Posted on 06/05/2021 9:02:31 AM PDT by JAG 5000
Who Was The Beast Of the Book Of Revelation?
Short answer: Nero Caesar.
Read on , , ,
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{The following was taken from He Shall Have Dominion. by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. It is not a word for word quote but the substance of this below is Dr. Gentry's. I typed it in. It is not on the web. Footnote at the bottom}
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Who Was The Beast Of Revelation? The Beast is a well known Christian Eschatological character. Premillennialists incorrectly believe that the Beast is to appear in the future. This is false. The Beast was a 1st Century character that appeared in the 1st Century and will never appear again in human history.
The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation.
The Time Of The Beast. John clearly expects his prophesied events to take place in his day, the 1st Century.
John writes: "The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place." Revelation 1:1
"Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near" Revelation 22:10
"must soon take place" "the time is near"
In light of Revelation's significance to its first-century audience, the Beast must be someone relevant to that first-century audience.
"The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." Revelation 1:1-4
“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Rev. 1:11 {these were churches of the 1st century that received this letter of Revelation}
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Revelation 13 presents the Beast as a horrible and powerful foe attempting to destroy God's people.
Sometimes Revelation presents the Beast as a kingdom and sometimes as an individua leader of that kingdom.
In some places the Beast has seven heads which are seven kings collectively considered.
In Revelation 13:1 John notes that he saw a Beast coming up out of the sea having 10 horns and seven heads. Revelation 17:10 specifically says that the seven heads represent seven kings.
Thus the Beast is presented as a kingdom. But kingdoms have representatives. This is why John also speaks of the Beast as an individual.
John urges his readers to calculate the number of the Beast which is the number of a man Revelation 13:18
The Beast's General Identity is the first-century Roman Empire and NOT a "revived Roman Empire" as imagined by Dispensationalism.
According to Revelation 17:9 the Beast's seven heads represent "seven mountains." The seven mountains symbolize Rome. Rome is the one city in history distinguished and recognized by its seven mountains.
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The Beast's Specific Identify. The Beast in his personal identity is Nero Caesar. He and he alone fits the bill as the personal and specific expression of the Beast. This vile character fulfills all the requirements of the text of Revelation.
First the number of the Beast. In Revelation 13:18 the number of the Beast is 666. The usefulness of this number lies in the fact that in the first-century alphabets serve as both phonetic symbols and as arithmetical values. Significantly a common spelling of Nero Caesar's name is Nrwn Qsr, which provides the numerical value of 666
Second the Textual Variant. See Dr. Gentry's book for this explanation. Page 381
Third the Beastly Image. Revelation 13 both calls and portrays the one behind the 666 riddle as a "beast.". The term "beast" can easily symbolize persons with a beastly nature. Almost all scholars agree that Nero Caesar possessed a beastly nature.. Nero Caesar is even hated and feared by his own countrymen, as ancient Roman historians agree. The pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, a contemporary of Nero Caesar, calls him a "beast."
Fourth, the war with the saints. John's Beast will make war with the saints and overcome them.{Rev. 13:7} In fact Nero Caesar conducts a blasphemous war with the saints for a specific period of 42 months {Rev. 13:5} Nero begins his persecution of Christians in A.D. 64. The persecution finally ends when Nero Caesar dies on June 8, A.D.68 forty-two months later, but for a few days. {Point of interest: Nero's own end comes by the sword.}
Conclusion: The Beast of Revelation was the beastly Nero Caesar of the 1st Century.
Source He Shall Have Dominion by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. pages 379 - 381
Best Regards,
JAG
+1
You’ve got the tense wrong.
I don’t remember which book it was, and in fact I think, now that I’ve thought about it, it was a book a friend of mine described to me back in the day.
That’s just looney. The book of Revelation was originally written in Greek, as was the rest of the New Testament. The original Greek text says “Asia” ( Ἀσία), not “Assiah”. Ἀσία is the same word used by St. Paul to describe Asia, which referred to the area now known as Turkey.
