Four Hundred Years of Anticipation

Four hundred years—that’s a long time in anyone’s book. But it is especially long when you are waiting for something or someone. Since the time of Nehemiah, the Jewish nation had been anticipating the Messiah of whom Ezekiel had spoken, who would end their oppression. They were waiting for God to appoint a king from David’s line to shepherd His people. But during these 400 years, the Lord God seemingly kept silent. It’s true, God did not communicate through prophets during this time, but He was working. Things were happening.

Back in 603 B.C., God enabled Daniel to interpret the dream God gave King Nebuchadnezzar and predict the rise and fall of nations and the transfer of global power. During these 400 years, God was making the dream vision come true.

Nebuchadnezzar’s glorious kingdom (represented by the gold head) was short-lived, just as Daniel predicted. Cyrus, king of Persia, was conquering kingdom after kingdom and amassing a huge army. The city of Babylon eluded capture because of its enormous walls built on either side of the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city. In 539 B.C. Cyrus diverted the flow of the river into irrigation channels and thus marched under the walls by means of a road created by the dried-up river, defeating Babylon’s last king, Belshazzar.

The Medo-Persian empire (represented by the silver chest and arms) then lasted much longer—over 200 years—but when 22-year-old Alexander of Greece met Darius of Persia on the battlefield of Gaugamela, that changed. Desiring to use his much feared scythe-wheeled chariots and his massive army of more than 200,000 to conquer Alexander, Darius chose this flat field, plowed, and leveled it to his advantage. But when Alexander arrived and assessed the situation, he turned to the right, luring foolish Darius into rough, rocky territory. Alexander’s victory marked the end of Persian rule.

Eleven years later, at only 33 years of age, while ruling the largest empire of the ancient world, Alexander died. Although his life was short, the Greek empire he founded (represented by the bronze belly and thighs) continued for over 250 years, divided into four independently ruled regions. Ptolemy’s dynasty (in Egypt) lasted the longest but finally came to an end when Cleopatra committed suicide under house arrest by Octavian of Rome.

When Octavian returned to Rome, he was declared “principal citizen,” becoming the first emperor of the Roman Empire (represented by the iron legs and feet of iron and clay). Octavian was not referred to as king or dictator, but rather Augustus (the revered one), a name passed to succeeding emperors. Over the years, several divisions of the empire took place, the final division being East and West in A.D. 395. The end of the Western Roman Empire is marked by Romulus Augustus’ abdicating the throne before a Germanic general in 476.

During all these events and while rule over the Jews was being passed from one kingdom to another, the anticipation was building. As kingdoms rose and fell, the Jews couldn’t help but wonder, “When would Messiah come to establish his kingdom (represented by the rock), which would last forever?”