The Four Kingdoms and Babylon

Ezekiel also speaks of him to the same effect: “This is what the Lord God says. Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am God, I sit in the seat of God, in the heart of the sea’ — yet you are a man and not God, though you have made your heart like the heart of God. Are you wiser than Daniel? Have the wise not taught you in their wisdom? Was it by your own wisdom, or by your own understanding, that you got yourself power, and gold and silver in your treasuries? Was it by your great wisdom and by your trading that you increased your power? Your heart is lifted up because of your power. Therefore this is what the Lord God says. Because you have made your heart like the heart of God, look, I am bringing strangers against you, plagues from the nations. They will draw their swords against you and against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will level your beauty to ruin. They will bring you down, and you will die the death of the wounded in the heart of the sea. Will you still say, in front of the men who kill you, ‘I am God’? You are a man and not God, in the hands of those who wound you. You will die the deaths of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers, for I have spoken it, says the Lord.” [a]

With these words before us, let us look in some detail at what Daniel says in his visions. For in marking off the kingdoms that were to rise after these, he showed the coming of Antichrist in the last days and the end of the whole world. Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, then, he says: “You were watching, O king, and there in front of you stood a great statue. Its head was of fine gold, its arms and shoulders of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet part iron and part clay. You watched until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and shattered them completely. Then the clay, the iron, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken, and became like chaff from a summer threshing floor; the force of the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” [c]

Now if we set Daniel’s own visions beside this one, we will have a single explanation to give for both together, and we will be able to show how well they agree and how true they are. For he says: “I, Daniel, was watching, and there were the four winds of heaven striking against the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, each one different from the others. The first was like a lioness, and it had wings like an eagle’s. I watched until its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And there was a second beast, like a bear. It was made to stand on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth. I looked, and there was a beast like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads. After this I saw, and there was a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong. It had iron teeth and bronze claws; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns. I studied its horns, and among them another little horn came up, and three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots before it; and in this horn were eyes like a man’s eyes, and a mouth speaking great things.” [d] “I watched until thrones were set in place and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire, its wheels a burning fire. A river of fire flowed out in front of him. Thousands upon thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood around him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. Then, because of the sound of the great words the horn was speaking, I watched until the beast was killed and destroyed and its body given over to the burning fire. And the rule of the other beasts was taken away.” [e] “I saw in the night vision, and there was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days and was brought near in front of him. And he was given rule and honor and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes and tongues will serve him. His rule is an everlasting rule that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.” [f]

Since these things are said with a hidden meaning, and may strike some people as hard to understand, we will hold nothing back that can give an intelligent grasp of them to anyone of sound mind. He said that “a lioness came up out of the sea,” and by that he meant the kingdom of the Babylonians in the world, which was also the head of gold on the statue. In saying that “it had wings like an eagle’s,” he meant that Nebuchadnezzar the king was lifted up and exalted himself against God. Then he says “its wings were plucked off” — that is, his glory was destroyed, for he was driven out of his kingdom. And the words “a man’s heart was given to it, and it was made to stand on its feet like a man” refer to his repenting, and recognizing that he was only a man, and giving the glory to God. Then, after the lioness, he sees “a second beast like a bear,” and that stood for the Persians; for after the Babylonians the Persians held the supreme power. And in saying that there were “three ribs in its mouth,” he pointed to three nations — the Persians, the Medes and the Babylonians — which were also represented on the statue by the silver after the gold. Then came “the third beast, a leopard,” which meant the Greeks; for after the Persians, Alexander of Macedon took the supreme power by overthrowing Darius, as the bronze on the statue also shows. And in saying that it had “four wings of a bird,” he taught us as clearly as possible how Alexander’s kingdom was divided up. For in speaking of “four heads” he was naming four kings, the ones who arose out of that kingdom. For Alexander, as he was dying, split his kingdom into four parts. [g]

Then he says, “A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible; it had iron teeth and bronze claws.” And who are these but the Romans? That is the kingdom meant by the iron — the kingdom now standing, for the legs of the statue were iron. And after this, dear friends, what is left but the toes of the statue’s feet, part iron and part clay, mixed together? By the toes of the feet he meant, in a hidden way, the kings who are to arise out of them, as Daniel also says: “I considered the beast, and there were ten horns behind it, and among them another horn will rise, an offshoot, and it will pull up by the roots the three that were before it.” And this means no one but the Antichrist, who is himself to raise up the kingdom of the Jews. He says that three horns are pulled up by the roots by him — that is, the three kings of Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia, whom he cuts down in the line of battle. And after gaining terrible power over everyone, a tyrant all the same, he will stir up affliction and persecution against people, exalting himself over them. For Daniel says: “I considered the horn, and that horn made war on the holy ones and prevailed over them, until the beast was killed and destroyed and its body was given over to the burning fire.” [h] After a little while the stone will come from heaven, the stone that strikes the statue and breaks it in pieces and overturns all the kingdoms and gives the kingdom to the holy ones of the Most High. This is the stone that becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth, the one Daniel speaks of: “I saw in the night visions, and there was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days and was brought near in front of him. And he was given rule and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes and languages will serve him. His rule is an everlasting rule that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.” He showed that all power was given by the Father to the Son, who is appointed Lord of what is in heaven and what is on earth and what is under the earth, and Judge of all. Of what is in heaven, because he was born the Word of God before all ages. Of what is on earth, because he became man among men, to make our Adam over again through himself. And of what is under the earth, because he was counted among the dead as well, announcing the good news to the souls of the holy ones, and by his death overcoming death. [i]

Since all this is still in the future, and since the ten toes of the statue amount to ten self-governing states, and the ten horns of the fourth beast are spread over ten kingdoms, let us look at the matter a little more closely and examine it as though we had it plainly in front of our eyes. [j] The golden head of the statue and the lioness meant the Babylonians. The shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, stood for the Persians and the Medes. The belly and thighs of bronze, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander’s time. The legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, stood for the Romans, who hold the sovereignty now. The toes of the feet, part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were signs of the kingdoms that have yet to rise. The other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst. And the stone that strikes the earth and brings judgment on the world was Christ.

