[1] The word “Armageddon”
appears once in the Book of Revelation (16:16), and is actually a combination
of two Hebrew words (Har and Meggiddon), the latter of which is the town of
Megiddo. The phrase means “Mount Megiddo”
and is thus a reference to the actual site of the final battle between good and
evil, and not a term to signify the end of the world as used in modern parlance
(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Megiddo.html).
[2] As Bart Ehrman states:
“What
most of the millions of people who believe that Jesus is coming back soon, in
our lifetime, don’t realize is that there have always been Christians who
thought this about their own lifetimes.
This was a prominent view among conservative Christians in the early
twentieth century, in the late nineteenth century, in the eighteenth century,
in the twelfth century, in the second century, in the first century – in fact,
in just about every century. The one
thing that all those who have ever thought this have had in common is that
every one of them has been demonstrably and irrefutably wrong” (Forged: Writing in
the Name of God – Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are,
(New York: HarperOne, 2011), p. 106).
[4] Two examples should
suffice. First, the prominent fundamentalist
Christian Hal Lindsey who, in the 1970s, wrote the best-selling book “The Late,
Great Planet Earth”, warned fellow Christians that a nuclear war involving the
Soviet Union, China, the European Union and the United States was imminent and
would occur before the end of the 1980s (Ehrman, op. cit, p. 105).
Second,
the controversial televangelist Pat Robertson predicted in May 1980 that the
end of the world would occur by the end of 1982. According to author David John Marley:
“According
to his calculations, by 1980 the Antichrist was at least twenty-seven years
old. Also, based on his understanding of
the Old Testament, the battle of Armageddon would start in 1982, and seven
years of intense suffering would follow” (Pat Robertson: An American Life,
(Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p.62).
[5] Revelation 1:1, 1:4 and
1:5.
[6] Robert H. Mounce, The
Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), p.
12.
[8] Ehrman, op. cit.,
p. 21.
If
this is true, then Christians have inadvertently accepted a book written by a
Gnostic Christian into their canon!
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Cerinthus was:
“A
Gnostic-Ebionite heretic, contemporary with St. John; against whose errors on
the divinity of Christ the Apostle is said to have written the Fourth Gospel” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03539a.htm).
[9] Ehrman, op. cit.,
p. 64.
[10] As Burton Mack
explains:
“…the
Revelation of John of Patmos was associated with the writings of the Johannine
school solely because of the common name.
And even after it was blessed for posterity by inclusion in Athanasius’
list of apostolic writings, there were doctors of the church who questioned its
authenticity and groused about its theology” (Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth, (San
Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 197).
[12] Mounce, op. cit.,
pp. 15-16.
[13] Mack, op. cit.,
p. 196.
[14] However, as we will
see, even though Nero’s reign was probably not the backdrop for the composition
of the book, the infamous emperor still served as a source of inspiration and
had a role to play in the prophecies, especially concerning the advent of the
Antichrist.
[16] Revelation 1:4 (New
International Version).
The
Nicolaitans were apparently a heretical sect, but not much is known about
them. The Catholic Encyclopedia states
that they were:
“…a
sect mentioned in the Apocalypse (2:6-15) as existing in Ephesus, Pergamus, and
other cities of Asia Minor, about the character and existence of which there is
little certainty”
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11067a.htm)
[23] Revelation 4:4. The identity of these “elders” has puzzled
scholars. According to Mounce:
“Since
no exact counterparts are to be located in Jewish literature, it seems best to
take the twenty-four elders as an exalted angelic order who serve and adore God
as the heavenly counterpart to the twenty-four priestly and twenty-four
Levitical orders (1 Chron 24:4; 25:9-13)” (Mounce, op. cit., pp. 120-121).
[24] Revelation 4:6-8. The first creature was “like a
lion”, the
second creature was “like an ox”, the third creature “had a face like a man” and the fourth creature
was “like a flying eagle”. According
to Mounce, they were “angelic beings” and it is clear that the author was referring to the “seraphim” of Isaiah 6:2 (Mounce, op.
cit., p. 125).
[27] Revelation 6:1-8. The first horseman rode a white horse and “rode
out as a conqueror bent on conquest”. The
second horseman rode a red horse and “was given power to take
peace from the earth”. The third horseman rode a black horse and “was
holding a pair of scales in his hand”.
