Ancient Echoes
Old Warnings for a New World
Some things never change.
I know that sounds provocative coming from a guy in the business of change, as both a pastor and coach, but hear me out.
I’m not saying they can’t change. I’m saying they don’t.
Not at the deepest level.
At the core of history, despite the shifts in culture and technology, the fundamental realities of human existence remain the same.
To quote the wise man, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
Think about it.
If you sat down with anyone from ancient history, what would they say about the world we live in now? Sure, they might not recognize our technology, but they’d recognize our struggles: the pursuit of power, the loss of moral clarity, and the longing for something transcendent.
This is why history repeats itself. Not because time is a loop but because humans remain stubbornly predictable. Look across history, and you’ll find three cycles that show up again and again:
1. Empire & Decay
2. Moral Drift
3. Technological Advancement & Amnesia
Let’s take a closer look.
1. Empire & Decay
History is full of empires that seemed invincible—until they weren’t.
Egypt ruled for centuries, only to be overtaken by the Assyrians.
Assyria fell to Babylon.
Babylon fell to Persia.
Persia fell to Greece.
Greece fell to Rome.
[insert Jesus’ lifetime]
The pattern is always the same. Civilizations expand, accumulate wealth, reach their golden age, and then collapse from the inside.
Rome is a classic example.
The most powerful empire the world had ever seen. At its peak, it controlled much of the known world. It had advanced infrastructure, a powerful military, and a legal system that shaped the West. But it reeked of political, economic, and moral corruption by the time it fell.
And the people didn’t see it coming.
The emperors lived in luxury while the people were pacified with panem et circenses—bread and circuses.
Keep them fed. Keep them distracted.
Sound familiar?
No, America isn’t Rome. But it’s naive to think we aren’t following a similar trajectory.
We are the most powerful nation in the world, yet deeply divided.
We have 24/7 entertainment, yet depression and loneliness are skyrocketing.
The great lie of every empire is that it will last forever.
The truth of history is that none of them do.
2. Moral Drift
In the Old Testament, a cycle that beautifully summarizes the human condition plays out repeatedly.
It goes like this:
Faithfulness—The people follow God.
Comfort—They get comfortable.
Drift—They start making compromises.
Disaster—Everything falls apart.
Repentance & Restoration—They cry out to God, and He restores them.
Repeat
This isn’t just an Israelite problem.
In the early days of Rome, it valued discipline, self-sacrifice, and civic virtue. But as they grew wealthy, they grew corrupt, causing them to abandon the things that once made them strong, and within a few centuries, the empire was gone.
Plato saw this pattern coming long before Rome fell. He warned:
"The excess of liberty, whether in states or individuals, seems to only pass into the excess of slavery.”
To quote the prophetic words of Christopher Wallace, “mo money, mo problems.”
Moral drift doesn’t happen overnight. It’s slow. Subtle.
America is teetering.
We live in a time when “everyone is doing as they see fit.”
Truth is no longer fixed. Morality is no longer shared.
We see it in racism that refuses to die, sexism that keeps reinventing itself, and injustice that hides behind progress.
We’ve seen empires collapse under the weight of their own contradictions.
Rome declared peace while crushing dissent.
America declares equality while injustice lingers in its systems.
When a society is in moral drift, it doesn’t just decline. It unravels.
Will we look up one day and find our empire gone?
3. Technological Advancement & Amnesia
One of the most overlooked dangers of progress is that the more advanced we become, the easier it is to forget what matters.
Take the Tower of Babel. Humanity came together to build something unprecedented—a tower to the heavens. It was technological progress—architectural genius.
But the deeper issue?
They weren’t building to glorify God.
They were building to glorify themselves.
And in their pursuit of greatness, they lost their way.
Take the Industrial Revolution, for example. It led to massive economic growth, life-saving medical advancements, and global connectivity. But it also dehumanized workers, disrupted family rhythms, and turned people into machines in the name of productivity.
Now, we’re in the Digital Revolution. We have:
More information than any generation before us—but less wisdom.
More access to Scripture than the early church could have dreamed of—but less time reading it.
More ways to connect than ever—but are less connected.
Aristotle warned about this centuries ago:
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
We have access to endless knowledge. But without formation as an anchor for our souls, we’re just building another Tower of Babel.
Don’t mishear me; technology isn’t evil.
But it’s dangerous when it becomes an end instead of a means.
Work These Words
If history teaches us anything, it’s that these cycles will continue.
Unless we choose another way.
That’s the invitation of Jesus—not to escape history but to learn from it. Not to follow the cycles but to break them.
To live as if the Kingdom of God is more real than any empire.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” -Jesus.
To anchor ourselves in truth when the world is drifting
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” -Jesus.
To build our lives on something stronger than technology, culture, or progress.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” -Jesus.
The question isn’t whether history will repeat itself.
The question is, will we wake up before it does?
Will we choose another way?