When Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he said, “Thou art this head [pg 187] of gold”! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the Babylonian kingdom—the first of these four great Gentile powers.
But Daniel spoke of what already existed, and was explaining the then condition of things. He said, “God hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” (Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already been in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed Jerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives, amongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book make this very clear.
The monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this it had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of, Assyria. In a.m. 3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to his palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty-two years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to Sumas-sum-ukin, a son of Assurbanipal.
In a.m. 3375 (i.e. b.c. 627),[82] another revolt broke out, and the Assyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was Nabu-pal-user (which means Nebo protects his son). He put down [pg 188] the rebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of Babylon. He shortly afterwards, in a.m. 3376, himself rebelled, and made himself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they commenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of Nineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon, thus commencing in b.c. 625,[83] became the first great Gentile kingdom as foretold in Daniel.
There is practically no question, now, as to this date.
The actual duration of the three kingdoms that followed—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, may not perhaps be so accurately determined. Their total duration is known, because it is fixed by a known date at the other end, but it might introduce controversial matter if we attempted to assign to them their exact relative duration. Probably they were, roughly:—Babylon about 90 years; Medo-Persia about 200 years; Greece about 304 years.
We believe these to be fairly proportionate,[84] but whether they are or not, their total amount must have been 594 years, because the undisputed date of the battle of Actium by which Augustus became the head of the Roman Empire, was September b.c. 31. [pg 189] From this date Jerusalem passed permanently under the power of Rome until the Mahommedan conquest in a.d. 636-7.
We have, therefore, three fixed dates, and these decide for us the duration of the intervening periods; dividing them into the two great Eclipse Cycles of 594 years and 666 years!
Jerusalem under the Gentiles.
Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commenced b.c. 625.