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I am not a Futurist. As such, I read the Book of Revelation as a prophecy about events that have already taken place (from our perspective) and were fulfilled soon after John wrote them during the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Because of my perspective, I do not believe the “Mark of the Beast” has anything to do with current or future events. So, when friends of mine post links to Facebook about a new computer chip that allows people to store their medical records or purchase products by placing the chip under a scanner, I do not equate this with the end of the world, or the Mark of the Beast.
Since people seem very interested in this topic, I wanted to provide at least a different perspective to help balance things out a bit.
When John wrote the epistle of Revelation to the seven churches, he repeatedly made it clear that the prophecies in his letter were to take place “soon.”
For example, In verse 1, John says: “The Revelation of Yahushua Christ, which Yahuwah gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place....”
In verse 3, he says: “.... and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
John uses specific Greek words throughout his epistle that means” Quickly,” without delay,” “Soon,” in a short time,” “Near,” about to,” etc.
Therefore, there can be little doubt that the First Century Christians who received and read John’s letter understood at least one thing: They were reading about events that were about to happen very, very soon.
Remember, let’s see if we can identify “The Beast” from Revelation. First, since John is writing to First-Century Christians about events that were about to happen quickly, we can be sure that “The Beast” was a contemporary of John.
Secondly, John describes this as either a person (Rev. 13:18), as several people (Rev. 17:10), or as a government or kingdom (Rev. 17:9).
Century Christians would have been very familiar with Old Testament references in Daniel to the Four Beasts (Dan. 7:17), which corresponded to the Four Kingdoms or Empires. Therefore, those readers would have known that John’s references to “The Beast” in his letters pointed to the Empire of their day – The Roman Empire.
But what about the person referred to as “The Beast”?
Since the Apostle John was writing this letter from captivity on the Island of Patmos, he reverted to code that his readers (Jewish Christians) would understand easily, but his captors (The Romans) would not. Note also that, as a prisoner of Rome, he wouldn’t want to come right out and write anything negative about the Emperor or the Government that held him captive – for obvious reasons. This is why, when he wants to let Christians know that “The Beast” is the Emperor Nero, he would say:
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” (Rev. 13:18)
The Hebrew spelling of “Nero Caesar” was NRWN QSR. Since Hebrew letters doubled as numbers, it was simple to add that name and add them together, which adds up exactly to 666. [Example: N = 50 R = 200 W = 6 N =50 Q = 100 S = 60 R = 200]
One fascinating variant of this same passage notes that “Some manuscripts read: 616” rather than 666. Why? When Revelation was later copied into Latin, the name Nero Caesar didn’t add up to 666; it added up to 616. So, to make it easier for those later Latin-speaking (non-Hebrew reading) Christians to arrive at the same conclusion, the number was changed to 616 in specific translations.
Want more proof? Ok. In Revelation 17:9-10 John tells us:
“Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.”
You’ve probably heard that the “seven mountains” correspond to the seven hills of Rome. However, did you know that the seven kings also point to Nero as “The Beast”? They do. Because John tells us that: “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain a little while.”
According to Josephus, the Roman historian, Julius Caesar was the first king, followed by August, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. The sixth king? That was Nero. So, he is the “one (who) is.”
Galba was the seventh king who followed Nero, and as John prophesied, he reigned for a short time (about seven months).
Nero, the sixth king of Rome, was the first to persecute Christians in the First Century. He started persecuting them in November of 64 AD and ended on June 8, 68 AD, when he killed himself. That was 42 months of persecution. Notice what John says about “The Beast”:
“And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given him." (Rev. 13:5)
Coincidence? I think not. Clearly, John is going out of his way to let his readers know that “The Beast” had a name that, in Hebrew, added up to a number (666), that he was the sixth and current king of Rome, and that his persecution would last exactly 42 months. What could be more clear than this?
Nero was also called “The Beast” by contemporary pagan writer Apollonius of Tyana, who said of Nero:
“In my travels…I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India, but this beast, which is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it is crooked of a claw and armed with horrible fangs... And of wild beasts, you cannot say they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet."
Note that Nero murdered his parents, his brother, and his pregnant wife, in addition to several other family members.
The “Mark of the Beast” – or the document that showed your allegiance to Nero as Lord – was required to buy and sell if you lived when John wrote his epistle to the seven churches.
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We also have evidence from the Romans that Nero enjoyed dressing up as a wild beast and raping male and female prisoners.
Still not convinced? Consider that all of the earliest Church Fathers, from Irenaeus in the First Century to St. Beatus in the 8th Century, agreed that “The Beast” was Nero.
Roman citizens were required to publicly claim allegiance to Caesar by burning incense in his honor and proclaiming that “Caesar is Lord.” Those who did this received a document that allowed them to buy and sell in the marketplace. Without it, no one could purchase anything. Therefore, the “Mark of the Beast” – or the document that showed your allegiance to Nero as Lord – was required to buy and sell if you lived when John wrote his epistle to the seven churches.
All those Christians who read Revelation clearly knew what John meant by this. It was already happening to them.
In Conclusion: The Mark of the Beast is not a microchip, a bar code, or your credit card (althought we would never advise anyone to get anything of the like put on or into his or her body). The Beast was Emperor Nero. The Mark of the Beast was “the number of his name,” which added up to 666. We're told that The Beast would reign in terror for 42 months, and Nero's persecution of the Church lasted exactly 42 months.
This is a non-WLC article by Keith Giles.
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