Finally, the fourth horseman rode a pale horse and “was
named Death, and Hades was following close behind him”, and “they
were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and
plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth”. See the
analysis section for a discussion of these “horsemen”.
[36] Revelation 8:1-5. A “censer” is defined by the Catholic
Encyclopedia as:
“A
vessel suspended by chains, and used for burning incense at solemn Mass,
Vespers, Benediction, processions, and other important offices of the Church” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03519c.htm).
Mounce
describes “Wormwood” as follows:
“It is
called Wormwood after the strong bitter taste of the plant of that name. In the OT wormwood was used as a symbol of
bitterness and sorrow”
(Mounce, op. cit., p. 181).
Also,
he states:
“Although
wormwood itself is not poisonous, its bitter taste suggests death” (Ibid.).
In
other words, it seems that the “star” known as “Wormwood” would contaminate the
drinking water, causing death when consumed.
[43] Revelation 9:3-5. The “king” of these locusts was identified as
“Abaddon” in Hebrew and “Apollyon” in Greek, the meaning of which is “the
Destroyer” (Revelation 9:11).
“The
number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard
their number.”
These
soldiers of death are not human but rather “demonic horsemen” (Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 194).
[48] Revelation 11:2-6. According to Mounce, these “witnesses” are
not two individuals but rather represent “a symbol of the
witnessing church”
(Mounce, op. cit., p. 217).
[50] Revelation 11:11-12.
[51] Revelation 11:13. This would signal the end of the “second
woe”, but
the “third woe” was yet to come (Revelation 11:14).
[53] Revelation 12:1-2,
5. The woman gave birth to the Messiah,
who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter”. However, scholars view the woman to be
symbolizing “the messianic community, the ideal Israel” instead of Mary, the
mother of Jesus (Mounce, op. cit., p. 231).
[54] The dragon is Satan
(Revelation 12:9).
[58] Revelation 13:1. As we will see later, the “beast” provides
clear evidence of the historical context in which the Book of Revelation must
be interpreted.
[61] Revelation 13:12-15.
[63] Revelation
13:17-18. The number 666 is assumed by
many Christians to be a literal mark of the “Antichrist”, but as we will see
later, it is actually a “code word” that the author of Revelation used to refer
to an actual historical figure which his congregation would have easily
identified.
[64] Revelation 13:16-18.
[65] Revelation
13:19-20.
[71] Revelation 16:12,
15. See note #1 for the meaning of
“Armageddon”.
[72] Revelation 16:17-18.
[73] Revelation 19:11-19.
[77] Revelation 20:4. The rest of the dead were not to be
resurrected until the end of the thousand-year period (Revelation 20:5).
[80] Revelation 20:12-13.
[81] Revelation 20:14-15.
[84] Tom Sine, Cease
Fire: Searching for Sanity in America’s Culture Wars (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), p. 55.
Even
in contemporary times, this “guessing game” has continued, with many fanatics
even accusing the current president of the United States, Barack Obama, of being
the Antichrist! See the following:
Another
contemporary example is the current popularity among some Christians of the
“Muslim Antichrist” theory, propounded by authors like Joel Richardson. See the following:
It
seems that these lunatics have not learned from their own history. It does not require much foresight to see
that they too will be proven wrong eventually!
As
we will see shortly, however, while the majority of Christians who engage in
these “guessing games” are always (not surprisingly) wrong, it is clear that
the early Christians who identified the Roman emperor Nero as the Antichrist
were actually right, because the author of Revelation was clearly pointing to
him. The internal evidence from the Book
of Revelation makes this undeniable.
[85] Steven J. Friesen, Imperial
Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Reading Revelation in the Ruins (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 136.
It
is also possible that the author specifically referred to these seven churches “because
of some specific relationship to emperor worship” (Mounce, op. cit., p. 45).
[86] Craig R. Koester, Revelation
and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
2001), p. 57.
[88] Just like some fanatics
have accused world leaders, both past and present, of being the “Antichrist”,
others have attempted to link them to the “four horsemen”. For example, conservative author David
Harsanyi has claimed that the “horsemen” actually represent the “debt”,
“dependency”, “surrender” and “death” that have become ubiquitous with Barack
Obama’s reelection as the President of the United States (http://www.theblaze.com/books/obamas-four-horsemen-the-disasters-unleashed-by-obamas-reelection/).
