Jackson Snyder presents www.Bible-News.com

The Seeing Generation: Preparation for The Second Coming Made Plain
Part 9

Coincidental Convergences of Prophecy and History:
THE BEAST, The Number of his Name, 666 or

Jackson Snyder Monthly Viewsletter

This series of messages and the research that went into them is dedicated to Mr. Gerald L. Price, Jr. (1935 – 2002) of Connersville, Indiana; a good and decent person of whom I have blessed memories.

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Psalms 49:1.  HEAR THIS, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,  2.  both low and high, rich and poor together!  3.  My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.  4.  I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 

   5.  Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,  6.  men who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?  7.  Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to Elohim the price of his life,  8.  for the ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice,  9.  that he should continue to live on for ever, and never see the Pit.  10.  Yea, he shall see that even the wise die, the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.  11.  Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own.  

   12.  Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish.  13.  This is the fate of those who have foolish confidence, the end of those who are pleased with their portion.  Selah 

   14.  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.  15.  But Elohim will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.  Selah 

   16.  Be not afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.  17.  For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.  18.  Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy, and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself,  19.  he will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never more see the light. 

   20.  Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish. (A Psalm of Asaph) 

Matthew 22:15.  Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle him in his talk. 16.  And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of Elohim truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men.  17.  Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  18.  But Yahshua, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?  19.  Show me the money for the tax." And they brought him a coin.  20.  And Yahshua said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"  21.  They said, "Caesar’s." Then he said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to Yahweh the things that are Yahweh’s."  22.  When they heard it, they marveled; and they left him and went away. 

Romans 1:18.  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.  19.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  20.  Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;  21.  for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.  22.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools,  23.  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.  24.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  25.  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped  and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. 

   26.  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural,  27.  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.  28.  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct.  29.  They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips,  30.  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  31.  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  32.  Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them. 

Revelation 13:11.  Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.  12.  It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.  13.  It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men;  14.  and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived;  15.  and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.  … 18.  This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. 

Pay Caesar

   "Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and G-d what belongs to G-d" (NJB).  (Or can the government make you do anything it wants?)  We note that the Herodians were among the crowd testing Yahshua regarding the Roman tax.  They backed Rome for Rome had put the Herods in power.  Yahshua asked whose picture was on the coin – of course, it was that of Caesar, the god of Rome and ruler of the world.  The head on that particular coin was probably Tiberius, who reigned that year.  Yahshua asked to see the coin, because he hadn’t perused many Roman coins – not because he was poor, but because of the commandment:

Exodus 20:4.  "You shall not make for yourself a graven image … you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I Yahweh your Elohim am a protective god….”

In the near future, all those who believed in the Son of Man would be put to the test on this commandment. 

   Turning to the Master of the Beasts, John the Revelator: he warned believers that the Second Beast, or Land Beast, “was allowed to give breath to the image of the [first] beast … [so that] the beast should even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain” (Revelation 13:15).

   In official Roman government letters between Pliny, the governor of Bithynia, and the emperor Trajan (about 112 AD), Pliny tells Trajan how he judged Christians.  If the accused Christian proved to be true, he was executed immediately.  But otherwise, Pliny tells Trajan what he requires:

[The persons accused] called upon the gods, and supplicated to your image (speaking of the image of the Emperor), which I caused to be brought … for that purpose, with frankincense and wine; they also cursed Christ; none of which things, it is said, can … Christians be compelled to do….  Others of them that were named in the libel said they were Christians, but presently denied it again; that indeed they had been Christians, but had ceased to be so … and one … said he had not been so twenty years. All these worshipped your image, and the images of our gods; these also cursed Christ.  {end quote}

After recanting, the accused was to look upon the image of the Beast, worship that image, worship other Roman gods, then curse Yahshua.  This isn’t unlike what Believers are called to do in some countries today. 

   As Yahshua explored the image on the coin in the palm of his hand, and thought in his forehead about the graven images commandment, he knew worship of the Beast become the law of the whole world.  When he said, “Render to Caesar,” he meant the tax, the coin and the image – for those things belonged to the Beast.  But what didn’t belong to the Beast was worship – for Yahweh wouldn’t share his throne with some unjust man. 

