The Fourth Kingdom

2 Esdras 11:1-46

THE EAGLE

2 Esdras 11:1: “Then saw I” [Esdras] “a dream, and, behold, there came up from the sea an eagle, which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads.” The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire, see 2 Esdras 12:11 and Daniel 7:7, 23.

2 Esdras 11:2: “And I saw, and, behold, she” [The Eagle/Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] “spread her wings over all the earth, and all the winds of the air blew on her, and were gathered together.” See verse 40.

2 Esdras 11:3: “And I beheld, and out of her” [The Eagle’s twelve] “feathers there grew other contrary feathers; and they became little feathers and small.”

2 Esdras 11:4: “But her heads” [The Eagle’s Three Heads] “were at rest: the head in the midst” [Middle] “was greater than the other,” [Two] “yet rested it” [The Three Heads] “with the residue.” The remaining Contrary Feathers.

2 Esdras 11:5: “Moreover I” [Esdras] “beheld, and, lo, the eagle" [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] "flew with her feathers, and reigned upon earth, and over them that dwelt therein.”

2 Esdras 11:6: “And I saw that all things under heaven were subject unto her,” [The Eagle/Fourth Kingdom] “and no man spake against her, no, not one creature upon earth.”

2 Esdras 11:7: “And I beheld, and, lo, the eagle rose upon her talons,” [Claws] “and spake to her feathers, saying,”

2 Esdras 11:8: “Watch” [Rule] “not all at once: sleep" [Rest] "every one” [Each feather] “in his own place and watch" [Rule] "by course:” At the appointed time to rule.

2 Esdras 11:9: “But let the heads” [The Three Heads] “be preserved for the last.” See 2 Esdras 12:22-25.

2 Esdras 11:10: “And I beheld, and, lo, the voice went not out of her heads, but from the midst” [Middle] “of her” [The Eagle’s] “body.”

2 Esdras 11:11: “And I numbered her contrary feathers, and, behold, there were eight of them.”

THE TWELVE FEATHERS

2 Esdras 11:12: “And I” [Esdras] “looked, and, behold, on the right side there arose one feather,” [Julius Caesar] “and reigned” [Ruled] “over all the earth;”

2 Esdras 11:13: “And so it was, that when it” [The First Feather/King, Julius Caesar] “reigned, the end of it” [The First Feather] “came, and the place thereof” [On The Eagle’s body where the first feather was] “appeared no more:” [Julius Caesar’s reign ended] “so the next” [The Second Feather/King, Augustus Caesar] “following stood up, and reigned, and had a great time;”

2 Esdras 11:14: “And it happened, that when it” [The Second Feather/King, Augustus Caesar] “reigned, the end of it” [The Second Feather] “came also, like as the first, so that it appeared no more.” 

2 Esdras 11:15: “Then came there a voice unto it, and said,”

2 Esdras 11:16: “Hear thou that hast borne rule over the earth so long: this I" [The voice in verse 15] "say unto thee, before thou beginnest to appear no more,” The Second Feather/Augustus Caesar.

2 Esdras 11:17: “There shall none” [The remaining kings] “after thee attain unto thy" [The Second Feather's] "time, neither unto the half thereof.” 

2 Esdras 11:18: “Then arose the third,” [Third Feather/King, Tiberius Caesar] “and reigned as the other before," [The Second Feather] "and appeared no more also.”

2 Esdras 11:19: “So went it with all the residue” [Remaining Feathers/Caesars] “one after another, as that every one reigned, and then appeared no more.” See 2 Esdras 12:10, 13-16.

THE EIGHT FEATHERS AND THREE HEADS

2 Esdras 11:20: “Then I” [Esdras] “beheld, and, lo, in process of time the feathers” [The Eight Contrary Feathers/Kings] “that followed” [The Twelve Feathers] “stood up upon the right side," [Of The Eagle] "that they” [The Eight Contrary Feathers] “might rule also;" [Like The Twelve Feathers] "and some of them ruled, but within a while they appeared no more:”

2 Esdras 11:21: “For some of them” [The Eight Contrary Feathers] “were set up, but ruled not.”

2 Esdras 11:22: “After this I looked, and, behold, the twelve feathers"  [The Caesars] "appeared no more, nor the two little feathers:”

2 Esdras 11:23: “And there was no more upon the eagle's body, but three heads that rested, and six little wings.” 

2 Esdras 11:24: “Then saw I also that two little feathers divided” [Or separated] “themselves from the six, and remained under the head that was upon the right side: for the four continued in their place.”