[89] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 140.
[90] John H. C. Pippy, Egyptian
Origin of the Book of Revelation (Raleigh: Lulu Enterprises Inc., 2011),
pp. 212-214.
[92] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 140. This is probably the best
explanation, since much of the imagery in Revelation can be shown to correspond
to the Roman Empire.
[94] Bruce Louden, “Retrospective
Prophecy and the Vision in Aeneid 6 and the Book of
Revelation.” International Journal of
the Classical Tradition, 16, no. 1 (March, 2009): 15.
Comparing
the Book of Revelation to the Roman poet Virgil’s (spelled Vergil by Louden) Aeneid,
Professor Louden identifies the literary techniques known as “retrospective
prophecy” and “the vision”. The former,
according to Louden:
“…implicitly
divides time into three different periods:
1. the period of time which serves as the
present for the narrative’s characters (but is past time for the author and his
audience);
2. the period of time which is in the future
from the perspective of the narrative and its characters (but is still in the
past time for author and audience);
3. the period of time which is in the future
from the perspective of the author and his original audience (as well as for
the narrative and its characters” (Ibid., p. 7).
The
latter is defined by Louden as:
“…a
genre of myth in which the protagonist is removed from the mortal plane, an
otherworldly guide accompanies him, who reveals to him a larger truth, the ‘big
picture,’ previously unknown to him. He
is a transformed man as a result” (Ibid., p. 3).
Louden’s
conclusion is that, like the “retrospective prophecies” in Aeneid 6, the
“prophecies” of disasters and the end of the world in Revelation were meant to
occur in the immediate future of the audience, even though most of the book was
concerned with events that had already occurred (beginning with the Roman
occupation of Jerusalem as a result of the Jewish Revolt). This, he concludes,
allows for a “responsible” interpretation of the Book of Revelation (Ibid., p.
16). Thus, Christian fanatics like Pat
Robertson and Joel Richardson, who try to apply the prophecies in Revelation to
modern times in a vain attempt to demonize those who do not believe in their
religion, are hopelessly misguided and are bound to be proven wrong, as were
their predecessors.
[95] Pheme Perkins,
“Revelation”, in The Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, ed.
Dianne Bergant and Robert J. Karris (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1989), p.
1265.
The
story in Revelation 12 is remarkably similar.
The woman gives birth to the Messiah, and is pursued by the dragon. The child is saved by divine intervention and
the woman finds safe haven in the wilderness and is protected by miraculous
occurrences (i.e. the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the water released
by the dragon).
Of
course, there were variations of the pagan myth. See the entries under “Apollo” and “Leto” in
Pierre Grimal, A Concise Dictionary of Classical Mythology, ed. Stephen
Kershaw (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1990), pp. 48-51, 244.
[96] Pippy, op. cit.,
p. 339.
It
is also interesting to note that, according to Pippy, Nut was sometimes
depicted with twelve sun-disks (which represented the hours of the day) and
sometimes with stars and solar-disks (Ibid.).
The parallels with the woman in Revelation 12 are obvious.
[97] In addition to standard
paganism, the Roman Empire also encouraged the worship of the emperors, which
is also condemned by the author of Revelation.
[98] This is one reason why
attempts by some modern Christian fanatics to link the events of Revelation to
the Islamic world fail miserably.
Muslims simply do not worship idols!
In fact, it could be argued that Muslims are more opposed to idolatry
than Christians, since the presence of statues of Jesus, Mary and saints is
tolerated in many churches.
[99] Reza Aslam, Zealot:
The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (New York: Random House, 2013), pp.
5-6.
Specifically,
there were three courts: the outer court or the “Court of Gentiles”, the “Court
of Women”
(which was the furthest Jewish women were allowed to go), the “Court
of the Israelites”
(which was the furthest Jewish men could go) and the “Court
of Priests”
(which was restricted to priests and Temple officials). Beyond the “Court of Priests” was, of course,
the “Holy of Holies” where only the High Priest could go.
Mounce
claims that the outer court was a reference to the Church, and thus, not a
reference to the Temple divisions prior to the outbreak of the Jewish-Roman War
(Mounce, op. cit., p.214).