Deuteronomy 6:4,5.  "Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim is One; and you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” 

Don’t give Caesar what belongs to Yahweh and don’t give Yahweh the unclean and accursed thing![1]  (By the way, we needn’t be concerned about the images on our coins and bills.  None of these people pictured either claimed to be gods or are worshipped, as the images on the Roman coins were.)

Review

   Again we take up the subject of the Beast of Revelation that so many are scared of these days.  Today we’ll consider “the number of his name” and learn that the beast prophecies have been already fulfilled, freeing us up for joyful worship and discipleship. 

   I showed you before that there’re two Beasts in Revelation 13 – a Sea Beast and a Land Beast.  The Sea Beast is the Roman Empire of the first century, and its heads are eight emperors.   The two-horned Land Beast is so-called because it arises in the “land” of Israel.  Its horns are the generals of the legions of Rome, Vespasian and Titus, who soon would become emperors of a new line.  Vespasian and Titus, along with five legions, are by the imperial god Nero to put down the Jews in Palestine, for a revolt was stirred up therein as a result of James’ assassination; do you recall? 

   In a pincer movement, these legions surrounded Jerusalem, and Titus’ Tenth Legion burned city and temple, killing over a million Jews.  This came to pass exactly forty years – one biblical generation – after Yahshua prophesied that the temple would fall. 

Matthew 23:36.  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.  37.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  38.  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Yet Christians in that city were given unexpected amnesty, and left for the wilderness before the final blow.  It’s paradoxical that, while the Sea Beast massacred Christians for setting fire to Rome, the Land Beast made a path out of the fiery furnace of Jerusalem.

The Number of Its Name

   Now, as to the number of his name:

Revelation 13: 18.  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six. (KJV)

In our day, we use the Arabic numbering system – 1,2,3, etc.  The Arabic numerals 666 weren’t used by Greek, Roman or Jewish people then.  Certain, but not all, letters had numeric values in  their languages. 
   John tells us in Revelation 17:10 that one of eight emperors was ruling at the very time he was writing, so, when we look for the Beast in the number 666, we have to find somebody living in John’s day – not ours; so Ronald Wilson Reagan nor Bonnie Prince Charley qualify.  However, several Roman emperors from John’s long life do number their name at six hundred sixty-six, and especially one: Nero Caesar.  Look at the following numeric values in names (or look in the bulletin):

The Number of Nero

   The form an emperor’s name takes can be determined in the New Testament – Luke 2:1 “Caesar Augustus” (KaisaroV Augustou) and Acts 11:28 “Claudius Caesar” (Klaudiou KaisaroV - Byzantine).  As for “Nero Caesar,” the numbers of the letters of the name add up like this:

Greek:                          Kaisaros Neron                  K[20]αίσ[200]αρ[100]ο[70]ς[6]       Ν[50]ερ[100]ο[70]ν[50] = 666.

Hebrew:                      QSR NRWN                        Q[100]S[60]R[200]                             N[50]R[200]W[6]N[50] = 666.

Here are the variant readings for aficionados:

Latin: (using Hebrew equivalents[2])                   Q[100]S[60]R[200]                             N[50]R[200]W[6] = 616.

Greek:                          Kaisaros Gaius[3]                 K[20]αίσ[200]αρ[100]ο[70]ς[6]       G[10]aiuV[200] = 606.

   When we speak of “the” head of the Beast, we’re talking about primarily the fifth head, Nero Caesar, for the number of his name is 666, and several of Nero’s actions are described in the Revelation.  Nero as the face of the Beast is common knowledge among those with wisdom. 

   However, what isn’t commonly known is that three of the Beast’s heads were named “Nero,” including the second head, Tiberius Nero Caesar, who’s mentioned in Luke 3:1, and the fourth head, Claudius Nero Caesar, who’s mentioned in Acts 11:28.  Nero was a family name for Tiberius Caesar, the face on that coin in Yahshua’s hand – his kin who took the throne after him were Neros.  That gives us even more evidence that the mystery is history.

