The Bear

(The Roman Empire)

1.

The Second Beast

And indeed, look, after it another wild beast having the likeness of a bear, and upon one side it was made to stand, and three ribs were in its mouth in the middle of its teeth. And in this manner he said, ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ (Dan. 7:5 LXX)

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From its earliest beginnings to its end, the Roman Empire spanned more than two thousand years of human history.

Significantly, about halfway through this time, the Empire was deemed too big for one man to rule, and so it was split in two.

These two halves became known as the Western (Roman) and the Eastern (Byzantine) Empires.

This division, however, was to be short-lived.

In AD 476, the Western Empire collapsed, leaving the Eastern Empire to stand on its own for the next one thousand years.

I would like to take a moment to let that sink in.

An enormous empire—in both expanse and duration—that was made to stand on one side.

Let’s keep going.

Not only was the Roman Empire a bear of a kingdom in terms of its size, but its brutality.

In fact, no other kingdom in history has so drastically and permanently changed the landscape of Jewish life and worship than the Roman Empire.

…and three ribs were in its mouth in the middle of its teeth. And in this manner he said, ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ (Dan. 7:5 LXX)

Relevant to this point is the fact that history records three major Jewish-Roman wars:

1. The First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66 - 73)

2. The Kitos War (AD 115 - 117)

3. The Bar Kokhba Revolt (AD 132 - 136)

The result of these conflicts (which were fought by the Jews in an effort to gain their independence from Roman rule) was a catastrophic loss of Jewish life.

Words cannot express the devastation that ensued: Jerusalem was sacked, the Second Temple destroyed. The land of Judea itself was stripped of its name and purged of its inhabitants (it was then that it was given the name Syria-Palaestina).

Forbidden from entering Jerusalem, the remaining Jews had no choice but to flee.

And thus began the Jewish diaspora that would last for the next eighteen centuries.

2.

The Chest and the Arms of Silver

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Although I have already presented a brief overview of the Roman Empire, I would now like to turn our attention to its timeline.

Rome began in 753 BC and ended in AD 1453 (which is a total of 2,206 years).

It was first divided in AD 285 but struggled to find its footing until the final division in AD 395. This lasted until the fall of the Western Empire in AD 476.

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753 BC AD 285-476 AD 1453

[__________[__]__________]

As you can see, the Roman Empire existed for 1038 years before it was split into West/East.

When the Western Empire fell, the Eastern Empire lasted another 977 years.

What we have, then, are two sides of the same empire that are nearly identical in length.

Two arms of the same kingdom.

The Chest and the Arms of Silver.

*Note: This is an approximation due to limited space. Each underscore is equal to 100 years.

Also:

I have used “Roman Empire” here as a catch-all for ancient Rome, which was a kingdom and a republic before it became an empire.