However, there is no support within the text for this claim. Rather, it is clear that the outer court is a
reference to the “Court of Gentiles”.
[100] Duncan W. McKenzie, The
Antichrist and the Second Coming: A Preterist Examination, Vol. 1: Daniel and 2
Thesslanonians (USA: Xulon Press, 2009), p. 224.
McKenzie
notes that the one additional month was due to Titus and Vespasian’s month-long
stay at Ptolemais where they were gathering their forces for the eventual
assault on Jerusalem (Ibid.).
[101] Louden, op. cit.,
p. 13.
The
reference to the 42-month “trampling” is, according to Louden:
“…a
specific reference to the duration of the Jewish Revolt”.
In fact, retrospective prophecy is also
clearly utilized with reference to the “fall” of the dragon and his “angels” to
earth (Revelation 12:9) after a battle with the archangel Michael. Since the fall had already occurred thousands
of years earlier, how could it then occur in the future? The answer is “retrospective prophecy”.
[104] Sine, op. cit.,
p. 55-58.
[108] The subsequent
persecutions by later emperors tended to vary in severity and length. In fact, in some cases, while Christian
versions of history allege great acts of persecutions, no historical evidence
of any actual persecution can be found.
This is true in the case of the emperor Domitian, whose reign probably
coincided with the writing of the Book of Revelation. As Professor Paul Trebilco of the University
of Otago, New Zealand states:
“In
particular, there is no evidence that Domitian demanded greater divine honours
than his predecessors, and there is no evidence for widespread oppression and
persecution of Asian Christians by Domitian” (The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul
to Ignatius (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), p. 343).
Of
course, the practice of worshiping the emperors would have been anathema to
Christians as well as Jews, and it is not surprising that writings from both
groups severely condemned this practice.
In this regard, Muslims would be on the side of the Christians and the
Jews. To worship any being other than
God would be the most atrocious of sins.
Similarly, the one who accepted such worship would be condemned by God
to eternal damnation in Hell.
[109] Flavius Josephus, Antiquities
of the Jews, 20:8:3.
Of
course, it could be argued that Josephus himself was guilty of his own
biases. After all, his primary
benefactors (Vespasian and Titus) were loyal to Nero during his reign.
[112] Chris Sandoval, Can
Christians Prove the Resurrection? A Reply to the Apologists (Canada:
Trafford Publishing, 2010), p. 292.
If
Vespasian was the “current” emperor, then the Book of Revelation must have been
written during his reign (69-79 CE), but as we noted above, most scholars place
the composition of the book during the last years of the reign of Domitian. Although the theory that each head represents
a specific emperor is probably erroneous (see note #113 for clarification),
Sandoval is correct when he refers to an eight emperor who was to rise from the
seven, as per Revelation 17:11. This can
only be referring specifically to Nero, even if the seven heads do not
necessarily represent a specific emperor starting from Augustus (the successor
of Julius Caesar).
[113] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 316.
However,
Mounce does acknowledge that if the line of emperors starts with Caligula, who
was the first Roman emperor to “[provoke] a crisis over emperor worship…”, and skipping the three
minor emperors between Nero and Vespasian, we would arrive at the reign of
Domitian as the sixth emperor (one more was to come, and the eight was to be
one of the seven). Also, Mounce cites
the theory posited by J.H. Ulrichsen, that since the ten horns of the beast
also represent Roman emperors, then it is possible to arrive at Domitian’s
reign by starting with Caligula and including the three minor emperors (Ibid.,
fn. 42). Since it is generally accepted
that the Book of Revelation was written around Domitian’s reign, and not of
Vespasian, this theory is plausible.
Incidentally,
Mounce also refutes the theory that the seven heads represented seven kingdoms (such
as Egypt, Nineveh (Assyria), Babylon, Persia and Greece, with Rome being the
present kingdom), since the Greek word in question is used throughout the New
Testament as referring to a “king” and not a “kingdom” (Ibid., p. 317). Not surprisingly, Christians have posited
the “seven kingdoms” theory from time to time.
Even in the present-day, some believe that the “reformulated” Soviet
Union will be the “revived head” of the beast (http://www.musingsaboutgod.com/whoare.htm)! Other Christian fanatics, not wanting to be
outdone by the sheer stupidity of their brethren, have proposed that the
“revived head” will be an Islamic kingdom (http://tribulationperiod.com/blog/?p=4247)!