   By the way, the Beast Nero is also mentioned in the New Testament: in Philippians 4:22.  There Paul greets the believers in Nero’s household.  (How do we know this is Nero’s household?  See Philippians 4:18.  Epaphroditus, Nero’s secretary, came to Paul bearing gifts from Rome.)  Could Paul have suspected then that Nero would be the author of his martyrdom less than a decade later?

What Was Nero Like?

   Whether you understand the Beast to be a footnote in history or to be an icon of the future, it’s hard to deny that the Revelator is talking about the god Nero Caesar when he says of the Beast:

Revelation 13:7.  It was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, 8. and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 

However, if the Beast is coming again, as many believe today, then the Revelator has “pointed a finger” to what the future Beast will be like when he identifies Nero.  

   Most prophecy “experts” today tell us that a Revived Roman Empire has arising in the likeness of the old in the disguise of the European Union, and that a Nero- or Hitler-like dictator will take over Europe, its Empire and the world monetary system.  No one will be able to buy or sell in the future unless they worship this future Beast and have its mark branded into their hand or forehead.  Did you know that the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels has within it 679 seats – each seat is numbered and assigned to a dignitary; all seats but one, that is.  Seat 666 has always been vacant, reporters say.  This makes inquiring minds wonder whether the folks at the EU are saving this seat for someone special to come along, or are just superstitious.  We hope they’re just superstitious! 

   But if not, we talked a little one night here and decided it would be important to explore a sketch of Nero’s life so we’d be able to recognize end-times Beasts, from a biblical perspective.

Nero’s Life was XXX Rated

   His mother Antonia pushed Nero into power at the age of sixteen in 54 AD and ruled fourteen years.  Nero was married to his cousin Octavia as a political union.  One of Nero’s first acts was to poison his rival and cousin Britannicus.  Nero was quite an entertainer.  He sent his mother out on the river in a booby-trapped boat while he and his friends, with glee, watched her sink.  He liked to entertain the common people in the city at night.  His favorite pastime was mugging them in the wee hours after spending the evening in taverns and brothels, seeking victims. 

   He married a second time – a hulking man-slave named Pythagoras that he met in a tavern.  Then he fell in love with his best friend’s wife, Poppaea, an extremely talented woman who some claim was a Christian.[4]  Nero sent her husband off, then had his wife Octavia beheaded, and presented with her head to Poppea as a wedding present.  Poppea didn’t last long.  In a fit of temper, Nero kicked his pregnant wife to death.  Soon he missed this talented woman, but he found a boy (Sporus) that resembled her, and married the boy.

   Surely St. Paul referred to Nero’s ilk when penning the following words in his letter to the Romans during Nero’s reign (Romans written 54 – 58):

Romans 1:28. God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct.  29.  They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips,  30.  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  31.  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  32.  Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

Nero Was a Hollywood Guy

   Nero also fancied himself an artist, dramatist and musician – he did his first public concert at the age of 26 in Naples.  Immediately after the performance, an earthquake destroyed the theater.  He played a one-man show for the Roman citizenry, commanding the army to attend and some to help him with props.  The people had never seen a ruler with such lack of restraint, morality and indecency.  The Senate was shocked as he Nero toured Greece in acting contest, winning prize after prize by bribery.  When Nero performed, no one dared leave – and sometimes his performances lasted all day.  Women feigned death to get out; one general was exiled for falling asleep.  He was also a gladiator – the most successful that ever lived.  He never lost a match; he killed all his opponents.      

   In the political realm, Nero was a paranoid maniac, and probably for good reason.  Revenues were greatly stretched and taxes were increase, while treason trials led many governors and senators to exile, suicide or execution.  The Praetorian Guard was implicated in a plot to assassinate him, which led to a witch-hunt that brought down many more influential rulers.  His fears drove him insane.

Nero Was an Innovator 

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” –W. B. Yeats

   In his insanity, Nero received a new vision for Rome build around a House of Gold[5] in which he’d live.  One witness wrote, “One house [was to take up] the whole city of Rome”(Liber de Spectaculis 2.4).  Since room was the issue, and Rome smelled terrible, he had Rome burned to make room for his house, and thousands perished in fires throughout the city.  This is what John is meaning when he writes:

Revelation 17:18.  “And the woman [harlot] that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth"  (that is, Rome).

