature of things, a throne signifies government — governmental power. Therefore Satan's proclamation was that he intended to set up a government of his own in place of the government of God. Moreover, his plan was, to set up his government arbitrarily. "I will exalt." He did not propose this prerogative for himself by the suffrage of his fellows. He had determined to make himself absolute sovereign of the universe by his own despotic power. Absolute, despotic monarchy was then Satan's model and ideal of government.

It was for this principle and purpose that he fought against God and against Christ and against the angels of Christ; and it is for this principle and this purpose that, directly and through instrumentalities, he has been contending against Christ and the church of Christ ever since. "He was cast out into the earth." Rev. 12: 9. And this is made clear from the words in the Scripture concerning Satan, "which didst weaken the nations." He is the one who has instigated rulers to acts of aggrandizement and arbitrary rule, and in the end these elements bring only weakness to a nation.

Thwarts the Babel Builders

DURING the days immediately after the Flood, it was divinely appointed that the descendants of Noah, although they all spoke the same language, should journey to different parts of the earth, and dwell there as separate and distinct nations. Thus it is written: "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the Flood." Gen. 10: 32. See also Gen. 10: 5, 18, 20.

As these people journeyed, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, "and they dwelt there." They had been told to go on and scatter abroad; but instead of doing this, they remained together in one company in the land of Shinar. There they built a city and a tower, and said, "Let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Gen. 11: 4. The Lord had told them to scatter abroad; but they determined, in spite of this, to remain together under one flag, as one nation. Then the Lord said: "Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." Verse 6.

Therefore the Lord confounded their language, and scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth; for the Almighty well knew that if there was only one nation on the earth, its power would be so great that its rulers would be restrained from nothing, and the situation of mankind in general would be intolerable.

Why was it, then, that God visited His displeasure in such a drastic manner upon the builders of the Tower of Babel? Why should He compel them to cease their building? God certainly knew that they never could construct a tower whose top would reach to heaven. But the visitation at Babel was a preventive measure, interposed by God to make it impossible for the human family to pursue a certain policy. It was done to restrain them from embarking upon certain projects which they had conceived.

Devil's Counterfeit of Gate to Heaven

THE leader in this rebellion was Nimrod, which name signifies "an extremely impious rebel." Nimrod and his followers had determined to disobey the commandment that man should scatter abroad throughout the earth and found many nations. They had determined to "make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad." The city which they designed to build was to be the capital of this world-wide empire; and the tower, or temple, was to be the place from which the tenets and doctrines of this one state-controlled, heathen religion was to be promulgated and enforced upon all the sons of men. Such, then, was their scheme: one universal empire; one heathen monarch to reign over it; one capital city from which his decrees were to emanate to the entire globe; one tower, or idolatrous temple, from which his heathen religion was to be disseminated to the inhabitants of all the earth.

The genius of the thought in the whole scheme is found in the name of the kingdom. At the present time, the word "babel" signifies "confusion," because of what occurred at that place; but originally it meant "gate of God." It was the devil's counterfeit of the gate and road to heaven. It was his endeavor to accomplish on earth what he had failed to accomplish in heaven. But God foresaw that it could only result in the very opposite of all this, and knew that instead of peace and liberty, it meant bloodshed and despotism. Satan originated the vast scheme so that whenever and wherever some soul should arise to teach the true religion of God, he could be crushed to the dust.

The introduction of different tongues was God's method of forever checking a world empire — a world-religion plan. Forever the different languages were to prove a barrier to world empire in either church or state. In God's goodness, He did it so that in the ages to come, when His worshippers were persecuted in one land, they could flee for safety to another. God did it so that when laws restricted liberty of conscience in one country, another could extend to the oppressed an asylum and a sanctuary.

Foiled in his efforts, Satan has worked unceasingly, from that time to this, to do indirectly that which he has been prohibited from doing directly; and when the dire day shall arrive that he shall accomplish his desires, God will come down, and there shall be a confusion infinitely greater than that at Babel. And in that day, the different languages will come to an end forever, and again there will be one tongue for all the righteous.