ANTICHRIST'S IDENTITY HAS ALREADY BEEN REVEALED IN REVELATION 17!
𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝟏𝟕:𝟗b, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏, 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐚𝐲-𝐑𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞
"… and they are seven kings [past Roman Emperors] (10) Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he is come, he must remain a short time. (11) And the beast which was and is not: the same also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction."
𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏, 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠 Catholic 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞
"At sila’y pitong hari [past Roman Emperors]; ang lima ay nanga buwal, ang isa’y narito, ang isa ay hindi pa dumarating; at pagdating niya ay dapat magtagal na sangdaling panahon. (11) At ang hayop na naging siya, at wala na, ay siya ring ikawalo at siya’y sa pito at siya’y patungo sa kapahamakan.
𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏, 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞
"And there are seven kings [past Roman Emperors]: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. (11) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
Please note in verse 10..."And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is."
The words "𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬" means that one of the seven kings was living in the same time that Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos. The king who was living at that time was the Roman Emperor Domitian. -- It was Domitian who exiled Apostle John to the Isle of Patmos in around 94 AD. according to following quote...
[BEGIN QUOTE} - During the Roman period, Patmos was known as part of the Sporades islands, a group of remote islands used for exiling (banishing) people that were somehow considered threats to the Roman Empire.
Late in the first century, the Apostle John was living in Ephesus preaching the Gospel, teaching the Scriptures, and helping lead the church. Historians also maintain that he wrote his Gospel and three epistles in Ephesus, and was pretty outspoken against pagan worship there. This didn’t sit well with the Roman Emperor Domitian. Roman historians such as Pliny described Domitian as a violent madman who persecuted Christians. Domitian was also a believer in prophetic omens, and he was one of the few emperors who insisted on calling himself a god during his reign.
In about 86 AD, a temple to Domitian was built in Ephesus. At the same time, the people of Ephesus were forced to worship and make sacrifices to Domitian, practices that would have certainly been denounced by John. John’s opposition to emperor worship, in addition to his continued preaching of the Gospel, ultimately reached the ear of Domitian and prompted him to take action. In 94 AD, the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Domitian, the elderly John the Apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos. [END QUOTE]
In view of the fact that a '𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫' was king (ruler) over the entire Roman Empire during the time Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation, we know that the "KINGS" to whom Apostle John is giving reference to in Revelation 7:10-11, are all "ROMAN EMPERORS" ... five are fallen [dead], one is, [Domitian] one is yet to come and one of the seven is the Antichrist.
Many Bible expositors have 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 identified the "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬" in Revelation 17:10-11 as "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬" which is not possible for two reasons . . .(1) Apostle John uses the pronoun "𝐇𝐄" three different times --twice in verse 10 and once in verse 11 ... "𝐇𝐄" can not be a "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦", it has to be interpreted as a person...a "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠". (2) In Revelation 17:10, Apostle John uses the Greek word ‘𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐬’ 𝐟𝐨𝐫 "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠"... and not the Greek word ‘𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐚’ 𝐟𝐨𝐫 "𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦".
The following is a list of TWELVE ROMAN EMPERORS who lived during the First Century AD ...
Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD)
Tiberius (14 AD – 37 AD)
Caligula (37 – 41)
Claudius (41 – 54)
Nero (54 – 68)
Galba (68 – 69)
Otho (68 – 69)
Vitellius (68 – 69)
Vespasian (69 – 79)
Titus (79 – 81)
Domitian (81 – 96)
Nerva (96 – 98)
In Revelation 17:10. Apostle John reveals that of these 12 Roman Emperors ..."five are fallen". -- The following quotes help to make clear the Greek word for "fallen" used by Apostle John in Revelation 17:10 . . .
[BEGIN QUOTE] - First, we need to scrutinize the Greek word translated “fallen” in Revelation 17:10. The Greek word is “pipto”. In the broadest sense it means to perish, to come to an end, to cease. But it also conveys a more specific meaning; that of being thrust down, to be removed from power by death (at the hand of another). In the immediate context of Revelation 17:10, the angel could certainly have been referring to five kings who had been killed (removed or toppled from power) by someone else, as opposed to a natural death. [END QUOTE] 1
[BEGIN QUOTE] - Pipto - pip'-to1. to be thrust down. To be 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 [END QUOTE] 2
So, let us look now at how many of the twelve listed Roman Emperors have “died at the hands of another person”. . .
Augustus Natural Death
Tiberius Natural Death
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
𝐍𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
Otho Suicide Death
Vitellius 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
Vespasian Natural Death
Titus Natural Death
Domitian Alive when Apostle John was alive in Patmos
Nerva A brief two-year reign 3
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 “𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍” 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏...
Caligula: Dead - Assassinated by the Praetorian Guard.
Claudius: Dead - Murdered by his wife, Agrippina.
Nero: Dead - Killed by his servant. History clearly shows he couldn’t go through with killing himself so his servant, Epaphroditus, struck the fatal blows.
Gaba: Dead - Murdered in favor of Otho assuming the throne.
Vitellius: Dead - Assassinated by Roman soldiers. 4
Now please note again in Revelation 17:11…”𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡 [Antichrist], 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧...
What is this verse of Scripture (17:11) saying to us? . . .
It is saying one of the five dead Roman Emperors, up to the time of Emperor Domitian in Apostle John’s time, is “the beast”, (the Antichrist). -- It is saying that when he (one of the five dead emperors) is revived back to life, and rises out of the Abyss, that he will become the eighth of the seven because he will resume his reign that he had before he died. So, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 of the above five dead Emperors listed above is the “beast” (the Antichrist).
So how do we determine which one of the five is him? … 𝗪𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬) 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 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.”
Now think about that verse of Scripture for a moment. If God didn’t want us to know the identity of Antichrist, He would have never allowed the angel to reveal to Apostle John the secret to identifying him in Revelation 13:18. — Nor, would he have allowed Apostle John to write those words in Revelation 13:18 into the Book of Revelation.
The following quote explains the use of Hebrew Gematria (numbering a name by Hebrew letters) to determine the identity of Antichrist among the five Roman Emperors …
[BEGIN QUOTE] – Gematria is an interpretive method that assigns numerical value to letters, words, and phrases. Most of us are unfamiliar with this method since we have a separate alphabet and numbering system.When trying to match up “six hundred and sixty-six” with a known historical figure, we need more than a plausible candidate; we need a relevant candidate.
The first 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” (𝟷𝟹:𝟷𝟾). Since Revelation was written to a first-century audience we should expect some first-century readers to have been able to calculate the number with relative ease and understand the result. They would have had few candidates from which to choose. -- It’s unlikely that this number of a man identifies someone outside their time of reference.
The same is true of the rest of the book. Since the book of Revelation is written in a Hebrew context by a Jew with numerous allusions to the Old Testament, we should expect the solution to deciphering the meaning of six hundred and sixty-six to be Hebraic. -- “The reason clearly is that, while [John] writes in Greek, he thinks in Hebrew, and the thought has naturally affected the vehicle of expression.
”So what name is behind the cryptic 666?
When Nero Caesar’s name is transliterated into Hebrew, which a first-century Jew would probably have done immediately, he would have gotten Neron Kesar or simply nrwn qsr, since Hebrew has no letters to represent vowels. (The w represents a long “o” sound and the q represents the “k” sound in Hebrew.) “It has been documented by archaeological finds that a first century Hebrew spelling of Nero’s name provides us with precisely the value of 666.
Jastrow’s lexicon of the Talmud contains this very spelling.” When we take the letters of Nero’s name (Neron Kesar – nrwn qsr) and spell them in Hebrew, we get the following numeric values: n = 50, r = 200, w = 6, n = 50, q = 100, s = 60, r = 200. Put together, the sum is 666.
Every Jewish reader, of course, saw that the Beast was a symbol of Nero. And both Jews and Christians regarded Nero as also having close affinities with the serpent or dragon . . . The Apostle writing as a Hebrew, was evidently thinking as a Hebrew . . . Accordingly, the Jewish Christian would have tried the name as he thought of the name—that is in Hebrew letters. And the moment that he did this the secret stood revealed. No Jew ever thought of Nero except as “Neron Kesar.”
There’s something else to consider. If the Greek word for beast (θηρίον = תריון) is translated “into Hebrew consonants, the numerical value comes out to 666. This appears to be what John means when he mentions in 13:18 ‘the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.’” So not only does Nero Caesar add up to 666 when transliterated into Hebrew letters, but the Hebrew transliteration of the Greek word for “beast” also comes to 666. [END QUOTE] 5
None of the other names in the five dead emperors list above will add up to “six hundred sixty-six”...
So, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 coming 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 none other than the dead Roman 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫 ...“𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐎” !
END NOTES
[1] DRIVE THRU HISTORY ADVENTURES, “John Exiled to Patmos”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web:https://drivethruhistoryadventures.com/john-exiled-to-patmos/
[2] EYE OF PROPHECY . . .WATCH AND WAIT (Posted by Gary Bowers), “Exposing Antichrist’s Identity … More Compelling Evidence (Part II)”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web:https://eyeofprophecy.com/2017/03/18/disclosing-antichrists-identity-more-compelling-evidence-part-ii/
[3] BIBLE STUDY TOOLS, “New Testament Greek Lexicon - NAS”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web: https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/pipto.html
[4] Ibid[5] EYE OF PROPHECY…WATCH AND WAIT (Posted by Gary Bowers), “Exposing Antichrist’s Identity … More Compelling Evidence (Part II)”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web:https://eyeofprophecy.com/2017/03/18/disclosing-antichrists-identity-more-compelling-evidence-part-ii/
[5] THE AMERICAN VISION, “Calculating the Number of the Beast”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web: https://americanvision.org/10369/calculating-the-number-of-the-beast/