The Identity of the Beast

On August 7^th we entered a blog with an introduction of a book by Kenneth L. Gentry, "The Beast of Revelation".  As a follow-up I want to share some of the first chapter of that book with you.  I stated before that many wannabe "prophets" of the postmodern church are actually false prophets who have every opportunity to know the truth which is clearly stated in the Word of God relevant to their stated falsehoods.  The modus operandi used by these individuals is to invent their own fictional world view of how they would personally prefer that the world would end.  They then proceed to develop out of whole cloth doctrines and philosophies to validate their biased views.  Given the fact that the truth is so clearly stated to the contrary of their ideas and predictions, compels me to believe that they are so driven by greed and personal pride, that they willfully blind themselves and charge ahead with no concern for the damage to the elect of the Kingdom.  One of the most egregious acts of willful ignorance that is constantly repeated by this group of individuals is their notion of who is the Beast of Revelation.  The revealed word is clear, as Dr. Gentry so ably argues, in "The Beast of Revelation".  Yet, the self deluded blindly forge ahead and unfortunately bring many others along with them, as is illustrated in a dispensational work of the 1970s.  In this work we read a vain attempt to explain the number 666.

 "At all times Satan has had to have one or more Antichrist candidates waiting in the wings, lest the Rapture come suddenly and find him unprepared.  That is why so many malevolent world leaders have had names whose letters added up to 666 when combined in certain ways.  (Depending on which 666 formula is used, at any given moment there are several hundred thousand men in the world whose names add up to 666. It is from this large pool of candidates that Satan has traditionally chosen his ‘man of the moment'.)"  Raymond Schafer, After the Rapture (Santa Ana, CA: Vision House, 1977), p. 55.

Dr. Gentry uses a writing style for the presentation of his argument that is contrary to the normal order, such as leading the reader through a series of arguments that lead to the conclusion to be presented.  Gentry in this instance, states the answer and then develops his argument for the reader to consider as they move along from chapter to chapter.  I quote:

"Those readers who like to read the last pages of a book to discover the conclusion to the story will be disappointed in my approach.  In this very opening chapter I will identify the Beast.  I do this so that you might have his identity in mind as you consider the evidence as it is presented.  For those who expect the Beast to appear on the scene of history at any moment, there will also be a surprise.  The material in Revelation is quite clear:  The Beast has already made his appearance in history past.

"All students of Revelation are familiar with the ‘number of the Beast' (Rev. 13:18a), which is ‘the number of his name' (Rev. 13:17b).  That dreaded number is ‘666.' In that number is contained the specific identity of the Beast, an identity confirmed by a number of lines of additional evidences within Revelation.

Interpretive Principles

"Although I will deal specifically with the number of the Beast in a separate chapter, there are several principles for the interpretation of that number which we must keep in mind to govern our thinking.  As is evident from the history of the interpretation of 666, we certainly do need something to confine our thing to the realm of the reasonable!  The necessary, textually derived limiting principles are:

• 1. The name-number 666 must be ‘that of a man' (Rev. 13:18b). This excludes any interpretation that would involve demonic beings, philosophical ideas, political movements, or any other than an individual human person.
• 2. This man must be someone of an evil, idolatrous, and blasphemous nature. This is required in lifht of his character traits and evil activities outlined in Revelation 13, particularly verses 4-7.
• 3. He must also be someone possessing ‘great authority' (Rev. 13:2, 7). This certainly demands that he be a political figure, particularly in that upon his heads are ten diadems. These first three principles are fairly widely held among evangelical Revelation commentators. The two remaining ones are largely overlooked and are almost certainly the causes of a radical misidentification of the Beast and his mission. These will be simply listed and stated at this juncture. It will be left to later chapters to establish them.
• 4. The name-number must speak of one of John's contemporaries. This is due to the temporal expectation of John. The events of Revelation are to occur ‘soon'; John insists that ‘the time is at hand' (Rev. 1;1, 3, 19, 22:6ff). This principle alone will eliminate 99.9% of the suggestions by commentators.
• 5. The name must be that of someone relevant to the first century Christians in the seven churches to whom John wrote (Rev. 1:4, 11). He expected them to give heed to what he wrote (Rev. 1:3) and to calculate the Beast's number (Rev. 13:18). How could they have done so if the Beast were some shadowy figure far removed from their own situation?

The early establishment of Principles 4 and 5 is essential to the correct understanding of the identity of the Beast.  Consequently, we will deal with them at length in Chapter 2.

Introducing the Beast

"With these introductory considerations before us I will now state what I believe the Beast to be in regard to both his generic and his specific identity.  I will establish the generic identity in a little more detail at this juncture.  Then after only briefly identifying his specific, I will develop the proofs of his specific individual identity in the following chapters.