The rest of your theory is equally looney. Whoever taught you this ought to be laughed out of town
The Beast will make a 7 year peace treaty with many. Did Titus or Nero do that? Has a third of the earth been destroyed? Jesus said the "Abomination of Desolation" would be a sign. The only time that has happened was before Jesus was born with Antiochus Epiphanies. Why would Jesus warn of something that already happened?
I could write several paragraphs explaining why this is wrong, but you would never read it to learn about the wives tales you have been taught. To believe 70AD was the End of the World is stupid. I'm sorry but stupid is the appropriate word.
The "Whore of Babylon" is still here and not destroyed yet.
Read about the "church at Thyatira" to understand what is coming for you if you don't leave it. Your only hope is Revelation 18:4.
Pinocchio!
Hillary
What’s described in Revelation can’t be fully completed events, once and for all, since, as others have said, this world continues on and Christ has yet to return.
We are getting perspectives in Revelation that are from God’s perspective, and time doesn’t work the same way for Him, in the spiritual and the eternal of the Almighty, as it does for us.
Ever since the Lord gave the Book of Revelation to John, we Christians have had to consider it, and it gives us very much to consider and keep considering. We see it speaks to us very powerfully in truth, even when everything has yet to be entirely fulfilled in it.
As it is also written in 1 John 2:18:
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”
And haven’t we been in the last time since God brought His Son into the world, to be the propitiation for the sins of mankind — ever since His death at the hands of sinful man and His resurrection by the hand of God? Ever since, we have openly had the spiritual war between Christ and Antichrist.
We are in the Book of Revelation as long as this world still is, and its lessons and revelations and warnings and promises are for us to the extent decided by God. The faith in us diligently seeks to know what it means to us in the course of diligently seeking *Him*. Revelation witnesses to so much that we, by the Spirit, are witness to in our lives in this world, and so much so, that ever since its writing, Christians have easily been able to take from it that the return of Christ and the final judgment and the Kingdom of Heaven may be fully at hand. That must be how God meant it. Revelation works us into a state of looking ahead for Him and expecting Him, and gives us wonderful supernatural glimpses of truth and records of things that have happened and are happening and are to come.
So, for example, we should of course read and consider what Christ had to say to the Seven Churches. Even though He had a different message for each one of those ancient churches, all of the messages were recorded in Revelation for all Christians of all time to hear, so there must be a reason for that, and the reason must be for our instruction.
The Book of Revelation is revelatory instruction to further equip us in the spiritual battle between the Lord and His enemies, and to further prepare us for Christ’s return, to give us spiritual eyes and understanding so that we’re able to watch for Christ, and to stir up the faith within us so that we’re more able and motivated to watch for Him.
As many have said, to some extent, it doesn’t matter for individual Christians whether Christ returns while we’re living in this world or asleep in Him, because either way, we are always in the last time of this world for ourselves.
God has a different perspective from ours. As Jesus taught,
“Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” (Luke 20:37-38)
So in Revelation we get some of that eternal perspective. We get partial revelation and partial mystery. We get the eternal and spiritual, the Heavenly and earthly, and the past, present and future, but it isn’t quite clear which is which, and what we’re to make of some it, and that has to be God’s intent, for it’s to challenge us and keep challenging us in so many ways. We’re to accept it for ourselves on faith while also grappling with it, trusting that we’re not to know all yet, but just that we know and trust in the One who does.
Poor guy.
Guy has no idea how Satan deceives him.
Nero is correct for that time.
However The Word is not trapped in time.
For all time and the future, the Beast is the oppressive government.
Bkmk
The thing being unsublimated in this esoteric nonsense is an animosity toward the Lord Jesus Christ and principles of sound interpretation. And as for copycat assertions, including of Horus, see here.
Analysis of general principles used by the "borrowing" thesis.