2 Esdras 11:25: “And I beheld, and, lo, the feathers” [The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Contrary Feathers/Kings] “that were under the wing thought to set up themselves and to have the rule."

THE RISE OF THE BEAST WITH SEVEN HEADS

2 Esdras 11:26: “And I” [Esdras] “beheld, and, lo, there was one” [The Third Contrary Feather (The FIRST head of the beast, see Revelation 13:1)] “set up, but shortly it appeared no more.”

2 Esdras 11:27: “And the second” [The Fourth Contrary Feather (The SECOND head of the beast)] “was sooner away than the first.”

2 Esdras 11:28: “And I beheld, and, lo, the two” [The Fifth and the Sixth Contrary Feathers (The THIRD and FOURTH heads of the beast)] “that remained thought also in themselves to reign:”

2 Esdras 11:29: “And when they” [The Fifth and the Sixth Contrary Feathers] “so thought, behold, there awaked one of the” [Three] “heads that were at rest, namely, it that was in the midst;” [Middle (The FIFTH head of the beast)] “for that was greater than the two other heads.”

2 Esdras 11:30: “And then I saw that the two other heads" [The Second and Third heads (The SIXTH and SEVENTH heads of the beast)] "were joined” [Awoken] “with it.” The head in the midst/middle (The Great Head).

2 Esdras 11:31: “And, behold, the head” [In the middle/FIFTH head of the beast] “was turned with them” [The two other heads/SIXTH and SEVENTH heads of the beast] “that were with it, and did eat up” [Kill] “the two feathers under the wing that would have reigned.”

2 Esdras 11:32: “But this” [Middle] “head put the whole earth in fear, and bare rule in it over all those that dwelt upon the earth with much oppression; and it had the governance: [Rule] "of the world more than all the wings" [The Twelve Feathers/Caesars and six, of the eight, Contrary Feathers] "that had been.”

2 Esdras 11:33: “And after this I beheld, and, lo, the head that was in the midst” [Middle/Great Head (The FIFTH head of the beast)] “suddenly appeared no more, like as the wings.” See 2 Esdras 12:26.

2 Esdras 11:34: “But there remained the two heads, which also in like sort" [With much oppression, see verse 32] "ruled upon the earth, and over those that dwelt therein.”

2 Esdras 11:35: “And I beheld, and, lo, the head upon the right side" [The SEVENTH head of the beast] "devoured” [Killed] “it that was upon the left side.” See 2 Esdras 12:27-28. 

THE LION REBUKES THE EAGLE

2 Esdras 11:36: “Then I” [Esdras] “heard a voice, which said unto me, Look before thee, and consider the thing that thou seest.”

2 Esdras 11:37: “And I beheld, and lo, as it were a roaring lion chased out of the wood: and I saw that he” [The Lion] “sent out a man's voice unto the eagle, and said,”

2 Esdras 11:38: “Hear thou, I will talk with thee, and the Highest shall say unto thee,”

2 Esdras 11:39: “Art not thou it” [The Head on the right with the seventh and eighth Contrary Feathers] “that remainest of the four beasts,” [See Daniel 7:3-7] “whom I” [The Most High] “made to reign in my world, that the end of their times might come through them?”

2 Esdras 11:40: “And the fourth” [Beast (The Eagle/Roman Empire)] “came, and overcame" [Conquered] "all the beasts that were past,” [Babylonians (The Lion), Persia / Media (The Bear) and the Greeks (The Leopard)] “and had power over the world with great fearfulness, and over the whole compass of the earth with much wicked oppression; and so long time dwelt he upon the earth with deceit.”

2 Esdras 11:41: “For the earth hast thou" [The Eagle] "not judged with truth.”

2 Esdras 11:42: “For thou hast afflicted the meek, thou hast hurt the peaceable, thou hast loved liars, and destroyed the dwellings of them that brought forth fruit, and hast cast down the walls of such as did thee no harm.”