His Generic Identity

"The generic identity of the Beast is the ancient Roman Empire of the first century, under which Christ was crucified and during which John wrote.  According to Revelation 17:9, the seven heads of the Beast represent ‘seven mountains.'  The seven heads, then, seem clearly to specify a prominent geographical feature.  Perhaps no point is more obvious in Revelation than this one: It is Rome that is here symbolized by the seven mountains.  After all, Rome is the one city in history that has been distinguished by and recognized for its seven mountains.  The famous seven hills of Rome are the Palatine, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, and Capitoline hills.

"The Roman writers Suetonius and Plutarch make reference to the first century festival in Rome called Septimontium, i.e. the feast of the ‘the seven hilled city.'  Archaeologists have discovered the Coin of Vespasian (emperor A.D. 69-79) picturing the goddess Roma as a woman seated on seven hills.  The famed seven hills of Rome are mentioned time and again by ancient pagan writers such as Ovid, Claudian, Statius, Pliny, Virgil Horace, Propertius, Martial, and Ciscero.  The seven hills are mentioned by such Christian writers as Tertullian and Jerome, as well as in several of the Sibylline Oracles.

"This fact-that Rome was universally recognized as the city on seven hills-is widely recognized by evangelical commentators as having a bearing upon our passage.  The referent is virtually beyond doubt: Rome is alluded to in this vision of the seven-headed beast.  By everyone's dating, Revelation was written sometime during the period of the Roman Empire.

"Furthermore, both secular and ecclesiastical history record that the first imperial persecution of Christianity was begun in the seven-hilled city, Rome, by the emperor Nero Caesar in A.D. 64, John himself tells us that he wrote Revelation to seven historical churches in Asia Minor (Rev. 1:4, 11).  These churches existed in an age of great trouble (Rev. 1:9; 2:10; 3:10).  Moreover, John exhorted these churches to read, hear, and heed the book (Rev. 1:3; 2:7, 2:11, 17, 29: 3:6, 13, 22; 22:7).  The subject matter of Revelation was critical and relevant to these churches, for John spoke forcefully of the imminent occurrence of the events of Revelation (1:1, 3, 19; 3:10; 22:6ff).

"The matter of the relevancy of the referent in Revelation 17 to the original audience should be a paramount concern for the modern interpreter.  In light of the circumstances outlined above, is it at all likely that when John mentioned ‘the seven mountains' he was not speaking of the Roman Empire?  Put yourself in first century sandals:  Would you think John might be speaking of events occurring untold centuries past the collapse of the empire which was presently engaged in your persecution?  Would you suspect that he was not really relating a message about Imperial Rome?  Impossible!  John exhorted the people to read, hear, and heed the book.  He was speaking of the then existing Roman Empire, headquartered in the seven-hilled city of Rome.

His Specific Identity

 "But who is the Beast individually considered?  The Beast of Revelation in his personal incarnation is none other than Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, better known by his adoptive name, Nero Caesar.  He and he alone fits the bill as the specific or personal expression of the Beast.  This vile character fulfills all the requirements of the principles derived from the very text of Revelation.

"Excluding Julius Caesar, probably no other Roman emperor's name is as well known to the average Christian today as Nero's.  Yet, his large role in Revelation is virtually unknown among contemporary Christians.  Perhaps a brief history of Nero's tumultuous life would serve well in preparing the reader for the proofs of our identification, which will be given in Chapters 2-7."  Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry, The Beast of Revelation https://www.kennethgentry.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1

I firmly believe that most people who would read this blog are sincere honest people who do not make a habit of self-consciously deluding themselves with misinformation or as I have stated above, outright false prophecy.  Yet, it is without dispute that the majority of our current postmodern church believes the disinformation and the false prophecies popular among today's so called "Christian Book Authors."   I cannot name them all, but this terrible condition that persists and continues to grow in the Kingdom of God today, compels me to name at least some of the most egregious: Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.  To be fair to these three that I have named it is important to mention that this false doctrine and series of false prophets started as early as 1630.  Later I will blog with a few comments and references of the most noted publication that lists these early works.

One of the most notable asides of this group is that they all make money.  In the case of the three that I have identified, they all have made millions on their false eschatological literary works and continue to make more money every day.  I do not have any problem with making millions of dollars, but I do have a problem when it is so for those who teach others to sell all that they have, and to get ready for the imminent coming of Christ and lie repeatedly in the process.  Somehow that strikes me as grossly immoral at its best and deadly idolatrous at its worst.

I challenge my readers to do your own homework and read the evidence offered by the many honest, but not so popular scholars, who have dedicated years to searching only the truth of God's Word.  We are a weak church today and we have lost our way, most assuredly this deluge of misinformation and false prophesy have greatly attributed to this fact.  If you are personally moved by these facts and see the evil the Kingdom of Christ suffers because of such ignorance, prayerfully consider forwarding this blog site to others.  Get in contact with those whom I have introduced to you as honest scholars, be informed and free in your faith, not shackled by fear and misinformation.