These things, dear friends, we pass on to you with fear, and yet gladly, because of the love of Christ, which surpasses everything. For if the blessed prophets before us knew these things and still chose not to announce them openly and boldly, in case they should unsettle people’s souls, but told them in a hidden way, in parables and riddles, saying, “Here is the mind that has wisdom” — how much greater is the risk we run in daring to state openly what they spoke of in obscure terms! So let us look at what is going to happen to this unclean prostitute in the last days, and at what kind of affliction is destined to visit her in the wrath of God before the judgment, as a first installment of her doom. [k]

Come then, blessed Isaiah; get up, and tell us plainly what you prophesied about the mighty Babylon. For you spoke about Jerusalem too, and your word has come true. You spoke boldly and openly: “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire. Your land — strangers devour it in front of you, and it is as desolate as if overthrown by many strangers. The daughter of Zion is left like a hut in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a city under siege.” Well then? Have these things not happened? Have the things you announced not been fulfilled? Is their country, Judea, not desolate? Is the holy place not burned with fire? Are their walls not thrown down? Are their cities not destroyed? Their land — do strangers not devour it? Do the Romans not rule the country? And indeed these godless people hated you, and sawed you in two, and they crucified Christ. You are dead in the world, but you live in Christ. [l]

Which of you, then, am I to esteem more than you, Isaiah? Yet Jeremiah too is stoned. But if I should esteem Jeremiah most, Daniel too has his testimony. Daniel, I commend you above them all — and yet John gives no false witness either. With how many mouths and tongues I would praise you, or rather the Word who spoke in you! You died with Christ, and you will live with Christ. Hear this and be glad: the things you announced have been fulfilled in their own time. You saw these things yourselves first, and then you proclaimed them to every generation. You handed on the oracles of God to every generation. You were called prophets so that you might be able to save everyone. For a man is truly a prophet when, having announced beforehand what was to come, he can afterwards show that it has actually happened. You were the disciples of a good Master. I address these words to you as though you were alive, and rightly so, for you already hold the crown of life and immortality that is stored up for you in heaven. [n]

Speak with me, blessed Daniel. Give me full assurance, I beg you. You prophesy about the lioness in Babylon, for you were a captive there. You unfolded what was to come about the bear, for you were still in the world and saw it happen. Then you speak to me of the leopard — and how could you know this, since you had already gone to your rest? Who taught you to announce these things, if not the one who formed you in your mother’s womb? “That is God,” you say. And you have spoken, and not falsely. The leopard has risen. The male goat has come; he has struck the ram; he has broken his horns in pieces; he has trampled him with his feet. He was exalted at that fall, and four horns have come up from under the one. Rejoice, blessed Daniel! You were not mistaken: all these things have happened. [o] After this you told me again of the beast dreadful and terrible. “It had iron teeth and bronze claws; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet.” Already the iron rules; already it subdues and breaks everything in pieces; already it brings all who are unwilling into subjection; already we see these things ourselves. Now we give glory to God, taught by you. [p]

But since the task before us was to speak about the prostitute, be with us, blessed Isaiah. Let us mark what you say about Babylon. “Come down, sit on the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground, daughter of the Chaldeans; you will no longer be called tender and delicate. Take the millstone, grind flour, pull off your veil, shave your grey hair, bare your legs, cross the rivers. Your shame will be uncovered, your disgrace will be seen. I will take justice from you, and I will no longer hand you over to men. As for your Redeemer — he is the Lord of hosts; the Holy One of Israel is his name. Sit in remorse, go into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; you will no longer be called the strength of the kingdom. [q] “I was angry with my people; I defiled my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. On the aged you laid your yoke very heavily. And you said, ‘I will be a princess forever.’ You did not take these things to heart, and you did not remember how it would end. So hear this now, you who are pampered, who sit secure, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else. I will not sit as a widow, and I will not know the loss of children.’ But now these two things will come on you in a single day: widowhood and the loss of children. They will come on you suddenly, in your sorcery, in the great strength of your spells, in the hope of your sexual immorality. For you said, ‘I am, and there is no one else.’ And your sexual immorality will be your shame, because you said in your heart, ‘I am.’ And ruin will come on you, and you will not know it. There will be a pit, and you will fall into it; and misery will fall on you, and you will not be able to be made clean; and ruin will come on you, and you will not know it. Stand now with your spells and with the crowd of sorceries you have learned from your youth, and see whether you can be helped. You are worn out with your own plans. Let the astrologers of the heavens stand up and save you; let the star-gazers announce to you what is coming on you. Look, they will all be like sticks for the fire; that is how they will be burned, and they will not save their own lives from the flame. Because you have coals of fire, sit on them; that is what your help will amount to. You are worn out with changing, from your youth. Each man has wandered off by himself, and there will be no rescue for you.” That is what Isaiah prophesies about you. Now let us see whether John has spoken to the same effect. [r]

For while he was on the island of Patmos he sees a revelation of awesome mysteries, which he recounts freely and makes known to others. Tell me, blessed John, apostle and disciple of the Lord: what did you see and hear about Babylon? Get up and speak, for it sent you into exile too. “And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me. He said to me, ‘Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters. The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the people who live on the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her immorality.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, with seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, and she held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filth of the earth’s immorality. On her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. [s]