Revelation 17:16.  “The beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.”   

While he watched “the woman” burn from the palace, Nero sang a tragic song of his own composition he called “The Sack of Ilium.”  He blamed the fire and the thousands who died in it upon the Christians, which set off the first of many great persecutions throughout the provinces.  Peter and Paul lost their lives in these horrible times – Christians were tortured and killed by the cruelest means imaginable.  This is what John means when he writes:

Revelation 17: 6.  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marveled greatly.  

   Nero also sent five legions of the Roman Army to destroy Israel, the destruction and burning of Jerusalem was the main topic of the last installment.  Yet who could argue with him – he who was a god – he who had his face on the coin? 

Revelation 13:4.  Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?" 

In March of 68 came the revolt of the army generals; Nero’s support had finally dwindled to nothing.  With enemies closing in on every side, the god Nero, only 30 years old, stabbed himself in the head.  Self-pitying to the end, his final words were, “What an artist the world is losing!” 

   John writes of this, too,

Revelation 13:3.  One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder.  

   General Vespasian was called back to Rome from Jerusalem to “heal the mortal head wound” by succeeding the man whose name would ever be marked with a number, 666; that man, Lucius Domitus Ahenobarbus Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Drusus Germanicus, the Pontifex Maximus, the Imperator, the Pater Patriae.     Nero was the most powerful person on earth; he could have done immense good.  But like some of societies leaders today, he decided to imitate the Hollywood crowd, its constant desire for attention, its limitless perversity.

Healing Embrace

   By pointing out Nero, John’s teaching us what to look for in a BEAST – a world ruler of such great power, hatred of the good and perversity – an accuser and annihilator of all sacred things and holy people – a suspicious wholesale annihilator.  We’ve know of many Beasts; but none has been more like Nero than Saddam Hussein and no people know better of Beastly actions than those who suffered under his reign.  But now, both Nero and Saddam are done, and the angels of reconciliation and cleansing seem now to be sounding their trumpets in the wake.

   Did you see the State of the Union address Tuesday (February 1^st, 2005)?  If so you witnessed a wonderful symbol of reconciliation and cleansing.  President Bush introduced a young Iraqi voter to the nation, Safia Taleb-Al-Suhail. Her father was murdered by Saddam’s intelligence service.  Safia held up her purple index finger to show the world via satellite that she’d overcome her fear of a Beast to vote last Sunday in Iraq.  She received a long, standing ovation.

   When Safia took her seat, few could have foretold what was about to unfold.  President Bush introduced Bill and Janet Norwood.  Their son Byron was killed by sniper fire in Falluja last November.   There’s no greater loss than the death of a child, especially by violence.  Janet’s eyes revealed this truth.  Again, all stood to applaud the Norwoods.  Applauding the tragedy seemed so superficial and inappropriate; but then it happened.

   The Iraqi girl Safia, who’d never met Janet Norwood until taking her seat, turned and embraced the bereaved mother.  Despite the thunderous applause, it was as though they were the only two people in the world.  Certainly they understood more deeply than any of us could; one losing a son, the other a father, to the hope that Iraq’s future will justify such unthinkable sacrifice.

   Such notable moments discovered in the shadow of the Beast give us pause – and hope for our land and for our world.  Caesar’s coin and image, wherever he may reign and be worshipped, will be cast into smelting fire on a soon someday (Revelation 20:10), “and Yahweh shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; for there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

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   The Nobel Laureate poet William Butler Yeats had his own vision of the Second coming of the Beast, which he made famous in a well-known poem of the same name:

The Second Coming
The Poem by William Butler Yeats:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming!  Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all around it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

(By using this poem I am in no way espousing the philosophy or religion of Yeats.)

   Shall we not continually pray with the Psalm singer,

Psalm 49:20.  Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish.

Jackson Snyder (801) 605-1715  Vero Beach, FL