Hegemony in the Dominion Mandate

The word of the day is Hegemony, “predominance, especially that of one state over another.” It comes from the Greek word hegemonia, “authority, rule.”

This is a word which few people understand, but it is the modern political term used to describe “spheres of influence,” to put it nicely. The Western press used to speak of “the Soviet bloc,” but never the American bloc. Hegemony has a distinct anti-democratic ring to it, so the Western nations have hidden their hegemony as well as they can.

Yet hegemony is precisely why America fomented war against Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. There were countless excuses for going to war, of course, but in the end, as President Bush said honestly, it was “to preserve our way of life.” At their expense, of course. Yet they hypocritically attribute hegemony only to those they wish to malign.

In past centuries, European nations established colonies around the world. Even the USA did this to some extent in the mid-1800’s when they needed bat guano from various South Seas islands to fertilize the cotton fields back home. Early American hegemony stemmed from that one factor alone. But the Spanish-American War (1898) took a more aggressive turn, as the USA took Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain.

Also during the 1860’s Japan became a US colony, though most people do not know this. Back in the 1970’s, I talked to an ex-military army intelligence officer who said he had actually seen the paperwork proving Japan’s colonial status while stationed in Panama after WW2. I have since studied this and found it to be true, although Japan’s status today is more of an autonomous zone of American hegemony, much like the Philippines.

The British Commonwealth gave many nations their “independence” in the last seventy years, but these nations (by agreement in negotiations) remained under the hegemony of the UK. We can see this in the simple fact that with a British passport one does not need a visa to travel to those countries.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990’s, Ukraine negotiated its independence by remaining within Russian hegemony. This is now the key issue in their current civil war. The western Ukrainians want to switch sides and come under European hegemony. Russia objects, as this was not part of the original agreement by which they were granted “independence.”

Hegemony is a concept that gives the appearance of independence without really losing control. Such independence is better described as autonomy, which is self-rule in all decisions made on a lower level, while yet recognizing a higher power other than God.

Crimea was Krushchev’s gift to Ukraine in 1954 during the time of the Soviet Union. Today it is 60% Russian. It became the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 1991, when Ukraine became independent. Crimeans today object to Ukraine’s violation of its terms of independence, and so the Russian-speaking Crimeans now want to break away from Ukraine and revert back to Russia. If the Western Ukrainians can overthrow their government by the “right of democracy,” then so can the Crimeans.

As I said, the Afghan War attempted to bring that nation under the hegemony of the USA. However, this is not working out so well, as President Karzai has refused to sign the hegemony agreement. A Reuters report says:

(Reuters) - Expressing "extreme anger" toward the U.S. government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with the Washington Post that the war in Afghanistan was not fought with his country's interests in mind.

"Afghans died in a war that's not ours,' Karzai said in the interview published on Sunday, just a month before an election to pick his successor….

The Post said Karzai told his interviewers as he escorted them out of his office on Saturday night: "To the American people, give them my best wishes and my gratitude. To the U.S. government, give them my anger, my extreme anger."

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/03/03/karzai-says-afghan-war-not-fought-in-his-countrys-interest-re/20841520/?icid=maing-grid7|htmlws-sb-bb|dl11|sec1_lnk3&pLid=449770

Changes in 2001

Shortly after the demolition of the Twin Towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld told the Pentagon personnel that they had decided to destabilize the Middle East by overthrowing seven countries within five years. Retired General Wesley Clark happened to be there visiting old friends when this was announced, and so he has been on speaking tours to tell the story. Watch this two-minute video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXS7IsOdu-A

In other words, not only was the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq part of the covert US war plan for the Middle East, but also the so-called “Arab Spring.” The dictators of those Mideast nations, who had stabilized their countries under the sponsorship and support of the USA in the past, were suddenly betrayed and overthrown under the guise of a “democracy” movement. Rumsfeld knew full well that this would bring chaos and destabilize the whole region. That was the plan.

Russia got wind of this as well, and so it stopped the plan when Syria was threatened. Syria is under the hegemony of Russia, and so the US-sponsored civil war in Syria threatened Russia’s interests. The US government officials were indignant and angry that Russia would oppose the US plan to overthrow President Assad, but there was little they could do about it. America was already bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US citizens were too war weary and financially broke to get directly involved in yet another war. Russia, on the other hand, was flush with money from oil and gas exports and had a strong Black Sea fleet in Crimea. The base was close enough to support Syria effectively.

So the American government decided to try to dislodge Russia from the Ukraine and Crimea by bringing Ukraine into its sphere of influence. They devised a “Ukraine Spring” under the same cover of a democracy movement. Russia easily saw through the US plan and took steps to prevent it once again. The US-European plan for war was again frustrated. That is what is happening today.