Some notes on alleged parallels between Christianity and pagan religions -- an introductory commentary by a classical scholar writing for us as "Justin Martyr"
On Napoleon as Myth translated by "Justin Martyr"
Glenn Miller's general essay refuting the pagan-copycat thesis
Creation Ministries International on Indian creation myths
Figures claimed to be sources for the Old Testament. Named entities in alphabetical order.
Akhenaten -- Did the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten influence Jewish monotheism?
Sargon -- Did the story of this Assyrian king influence the story of Moses?
Sinuhe -- Did the story of this Egyptian hero influence the Exodus account?
Was the creation account "stolen" from the Babylonian creation account?
Is the Biblical Flood story borrowed from pagan accounts? -- from Glenn Miller's Christian Thinktank.
Did NT Biblical writers "rip off" stories from the Old Testament? -- from Glenn Miller's Christian Thinktank. Also see our article on Randel Helms (right column).
Is the Christian fish symbol derived from pagan symbols?
Abraham Lincoln was a copy of John F. Kennedy!
Figures claimed to be sources for the life of Jesus. Named entities in alphabetical order.
Adonis -- The Greek deity: A source for the life of Jesus?
Alcides (Or Hercules) --The Greek strongman/demigod.
Alexander of Abonuteichos -- A charismatic figure who started a quasi-religious movement; this is more of a claim of a social parallel.
Apollonius of Tyana -- Pagan performer of miracles and traveller.
Attis -- Phrygian and later Greco-Roman demigod. Also discusses the ritual of the "tauribolium".
Baal -- Ancient Near Eastern deity.
Balder -- Norse deity. Also discusses Frey.
Beddru of Japan -- As it happens -- a non-existent entity.
Buddha -- Two entries on this figure; one here and another here.
Chu Chulainn -- Celtic hero.
Crite -- As far as I can find, another non-existent figure.
Dazhdbog -- Russian heroic figure.
Deva Tat -- Heroic figure from Siam.
Dionysus -- Greek god of wine.
Hesus -- Deity associated with druids.
Horus -- Egyptian deity. Also covers Osiris.
Krishna -- Hindu deity. Two essays, one here on moral teachings and one here on life story.
Mithra -- Persian deity.
Osiris -- Egyptian deity.
Prometheus -- Greek demigod.
Quetzalcoatl -- Mesoamerican deity.
Salivahana -- Indian teacher.
Serapis -- Mediterranean deity.
Tammuz -- Sumerian shepherd-god.
Zamloxis -- Thracian hero.
Zoar -- Unknown figure.
Zoroaster -- Religious founder.
Essays and book reviews on persons who promote "copycat" theories.
Acharya S -- Preserves the work of 19th century freethinkers.
Atwill, Joseph -- author of Caesar's Messiah.
ben-Jochanon, Yosef -- from the school that says it was all borrowed from Africa.
Campbell, Joseph -- General proponent of copying of ideas via Jungian archaetypes.
Freke, Timothy and Peter Gandy -- review of The Jesus Mysteries
Graham, Lloyd M. -- author of Deceptions and Myths of the Bible
Greenberg, Gary -- author of 101 Myths of the Bible
Harpur, Tom -- author of The Pagan Christ
Helms, Randel --Author of Gospel Fictions, which proposes that the NT borrowed content from the OT.
Higgins, Godfrey -- early proponent of the copycat thesis.
Kalopoulus, Michael -- review of Biblical Religion: The Great Lie
Kuhn, Alvin Boyd -- a proponent early last century. Sample items commenting on his works Mary Magdalene and Her Seven Devils and Who Is This King of Glory?
MacDonald, Dennis -- Author of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark
Massey, Gerald -- another early proponent.
Price, Robert -- Review of Deconstructing Jesus.
Lord Raglan by "Justin Martyr" -- Raglan was an early proponent of the "copycat" thesis.
Thompson, Thomas -- review of The Messiah Myth
Shattering the Christ Myth -- my own book, with several chapters on the subject; hub page for the book here and see new website here featuring updated versions
Recommended Books -- a bibliography of books on the historical Jesus
Deeper Waters interview with Joe Mulvilhill
Such is merely the ravings of an ignorant lost soul who also had no heart for the miracles of Christ and even cut them out of a copy of the Bible.
