Part 1 (Revelation)
Part 2 (The Antichrist)
Part 3 (The Beast)
Part 4 (The Rapture)
Part 5 (The Millenium)
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.1
To be sure there have been many attempts to fit the date of Revelation . . . into the emperor lists of the first century. . . . But immediately there are admitted problems. Where do we begin—with Julius Caesar or Caesar Augustus? Are we to exclude Galba, Otho, and Vitellius who had short, rival reigns? If so, how can they be excluded except on a completely arbitrary basis? A careful examination of the historic materials yields no satisfactory solution. If Revelation were written under Nero, there would be too few emperors; if under Domitian, too many. The original readers would have had no more information on these emperor successions than we do, and possibly even less. How many Americans can immediately name the last seven presidents? Furthermore, how could the eighth emperor who is identified as the beast also be one of the seven (Rev. 17:11)?3
[CHRYSOSTOM] by its mere heat, so Christ’s mere approach is enough to consume Antichrist. The mere appearance of the coming of the Lord of glory is sufficient to show to Antichrist his perfect nothingness. He is seized and cast alive into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20)4
The manifestation (or appearance) of His presence: the first outburst of His advent—the first gleam of His presence . . . Next his adherents are slain with the sword out of His mouth (Rev. 19:21)5
G. Salmon has developed three rules that have been used throughout the centuries for making any desired name equal 666. His rules are appropriate for the attempts by preterists to make Nero fit the number of the Beast: “First, if the proper name by itself will not yield it, add a title; secondly, if the sum cannot be found in Greek, try Hebrew, or even Latin; thirdly, do not be too particular about the spelling. . . . We cannot infer much from the fact that a key fits the lock if it is a lock in which almost any key will turn.”6
in transliterating a foreign word into Hebrew, there is considerable latitude in including, omitting, or varying vowel letters. What’s more, there are three possible Hebrew equivalents [samek, sin, and shin] for the Greek letter for “s.”7
Throughout church history, the gematric method has been used to identify the beast as Teitan, Lateinos, Julius Caesar, Domitian, Vespasian, Caligula, the Nicolaitans, and the German Kaisers. Johnson notes that “the sheer disagreement and confusion created through the years by the gematria method should have long ago warned the church that it was on the wrong track.” Such confusion probably exists because the meaning of the number may not be evident until the Antichrist appears. Thus the best approach is to avoid all guessing and allow God to give the understanding when it is needed.8
Endnotes:
1. | NKJV, Acts 17:10-11 |
2. | [http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ligonier/CPvq/~3/Fdi3r5yi5OA/rym20101029.mp3] accessed 20101210. |
3. | Ref-0213, Rev. 17:10 |
4. | Ref-1022, 2Th. 2:8 |
5. | Ref-1022, 2Th. 2:8 |
6. | Ref-0209, Mark Hitchcock, The Stake in the Heart—The A.D. 95 Date of Revelation, 142 |
7. | Ref-0209, Andy Woods, Revelation 13 and the First Beast, 246 |
8. | Ref-0209, Andy Woods, Revelation 13 and the First Beast, 247 |
9. | Andy Woods, When is the Rapture Relative to the Future Seven-Year Tribulation Period?, [https://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/the_rapture_question/02_when_is_the_rapture/02_when_is_the_rapture.htm] accessed 20091018. |
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