G. Seventh Vision: The Beast from the Earth (Rev 13:11-18).
Revelation 13:11
KJV
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
11. The first beast came from the sea, the second came out of the earth. This may be a survival of a tradition preserved in II Baruch 29:4 and II Esdras 6:49-52 of two beast, one, Leviathan, from the sea, and the other, Behemoth, from the earth. He may be the same beast that ascended from the "bottomless pit" to persecute the two heavenly witnesses. Not only is ha a "false prophet." as he is called in 16:13; 19:20 and 20:10, but he is another representation of the Antichrist, or more specifically, of the pseudo Christ. This dual character may be a reflection of the tradition in the Marcan "little apocalypse": "False Christ and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders to lead many astray, if possible, the elect (Mark 13:22). In his deceptive impersonation of the Christ - but one that should not mislead the discerning - he had two horns like a lamb; but despite his Christlike appearance, he was actually satanic, since he spoke like a dragon. The procession of two horns may have been suggested by the danielic ram with two horns (Dan. 8:8) . A different but quite popular description of the Antichrist and false prophet is given in the Apocalypse of Pseudo-John 7: "The appearance of his face is dusky; the hairs of his head are sharp, like darts,: his eyebrows are like a wild beast's; his right eye like the star that rises in the morning and the other like a lion's; his mouth about one cubit long, ; his teeth span long; his fingers like scythes; the print of his feet two spans; an on his face an inscription, Antichrist."
Revelation 13:12
KJV
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
12. Invested with the authority of the first beast, he also acts as a priest of the imperial cult, causing all people to worship the first beast, the one whose fatal wound was now healed. The part is equal to the hole: the single head representing Nero redivivus now becomes the symbol for the entire line of Caesars who are worshipped as gods. As a priest, the second beast symbolizes the priesthood of the imperial cultus which organized and supervised the worship of emperor Gods.
Revelation 13:13-14
KJV
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
13-14 As predicted in Mark 13:22, this false Christ deceives people by working miracles. Similarly, in other early Christian sources he would be a miracle worker (cf II Thess. 2:9-10; Did 16:4?; Ascension of Isaiah 4:4-5). This belief that the false prophet, or pseudo-Christ was to be a worker of miracles may have been an apocalyptic reinterpretation of Deut. 13:1-3 which is, in effect, a warning about the false prophets who by their signs and wonders would entice people to worship other gods than Yahweh. this is precisely the case here, for the beast deludes people so that at his bidding they make an image of the first beast, which was wounded by the sword and lived. This is a derisive parody of the description of the slain lamb who died and yet lives evermore (1:18, 2;8) . In the contemporaneous account in the Ascension of Isaiah 4:6-11, Beliar, the Neronic Antichrist, will set up images of himself in every city, and the people of the world will believe in him and sacrifice to him, saying he is god. A considerable number of Christians, even, will turn aside and worship him.
Revelation 13:15
KJV
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
15. Among the miracles attributed to the false Christ is that of giving life to the image of the first beast, enabling it to speak. This may be an allusion to some priestly deception involving ventriloquism; more likely it is a reference to the fact that the image is that of a human being, a living person. Invested as he is with imperial power, the second beast causes all who do not worship the first beast to be slain. This, of course, was the crux of the entire situations for the Christians: there were but two alternatives, one was to deny Christ and worship the emperor, the other was to confess Christ and refuse to worship the ruler. The first course led to temporal safety and security but to eternal damnation and punishment; the second led to persecution by the state and to death, but to a triumphant death and glorious immortality.
Revelation 13:16-17
KJV
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
16-17a. We have seen that the faithful, those designated to become martyrs, were symbolically sealed on there foreheads (7:3) . Quite probably as a counterpart to this act of the sealing of the faithful, John writes that the beast causes all classes of mankind to be marked on the right hand or the forehead. those who do not have this mark (xapayua), the technical term for the imperial stamp on official documents, would not be able to buy or sell, to engage in business. Some think of it a s a visible mark, such as the ivy-leaved symbol of Dionysus, which Ptolemy Philopater I is said to have had placed on those Jews who refused to sacrifice to a pagan deity. (III Macc. 2:29) . More probably it was as invisible as the seal placed on the faithful. We are reminded again of the parallel in Pss. Sol. 15:8-10 where the mark of God is placed on the righteous so that they might be saved, while the mark of destruction is placed on the wicked so that they might inherent destruction and darkness. Accordingly, in revelation those who have the mark of the beast will be destroyed in the last days (19:20) .
It is also unlikely that there was an official ban to prevent Christians from engaging in business. that there was an unofficial social boycott, however, in numerous instances is quite probable; e.g. the letter from the church at Lyons, written after a persecution in A.D. 177 states that the devil "endeavored in every manner to practice and exercise his servants against the servants of God, not only shutting us out of houses and baths and markets, but forbidding us to be seen in any place whatever. (Eusebius Church History V. 1. 5).
