Who is the Beast in The Book of Revelations?

I agree with you on that.

It is to our advantage to have many different people explain in detail, and with as much supporting evidence as they might have,... to give us different view points.
The book is a very important prophecy which must have been written in a way which will be understood when everything happens as stated.

 

Identifying the Beast

John has left us with two major “clues” as to the identity of the one he calls, “The Beast." Both of these clues point irrefutably to the same person, not someone who would be born in the 20th century (which would be of no relevance to his intended audience), but to none other than Lucius Domtius Ahenobarbus, better known as, Nero Claudius Caesar.

Nero, and Nero alone, matches the specific expression of the Beast. This diabolical character meets the criteria laid down by the book of the Revelation itself.

The first “clue” for us to examine is Revelation 13:18, which says:


“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.”

http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html

 

Nero was not only the sixth emperor of Rome, he was the first to persecute Christians. That persecution began in the middle of November 64 A.D. and continued until June 8, 68 A.D. when Nero committed suicide, a period of 42 months. Take note how this fits with Revelation 13:5, which says:

“And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given him."

 

But not for the same reasons it appears!

UH... I'm not inclined to agree that the more folks there are GUESSING the better off we will be.

And this qualifies as one of those guesses also!

No it is not prophecy it was written for a specific group of people for their specific time and for a very specific reason... which Margot2 has been trying to point out to you!

Kinda like how the whole prophecy thing in the New Testament was contrived... They read the old testament then wrote the story to fit the "prophecy" they created by interpretation and then...

Surprise... we have prophecy to back up our mythology!

 

First, we see that these antichrists were contemporaries of John who were at work in the first century. John clearly states that the spirit of the antichrist “is already in the world” (1 John 4:3).

Those who would have us believe that the antichrist is still yet to come must explain why John was teaching the first century church how to recognize it.

In 1 John 2:18, John called his own time “the last hour” because these false prophets had already come, just as Jesus had prophesied (Matt. 24:10-11).

Second, we know that the antichrists had been part of the church.

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they were not of us.” (1 John 2:19)

The antichrist heresy began with false teachers inside the church, and as such were the devil’s instrument to battle the church from within. The antichrists’ departure from the church was evidence that they did not truly belong to the church. Even so, they continued trying to lead believers astray (1 John 2:26). This same problem is addressed in John’s second
epistle.

http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html

 

The fact that Nero killed by the sword is well documented.

Paul, for example, is said to have died under Nero by decapitation with a sword. Tertullian credits “Nero’s cruel sword” as providing the martyr’s blood as seed for the Church. He urges his readers to “Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect."

Likewise, history records that Nero took his own life with the sword. Roman historian Suetonius describes Nero’s death: “Then with the help of his secretary, Epaphroditus, he stabbed himself in the throat."

It is interesting, from a historical perspective, that Nero was actually referred to as a “beast” by his contemporaries.

For instance, the pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, who lived at the time of Nero, states: “In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.... And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet."

Nero ruthlessly murdered his parents, his brother, his pregnant wife (whom he kicked to death) and other family members.

He was a homosexual, who found sexual gratification in watching torture. He enjoyed dressing up as a wild beast and raping male and female prisoners. He illuminated his garden parties with the bodies of Christians, covered with pitch and set aflame.

Roman historian Tacitus (56-117 A.D.) spoke of Nero’s “cruel nature” that “put to death so many innocent men." Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) described Nero as “the destroyer of the human race” and “the poison of the world." Roman satirist Juvenal (60-140 A.D.) speaks of “Nero’s cruel and bloody tyranny." Suetonius (70-160 A.D.), speaks of Nero’s “cruelty of disposition” evidencing itself at an early age. He documents Nero’s evil and states: “neither discrimination or moderation [were employed] in putting to death whosoever he pleased on any pretext
whatever."

The Beast Arising from the Dead

“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.”

(Revelation 13:3)

continued

http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html

 

You forget the the Beast always existed,... except for the 1000 years of universal Christianity.... over all the Roman World.
The beast is right here... in the 20th century.

The beast has seven heads and then, 10 crowns.
It runs through all civilization,... beginning with ancient Egypt.

 

Yes, the heads on this beast all resemble one another,... as you point out about Nero.

Nero did do the following sign for us to look after in the future,...

"6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."

 

Nero represent the iron kingdom mentioned by Daniel.
He represented the beginning of the 6th head of the beast.
Sexual misconduct raged throughout all Rome, and the Mark of the Roman coins flowed abundantly.

 

Revelation makes it perfectly clear that it will happen "soon" and before that generation passes..

“It is significant that ‘all the earliest Christian writers on the Apocalypse, from Irenaeus down to Victorinus of Pettau and Commodian in the fourth, and Andreas in the fifth, and St. Beatus in the eighth century, connect Nero, or some Roman emperor, with the Apocalyptic Beast’.

There should be no reasonable doubt about this identification. St. John was writing to first-century Christians, warning them of things that were “shortly” to take place.

They were engaged in the most crucial battle of history, against the Dragon and the evil Empire which he possessed. The purpose of the Revelation was to comfort the Church with the assurance that God was in control, so that even the awesome might of the Dragon and the Beast would not stand before the armies of Jesus Christ.”

