Prophecy 22

Interpretation

Come, weigh me the weight of fire
or measure me the measure of the wind
or recall me the day that is past

This is from the Apocrypha, the disputed books of the Old Testament. Catholics include them in their Canon of Scripture, but Protestants do not. The above paragraph is 2 Esdras 4:5, also known as 4 Ezra 4:5. The entire chapter from which this is taken has some interesting insights. It is a tale of Ezra seeking knowledge of God from an angel named Uriel. The interesting parts are as follows (2 Esdras/4 Ezra 4:1-26):

Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered and said to me, "Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?"

Then I said, "Yes, my lord."

And he replied to me, "I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. If you can solve one of them for me, I also will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil... Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a measure of wind, or call back for me the day that is past."

I answered and said, "Who of those that have been born can do this, that you ask me concerning these things?"

And he said to me, "If I had asked you, 'How many dwellings are in the heart of the sea, or how many streams are at the source of the deep, or how many streams are above the firmament, or which are the exits of hell, or which are the entrances of paradise?' Perhaps you would have said to me, 'I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever ascend into heaven.' But now I have asked you only about fire and wind and the day, things through which you have passed and without which you cannot exist, and you have given me no answer about them!... You cannot understand the things with which you have grown up; how then can your mind comprehend the way of the Most High? And how can one who is already worn out by the corrupt world understand incorruption?"

When I heard this, I fell on my face...

He answered me and said, "For as the land is assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who dwell upon earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens."

Then I answered and said, "I beseech you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding? For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but about those things which we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles as a reproach; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our fathers has been made of no effect and the written covenants no longer exist; and why we pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy. But what will He do for His name, by which we are called? It is about these things that I have asked."

He answered me and said, "If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long, you will often marvel, because the age is hastening swiftly to its end."

Sounds like Ezra's powers of perception might be too much for him to handle, and again, we have more talk of Armageddon.

When the House of Kanya exalts him
He will wake as from a profound sleep.
Nebo will protect our realm

In Hindu Astrology, Kanya is equivalent to Virgo, the August-September sign. According to AstrologyWeekly.com, Virgo is associated with virginity, and the virgin is the personification of justice and proper behavior. Virgos can judge another's character easily and is ruled by Mercury. Virgo is an earth sign as it falls during the time in which crops are harvested. Virgo is usually symbolized as a woman with a sheath, or ears of corn. The sign's favorite day is Wednesday, when the influence of Mercury can be felt most strongly. Nebo, also known as "The Proclaimer," is the Chaldean god who compares to Mercury. He was the god of wisdom and learning, and the priestly school of Nebo had acquired a commanding position and widespread fame as astrologers before Babylon rose to political importance. Most importantly, "Mercury" is the codename for Lex's project tracking the whereabouts of the elusive Dr. Milton Fine (see www.aol.com/Smallville for the official blog.

How else can all of this relate to "Smallville"? Well, my thoughts... When September (Kanya/Virgo, the time of corn and the season premiere!) approaches, Clark will awaken the Fortress of Solitude in the arctic. He will acquire all of the world's knowledge in that Fortress, and become Earth's real-life Nebo, god of wisdom and learning. The world's knowledge-- safely in the right hands-- will protect the earth.

Now, it's also important to consider Nebo is the root of Nebuchadnezzar (from the Babylonian Nabu-kudur-uzur, which translates to "Nebo, protect our crown." Thanks, Eh,Man?You-El?), the first Babylonian king featured in the Old Testament's Book of Daniel. This king was troubled by many disturbing dreams and needed the assistance of the Hebrew prophet Daniel to determine their meanings. Some selections from the first four chapters of Daniel regarding Nebuchadnezzar's dreams:

First vision: Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him... The king said, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream..." Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision... Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days... Your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

"You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth..."

Second vision: "I, Nebuchadnezzar... saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me... Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, 'O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.'

"Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great. The tree grew large and became strong. Its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it... An angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it In the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast's mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.'"

Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him... "The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged-- it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth... This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules."

Finally, the ship owned by Morpheus-- the ship in which Neo awakens to reality-- in The Matrix Trilogy is "The Nebuchadnezzar." And again, Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams and dreaming-- another reference to visions and dreams. The ESPs abound with references to The Matrix; see Part V and Part VI of the Hidden Prophecy. There is another reference to a "profound sleep" in Part VII of the Hidden Prophecy as well.

She who is above
Will bring the ways of eternity
To the twilight of the morning.

This passage refers to the Egyptian god Horus. Remember that the Fire Element was found inside a statue of Horus buried in the sands of Egypt. madCoder gives us the following information about this passage, which is from passage 148 of The Coffin Texts:

I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of my father Osiris. No other god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight. My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath my feet in my name of 'Red Cloak.'

Prophecy 4 says the cloaked one approaches. The villain in "Slumber" was shrouded in a red cloak, Lana's ancestor Isobel donned a red cloak in the flashback shown in "Spell," and our favorite superhero Superman saves the world while wrapped in a red cape.

Like immortal Enki,
He will rise from the depths
As foretold by the priests of Sais.

Enki is the Mesopotamian god of waters and the primeval establisher of law and order. He is their water god and god of wisdom. Reference to Aquaman, anyone? Plato, the ancient source of all our information about Atlantis, claims he received all of his knowledge about this lost continent from a young man named Critias. Critias learned of Atlantis from his grandfather, who had been given this information by his father, who was a friend of the famous Greek elder statesman Solon. Solon was taught of Atlantis by... the Egyptian priests of Sais (thanks, madCoder). Eh,Man?You-El? provides us with a quote from Plato's Timaeus, the text in which Plato discusses Atlantis, that concerns-- unsurprisingly-- natural calamities that strike Earth:

There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable other causes.

First among us
They shall be joined
By the last of his tribe.

My guess is that this refers to Nam-Ek, Aethyr, and Clark in Season 5's premiere ("Arrival"). Nam-Ek and Aethyr arrived in Smallville during the meteor shower while Clark was in the arctic at the newly-formed Fortress of Solitude. Clark raced back to Smallville to confront them, so in this sense, the last of the "tribe" of Krypton joined the two who had come with the meteors. Of course, Clark refused to join the two in conquering Earth. JP Miller suggests an alternate explanation-- that the Kawatche people were "first among us" and Clark, the last of the Kryptonian "tribe," was welcomed into their fold in "Skinwalker" and "Talisman."

For though thunder over the distant hills
Still gives but a murmuring sound,
The tempest is spreading. They will be ready.