And Jesus did not return in Nero's day to cast him into the lake of fire
Of course not. I agree. Nero was connected with the Rev. 13
SEA BEAST as the then-current leader of that 666-year old Sea Beast. Nero was NOT the Rev. 17
SCARLET BEAST with its Judean characteristics, which WAS thrown alive into the Lake of Fire in Jerusalem during those AD 66-70 tormenting conditions. Two different Beasts altogether with different biographies. Don't confuse the two.
Nero also did not convince the kings of the earth to gather their armies at Armageddon to make war on Jesus.
Of course not. I agree. That is speaking of someone else. Nero was already dead in AD 69 by the time the Sea Beast under the leadership of emperor Vespasian began to assemble the Roman troops together at the "Har Megiddo" (Armageddon) location, a few miles from the coast of Caesarea. This was the staging area from which the Romans began executing the war against the Jews. Vespasian's army had the collaborating help of various vassal kings from among some of the surrounding nations.
In addition to the Roman troops of the
Sea Beast landing at the base of operations in Caesarea near Megiddo in collaboration with the "kings of the whole habitable world", the
Scarlet Beast and the False Prophet
Land Beast were
also gathering the "kings of the earth" (the high priests) to make war against the Lamb. The Judean Scarlet Beast also had a staging area for their armed forces which came out of Galilee, the Zealot's home turf. This was also just a few miles away from the "Har Meggido" location. The main leader of the Zealot cause, Simon bar Gioras, used the city of Nain on the other side of Megiddo for stashing stolen supplies to outfit his army.
The Scarlet Beast and the Land Beast (both Judean in character) were together thrown alive into Jerusalem's Lake of Fire, where they preyed upon one another during those AD 66-70 years. This was the fulfillment of the "ten horns" on the Scarlet Beast who made war with the Lamb and who also "hated the harlot" that sat upon them. In the civil war that ensued during those years, those 10 horns (ten generals chosen to lead the war) ended up "making her desolate and naked", "eating her flesh" and "burning her with fire" in their "brother against brother" conflict.
The Roman Sea Beast was the agency by which God finally torched what remained of the city and tore its buildings down to the last stone, as predicted. In the parable, Jesus said the king would use "HIS army" to "burn up their city" of the murderers and rebels.
Everything from
Revelation 6 to
Revelation 13 is about is the 7 year 70thweek leading up to Jesus's return.
Can't quite agree with you here. It's true that those texts lead up to Jesus's return, but it is not timed in sync with the 70th week. You evidently believe in the "gap theory" for the 70 weeks prophecy. I do not. A prophetic "yardstick" broken in two pieces is not a yardstick at all that can be trusted to measure anything. I know exactly what year that last, 70th week expired long ago (AD 37), but that is a subject for another post's discussion.
There was no false prophet at the time of Nero to have the world to make the image of the beast. And it come alive and speak.
This is symbolic language of an image "speaking". It does not mean literal words were spoken by an inanimate object. The same imagery is used about the blood of Abel, which God said was "crying unto Me from the ground"; who even while being dead, "yet speaketh" in Hebrews 11:4. Or the "voice" of the natural world being "heard" as a witness to God's power. "There is no speech nor language where their
voice is not heard..." And "wisdom" uttering her voice, etc.... It's called "personification" as a writing technique.
The "False Prophet" / aka the "Land Beast" was the deceptive religious leadership in Israel, with its two-horned Pharisee/ Sadducee members. Christ called them liars when He was berating them in John 8:55. They "spoke like a dragon" because Satan the Dragon was the Father of lies, and they practiced deception just like their Father the devil (John 8:44).
Acting under Rome's sanction and authority, this "Land Beast" of religious leadership in Israel had convinced the people to start minting look-alike Tyrian shekel coins with the same abominable images and inscriptions on them - a clear violation of Mosaic law. The mint was in Jerusalem, which started making those abominable images on the coins in 19 BC, (probably to help fund Herod's massive Temple renovations which began that year). These coins with their abominable images were REQUIRED currency for anyone selling or purchasing Temple sacrificial items, and came with an onerous (and extremely lucrative) surcharge fee for exchanging other foreign currency for this approved Tyrian shekel coin.
So yes, this Tyrian shekel requirement for Temple transactions was in place from 19 BC until AD 66, when the Zealots began minting their own currency instead. Nero's regnal period overlapped the time when this Tyrian shekel was still being required.