 

Nero was the sixth emperor of Rome and the first to persecute Christians.

Daniel wasn't written until 164 BC.. and its about the past.. Most of Daniel is a Syrian poem from 1500 BC.

 

"You forget that the Beast... has always existed,"...

Nero was way way back,... then.
The 10 kings of Europe,... which followed one after the other,... each had their turn...

 

In the first verse of Revelation 13, the Beast has ten horns with ten diadems, or crowns.

He also has seven heads, which Revelation 17:9 tells us are “seven mountains."

Most New Testament scholars recognize that the seven mountains represent the famous seven hills of Rome. The seven hills of Rome are mentioned in the writings of antiquity, both Christian and pagan.

The ten horns, with the crowns, are in reference to the ten empirical provinces of Rome.

 

Oh,... you don't believe the Bible...

But Revelation has your complete attention,...?
If what Revelation says,... goes against your gut feelings,... maybe you won't accept Revelation either then?

Well,... we can still debate, here.
I go with Daniel,... and his list,... which makes the seven heads, each an empire recorded in History.

 

That all fits that 6th head... quite well....

 

I know a bit about the history of the times and the sources of the Biblical stories.. The Book of Daniel is lifted from Dan'il a Syrian poem from 1500 BC..

Revelation may have been written by John of Giscala after he was exiled to Patmos. I am not convinced but many scholars think so..

But what is certain is that Revelation tells you who the letter is for and when it will come to pass. But, many charlatans have tortured scripture to make it futuristic and include Russia, Europe, America in the prophesy.. Do you think Jesus would have neglected the new Christians of the seven churches to send a message thousands of years in the future? Do you think when he write soon or shortly or within a generation he was lying?

 

My best guess is Nero.

 

If you don't believe that opposing,... the resurrection is anti-Christian,... how can you ever see that Mohammed was prophet,... and world changer,... a book author which opposed the resurrection, against the Eucharist, against the son-of-God,... etc... and,... a false prophet against Jesus?

You leave all that out of your interpretation,... in spite Islam is 1.5 Billion people today.

- - - Updated - - -

...Nero,... the 6th head...

 

Nero was the 6th Roman Emperor and the first to persecute Christians and he really was a beast... He murdered most of his family in very unpleasant ways.

Identifying the Beast

John has left us with two major “clues” as to the identity of the one he calls, “The Beast." Both of these clues point irrefutably to the same person, not someone who would be born in the 20th century (which would be of no relevance to his intended audience), but to none other than Lucius Domtius Ahenobarbus, better known as, Nero Claudius Caesar. Nero, and Nero alone, matches the specific expression of the Beast. This diabolical character meets the criteria laid down by the book of the Revelation itself.

The first “clue” for us to examine is Revelation 13:18, which says:


“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.”

http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html

When Nero committed suicide, the early Christians were terrified that he would come back with an army of Parthians from across the Euphrates and start the persecutions all over again.

 

But the issue of importance is where is this Beast now,...?
He has a woman,... of sorts,... siting on his back.
And,... except for the 1000 years of Christian Monasticism,... the Beast has ruled over us all.

 

No Nero died in 68 AD before the destruction of the Second Temple .. He isn't ruling over anyone.

The woman on the back of the beast is Jerusalem riding on Rome (the beast)

According to Isaiah 54:5, Israel was in a marriage covenant with God.

However, Jerusalem committed adultery against her God, spiritual husband and king by killing the Messiah and His people and declaring Caesar, the beast, her king instead during Christ’s crucifixion: “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).

This rejection of Christ, Jerusalem’s spiritual husband, in favor of Caesar is depicted as an adulterous affair between the beast, representing Rome and its Caesars, and Jerusalem in Revelation 17 and 18. Because of this illicit sexual union between Rome and Jerusalem, Jerusalem is called Babylon.

Babylon was the Jews’ nickname for Rome after the Jewish War because both Rome and Babylon literally destroyed the physical temple in Jerusalem (6th century B.C. and A.D. 70) and exiled Jews throughout their respective empires.

http://revelationrevolution.org/revelation-17-a-preterist-commentary/

 

You are right,... that the sixth head has passed away.
You are right that it was the Jews,... and inside of Jerusalem, too,... on the back of the Romans which killed Jesus.

BUT,... the Beast only disappeared for a short while,... 1000 years.
The Beast is right here,... now,... well and good.

 

Titus Flavius Vespasianus restored political stability and established a new dynasty of the Roman Empire. Under the rule of Vespasian the empire was revived and the Beast lived once more.

The relevant verses in Revelation regarding the death and revivification of the Beast are most readily understood as prophesying the earth-shaking historical events after the suicide of Nero in 68 A.D. Rome died, as it were, but returned to life once again.

http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html

 

Your guesses here have some merit, in regard to one of the heads.
BUT... the beast is dead a thousand (1000) years...

 

In the late fourth century, the Western Roman Empire crumbled after a nearly 500-year run as the world’s greatest superpower. Historians have blamed the collapse on hundreds of different factors ranging from military failures and crippling taxation to natural disasters and even climate change. Still others argue that the Roman Empire didn’t really fall in 476 A.D., since its eastern half continued for another thousand years in the form of the Byzantine Empire.