Who Was The Beast Of the Book Of Revelation?
Short answer: Nero Caesar.
Read on , , ,
_________________
{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}
_________________
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}
_____________________
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.
___________________
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
Short answer: Nero Caesar.
Read on , , ,
_________________
{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}
_________________
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}
_____________________
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.
___________________
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