Another lost anti-Christ soul, albeit with enough wisdom to be in the company of the Founders.
“unsublimated sex energy”.?? (snort)....
So, when did Nero force every living human being on the face of the planet to accept a biometric ID either on (in) their hand or their head (scalp), so that they could neither buy nor sell without it?
You and Cronos and Philsworld can gather up and tell the preterist lie in as many variations as you servants of the lie want, it will not change the prophecy or the basis fror the doctrine of imminency taught in the Scriptures.
Cronos is a preterist. I am a historicist. You, MHG, are a futurist (pre trib). Preterism and Futurism come from the Catholic church, via Satan (You either follow Satan or you have been duped by him....6 of one, half dozen of the other). They are both direct attempts to deflect and fool Christians into believing that the Catholic church wasn’t the Antichrist power, as EVERY SINGLE PROTESTANT REFORMER KNEW AND BELIEVED, as having read and studied it from the word of God. Many of them were tortured and murdered because of it. So, MHG, it is actually you that is telling the lie.
Here’s a nice little summation:
Between 1545 and 1563 the Council of Trent convened to develop plans to reassert the
Roman Catholic Church’s “spiritual authority.” The seeds of the Counter Reformation were
now ready to grow! Revising Biblical prophetic interpretation to take away all identity of the
papacy to the antichrist became a concerted passion.
CHANGING THE STRUCTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF PROPHECY:
The Roman Catholic Church did not like to be branded as the antichrist. Yet, what that
church did to counter that label, the Evangelical world has now adopted and has rejected
the intense work of the Protestant reformers.
• Jesuit Francisco Ribera was given an assignment to reinterpret the apocalyptic
prophecies. In 1590 he came out with a book on Revelation, placing all but the earliest chapters at the end of time.
• That meant that the beast, Babylon and the harlot, especially, were not “contemporary.”16
• II Thessalonians 2, which describes the “man of sin,” was placed outside God’s
church and explained as an infidel secular antichrist.17
• Finally, the last or 70th week of the Daniel 9 prophecy was assigned to the end,
where the antichrist would come in the middle of that week. Then the second coming
and an earthly millennial reign would begin.
• This took the papal label away from the little horn prophecies.
• Reassignment of time and meaning of prophetic events was done ingeniously.
For 300 years those views remained Roman Catholic. The Jesuits desperately wanted the
Protestants to accept their interpretations. Tragically, their wish finally came true.
Dr. Samuel R. Maitland (1792-1866 A.D.), lawyer, Bible scholar, became librarian to
the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• He discovered Ribera’s commentary, studied and accepted it.
• For ten years he promoted this view in pamphlets which were filled with anti Reformation rhetoric.
2. James H. Todd, professor of Hebrew, University of Dublin, accepted and promoted
Maitland’s ideas.
3. Then one of the world’s most articulate voices, Anglican John H. Newman (1801-
1890 A.D.), leader of England’s Oxford Movement, aimed at absorbing the many
churches of England back into Rome. He later became a Catholic, worked his way
up to a Cardinal and supported this prophetic revisionism of the papacy.
4. Edward Irving (1792-1834 A.D.) not only accepted the “futurist” concepts but successfully introduced the idea of two second comings – secret and open.
5. John Nelson Darby (1800-1882 A.D.), lawyer, pastor, theologian and prolific writer,
became leader of the Plymouth Brethren. He believed that the world was divided into “dispensations.”
• He became a major force in support of the 70th week of Daniel 9 being applied to
the end – after the secret rapture.
6. Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921 A.D.), Kansas lawyer, published the Scofield
Reference Bible with notes based mainly on Darby’s writings.
7. Finally, Hal Linsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and later Tim LaHaye and Jerry B.
Jenkins’ Left Behind Series spelled out in sensational prose what is now mainly
Protestant end-time thought, all in sympathy with Jesuit Francisco Ribera’s work of
1590!
