The Bible as an Imperial Script

The first sentence of the argument is already a forecast. The next ten classes will show how the American Empire falls, and what replaces it is Israel, named here as Pax Judaica Source trail 0:00 So we have 10 more classes left in the lecture series. And in these 10 classes, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you how the American Empire will fall. And I will show you that what will replace the American Em... . Ancient history is therefore not background. It is the long route to a future claim.

The method is called predictive history. A historical event is tested against larger patterns; actors are read through strategy, interests, and worldview; sacred texts are read as eschatological programs. The Bible and the Quran are not only beliefs. Source trail 3:174:09 So there are three components to this new history model, which I call predictive history. Okay. The first is to understand historical patterns. And so when you try to look at history and the event there, you ask yoursel...can often find this worldview within their sacred texts, for example, the Bible or, um, the Koran. Okay. And these texts will give you insight as to how they perceive history. But also how they want history to eventuall... They show how a people imagines history should develop Source trail 4:09 can often find this worldview within their sacred texts, for example, the Bible or, um, the Koran. Okay. And these texts will give you insight as to how they perceive history. But also how they want history to eventuall... , and that makes them strategic documents.

The central thesis then arrives cleanly: Israel and Jewish identity are constructs of imperial imagination Source trail 6:19 Okay. All right. So please keep that in mind. But, um, we're going to. We're going to look more closely at this question today. Okay. Why is it that Jews are so dominant? Um, so we will look at the beginning of the Jewi... . The location matters because Jerusalem and the Levant are useful to empires Source trail 16:59 Why? Because it gives you access to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. Historically the three wealthiest parts of the world. So whoever controls the Levant is able to always threaten Egypt. Okay? And for most of history,... . The identity matters because an empire can use a people's memory, law, temple, and desire to make the region serve imperial policy.

Conflict begins inside states. Too many elites chase too few positions Source trail 7:208:24 Okay. So let's talk about history. Okay. So what we did. last week is look at the cultures that have emerged after the Bronze Age Collapse, which are now going to dominate history. They are the Greeks, the Persians, and...Too many elites. Too few status positions, and so they're competing against each other, and this drives a lot of conflict. So that's the first idea. The second idea is that the elite have shifting loyalties. Think of Ga... , loyalties shift, and war can become a way to preserve equilibrium Source trail 8:2410:14 Too many elites. Too few status positions, and so they're competing against each other, and this drives a lot of conflict. So that's the first idea. The second idea is that the elite have shifting loyalties. Think of Ga...These three states, these different states are not competing against each other. It's the elites within these states that are competing against each other. Okay? Lead over production. So the way they manage this is for... rather than destroy an enemy. In that world, elite violence is regulated. The point is not victory; the point is keeping the game alive.

That is why Jiang attacks The Art of War as advice for a controlled game. Real conquest begins when someone stops respecting the rules. Total warfare means promoting talent, feeding soldiers, destroying supply lines, attacking civilian capacity, and even killing the enemy's gods. The sacred rule of Mesopotamian city-states was that temples were off limits. The empire-maker sees that all the gold is in the temple. Source trail 13:5514:59 And they're all friends with each other, they're all intermarried, and the elite create these highly ritualized warfare. Okay? And one really important rule is that you don't kill each other's god. Okay? Because in thei...This will happen in Rome, where Julius Caesar is of the lower nobility, and he will steal the power from the upper nobility. Okay? The people call the Ottomans. And so Luka Zagazi is from Uma, and he's like, you know wh...

The repeated pattern is the outsider who does not respect the old game Source trail 15:56 He's probably a mercenary, like David, who stole the throne. Okay? He saw an opportunity, and he stole the throne. But this is a pattern in history where if there's competition among different city -states, the competit... : Sargon, Qin, the lower noble, the mercenary. This is the bridge to Persia. Cyrus is not just another conqueror. He adds a different imperial technology: Zoroastrian trust, moral administration, mercy, co-optation of local elites, communication networks, and divide-and-rule Source trail 23:27 Okay? Elite computation, meritocracy. And the idea here is that if you have a very effective administration, that allows for local elites to focus their energies on trying to join this administration as opposed to rebel... .

The Levant matters because it touches the three great wealth zones: Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. Whoever controls it can threaten Egypt. Whoever controls Egypt, in Jiang's compressed formula, controls the world. Jerusalem becomes center of the world not only because of religion Source trail 16:59 Why? Because it gives you access to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. Historically the three wealthiest parts of the world. So whoever controls the Levant is able to always threaten Egypt. Okay? And for most of history,... , but because of trade and geopolitical leverage.

After Solomon, the old Israelite world fractures. The northern kingdom falls, Judah is pulled by empires, Babylon takes hostages, and eventually the temple burns. The people are still around, but the identity of the Israelites is gone. Source trail 27:37 you know what screw this we'll just destroy the city okay so when this happens because we don't want to understand the israelites are gone okay the people are still around the identity of the israelites are now gone 539... That distinction is crucial: continuity of bodies is not continuity of identity.

