4 Responses
Interesting post, but I have a few minor objections..:)
In Rev 13:8, John states that “all inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”
This verse does not seem to suggest locality to the Roman Empire and the nations under its rule which some scholars usually attribute to the word “all”, but it seems to have a more universal scope.
This is strengthened in my view when reference is made also to the Lamb’s book of life who was slain from the creation of the world suggesting that ALL whose name was not found therein would be worshipping this beast or has worshipped the embodiment thereof in past ancient pagan religions. That “ALL” for me in that text, doesn’t seem limited to the just the infidels during Nero’s reign.
My second minor objection is that if Nero were this so called “Beast” aka “AntiChrist” then when we look further down in Revs 13 at verses such as vs.13-16; there seems to be events prophesied that were unfulfilled in Nero’s reign.
For example in vs.11-13 we have a second beast who causes all the earthly inhabitants to worship the first beast and he deceives the earthly inhabitants by performing great signs such as, causing fire to come down from heaven ‘in the full view of men’ and causing an “image” (an inanimate object) to speak.
Do we have historical accounts of such things supernatural occurences being fulfilled during Nero’s reign? I’ve never heard of the such.
Lastly, Rev 13:16
“16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name”.
Do we have historical accounts of people being marked with “Nero” or “666″ or even “616″ duing Nero’s reign in order to buy or sell? (I don’t think the argument that this is spiritual mark holds any water.)
Lastly, from vs 11-16, although symbols such as “beast” and “dragon” are used, they are used to symbolize literal men and the things which they have been prophesied to perform seem literal. I don’t see how any need for allegorical or hyperbolic interpretion in these verses. These are SOME minor 
questions marks that i have with the preterist/ semi-preterist interpretion of Rev 13:7-16
Regards,
Kevin
P.S I have posted my comment here instead of email so others may come, see and participate in the dialogue on your site. I prefer the digital traffic here rather than through email.
Also I have a suggestion that you get that “thing” built-in so that I and others can subscribe and get automatic email notification when a new blog or article or anything has been added or updated to the site.
[Reply]
Kevin, I appreciate your comments. Please note the following.
Re par. 3
Apart from the fact that ‘earth’ could mean ‘land’ (=Palestine) the literal approach to the text faces as much of a problem as the symbolic approach in that the beast is localized in one area of the ‘earth’ yet seemingly exercises authority throughout the earth. More to the point though, ‘all’ in scripture when used of groups of people does not always suggest literally each and every person without exception (cf. Mt. 2:3;3:5). “All’ who are not in the Lamb’s book of life in a local area would be part of ‘all’, globally speaking, who are not in the Lamb’s book. There is thus no necessary element of the universal in the words “ all whose names have not been written…”. This clause is simply qualifying the first all, whatever the geographical extent of the first ‘all’ may be. A backdrop to Rev. 13 is the widespread nature of Emperor worship in the Roman Empire and the problems faced by those who were non-compliant with that societal system. Christianity was regarded as odious precisely because of its non-compliance with Emperor worship.
Re par. 4
This objection is based on undue literalism in reading the text. Only if one takes this literalistic approach can you expect a one-to-one correspondence with history. The real issue in a symbolic text is the essential point the writer wants to make via the symbols used. The awe-inspiring authority and power of the beast are dominant motifs in Rev. 13. Note the question of dread and adoration in 13:4.
Re par. 6
You need to reckon with the societal dynamics of Emperor worship in the 1st century. The marking is not literal but figurative, symbolizing allegiance, just as it is in the case of the redeemed in 14.1 with the Father’s name on their foreheads. Literalism in Revelation wreaks havoc!!
Re last par.
Once you concede that symbols are being used via the words ‘beast’ and ‘dragon’ then you are appreciating the impossibility of interpreting Revelation literally. One then has to look for clues of interpretation within the book itself and whatever you call it, the approach that makes the most consistent sense is the one that factors in the judgement on decadent Judaism that occurred in AD 70.
[Reply]
Tell my how does the reference in 2Thess. about the man of sin fits in to the discussion Is he the same as the Antichrist are both of them alluding to the beast.?
We know that In 2 Thess. Paul was addressing the return of Christ and what was to happen before his return.
[Reply]
What of Antichrist in Revelation?
One of my prized students in Barbados, Kevin, responded to my blog by asking about the beast(s) in the book of Revelation vis-à-vis Antichrist. Kevin is in good company because the late Brethren scholar F.F. Bruce, in the Word Biblical Commentary on 2 Thessalonians says, “Antichrist appears again in the N[ew]T[estament] in the Apocalypse, although he is not called by that name there. The beast from the abyss which kills the two witnesses of God in Rev. 11:7 is introduced more formally in Rev. 13. [Here] we can hardly fail to recognize a more detailed description of the man of lawlessness of 2 Thess. 2, although in Revelation there is some oscillation between the antichristian power and the individual in whom that power is vested for the time being. But for John of Patmos the antichristian power is unambiguously the Roman Empire…” (p.181).
Bruce goes on to argue that the “first beast of Revelation 13 [is] the ultimate Antichrist” (p.181). Is Bruce correct in his view? Our basic approach to the book of Revelation challenges Bruce’s equation of the beast in Rev. 13 with Antichrist, a still future centre of evil.
No matter which school of interpretation re Revelation one prefers, all agree that John wrote the book to a group of churches in Asia Minor in the 1st century of this era (Rev. 1:4, 11). The purpose of the book also attracts universal agreement —to comfort the said churches facing tribulation and even martyrdom (2:9-10; 3:9-10; 6:9-11, etc.)
Different scholars have noted the Hebraic nature of the language and thought forms of the Apocalypse. It is as if the writer is thinking in Hebrew though writing in Greek. There is no direct quotation from the Old Testament but numerous allusions appear. Hebrew-derived words get special mention in 9.11 and 16.16. In 12:9, ‘devil’ is Greek-based whereas ‘Satan’ is Hebrew-based. The Hebraic nature of Revelation will assist greatly in a point we make later concerning the identity of the beast in Rev. 13.
Another feature of Revelation is the repeated instructions concerning the timing of the events prophesied. The events “must shortly take place” (1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 22:6), “the time is near” (1:3; 22.10). As Kenneth Gentry points out, John places these time terms of imminence in the first century “in both his opening and closing comments…in his introduction and his conclusion [1:1; 22:6; 1:3; 22:10]…before and after the difficult visions. They are not in the symbolic sections, where one might wonder if they require special interpretive rules. Rather, they are in the clear, straightforward, didactic portions of Revelation.” (The Book of Revelation Made Easy, 2008, p.18).
If John intended to comfort his 1st century audience with his book then nothing in the book could have exclusive reference to the modern world unless the book clearly mentions a distant future cue like that found in Dan. 12:4 “…close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” Contrast though Rev. 22:10 “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.”
Any reading of Revelation that could not have made sense to the primary 1st century audience must be a misreading of the text. Imagine writing a book to console suffering Christians in sections of India today and putting in that book material that will only become a reality in 4025. That would be insensitivity married to idiocy!
The book of Revelation is highly symbolic (non-literal) in language and contains clues for interpreting some of the symbols. If you miss the non-literal nature of the visionary sections of the Apocalypse you are doomed to misread and misunderstand the book!!
Things that appeared to John, as it were, encoded (veiled), are at times decoded (unveiled) by the formula “this [visual symbol] represents or is this [reality].” Thus in 1:20, the seven stars are the angels/messengers of the seven churches. Similarly and apropos the beast, in Rev. 17:3 (cf. 13:1) and 17:9, “the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits, they are also seven kings…” In 17:18 we learn that “the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” At the time of writing, the rulership by the great city was a current reality not a future possibility or eventuality.
The beast in 17:3 is identical in description to the beast in 13:1 and this beast has a dual identity, the one is individual and the other corporate. If we read the Apocalypse with virgin eyes, that is, without our denominational obsessions and doctrinal biases, the dual identity of the beast is reasonably clear. Bruce shares this view in the quote from him used earlier.
As Gentry says a Hebrew spelling of [Nero’s] name, verified by archaeological finds, was Nrwn Qsr (pronounced Neron Kaiser). This comes out to 666 based on the formula n=50, r=200,w=6, n=50,p=100, s=60, r=200. (p.62). Fascinatingly, there are a couple manuscripts of Rev. 13.18 that have 616 instead of 666 as the number of the beast. This manuscript change seemed not to have been accidental. As the revered textual critic Bruce Metzger says, “Perhaps the change was intentional, seeing that the Greek form Neron Caesar written in Hebrew characters [nrwn qsr] is equivalent to 666, whereas the Latin form Nero Caesar [written in Hebrew characters nrw qsr] is equivalent to 616.” (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 1971, p. 752.)
Support for the view of Nero as the beast, individually spoken of in Revelation can be further corroborated Gentry argues by examining the action of the beast mentioned in 13.5, 7. Here the beast is said to have been given authority to act for forty-two months or three and a half years, during which time he would be allowed to make war with the saints and even overcome them.
Nero’s persecution of Christians is well-known. “We know from historical records that Nero’s initial assault on the Christians in Rome occurs in November of A.D. 64. And we know that Nero dies [by suicide] early in June of 68…Thus, we have a period of time wherein the Beast wages war against the saints for virtually forty-two months: November, 64 until June, 68.” (Gentry, p.64).
Examination of the beast’s character vis-à-vis Nero’s character provides further corroboration of the identity of the beast. The revival of the mortally wounded beast also points to a 1st century beast. To those intriguing issues we turn in our next blog.
So then to sum up, even if as Bruce and Kevin surmise, the beast in Revelation 13 can be equated with Antichrist then that Antichrist was Nero and he did his worst in the 1st century.
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