It is all a stunning story of Satan’s success in skewing truth.
Graphic View of Evangelical End
The Protestant dogma of end-time is now an embellished Jesuit–Roman Catholic version
of Ribera’s original work.
• This unbiblical posturing is paving the way for Satan’s arrival!!
The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm
TWO COMINGS – ONE RAPTURE
https://www.endtimeissues.com/file/507/ETI-No+92-August+13%2C+2009-%5BTwo+Comings-One+Rapture%5D—wo+hdg.pdf
Early Church Fathers on the Timing of the Rise of Antichrist (restrainer of the antichrist.....and it’s not the Holy Spirit).
http://aloha.net/~mikesch/fathers-on-antichrist.htm
Reformers’ Interpretations of Anti-Christ
http://www.redeemerfw.org/resources/reformers_antichrist.pdf
Indeed, while Israel would be very surprised to know that
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. (Revelation 18:14)
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. (Revelation 18:14)
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; (Revelation 18:22)
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee... (Revelation 18:23)
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:2-3)
Meanwhile, as for "things which must shortly come to pass," (Revelation 1:1) and "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:10) https://www.preceptaustin.org/revelation-1-commentary offers this:
A tachometer is an instrument for measuring speed, revolutions per minute (RPM) displayed on a dial. Tachometer comes from Greek táchos for "speed") and métron for "measure". In short a tachometer measures velocity, how fast a car is going. When the motor is off the tachometer is not moving. But once the motor is turned on the tachometer moves. By the same token, when the events of Revelation begin to take place, they will move speedily. The divine tachometer will be spinning fast. When the first Seal on the scroll is broken by Jesus, the events in the Revelation of Jesus Christ begin to move quickly and irrevocably toward the consummation of this present age in which we now live. Soon (quickly)(5034)(tachos) with speed, haste, swiftness; adverbially as in Lk 18:8+ ("en tachei") means without delay, at once, speedily. Tachos is used in the first and last chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, here in the first verse of the first chapter (Rev 1:1+) and then in the last chapter John recording "And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place." (Rev 22:6+) The idea of tachos is better understood as meaning swiftly. In other words, when God acts it will be swift. So once God begins to act (in the presence context of 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls) He will move fast and accomplish His purposes in a relatively short time.
Lehman Strauss says "When the things in this book come to pass, they will "speedily happen." God has borne along with men patiently, and while some ridicule the prophecies of this book, they fail to see that God is longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9+). But the end will come, and when it does it will be marked by suddenness and swiftness. The events will come to pass speedily. Thus the purpose of the Revelation is to show beforehand those things that will speedily happen."
And as for Rev 22:10, "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand," this does indeed seem to speak of imminent fulfillment, yet if referring to all the prophecy then as shown, it has not been fulfilled. And as for "seal not" as meaning imminent fulfillment, Revelation 10:4 states, "And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not" indicating there are some things sealed until a future time.
However, the unsealing "of the sayings of the prophecy," was at hand, with its revelation with its message of ultimate victory was ready to be made known to the first century saints, which would see the beginning of its fulfillments, even by way of another precursor, as Antiochus Epiphanies was, which seemed like the fulfillment of what Daniel foretold.
That is about the best I can do now.
Indeed John did not pen he was at an Easter Sunday mass, which would be another example of Catholic abuse of Scripture, compelling it to service Rome, reading into it what it does not say, and contradicting what it does say.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (Revelation 1:10-11)
There is nothing here about John being at Easter Sunday mass - which is an unscriptural contrivance of the Lord's supper - and on the Lord's day that day he was told to write the prophecy, which he would be doing as it was given to him that day. Thanks be to God.
Try researching this stuff yourself instead of relying on people who told you that Jesus drank grape juice. Most of this stuff that you are quoting is wrtitten by theologians and theology just believes what theology wants to believe. It is nothing more than sophistry, rationalizationa and cleverness.
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