The Bible says Cyrus returns the exiles because God commands him. Jiang does not accept that as a historical explanation. Mercy, righteousness, or grateful supporters may explain part of it, but the best explanation is divide-and-rule Source trail 30:26 intellectuals and they rise up very high in the babylon administration but this is true history where where jewish people will rise very high in all empires including including the islamic empire including um the americ... . Persia needs the Levant controlled, so it returns a small exile community whose loyalty, law, and conflict with locals make the region governable Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 31:27 why we have the jews so the jews were invented by the persians to control the levant the jews is actually a persian term okay so before the jews were of course the israelites now we have the jews all right so um this is... .

The returning exiles do not simply come home. They come back and say: we are the true Israelites, you are the false Israelites Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 32:33 they practice different religions that also means that they married foreign women as well but they still get some because consumers as israelites okay right does that make sense guys so what but what happens is that the... . The people who stayed may have remained in the land, but they married, worshiped, and remembered differently. That difference becomes the border of a new people. Source trail 38:51 This is really weird, right? You're all Israelites. Why? Why is it that? No, we are the true Israelites you guys are the false Israelites and so you can't help us, okay? Why is there this conflict going on, right? That'...

The temple scene carries the double meaning. Rebuilding the Second Temple is the happiest moment in Jewish history Source trail 37:17 This is the happiest moment in Jewish history, when they rebuild the temple, okay? What they call......the second temple. And this is important because the second temple was destroyed. And what they want to do now in Is... , but it also creates conflict with locals who say they worship the same God and should build too. For Jiang, that conflict is not a problem for Persia. It is the point. Source trail 35:2938:51 Okay, so Cyrus the Great is considered the Messiah by the Jews. The Jews are extremely thankful for Cyrus because not only does he allow them to go back to Jerusalem, but he also finances the rebuilding of the temple, o...This is really weird, right? You're all Israelites. Why? Why is it that? No, we are the true Israelites you guys are the false Israelites and so you can't help us, okay? Why is there this conflict going on, right? That'...

Ezra then becomes the priest-intellectual of the new identity. He is treated as the creator of the Bible we have today Source trail 40:31 Okay, so Ezra is one of these Israelites who comes from a family that was exiled to Babylon. But he's a priest, and he's an intellectual. So he is considered actually the creator of the Bible that we have today. Okay, k... , and Artaxerxes' authorization becomes the ancient template for later imperial letters. When Jiang compares it to the Balfour Declaration, the claim is not only analogy. The Bible becomes a script that later empires know how to reuse. Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 43:09 This is almost like the Artaxerxes Declaration, right? You see how in the Bible, Artaxerxes writes a letter to Ezra and says, hey, I authorize you to go back to Jerusalem and build the second temple, right? So, what's h...

Ezra explains exile as punishment: the Israelites worshiped false gods, Yahweh sent prophets, and Babylon became the lesson Source trail 45:03 So, why did the Israelites get exiled to Babylon? Because they refused to obey and worship Yahweh. Yahweh sent prophets. Yahweh warned them, but they kept on worshiping false gods. They kept on sinning. And so, Yahweh's... . Return is therefore not restoration to the old religion Source trail 46:10 So, Ezra's saying, okay, yeah, we screwed up, but God is forgiving, and now we have a second chance to prove ourselves to God. How do we prove ourselves to God? By making sure that we only worship Him, okay? So, this be... . It is a second chance to prove loyalty through exclusive worship. Jiang names this the beginning of Jewish monotheism, influenced by Zoroastrianism, and distinct from the older Israelite polytheistic world.

Purity then hardens into social law. The remaining Israelites become unclean because they worship foreign gods. Marriage becomes the border Lens point atlas-relation A purity minority preserves tradition when assimilation is easier than continuity, so a committed subgroup treats compromise as dissolution and hardens law, marriage, ritual, text, separation, or sacrificial willingness to keep the people, religion, or form alive. Source trail 47:3748:321:03:18 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters from your sons, and never seek their peace or propriety, so that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inher...Okay, so now God's forgiven us. We've returned to Judaism. We can't screw this up again, okay? And how do we prove our loyalty to God? By making sure that we are peer, okay? We're not going to marry other religions. We'... : do not give daughters to their sons, do not take their daughters, divorce foreign wives. Ezra rejects the Israelite heritage and accepts a new heritage based on blood purity and monotheistic devotion to Yahweh Lens point atlas-relation A purity minority preserves tradition when assimilation is easier than continuity, so a committed subgroup treats compromise as dissolution and hardens law, marriage, ritual, text, separation, or sacrificial willingness to keep the people, religion, or form alive. Source trail 49:24 In fact, what Ezra is doing is rejecting the Israelite heritage and accepting a new heritage based on blood purity and a monophistic devotion to Yahweh. And this is new, okay? That's why I keep on saying this. The Jews... .