2 Esdras 11:43: “Therefore is thy wrongful dealing come up unto the Highest, and thy pride unto the Mighty.”

2 Esdras 11:44: “The Highest also hath looked upon the proud times, and, behold, they are ended, and his abominations are fulfilled.”

2 Esdras 11:45: “And therefore appear no more, thou eagle, nor thy horrible wings, nor thy wicked feathers nor thy malicious heads, nor thy hurtful claws, nor all thy vain body:”

2 Esdras 11:46: “That all the earth may be refreshed, and may return, being delivered from thy violence, and that she may hope for the judgment and mercy of him” [The Most High] “that made her.” See Isaiah 14:5-8.

---

2 Esdras 12:1-38

THE TWO CONTRARY FEATHERS

2 Esdras 12:1: “And it came to pass, whiles the lion spake these words unto the eagle,” [The Fourth Beast/Roman Empire] “I” [Esdras] “saw,”

2 Esdras 12:2: “And, behold, the head” [On the right] “that remained and the four wings appeared no more, and the two” [The remaining Contrary Feathers/Kings (The BEAST whose deadly wound was healed and the False Prophet)] “went unto it” [The Eagle] “and set themselves up to reign,” [Rule, see 2 Esdras 12:30 and Revelation 13:3, 11-12] “and their kingdom” [Babylon] “was small, and full of uproar.” See 2 Esdras 12:19-20, Revelation 13:5 and Daniel 7:25.

2 Esdras 12:3: “And I” [Esdras] “saw, and, behold, they” [The Seventh and Eighth Contrary Feathers] “appeared no more, and the whole body of the eagle” [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] “was burnt so that the earth was in great fear:" [See 2 Esdras 12:32-33 and 2 Esdras 15:40, 44] "then awaked I out of the trouble and trance of my mind, and from great fear, and said unto my spirit,”

2 Esdras 12:4: “Lo, this hast thou" [My spirit] "done unto me, in that thou searchest out the ways of the Highest.”

2 Esdras 12:5: “Lo, yet am I weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was afflicted this night.”

2 Esdras 12:6: “Therefore will I now beseech the Highest, that he will comfort me unto the end.”

ESDRAS ASK FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

2 Esdras 12:7: “And I” [Esdras] “said, Lord that bearest rule, if I have found grace before thy sight, and if I am justified with thee before many others, and if my prayer indeed be come up before thy face;”

2 Esdras 12:8: “Comfort me then, and shew me thy servant the interpretation and plain difference of this fearful vision, that thou mayest perfectly comfort my soul.”

2 Esdras 12:9: “For thou hast judged me worthy to shew me the last times.”

2 Esdras 12:10: “And he” [The angel] “said unto me, This is the interpretation of the vision:”

2 Esdras 12:11: “The eagle, whom thou sawest come up from the sea, is the” [Fourth] “kingdom which was seen in the vision of thy brother Daniel.” See 2 Esdras 11:1 and Daniel 7:7.

2 Esdras 12:12: “But it" [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] "was not expounded unto him,” [Daniel] “therefore now I declare it unto thee.”

2 Esdras 12:13: “Behold, the days will come, that there shall rise up a kingdom upon earth, and it" [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] "shall be feared above all the kingdoms that were before it.” See Daniel 7:3-6.

2 Esdras 12:14: “In the same” [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] “shall twelve kings reign, one after another:”

2 Esdras 12:15: “Whereof the second” [King/Caesar] “shall begin to reign, and shall have more time” [To rule] “than any of the twelve.”

2 Esdras 12:16: “And this do the twelve wings signify, which thou” [Esdras] “sawest.” See 2 Esdras 11:1, 12-19.

2 Esdras 12:17: “As for the voice which thou heardest speak, and that thou sawest not to go out from the heads but from the midst” [Middle] “of the body thereof, this is the interpretation:” See 2 Esdras 11:7-10.

2 Esdras 12:18: “That after the time of that kingdom” [The Twelve Feathers/Caesars] “there shall arise great strivings,” [Wars] “and it shall stand in peril of failing: nevertheless it shall not then fall, but shall be restored again to his beginning.” See verses 23-24.

2 Esdras 12:19: “And whereas thou sawest the eight small under feathers sticking to her wings, this is the interpretation:”

2 Esdras 12:20: “That in him” [The Eagle] “there shall arise eight kings, whose times" [Ruler ships] "shall be but small," [Short/not long] "and their years" [To rule] "swift.”