Revelation 13:17-18
KJV
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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.
17b-18. Although the mark was invisible, John conceived of it as being the name of the beast or the number of it's name. This is an introduction to one of the most celebrated and controversial symbols in revelation, the number six hundred and sixty six, as it is given in most text including the third century Chester Beatty Papyrus p47. However, a variant number, 616, found in the fifth-century Codex C (Ephraemi) , was known to Irenaeus, who wrote near the end of the second century. The verse in which it is found, but one a of a total of more than 400 in Revelation, has been given far more attention in popular thinking than it deserves. Indeed for many people Revelation is chiefly thought of as the book containing this mysterious number. Unfortunately, John intended it to be something of an enigma; as he says, it calls for wisdom, and only he who has understanding can discover it's significance.
In contrast to our modern usage, neither the Hebrews, nor the Greeks had special numerical symbols; instead they used the letters of the alphabet as numbers. Accordingly, following the clue of 17b, the number of its name, 666, has generally been considered a cipher which can be resolved into letters spelling a name. An example of this is seen in the Sibylline Oracles 1:324 ff., where by equating letters and number, Ιησούς (Jesus) equals 888 as follows: I(10)+H(8)Σ(200)+ O(70)+Y(400)+Σ (200) =888.
(Question marks from this point forward point to words I wasn't able to included due to their being Greek? Latin? I just couldn't get their equivalents to included.)
It is thought that the cipher 66^ was formed in an identical manner. But what name lies behind it? According to John it is a human number (RSV) , or the number of a man (KJV) , which may mean that the name is personal and historical. This, however is not certain since in apocalypticism human beings often symbolize angels, just as animals symbolize human beings. But on the assumption that the name is personal, since the number is that of the beast symbolizing the imperial line, it should be the name or title of an emperor. This rules out titles like (? i.e., The Roman Empire) and teitav (Titan) in Greek, or the Hebrew equivalent of primitive Chaos (tiamat; a proposal of Gunkel) . The search being narrowed to an emperor, the notorious (?, Gaius Caesar) has been proposed. The letters of his name do add up to 616, the variant noted by Irenaeus, but this fails to account for the much better attested 666.
The connection of the beast with Nero redivivus has led others to find the solution in his name. This may be done by transliterating the Greek ? (Neron Caesar) into the Hebrew letters and giving them their numerical equitant in the following manner: (200) ? = (60)? = (100)? + (50)?+ (6)?+(200)?+(50)? These sums, when added up total 666. Furthermore if the proper name is written without the final "n", according to the Latin form the sum is 616, the variant reading already noted.
If this identification is correct, it fits very well into the practically certain belief that the beast is closely related to the satanic Nero, returned to life. It quite fittingly bears his name, just as the scarlet woman in 17:3-5 quite properly has the name Babylon (symbolizing Rome) on her forehead. Furthermore as Nero redivivus, the Antichrist is compared and contrasted with Christ; thus the number 666 may be compared and contrasted with his number, 888.
Lohmerer in his commentary proposes a wholly different solution (Die Offenbarung des Johannes (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1926; "Handbuch zum Nueen Testament"), pp. 115-116) . He states that according to Pythagorean numerology, 666 is a so-called triangular number, being the sum of the numbers 1 through 36 inclusive; further, 36 itself is the sum of the numbers 1-8. Accordingly 666 is resolved into 8, a number which has special significance in 17:11., "as for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition." Accordingly so Lohmeyer observes, the number 8 designates the fearful, demonic Antichrist whose end is at hand. The number 666, then is a human number which is a cipher for the demonic number 8. Thus by coincidence Lohmeyer arrives at practically the same conclusion; the unbar is that of the antichrist who in 17:11 is also Nero redivivus.
With the appearance of these two beast in ch. 13, the leading characters of the apocalyptic drama have now come on the stage, save for the scarlet woman, the bride of Christ, and Gog and Magog, who make their entrance later. On the one side, the evil side, are Satan, the beast representing the demonic Roman Emperors and the Antichrist, the Angels of Satan, the pagans who are generally grouped as enemies and persecutors of the Christians, as well as Jews and apostate Christians, who are also on Satan's side. On the other, the good side, are God, Christ, the archangels, and angels, the two heavenly witnesses, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, and the faithful Christians, especially the martyrs. The forces of Satan and god are in battle array; the two sides of evil and good are about evenly balanced; and the cosmic war is reaching it's dramatic and inevitable conclusion. The struggle will be a desperate one to determine whether righteousness or evil is to rule. Through it all however, the reader is made conscious of the authors belief that God is more powerful than Satan, indeed, that he is all-powerful; and he is assured that despite temporary evidences to the contrary, God will overcome Satan and bring his evil reign to an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment