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GratiaCorpusChristi
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I don't want anyone to think that I don't believing in a coming antichrist. The epistles of John predict a future antichrist, 2 Thessalonians foresees a future 'man of sin,' and Revelation itself sees a future 'Gog and Magog' at the end of the millennial age. I'm simply saying that for the most part, the beast of Revelation is Nero.
The Seven Kings: 17:9-10
In Revelation 17:9-10 were are told of seven kings. Here is the actual text:
The woman in this passage is the great harlot of Babylon, drunk with the blood of the martyrs. (As an extended side note, the text gives me every reason to think that this harlot is Jerusalem or the collaborating high priests of the first century; they were certainty drunk of the blood of the first martyrs, and also 'whored out' the Jewish people by collaborting with the Roman occupies, upon whom they rested)
The woman sits on seven hills (Rome is built on seven hills, and refered to as Babylon), which are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one 'is', and one is yet to come. The 'is,' I imagine, is the reigning ruler of Rome at the time of the writing of Revelation.
If we dating the rulers of Rome from Julius Caesar, as first century historians Tactitus and Seutonius did, see the five fallen kings as Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. That puts us at Nero. He is, and the seventh, not yet come and who remains for a little while, is the chaotic reign of A.D. 68 when Rome went through three emperors in a single year until the General Vespasian took power.
Seems clear that Revelation was written with Nero in mind. But it gets a lot clearer.
The Mark of the Beast: 13:18
Every good evangelical Christian has heard of the mysterious mark of the beast: 666.
What a lot of us forget, however, is that numbers in antiquity had values. Consider the Roman/Latin numeral system: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, and so on.
Well, Hebrew did the same, and here are the numerical values for Nrwn Qsr, the transliteration of Nero Caesar to Hebrew.
Still more interesting is that in certain western manuscripts, 666 reads 616. Hebrew would not have been read in the west, but Latin surely would have- and sure enough, the Latin transliteration of Nrwn Qsr is 616.
It's important to remember that Roman coins were imprinted with the image of the emperor. Without this 'mark' of Nero, you couldn't buy or sell- exactly what verse 17 says (I'm well aware that the mark is imprinted on the forehead or the right hand- these are symbols of the slavery of Nero's rule, not literal brandings).
Now it's getting painfully obvious.
Worship of the Beast: 13:8, 15
The imperial cult was in full swing by the time Revelation was written. Why oppress people with the legions when you can have them worship you?
The Roman emperors were worshiped as deities. Many coins are imprinted with 'Augustus, Son of God' or 'Augustus, Lord and Savior.' People greated each other saying 'Hail, Caesar is Lord.' Makes it pretty clear why the beast isn't too keen on Christians! 'Jesus, Son of God,' 'Jesus, Lord and Savior,' 'Hail, Jesus is Lord' are politically charged terms.
This is nowhere truly than Nero. With Caligula and Commodus (the antagonist in Gladiator, by the way), Nero was one of the few emperors who actually had himself worshiped as a diety during his lifetime. Most were deified upon their death, but not Nero.
The Healing of the Beast: 13:3, 12, 14
In these passages the beast is mortally wounded, but healed.
Anybody heard of the Nero Redivivus story? In A.D. 68, Nero committed suicide when the western provinces of the empire rose of in revolt against him (having just narrowing escaped an assasination attempt during the Pisonian conspiracy of 66). Throughout the first century centuries A.D., people remained terrified of the resurrection of Nero. It remainded a popular myth for a long time, but it kept people quite terrified at first.
(I'm not suggesting that a silly myth has been incorporated accidentally into the text. I'm simply saying that, with all the other evidence that John had Nero in mind, he used this imagery to signify the return of evil forces after the final triumph over Babylon in 18:2.)
A Last Note
Please, please, oh please keep in mind the genre of apokalypsis when responding. Apocalyptic is an ancient genre found in a number of texts that uses literary hyperbole, symbols of clashing beasts, contrasts between dark and light, and what have you to give readers a glimpse into the inner workings of history. If Nero fails to meet some of the more specific details, remember that these are literary clues- not biographical sketches.
The Seven Kings: 17:9-10
In Revelation 17:9-10 were are told of seven kings. Here is the actual text:
The woman in this passage is the great harlot of Babylon, drunk with the blood of the martyrs. (As an extended side note, the text gives me every reason to think that this harlot is Jerusalem or the collaborating high priests of the first century; they were certainty drunk of the blood of the first martyrs, and also 'whored out' the Jewish people by collaborting with the Roman occupies, upon whom they rested)
The woman sits on seven hills (Rome is built on seven hills, and refered to as Babylon), which are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one 'is', and one is yet to come. The 'is,' I imagine, is the reigning ruler of Rome at the time of the writing of Revelation.
If we dating the rulers of Rome from Julius Caesar, as first century historians Tactitus and Seutonius did, see the five fallen kings as Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. That puts us at Nero. He is, and the seventh, not yet come and who remains for a little while, is the chaotic reign of A.D. 68 when Rome went through three emperors in a single year until the General Vespasian took power.
Seems clear that Revelation was written with Nero in mind. But it gets a lot clearer.
The Mark of the Beast: 13:18
Every good evangelical Christian has heard of the mysterious mark of the beast: 666.
What a lot of us forget, however, is that numbers in antiquity had values. Consider the Roman/Latin numeral system: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, and so on.
Well, Hebrew did the same, and here are the numerical values for Nrwn Qsr, the transliteration of Nero Caesar to Hebrew.
Still more interesting is that in certain western manuscripts, 666 reads 616. Hebrew would not have been read in the west, but Latin surely would have- and sure enough, the Latin transliteration of Nrwn Qsr is 616.
It's important to remember that Roman coins were imprinted with the image of the emperor. Without this 'mark' of Nero, you couldn't buy or sell- exactly what verse 17 says (I'm well aware that the mark is imprinted on the forehead or the right hand- these are symbols of the slavery of Nero's rule, not literal brandings).
Now it's getting painfully obvious.
Worship of the Beast: 13:8, 15
The imperial cult was in full swing by the time Revelation was written. Why oppress people with the legions when you can have them worship you?
The Roman emperors were worshiped as deities. Many coins are imprinted with 'Augustus, Son of God' or 'Augustus, Lord and Savior.' People greated each other saying 'Hail, Caesar is Lord.' Makes it pretty clear why the beast isn't too keen on Christians! 'Jesus, Son of God,' 'Jesus, Lord and Savior,' 'Hail, Jesus is Lord' are politically charged terms.
This is nowhere truly than Nero. With Caligula and Commodus (the antagonist in Gladiator, by the way), Nero was one of the few emperors who actually had himself worshiped as a diety during his lifetime. Most were deified upon their death, but not Nero.
The Healing of the Beast: 13:3, 12, 14
In these passages the beast is mortally wounded, but healed.
Anybody heard of the Nero Redivivus story? In A.D. 68, Nero committed suicide when the western provinces of the empire rose of in revolt against him (having just narrowing escaped an assasination attempt during the Pisonian conspiracy of 66). Throughout the first century centuries A.D., people remained terrified of the resurrection of Nero. It remainded a popular myth for a long time, but it kept people quite terrified at first.
(I'm not suggesting that a silly myth has been incorporated accidentally into the text. I'm simply saying that, with all the other evidence that John had Nero in mind, he used this imagery to signify the return of evil forces after the final triumph over Babylon in 18:2.)
A Last Note
Please, please, oh please keep in mind the genre of apokalypsis when responding. Apocalyptic is an ancient genre found in a number of texts that uses literary hyperbole, symbols of clashing beasts, contrasts between dark and light, and what have you to give readers a glimpse into the inner workings of history. If Nero fails to meet some of the more specific details, remember that these are literary clues- not biographical sketches.