Revelation 13 Part 3 Bible Teaching

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So last week we were introduced to another beast (reading from verse 11)
Revelation 13.part III
December 24th 2017
Meat

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the next verse:

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Alright back to verse 12

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

So here we read (again) about the “mortal wound” of the first beast having been healed.

It’s good to remember that we have already seen that the first beast is manifested as both an individual (Nero) and the Empire of Rome.

Many Futurists think on the idea of “the Antichrist” dying from an assassination attempt, but returning to life all the more demon-possessed.

It’s often not considered that it could be the Roman Empire which survived, rather than the mortally wounded “head.”

Two popular Preterist views regarding this healing with the first possibility is that the wounded head did, in a sense, come back to life as Nero’s successors tried to keep his image, his policies, and his memory very much alive.

We talked last week how far Vitellius went in deifying Nero in the eyes of the Roman populace.

Vitellius, who reigned only eight months, was the third emperor to reign after Nero’s demise, before he was murdered.

The first, Galba, reigned only six months and then was murdered. After him, Otho reigned four months before he committed suicide like Nero. It is said of Otho that he paid Nero “all public honors.”

The historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Zonaras all affirm that after Nero’s death proclamations continued to be published in his name as if he was still alive, and that his image was frequently placed upon the rostra (large speaker’s platforms in Rome) “dressed in robes of state.”

Even Jewish and Christian writers began to foretell that Nero was back from death as the dreaded Beliar demon.

In 1999 adds the following details:

“Nero committed suicide in June of AD 68. However, a rumor arose and persisted that he had not died but had fled across the Euphrates river to Rome’s arch-enemy, Parthia.

It was said that one day Nero would return at the head of Parthian armies to destroy Rome.

This became the so-called “Nero redivivus” myth. In fact, during the decades following Nero’s death, according to Tacitus and Seutonius several pretenders did come forth claiming to be Nero.

By the turn of the first century a further twist was added to the Nero legend.

It was said he would actually rise from the dead, return to Rome and seize the empire…

This myth of Nero’s return was so powerful that it captured the popular fancy and found its way into Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings.

Here the triumphant Nero was sometimes even pictured as the antichrist (according to some writers way back in the day – Ascension of Isaiah 4:1-14; Sibylline Oracles 4:119-124; 5:137-154, 361-374)

Otho also allowed himself to be hailed as “Nero” or “Otho Nero,” and he used Nero’s name in official letters to provincial leaders as well as in official letters to Spain.

He reinstated the procurators and other government officials who had ruled during Nero’s reign, and in many ways took on the persona of Nero.

Gentry notes, “In the pagan literature, references to the expectation of Nero’s return after his fall from power can be found in the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio Cassius, Xiphilinus, Zonaras, and Dion Chrysostom.”

We also remember that a second possibility is that it was the beast in the form of the Roman empire which dramatically recovered from the mortal wound of one of its seven heads (which was Nero).

This is in fact what happened in first century Rome.

Upon Nero’s demise [in June 68 AD], the Roman Empire immediately fell into chaos and civil war… What followed was the “Year of the Four Emperors,” the reigns of Galba (six months), Otho (four months), Vitellius (eight months), and Vespasian (beginning in December 69 AD)…

Nero’s death by the sword is the type of mortal wound that John said the beast would receive (Revelation 13:12, 14).

Preterist Richard Anthony (2009) and Kenneth Gentry (1998) postulate that the healing of this wound can perhaps be seen in what took place in the Roman Empire immediately following Nero’s death.

Upon his death, the Roman Empire’s founding family suddenly had no representative.

Writes Gentry, “The blood line that had given birth to, extended, stabilized, brought prosperity to, and had received worship from the Roman Empire was cut off forever”

The “Julio-Claudian House” became extinct and the empire was plunged “into civil wars of horrible ferocity and dramatic proportions.” Rome appeared ready to topple.

The general Vespasian pulled back from the wars he was committed to, including the siege on Jerusalem, (which brought to them a period of prophesied peace) because of the turmoil on his own home front.

Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius all recorded that Rome at this time was brought near to utter ruin, with Josephus saying in his Wars that “every part of the habitable earth under them [the Romans] was in an unsettled and tottering condition.”