Nehemiah adds administration. The governor knows how empire works: the king does not tell you what he wants; you guess his intention Source trail 52:57 Okay. So the Bible says that Nehemiah one day feels tremendous regret that the city of his ancestors has not been rebuilt. He begs the king for permission to go back. Guys, this is not how empires work. This is not how... and perform it as your own desire. He builds walls that provoke locals, repairs internal inequality, prohibits interest among Jews, and helps produce a community unified enough to lend internally without interest Source trail 58:34 Okay, so this is a really important aspect of the Jews that people don't really understand how unified they are, okay? An example is that if you are a Jewish person, you can always get an interest -free loan if you want... .

The last step is memory. The people gather and hear the law. Who are we? What do we remember? The answer is whatever is written in the Bible. Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 1:00:22 Okay, so this is the last step of creating the Jewish identity, okay? So the idea of the Jewish identity is that they follow the laws of God. They do not marry outside their religion. They don't charge each other intere... Ezra combines documents into the book, and that book makes the identity resilient because memory can travel even when political life collapses Source trail 1:00:22 Okay, so this is the last step of creating the Jewish identity, okay? So the idea of the Jewish identity is that they follow the laws of God. They do not marry outside their religion. They don't charge each other intere... .

Once Bible and history are connected, Jiang says prediction becomes possible Source trail 1:04:26 understand how to connect the Bible to historical development, you can now figure out how Asia will develop over the next 10, 20 years, okay? And these are my... Sorry. See, these are my three predictions. First of all,... . The first prediction is the Third Temple: Israel will rebuild the Temple of Solomon by destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque Source trail 1:04:26 understand how to connect the Bible to historical development, you can now figure out how Asia will develop over the next 10, 20 years, okay? And these are my... Sorry. See, these are my three predictions. First of all,... , because the biblical memory of temple restoration is central to Israeli identity. The result, in his forecast, is conflict with the Islamic world.

The second prediction is theocracy. If the biblical lesson is that loss of Jerusalem came from offending God, then keeping Israel means obeying God's law. Tel Aviv may appear liberal, open, and cosmopolitan, but Jiang says that is temporary Source trail 1:05:25 Do they care? Not really. Okay, number two. You can see how when the Jews returned, they were convinced that they were forced out of Jerusalem because they offended God, okay? So in other words, if Jews want to maintain... : Israel becomes more and more a state where the Bible is the law Source trail 1:05:25 Do they care? Not really. Okay, number two. You can see how when the Jews returned, they were convinced that they were forced out of Jerusalem because they offended God, okay? So in other words, if Jews want to maintain... .

The third prediction is expansion. As Pax Judaica grows, more Jews return, and no regional power can stop Israel from expanding. The same identity remains fluid, flexible, and open because it was created by empire for empire Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 1:06:28 Look, the reality is this. If you look at the Middle East, Israel is the greatest power in the Middle East. There's no force in the Middle East that can prevent Israel from expanding and expanding, including the Pax Jud... ; the difference is that Israel now wants to stop being managed by another empire Lens point legitimacy-fiction Sacred text becomes imperial legitimacy fiction when authorization, return, temple, law, purity, and written memory edit identity into an inheritable form that can stabilize one empire and later give the authorized people a script for leaving another. Source trail 1:08:591:09:49 We're just one big family, okay? This is all intentional in order for America to maintain dominance over the Middle East. Who's very unhappy about this? Which nation is very unhappy about this? Israel, okay? Right? Isra...are a servant and slave to their god, but they don't become a servant and slave to the empire. So they need to get rid of the empire and establish a sovereignty, okay? And that's why there's so much conflict in the Midd... .

The student question at the end forces the modern transfer into view. Persia kept the Levant divided so everyone needed Persia to manage the conflict. America, in Jiang's answer, plays the same role today: Israel and surrounding states all require American mediation. But Israel resents that position. The coming break is described as a divorce between America and Israel Source trail 1:08:59 We're just one big family, okay? This is all intentional in order for America to maintain dominance over the Middle East. Who's very unhappy about this? Which nation is very unhappy about this? Israel, okay? Right? Isra... , and Jiang says Israel wins.

The last clarification matters for public reading. Jiang stops the room when a student says Jews are attacking Palestinians. Do not say the Jews, he says. Israelites, Jews, and Israelis are different categories. Source trail 1:10:25 Okay, guys, guys, okay. This is really important, okay? Don't say the Jews, okay? There are different groups. There's the Israelites. The Israelites are the time of King David. They're gone, okay? Let's forget about the... The state actors are Israelis. Only after that distinction does he give the stark closing forecast: Israel clears the West Bank and Gaza of Palestinians to establish a theocratic state Source trail 1:11:29 Okay, look, the reality is that if you read the Bible, it's clear what's happening. What's gonna happen? Israel is gonna clear the West Bank and Gaza of Palestinians to establish their theocratic state, okay? They can't... .