THE FOUR EXILES   Breishis 1:2. 2:10-14.   When Hashem created the world, He knew that the Jewish people would be in exile 4 times (not including Egypt). The first exile was that of Bavel (Babylon), the second, Modai (Medea), the third, Yavan (Greece), and the fourth, Edom.

It is this fourth exile that we have been suffering in for almost 2000 years.   Hashem hinted to these 4 exiles in the story of creation. At the beginning of creation it is written that, "The world was tohu and vohu, and darkness covering the deep."  The four phrases -- 1) "tohu", 2) "vohu", 3) "darkness", and 4) "covering the deep" -- hint to the 4 exiles.  

We find a similar hint in the description of the Garden of Eden, from which came out a river that split into 4 smaller rivers: Pishon, Gichon, Chidekel, and P'ros (Euphrates). These 4 rivers also correspond to the 4 exiles of Bavel, Modai, Yavan and Edom.   The final exile, Edom, corresponds to the phrase, covering the deep" because just as we cannot grasp the depth of the ocean, so too we cannot grasp how terrible this exile is.  

It also is hinted to in the river "P'ros," because this exile has "upset" (hefirah, similar to the Hebrew word, "P'ros") the entire world. But it is the final exile, because Hashem will soon take away (hefer) this exile forever with the revelation of Moshiach!