It wasn’t until Vespasian took the throne in December 69 AD, initiating the Flavian Dynasty, that stability was restored.

So lets read verses 13-15 now regarding this second beast:

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

We covered how this was fulfilled last week in the manner that Vitellius and others used statues that were thought to speak!

We also talked about how those (and we gave specific instances of such) who would not worship the beast (Either Nero himself OR statues of him) were put to death.

Last week someone asked where it speaks of the Gentile nations being the Sea and the earth being Israel and its original source is in Daniel 7 where the Sea is identified as The Gentiles and it is believed that the Land would naturally be called the Land. That it is beginning. As we study Revelation I find this interpretation to hold water.

Anyway, we covered the contents of verse 13-15 last week.

Alright, verse 16-17

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Selling and buying was limited only to those who bore the mark, i.e. “the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

Fulfillment scholar David Clark writes,

“This was to boycott or ostracize the Christians, and deprive them of the common rights of citizens, or the common rights of humanity. The pressure of economic distress was to be laid on them to compel them to conform.”

David Chilton, quoting Austin Farrer in a 1964 work adds, “Similarly [the Jewish leaders] organized economic boycotts against those who refused to submit to Caesar as Lord, the leaders of the synagogues ‘forbidding all dealings with the excommunicated,’ and going as far as to put them to death.”

Richard Anthony (2009) speaks further of the allegiance required by Nero during his lifetime:

“All those under the jurisdiction of Rome were required by law to publicly proclaim their allegiance to Caesar by burning a pinch of incense and declaring, “Caesar is Lord”. Upon compliance with this law, the people were given a papyrus document called a “libellus”, which they were required to present when either stopped by the Roman police or attempting to engage in commerce in the Roman marketplace, increasing the difficulty of “buying or selling” without this mark.”

Recall the following quote with I have appealed to a few times in the last few weeks. It’s from C. Marvin Pate and Calvin B. Haines Jr., in their 1995 book titled, “Doomsday Delusions,” and said,

“Megalomaniac that he was, Nero had coins minted in which he was called “almighty God” and “Savior.” Nero’s portrait also appears on coins as the god Apollo playing a lyre. While earlier emperors were proclaimed deities upon their deaths, Nero abandons all reserve and demanded divine honors while still alive (as did also Caligula before him, AD 37-41). Those who worshipped the emperor received a certificate or mark of approval – charagma, the same word used in Revelation 13:16 [which is the word for the famed mark of the beast].

In verse 16, were John’s original readers meant to understand that the followers of the beast would receive a literal and visible mark on their hands or forehead?

If so, then the two quotes above lend credence to the idea that such a thing occurred in Nero’s day.

Or perhaps the language John used primarily hearken back to classic Old Testament metaphors of the hand representing one’s deeds and the forehead representing one’s thoughts?

Perhaps this is a reference somehow to Moses’ instructions to the people of Israel that they were to bind the words of God “as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 6:8).

At verse 18, however John appeals to the wisdom and understanding of the reader
regarding what he calls the actual the “number of the beast.”

18 Here is wisdom. (John writes) Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

So while the beast has so far been portrayed as an empire, it’s clear that here in this instance that the beast is also an individual, indicated by the words “it is the number of a man.”

So let’s ask ourselves – “Did John expect his original audience to be able to calculate the beast’s number, and thus know his identity?”

I think we can say that he did. Clearly.
I think this is really important to remember because it shows in all probability that John was not referring here to a 21st century Antichrist.

After all, we don’t have in place a popular universal means of assigning numbers to letters and then configuring a name from the computation, do we.

John clearly is telling his readers of that day that through the application of wisdom and understanding ng to his readers they had the ability to discern the number of the Beast and the number of his name.

If, in fact, the Beast was not around at that time, John would have sent the readers of Revelation on an impossible mission – to calculate the identity of someone who did not exist.

Very unfair and a ruthless trick to pull on the poor people of that day and age.

But John obviously did not expect his readers who had understanding to have any difficulty in identifying the beast, since they could simply calculate the meaning of this cryptogram.

Using English characters, the Hebrew form of “Caesar Nero” is Nrwn Qsr (pronounced “Neron Kaiser”).