2 Esdras 12:21: “And two of them" [The First and Second Contrary Feathers/Kings] "shall perish,” [Die] “the middle time approaching: four" [The Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Contrary Feathers (The first FOUR heads of the beast in Revelation 13:1)] "shall be kept until their" [The Eagle's] "end begin to approach: but two” [The Seventh and Eighth Contrary Feathers (The BEAST whose deadly wound was healed, and the False Prophet)] “shall be kept unto the end.”

2 Esdras 12:22: “And whereas thou sawest three heads resting," [The FIFTH, SIXTH and SEVENTH heads of the beast in Revelation 13:1] "this is the interpretation:”

2 Esdras 12:23: “In his” [The Eagle/Fourth Kingdom’s] “last days shall the most High raise up three kingdoms, and renew many things therein, and they” [The Three Heads] “shall have the dominion” [Ruler ship] “of the earth,”

2 Esdras 12:24: “And of those that dwell therein, with much oppression, above all those” [Feathers/Kings] “that were before them: therefore are they called the heads of the eagle.”

2 Esdras 12:25: “For these are they” [The Three Heads] “that shall accomplish his” [The Eagle’s] “wickedness, and that shall finish his last end.”

2 Esdras 12:26: “And whereas thou sawest that the great head” [See 2 Esdras 11:4 (The FIFTH head of the beast)] “appeared no more, it signifieth that one of them” [The Great Head] “shall die upon his bed, and yet with pain.”

2 Esdras 12:27: “For the two” [Heads (The SIXTH and SEVENTH heads of the beast)] “that remain shall be slain with the sword.”

2 Esdras 12:28: “For the sword of the one” [The head on the right (The SEVENTH head of the beast)] “shall devour” [Kill] “the other:” [The head on the left (The SIXTH head of the beast), see 2 Esdras 11:35] “but at the last shall he” [The head on the right] “fall through the sword himself.” Be killed, see Revelation 13:3 and Revelation 17:8, 11.

2 Esdras 12:29: “And whereas thou sawest two feathers” [The Seventh and Eighth Contrary Feathers (The BEAST whose deadly wound was healed and False Prophet)] “under the wings passing over the head that is on the right side;” See 2 Esdras 11:24.

2 Esdras 12:30: “It signifieth that these” [The Seventh and Eighth Contrary Feathers] “are they,” [The two kings (The BEAST whose deadly wound was healed and False Prophet)] “whom the Highest hath kept unto their” [The Eagle/Roman Empire's] “end: this is the small kingdom and full of trouble, as thou” [Esdras] “sawest.” See 2 Esdras 12:2 and 2 Esdras 12:20.

INTERPRETation of THE LION'S REBUKE OF THE EAGLE

2 Esdras 12:31: “And the lion, whom thou sawest rising up out of the wood, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her for her unrighteousness with all the words which thou hast heard;” See 2 Esdras 11:37-46.

2 Esdras 12:32: “This is the anointed,” [Christ] “which the Highest hath kept for them” [The Eagle/Roman Empire] “and for their wickedness unto the end: he shall reprove them, and shall upbraid them with their cruelty.”

2 Esdras 12:33: “For he shall set them before him alive in judgment, and shall rebuke them, and correct them.” See Revelation 19:11, 15, 17-18, 20-21.

2 Esdras 12:34: “For the rest of my people shall he” [Christ] “deliver with mercy," [See Matthew 24:31] "those that have been pressed upon my borders, and he shall make them joyful until the coming of the day of judgment," [See Revelation 20:11-15] "whereof I” [Uriel] “have spoken unto thee from the beginning.”

URIEL'S STATEMENT TO ESDRAS

2 Esdras 12:35: “This is the dream that thou sawest," [See 2 Esdras 11:1 through 2 Esdras 12:3] "and these are the interpretations.” See 2 Esdras 12:10-34.

2 Esdras 12:36: “Thou only hast been meet” [Worthy] “to know this secret of the Highest.”

2 Esdras 12:37: “Therefore write all these things that thou” [Esdras] “hast seen in a book, and hide them:”

2 Esdras 12:38: “And teach them to the wise of the people, whose hearts thou knowest may comprehend and keep these secrets.”