John Hagee. Earth’s Last Empire. Worthy, 2018.

I have known of John Hagee for a long time, but I cannot say I was very familiar with him. I knew he had a public radio and television ministry of some kind, but that was about it. For me, this book was an introduction.

Since the late 1960s there have been multitudes of books published claiming to interpret Bible prophecy in the light of current events. Some have missed the mark greatly. I recall one predicting Anwar Sadat was the antichrist. A Muslim Brotherhood assassin took care of that one. Some continue to be influential, notably Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth, which is one of the better of the genre,

Every few years such outlooks are updated with the latest events happening around the world, particularly in the Middle East. For example, who could have imagined a few years ago that America would financially support Iran (however briefly) or that Saudi Arabia would be sending out diplomatic feelers to Israel?

For the most part what Earth’s Last Empire has done is to take the basic Hal Lindsey pre-millennial dispensational interpretation of end times and updated it for the current political situation. Hagee throws in a few of his own twists as well.

Perhaps most notably, Hagee tries to emphasize that God’s promise to Abraham about his physical descendants is eternal. In Genesis 17:6-8 God notes part of his covenant to Abraham. It is called an everlasting covenant concerning the land of Canaan.

When the Lord used the word everlasting to describe His covenant with Israel, He meant it—it stands forever! God’s land covenant with Abraham and his descendants is mentioned throughout the Bible. This foundational truth is very important for Christians to understand. The God we serve does not break covenant. (10)

He notes briefly that many of the other covenants God has made are conditional. The Mosaic covenant very clearly states “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you…” (Deuteronomy 28:1). In other words, that one is conditional. At various times in history, the nation of Israel was blessed, at other times it was conquered by hostile forces. The prophets would explain that it was based on how well the people kept God’s commandments.

Hagee emphasizes this in reaction to so-called supersessionism, the idea that all the Old Testament covenants have been superseded by the New Covenant of Jesus and that the Christians of whatever nationality have superseded any agreement God made with the Jews. Hagee notes that this became a common teaching in the church by the third century. Though not as strongly worded as Jill Shannon, he attributes this to anti-Semitism rather than a reading of certain New Testament scripture. Since I have already discussed this previously, I am not going to touch that again with this review.

Having said that, Hagee does make a strong case that throughout their history, from their slavery in Egypt to the present BDS movement we see even in America, that many people have hated the Jews. (The book was written before the recent BDS [boycott, divest, sanction] vote in the United States House of Representatives. While the measure did not pass, I think many of us were surprised at the vitriol of some of the sponsors of the bill.) Hagee does a nice job of presenting such an overview to the present.

He is an American, so he does touch on American politics quite a bit. Since part of the Abrahamic covenant says “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse…” (Genesis 12:3), Hagee is concerned that America support Israel as much as possible to avoid God’s curse. For example, he sees American recognition of Jerusalem as its capital as something positive. Indeed, he makes a detailed case from both the Bible and history why this is so.

Like many dispensationalists, Hagee takes Revelation 12, 13, and 17 to mean that in the last days there will come a political coalition or empire centered in Rome (see Revelation 17:9 which suggests the seven hills of Rome). Lindsey and others have speculated that the European Union will become this “revived Roman Empire.”

The focus and perhaps the new idea that Hagee contributes to the discussion of Bible prophecy is reflected in the book’s title. He notes that long after Rome fell, a new coalition or empire arose in the tenth century. This was known as the Holy Roman Empire and centered mostly on German-speaking states. This lasted until 1806 when Napoleon conquered it.

The second empire in the same area began in 1871 with the formation of the nation of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. This lasted until the end of World War I when it was defeated.

The third empire, of course, was declared by Hitler in the 1930s. It expanded. Hitler saw himself as a modern Roman emperor, but his empire or Reich did not survive 1945. Hagee, then, sees the Last Empire as once again taking on the mantle of Rome, uniting many countries, and opposing both Christians and Jews.

Much of the book is devoted to Bible prophecy. It spends more time on Abraham and Genesis than we often see in such works. Of course, Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation, and Jesus’ Olivet Discourse get a lot of treatment. Like most dispensationalists, Hagee believes in a pre-Tribulation rapture, but does not really provide much biblical support for that idea. He also believes the Temple will be rebuilt. That may be so, but you do not have to be a supersessionist to understand that the New Testament, especially Hebrews and Galatians, tells us that it is no longer necessary.

Primarily, The Last Empire emphasizes that the last empire will not even last as long as Hitler’s did, though, if anything, it will be more vicious. In other words, to paraphrase an expression used by both President Reagan and President Obama, those who oppose Christianity and the Jews are on the wrong side of history.