The value of the seven Hebrew letters is as follows

50, 200, 6, 50, 100, 60, and 200, respectively.

Their total is 666.

Why Hebrew? Most likely, the code used the Hebrew form rather than the Greek or Latin form of the name to avoid detection from Roman authorities, who would know both Latin and Greek, but not Hebrew.

The readers of the book, however, knew considerable Hebrew, judging from the many symbols taken from the Old Testament and also John’s use of Hebrew words like Armageddon, amen, hallelujah, Satan (a Hebrew name, used in addition to the Greek word for devil), and Abaddon (in addition to its Greek counterpart Apollyon).

The Hebrew language has exerted so great an influence over the writing of Revelation, in fact, that some scholars have even speculated that John originally wrote it in Aramaic (his native tongue and a cognate of Hebrew).

Don Walker concurs, saying, “Let us remember that John is writing from the isle of Patmos, where he has been imprisoned. This letter would have been, in all likelihood, carried off the island by Roman soldiers. John had to send his message in ‘code’ lest his captors understand his reference to the emperor.

Instead of openly stating who the ‘Beast’ was, he left them a clue that every Hebrew could easily discern.”

The code used is known as the system of Gematria which assigned numerical values to the alphabet – which I’ve put on the board:

Then there is another interesting factor to all of this.

It comes about through what is known as a textual variant.

In Revelation 13:18 you may find a note in your margins that say something to the effect that:

“Some manuscripts read 616.”

The fact is that the number 666 in some ancient manuscripts is actually changed to 61 and the difference not an accident of an early copyist as the numbers 666 and 616 are not even similar in appearance — whether spelled out in words or written in numerals.

Textual scholars agree, it must be intentional.

A strong case has been made for the following probability.

John, a Jew, used a Hebrew spelling of Nero’s name in order to arrive at the number 666.

But when Revelation began circulating among those less acquainted with Hebrew, a well-meaning copyist who knew the meaning of 666 might have intended to make its deciphering easier by altering it to read 616.

It is certainly no mere coincidence that 616 is the numerical value of “Nero Caesar,” too from its more widely familiar Latin spelling.

Such a conjecture would explain the rationale for the deviation: so that the non-Hebrew mind might more readily discern the identity of the Beast.

The manuscript bearing the number “616” is almost non-existent today, but it was already a factor before Irenaeus lived (130-200 AD). And in his work “Against Heresies” Irenaeus writes:

“I do not know how it is that some have erred following the ordinary mode of speech, and have vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount of fifty from it, so that instead of six decads they will have it that there is but one.

Others then received this reading without examination; some in their simplicity, and upon their own responsibility, making use of this number expressing one decad; while some, in their experience, have ventured to seek out a name which should contain the erroneous and spurious number.”

(NRWN QSR):

I am taking some research by brother Adam Maarschalk here which rounds out the descriptions of Nero which are so important to our studies of Revelation.

We’ve looked at the first 10 verses in this chapter, showing that Nero fit the description of the first beast in the specific sense and that first-century Rome fit the description of this same beast in the general sense.

Then we were introduced to the beasts main advocate, a second beast, and we considered four different views regarding the identity of this second beast.

Then we examined the healing of the first beast’s mortal wound, the mark of the beast, and the fact of its identification with the famous “666? symbol.

Even though we have discussed some of Nero’s beastly horrors we will look more closely into the character of Nero and the atrocities he committed, and in doing so we will see that the term “beast” fits him well.

When we started in Part one of chapter 13 we examined the details regarding Nero’s campaign of persecution from November 64 AD – June 68 AD (or 42 months).

Some of these details will be quickly summarized here, as this contributes to our understanding of his beastly character.

First, we are told by numerous early church writers (e.g. Eusebius, Lactantius, and Sulpicius Severus) that Nero was the first emperor to persecute the saints, with Clement of Rome (30-100 AD) saying that Nero targeted “a vast multitude of the elect…through many indignities and tortures.”

These tortures included (according to Tacitus Annuls) being “wrapped in the hides of wild beasts…torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night”

Some estimations suggest that Nero killed as many as a quarter million Christians which are probably greatly inflated, but a more reasonable estimate seems to be 100,000 Christians were put to death over the 3.5 years of his Reign of Terror.

