On the second night, Ezra saw something rise from the sea. An eagle. Vast. Monstrous. It had twelve feathered wings and three heads, and when it spread those wings, they covered the entire earth.

All the winds of heaven blew upon it. Clouds gathered around it. Every living thing was subjected to it. No creature dared speak against it. This was empire — raw, absolute, unchallenged.

The eagle cried out to its wings: "Do not all watch at the same time. Let each sleep in its own place and watch in its turn. But let the heads be reserved for the last." One by one the wings rose on the right side and reigned. Each held power for a time, then vanished — some quickly, some after long rule. A voice told the second wing: "After you, no one shall rule as long as you, or even half as long." Twelve wings rose and fell. Eight smaller opposing wings appeared — minor kings with brief, chaotic reigns.

Then the three heads awoke.

The middle head was the largest. It allied the other two heads with itself, devoured the remaining small wings, and gained control of the whole earth with terrible oppression. It had greater power than all the wings before it. Then the middle head disappeared. The head on the right devoured the one on the left.

But then — a lion. Roaring out of the forest. Speaking with a human voice. And it addressed the eagle with the words of the Most High:

"Are you not the one that remains of the four beasts I made to reign in my world? You, the fourth, have conquered all who came before. You have held sway over the world with terror, over all the earth with grievous oppression. You have judged the earth, but not with truth. You have afflicted the meek and injured the peaceable. You have hated those who tell the truth and loved liars. You have destroyed the dwellings of those who brought forth fruit and laid low the walls of those who did you no harm."

The verdict: "You will surely disappear, you eagle — your terrifying wings, your evil little wings, your malicious heads, your evil talons, your whole worthless body. So that the whole earth, freed from your violence, may be refreshed and relieved, and may hope for the judgment and mercy of Him who made it."

The remaining head disappeared. The last two wings attempted to reign, but their rule was brief and full of tumult. Then the whole body of the eagle was burned. The earth was terrified. And Ezra awoke in great fear.

The angel explained everything. The eagle was the fourth kingdom — the same one shown to the prophet Daniel (Daniel 7:7), but now revealed with greater detail. Twelve kings would reign in succession, the second holding power longer than any other. The three heads were three kings who would arise in the empire's last days, renewing many things but ruling more oppressively than all before them. The large middle head would die in his bed, but in agonies. The other two would fall by the sword — each devouring the other.

And the lion? "This is the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end of days, who will arise from the posterity of David." He would denounce the empires for their ungodliness, cast their contemptuous dealings before them, set them living before his judgment seat, reprove them — and then destroy them. But the remnant of God's people, those saved within His borders, he would deliver in mercy and make joyful until the day of judgment.

"You alone were worthy to learn this secret," the angel said. "Write all these things in a book and put it in a hidden place. Teach them to the wise among your people, whose hearts can comprehend and keep these secrets."

When the people came to find Ezra, distressed that he had abandoned them, he comforted them: "Take courage, O Israel. The Most High has you in remembrance, and the Mighty One has not forgotten you in your struggle. I have come to this place to pray on account of the desolation of Zion, and to seek mercy on account of the humiliation of our sanctuary."