The USA and Europe can do little except bluff and bluster. Both are too war-weary to risk a war with Russia. Europe needs Russian natural gas, especially during the winter. The most they can do is fight an economic war against the Ruble and threaten trade sanctions. But this is the very type of power politics that has been turning people away from America and into the arms of Russia and China for the past decade or more.

To make matters worse, President Obama went to Africa last year to push for “gay rights.” Not only did he fail utterly in his mission trip, but it provoked Uganda into passing a law that punishes homosexual behavior with life imprisonment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Anti-Homosexuality_Bill

Because of power politics, America is fast losing its respect and influence around the world, and whole nations are rejecting its export of immorality. America’s hegemony is falling apart. Meanwhile, China has been gaining influence, because it makes genuine trade deals that benefit other countries without the power politics (except in their own neighborhood). Their well-known policy of non-interference is greatly appreciated worldwide and provides a huge contrast to American policy.

So if the US government continues on its present course, not only will it fail, but it will soon lose the respect of all the nations of the world. Their hidden hegemony will inevitably come to the surface, and is then enforced by troops instead of by economic coercion.

With this in mind, let us look at biblical hegemony in prophecy.

Biblical Hegemony

The Bible speaks of the Dominion Mandate, beginning in Genesis 1:26-28. It is the divine right to rule that which God has created. The ultimate goal of any Kingdom-minded believer is not only to cultivate a relationship with the Creator, but to advocate God’s right to rule that which He owns by right of creation.

This is Kingdom hegemony.

Israel was called to re-establish God’s rights, led by the tribe of Judah, which had received the Dominion Mandate in Genesis 49:10. Under the Old Covenant, Kingdom hegemony was enforced through military might. Under the New Covenant, however, it is by demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit and showing the world the benefits of Kingdom law and culture when nations are ruled by Jesus Christ.

When the kings of Judah and Jerusalem failed to exercise their Dominion Mandate properly, God stripped them of this Mandate and gave it to Babylon for a period of “seven times,” or 2,520 years. Although Babylon was called to bring judgment upon Judah, its Mandate came under the same terms and conditions by which Judah had received it earlier. Like Judah, the Babylonian kings refused to abide by those terms, and so God gave the Mandate to the Persians. The Persians too refused to abide by the terms of the Dominion Mandate, so God gave it to the Grecians.

The Grecians were so bad that God gave Judah independence for a century before passing the Dominion Mandate to Rome in 63 B.C. Rome finally fell in 476 A.D., and then the “little horn” received the Mandate in phases from 526-536 A.D.

Each of these empires exercised hegemony over weaker nations. Hence, the Babylonian king was called “king of kings” (Daniel 2:37), as was also the Persian king Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:12). They were kings who were in authority over the kings of other autonomous nations. Hegemony is a long-established way of exercising dominion.

But in Daniel 7 we are told that when the final beast empire has run its course, and when the “seven times” allotted in the law have been completed, the Dominion Mandate was to be given to “the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:27). That is where we stand at the present time, as I have written previously.

We have been preparing for this day since 1993, when the “Saul” church (i.e., the “little horn”) first began to lose its spiritual authority. Since then, the overcomers, or the “David” church has begun to prepare to take its rightful place in Kingdom history.

In Daniel 7:27 the word translated “dominion” is from the Aramaic word sholtan. The word is used many times in the book of Daniel, including Daniel 7:6, 12, 14, 26, 27. This Aramaic word is derived from shelet, which means “to rule over.” The word is related to the Hebrew, shalat, “dominion, to cause to rule, gain the mastery.”

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), sholtan is translated as exousia, “authority.” The noun form is exesti, “it is free; it is allowed.” Hence, exousia is “permission to rule as a right.” The right to rule is from the human perspective, but in relation to God who gave this right to certain men, it is a privilege that comes with conditions.

Notice how the NASB translates John 1:12,

¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right [exousia] to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

These are the “saints of the Most High” who are being trained in the ways of God to rule in the Kingdom and exercise biblical hegemony over the nations by the power (dunamis) of the Spirit. Exousia is the divine right to rule; dunamis is the divine might to rule.

These two elements of authority were given to the disciples when Jesus sent out the twelve on their mission trip in Luke 9:1,

¹ And He called the twelve together, and gave them power [dunamis] and authority [exousia] over all the demons, and to heal diseases.

This also establishes the pattern for our own time, when God commissions us with the right and the might to do good and to overcome all obstacles and opposition.