Yesterday I found myself forgetting why the New Testament was written in Greek during the Roman Empire, because they would have spoken Latin. So I rediscovered, oh yeah, Alexander the Great had conquered so many lands a few centuries earlier that Greek had become the popular language and the Romans just went with it.

Then I wondered what was driving Alexander. He said he was the son of the god Zeus Ammon, which sounds so weird today that we reclassify it as a legend. But was it strange back then?

Divine Kingship in the Nations

In the ancient world, kings weren’t just powerful, they were sacred. Pharaohs were gods. Babylonian kings were the image of Marduk. Roman emperors were called “Son of God.” In China, the emperor ruled by heaven’s mandate. In India, kings were avatars of deities. Seemingly every nation believed its ruler was divine, descended from the gods, or chosen to hold cosmic authority.

But today, that world is gone. There are no god-kings left. What changed?

Jesus became King

When Jesus rose from the dead, he declared that he had just been given all authority, and told his disciples to declare that news to all the nations.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” – Matthew 28:18–19

The Great Commission wasn’t just about about personal faith or inner change, it was a claim on every throne on earth.

Before Jesus it was nearly universal for kings to be worshiped as gods, sons of gods, or mediators of cosmic power. Within a few centuries of his ascension, almost every system of divine kingship had already collapsed. Today they’re all gone.

What Happened to the God-Kings?

• Egypt’s pharaohs, worshiped for 3,000 years, were replaced by Roman emperors—who were then replaced by Christian rulers. Pharaoh worship vanished by the 4th century AD.
• Rome’s emperors, declared gods and saviors, ruled temples built in their honor. But by the 4th century, they were kneeling before the risen Christ instead. Emperor worship ended as Christianity took root.
• Babylonian kings, once called the image of Marduk, fell to Persia. Then came Islam. No ruler in Iraq claims divine descent today.
• Assyria’s kings, exalted as agents of Ashur, disappeared when Nineveh fell. The region turned to Christianity—and later to Islamic governance.
• Canaanite kings, called sons of Baal, vanished under conquest. By the time Jesus walked near Tyre and Sidon, their temples were in ruins.
• China’s emperors, long seen as Sons of Heaven, held cosmic authority for thousands of years—until the monarchy fell in 1911. The Mandate of Heaven gave way to republics and revolutions.
• Japan’s emperor, believed to descend from the sun goddess Amaterasu, publicly renounced his divinity in 1946 after World War II. The last god-king stepped down.
• India’s kings, once revered as avatars of Vishnu or Rama, ruled for centuries under sacred cosmic authority. But their divine status unraveled under Islamic conquest, colonial rule, and finally independence. The last were abolished in 1947.
• Ethiopia’s kings, uniquely styled as “Sons of David,” (claiming descent from Solomon) were the last to use biblical royal language. That line ended in 1974.
• Tribal kings across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, once seen as divine or ancestral mediators, now hold symbolic roles or none at all. Even in traditional societies, no king claims to be a god.

Jesus is Reigning

Even in nations that never fully embraced Christianity, the idea of divine kingship has faded into symbolism. The reign of the Lord Jesus Christ steadily displaced every counterfeit throne.

What seemed unthinkable before Jesus has happened. The nations have no god-kings. They’ve all been dethroned. Now the best they can do is say that they are appointed by a god, or serve a god. But they are no longer calling themselves divine.

The Great Commission has come upon us. The kings of the earth no longer even claim divine authority. The nations are ready to become disciples of Jesus Christ the One True King.

Let’s go baptize them into his kingdom and teach them how to follow him.

Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20