Lecture Fourteen

Disclaimer:

I will type the notes as presented to me.
Again let me stress that what follows are NOT my words.
I will not add my thoughts in the post.
Comments allowed for friendly discussion and edifying.

II Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto G-D, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

I Thessalonians 5:11
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

And for the record no one is ruling out dual fulfillment.







1. Who is the anti-christ? This has for centuries been a chief thought in the minds of Believers who were still living during this turbulent first century crisis. Fundamentalist preachers have labeled various candidates from hitler to kissinger as the anti-christ figure. As crazy as it may appear to those understanding apocalyptic literature, even Ronald Wilson Reagan was put in this lineup because there are 6 letters in his first, middle, and last name totaling 666. Some even supposed John F. Kennedy to be the anti-christ because he was a roman catholic and the fact that certain references in the Revelation spoke of one who had a fatal head wound.

2. As we take a close look at the Jewish imagery of the Book of Revelation concerning the anti-christ figure we see that according to Revelation 17:7-10 there are seven heads (of the beast) which are seven hills on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings of which five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; and when he does come, he will only last a short while. These seven kings have nothing to do with modern times; they represent the seven emperors of rome, the city situated on seven hills. The five kings who have fallen, as any history student knows, are the first five roman emperors: julius caesar, augustus caesar, tiberius caesar, gaius caligula caesar, and claudius caesar.

3. The reference to one is refers to the sixth emperor, nero caesar, giving us the understanding of when the Book of Revelation was written. His reign existed from 54-68 AD. The words: 'one is not yet come' is a reference to galba, who as the apostle John prophecies: 'must remain for a little while...' Actually, he only reigns from 68-69 AD before being assassinated and replaced by otho.

4. Revelation 17:11 says: 'The beast who once was and now is not, is an eighth king who belongs to the other seven and who is going to destruction...' We understand this by examining the life of otho who commits suicide, when the legions of germany revolt and elect a general to be emperor. With these dramatic events the line of the caesars come to a violent end and the empire itself is threatened. Next, we see the Book of Revelation reporting that: 'The beast which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life... will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come' (Rev 17:8). Although this wording is confusing to modern readers, it was a popular wording in the ancient Jewish religious culture of the first century. It was one of the most important parts of the Jewish liturgy, which is still chanted in synagogues today at the conclusion of every service. Note the words: 'He was, and is, and is to come in glory...' Remember, the Jews often used a play on and reversal of words as well as names to discredit those opposing G-D. Just as the so called 'mark of the beast' is a reverse perversion of the practice of wearing phylacteries on the forehead and hands, so this prophetic statement about nero is a reverse perversion of the mainstream Jewish liturgy concerning G-D. Whereas YHWH, the G-D of Israel was, and is , and is to come... Nero, the anti-god or anti-christ, in committing suicide became the 'was, now is not, and yet will come.' Even the apocalyptic Dead Sea Scrolls used this same perversion of the wording to symbolize the romans, who they called the kittim, when they wrote: 'They lean on that which is not and shall not be' (The War Scroll, col. XVII).

5. Nero fulfilled the wording: 'now is not, and yet will come' because of a rumor which had immediately spread that nero had actually not committed suicide, but had in fact escaped, only to return to power the same day. In a second way nero fulfilled the words: 'and yet will come' when his rule and the whole line of claudian caesars were finally ended with his death and it appeared there would be civil war and the entire roman empire would fall, a reincarnated dynasty or a second hope came alive with vespasian succeeding him and beginning a new branch of the same roman empire known as the flavian dynasty. The emperorship was resurrected or saved by the flavian dynasty. This also explains the phrase: 'One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed' (Rev 13:3). Nero's fatal head wound, that appeared would be not only the end of the claudian emperors, but the entire imperial rome, was healed, saved, resurrected, or reincarnated in the form of the new dynasty of the flavians. Josephus, the first century historian who was so closely affiliated to this new dynasty that he took the name flavius Josephus writes: 'Accordingly, vespasian's troops declared him emperor, and urged him to save the endangered empire... vespasian finally yielded.'





Go to lecture XIII or XV