So,
to Mounce, the “seven kings” of Revelation:
“…represent
the entire period of Roman domination regardless of the exact number of
emperors. The important point is that
the end is drawing near.”
This
interpretation is also posited by Professor Brian K. Blount, of the Union
Presbyterian Seminary:
“…the
seven heads are the seven hills and the seven emperors (17:9). The beast therefore is not one emperor as
such but, as seven represents completion, the entire sense of Roman rule…” (Revelation: A Commentary
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), p. 246).
[115] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 318.
“…it is
Nero who had been "wounded to death" but "his deadly wound was
healed" and he still lived (13:3)—Nero redivivus.”
According
to Sandoval:
“Nero
actually committed suicide when he was overthrown in 68 AD, but many believed
he was still alive and would one day return to retake Rome with the help of an
army from Parthia (Tacitus, History 2.8ff; Suetonius, Nero 57)” (Sandoval, op. cit.,
p. 292).
[117] Louden, op. cit.,
p. 11.
However,
some scholars have argued that the term “redivivus” is actually incorrect,
since it was more commonly believed that Nero had not actually died. Hence, these scholars prefer the term “Nero
redux”
(David Andrew Thomas, Revelation 19 in Historical and Mythological Context
(New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2008), fn. 25, p. 99). In any case, it is clear that it was widely
believed that Nero, alive or dead, would return to reclaim the throne of Rome. This was the backdrop for Revelation’s caricature
of the “beast”.
[119] Louden, op. cit.,
p. 14; Mounce, op. cit., p. 298; Sandoval, op. cit., p. 292.
[120] Ben Witherington, Revelation
(Cambridge: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 2003), p. 178.
[121] Revelation 16:12. The armies would then gather at the place
known as “Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16).
See note #1 for an explanation of the meaning of this word.
[122] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 298.
[123] Louden, op. cit.,
p. 14; Mounce, op. cit., p. 298.
The
Ascension of Isaiah also refers to Nero, specifically identifying him
with “Belial”. As such, Louden states:
“Revelation
thus draws on these earlier traditions, combining them together, in figuring
Nero as fully demonized”
(Lounden, op. cit., p. 14).
For the text of the Sibylline Oracles, Book 5, see the
following:
For
the Ascension of Isaiah, see the following:
For
a discussion of the references to Nero in the latter, see the following:
[125] Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 298.
[128] Witherington, op.
cit., p. 176; See also Louden, op. cit., p. 10.
[129] Koester, op. cit.,
p. 133.
Incidentally,
Pippy is of the view that the number 666 corresponds to the Egyptian god
Seth. (Pippy, op. cit., p.
98). But this theory seems unlikely, as
it makes far more sense for the author of Revelation to target a Roman emperor
who was infamous in Christian circles rather than a god of the Egyptian pantheon.
[132] Witherington, op.
cit., p. 177.
Gary
Demar offers a possible scenario for how “616” crept into some manuscripts:
“A
Latin copyist might have thought that 666 was an error because Nero Caesar did
not add up to 666 when transliterated into Latin. He then changed 666 to 616 to conform to the
Latin rendering since it was generally accepted that Nero was the Beast. In either case, a Hebrew transliteration nets
666, while a Latin spelling nets 616.
Nero was the ‘man’ and 666 was his number” (Left Behind: Separating Fact from
Fiction (Powder Springs: The American Vision, Inc., 2009), p. 147).
On
the other hand, Mounce posits that neither “666” nor “616” were specifically meant
to represent Nero, though this view seems to be in the minority. In his view, the author “intended
only his intimate associates to be able to decipher the number” (Mounce, op. cit.,
p. 262). Of course, if the meaning of
the number was only meant to be known to the author’s “associates”, it has no
relevance to modern readers and the secret has gone with the author to his
grave!
But
as stated, this is the minority view and most scholars agree that the
Antichrist was Nero. As Witherington
puts it:
“The
gematria does not merely assert that Nero is the Beast: it demonstrates that he
is” (p.
177).
[133] Of course, according to
Revelation, it should have already occurred!
[134] According to John 8:44,
Satan is the “father of lies”.