Revelation

THE BOOK OF REVELATION: M. M. NINAN
he does come, he must remain for a little while". (Rev. 17:10). Moreover, Rome was known in antiquity as
the city of seven hills (Rev. 17:9) and Revelation was a warning about events that were "shortly" to take
place (Rev. 1:1).
In Rev. 13:5-8, the beast was given a mouth speaking in blasphemies against God and His Name.
Inscriptions have been found in Ephesus in which Nero is called "Almighty God" and "Savior”. In verse 4,
the beast is worshiped by the world alongside the Dragon that gave it authority. Nero and Caligula
"abandoned all reserve" in promoting emperor worship – they were the only two who demanded divine
honors while still alive. Nero claimed to be the sun-god Apollo.
Revelation 13:7 speaks of the power given to the beast to make war with the saints. Nero was the first of
the imperial authorities to persecute Christianity. Tacitus records the scene in Rome when the persecution
of Christians (or Chrestians) broke out: "And their death was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that,
wrapped in the hides of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on
fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night".
Revelation 13:5 says the beast would continue for 42 months. The Neronic persecution was instituted in 64
AD and lasted until his death in June 68 AD, which is three and a half years, or 42 months. Nero was even
called the beast. Apollonius of Tyana specifically states that Nero was called a 'beast': "In my travels,
which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen man, 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 has gorged himself on this diet".
The manner of Nero’s death corresponds with the prophecy of Revelation 13:10: "If anyone is destined for
captivity, to captivity he goes; if any one kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed". According
to Tertullian, Nero was the first to assail the Christian sect with the imperial sword. He committed suicide
by the sword at the age of 30.
After Nero's death in 68 AD, Rome saw a succession of short-lived emperors (Galba, Otho and Vitellius)
and a year of civil wars untilVespasian eventually took control in 69 AD. The Roman Empire destabilized
so greatly that Tacitus reported: "Many believed the end of the empire was at hand" (Histories 4:5:4)
According to Suetonius, to the surprise of the world, "the empire which for a long time had been unsettled
and, as it were, drifting through the usurpation and violent death of three emperors, was at last taken in and
given stability by the Flavian family" (Vespasian 1: 1). This may be a reference to the mortal wound on one
of the heads of the beast "inflicted by the sword" which was later healed (Rev. 13:3, Rev. 13: 14).[27]
Scholar Daniel K. Wong wrote that the "healing of the wound" alludes to the so-called Nero Redivivus
Legend or the "revival of Nero” myth. A rumor that Nero had just disappeared toParthia and would one day
reappear.
Finally, the readers of Revelation were told to "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). John did not expect that his readers "who
had understanding" to have any difficulty identifying the beast, since they could simply calculate the
meaning of this number. "Neron Kaisar" (the Greek rendering, documented byarchaeological finds), when
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