That’s a large number in three and a half years – about 85 a day – but over the whole Roman Empire not so much.

If we take this number into our calculations for real Christians actually on earth when Jesus returned to take His Bride/Church we can see that the number of believers in the Bride at that time could have been relatively small.

Nero’s vast garden was lit at night so he could provide raunchy entertainment of all kinds. Some believers were beheaded (Paul), others were crucified (Peter), while others were “thrown to the lions, exposed to the cold, drowned in rivers, thrown into cauldrons of boiling oil, daubed with pitch and burned for torchlights.”

This persecution came about after Nero’s Jewish wife persuaded him to blame the Christians for the burning of 10 of Rome’s 14 city divisions. Legend has it that Nero “fiddled while Rome burned,” with some ancient historians affirming this account (Suetonius, Cassius Dio) and others (e.g. Tacitus) calling it into question.

Clement of Alexandria [150-215 AD], Tertullian [160-220 AD], Augustine [354-430 AD], and Jerome [347-420 AD] are among the early church writers who stated their belief that Nero was the beast foretold in the book of Revelation, and Jerome even stated that there were “many” in his time who shared this view because of Nero’s “outstanding savagery and depravity.”

In Richard Anthony’s book (The Mark of the Beast, 2009) we read more details about Nero’s life and character, all of which is substantiated by Suetonius (in his book Nero) and other historians who lived during the first two centuries AD:

According to Suetonius, he [Nero] murdered his parents, wife, brother, aunt, and many others close to him and of high station in Rome.

He was a torturer, a homosexual rapist, and a sodomite. He even married two young boys and paraded them around as his wives.

One of the boys, whose name was Sporus, was castrated by Nero. He devised a kind of game: covered with the skin of some wild animal, he was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound at stakes.

Then of course he also initiated the war against the Jews which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Kenneth Gentry (in his book, “Before Jerusalem Fell, 2002”) says “Nero divorced his first wife, Octavia, in order to marry Poppaea, his mistress. Poppaea then gave orders to have Octavia banished to an island, where in 62 AD she was beheaded. Three years later, when Poppaea was pregnant and ill, Nero kicked her to death.

For his own entertainment, according to the Roman historian Suetonius, Nero “compelled four hundred senators and six hundred Roman knights, some of whom were well to do and of unblemished reputation, to fight in the arena.”

The Roman historian Tacitus (55-117 AD) knew Nero as the one who “put to death so many innocent men,” and Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) called Nero “the destroyer of the human race” and “the poison of the world” (p. 52).

As stated, i Revelation 13:2 the beast is described as having a mouth “like a lion’s mouth.” It’s most revealing that the apostle Paul describes his deliverance from the emperor Nero as being “rescued from the lion’s mouth” (II Timothy 4:16-17).

Also fitting is this quote from Apollonius of Tyana (15-98 AD), a Greek philosopher, we read:

“In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs. …And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mothers, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet.”

Apollonius was not the only contemporary of Nero to refer to him as a “beast.”

Josephus and Suetonius also did.
He also “executed one of his two closest advisers and forced the other to commit suicide.”

Returning to his crimes against believers Nero had some “drawn and quartered”; others tied to the tusks of elephants which then were made to charge each other; others disemboweled while alive; and still others “sawn in two with palm branches – a very long lasting and brutally painful penalty.”

Lowman wrote the following concerning Nero’s “garden parties”:

The most horrific stories of Nero’s brutality involved the lighting of His garden parties. It was known that in order to light his three and four day garden parties he would have Christian impaled with large wooden posts, and while still alive, struggling for breath, would have them covered in flammable tar and oil and light them on fire. He would place the posts along the outskirts of the large palace garden and along the roads to light the way for his guests. Quite often the events listed above would be done in front of rather large audiences in the arena. He would end these events with tortuously long musical performances that attendees could not leave under the penalty of death, including the ruling Senators of Rome.

Under Nero, John was tarred and feathered, boiled in oil (yet he miraculously survived), and then exiled.

This is according to the testimony of early church writers such as Tertullian and Jerome.

And you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Questions /Attempted answers