14th Episode - The Antichrist: Seven Interpretations from Revelation 13:1-18

 In 1899, a U. S. Patent Office worker said, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” A memo from Western Union, predicted that “the telephone has too many shortcomings for useful communication.” As a child, I read a science magazine that claimed everyone would be flying around in air-cars and living in domed houses by the year 2000. 

Predictions about the future are mostly bad guesses. The only reliable source is the Bible; yet, men have often read into the Bible what is not there. That has really been the case when we consider what people have taught concerning the Beast and 666. In this chapter, we examine seven interpretations of 666. These will help you to clarify your approach to this greatly disputed passage. 

Transcript

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Hi, I'm Mark Roser. Welcome back to the Unsealed Book Podcast. We're gonna get into it today as we look at seven different interpretations to Revelation 13. That's the chapter with the 666, the beast, the Antichrist, the buying, the selling with a number, uh, the image, um, and the worship of that image. Well, predictions about the future uh can often be bad guesses. In 1899, a U.S. patent officer worker said, everything that can be invented has been invented. I also think of a memoir from Western Union that predicted the telephone has too many shortcomings for useful communication. As a child, I read science magazines that claimed everyone would be flying around in air cars and living in domed homes by the year 2000. Uh the Jetsons. Well, predictions about the uh the fulfillment of Revelation 13 are many and varied. Uh we do have the Bible, and we do want to look at what Scripture says. And last time we looked at the features of the two dragons, one from the sea and one from the earth. And we talked about their warfare as a two-prong approach to silencing the witnesses that were introduced in the earlier chapter, chapter 11. In chapter 12, the dragon cast out of heaven, making war now on the saints. So these seven interpretations of 666 become a more detailed uh uh interpretation by looking at things in history, starting with the praetorists who interpret Nero as the beast. Praetorists teach that John is dealing with past events in the first century. Caesar Nero of the Roman Empire is the Antichrist. And not only did he persecute the church, but he also commanded Vespasian to begin the siege of Jerusalem in 67 A.D. The Jews suffered so intensely that they saw Nero as the embodiment of evil. After he committed suicide by cutting his own throat, rumors persisted he wasn't dead, or if he were, he would revive to lead the Parthians against Rome and usher in the end of the world. So praeterists interpret the sea beast with seven heads as seven Roman emperors. The one with the mortal wound that heals is the myth regarding Nero. This interpretation places great emphasis on his name. Neron Caesar equals 666 in Aramaic letters. Also, the last N on Neron is not necessary. If it's omitted, the total is 616, which is the number given in a variant reading of Revelation chapter 13, verse 18. Well, add to this the praetor's claim that emperor worship was required by the Roman authorities to receive a certificate in order to buy and sell. Hence, all the elements of the prophecy are said to fit Nero. Well, we could go into the fact that Nero's name, totaling 666, is problematic because it requires us to calculate a Hebrew transliteration of a Greek form of a Latin name. We won't get into all that, but it's problematic. Yes, it takes into account the historical context of the writing in order to make John's message meaningful to the church of his day. But what about the rest of the church age? It makes Revelation's message ancient history. And God knows it's more than that. Yes, Nero may be an initial type of the beast. To make him a one-time fulfillment, though, is to take away from the book's prophetic message. After all, the Nero myth remained a mere myth. Therefore, those who believe that the Bible is without error, the praetorist position is unacceptable. Well, the futurists look for a coming global dictator. This is the second school of interpretation. The futurist. It's on the other end of the spectrum. It looks for something in the future. The futurists believe that revelation deals exclusively with events still in the future. The two beasts represent a coming one world government and ecumenical religion. The first beast is the emerging one world political system that's gaining strength. You know, maybe something like the United Nations, the integration of the world's educational systems and economies, the European Union, a revived Roman Empire, the City of Rome, new headquarters, the World Council of Churches, like a false prophet, with Babylon being its religious conglomerate. Well, a world government makes it possible for the Antichrist to assume control over global politics and all the economies of the world. The Antichrist, they say, is a specific individual, and 666 will be the numerical value of his name. Some say the Antichrist will recover from an assassination attempt, the mortal wound that heals, we read about last chapter. And then he sets himself up as the world's savior. Some have him proclaiming his deity at a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. And we'll tie this in with Paul's words to the church at Thessalonica later. But the false prophet promotes his claim and the world worships his image. Soon no one can buy or sell without his mark. Some say this all happens within a space of three and a half years, or seven years at the most. We'll talk about AI a little bit later, too. The futurist school, yes, it upholds Revelation's prophetic nature. It looks for a future fulfillment. That's good. But by limiting the message to seven final years of history, it puts John's entire prophecy off into the future. And it also takes everything literally. But by doing so, it fails to see the present manifestations of the beast. And what John said as early as the first century when he wrote, There are many antichrists. And he was wanting his readers not to be deceived. Well, it also, the futurist view, may be looking for what will never happen, as far as an individual man and microchips. It might not happen the way it's expected to happen. And if it doesn't happen, as it's mapped out, that won't be the first time the charts and the timelines have failed. For when have God's people ever articulated just how a Bible prophecy will be fulfilled? Well, anyway, the futurist view, it has its merits. And the Bible does predict the future, and Revelation is a prophetic book. But let's look at the other views, and you can choose which one you believe answers all the elements of Revelation 13. Well, there is the historical school, and it sees the papacy as the beast. According to this approach, John predicts specific events from Christ's ascension to his return, and the little horn of Daniel is the beast of Revelation. It rises up out of Daniel's fourth beast, which many interpret as Rome. And it promotes the Roman beast until it devours the whole earth, and its yoke is upon every nation. Has anyone yet fulfilled this prophecy? The historical school asks. He arises out of Rome and causes Rome to conquer the whole earth? Well, they point out that under the Caesars, Rome never conquered the whole earth. The beast that goes into perdition, they say, is the apostate church, manifested through the Roman Catholic Church, since it is through the little papal horn that this prophecy comes to fulfillment, they say. John says all the world worship the beast. The Caesars of the past had political kingdoms, but the kingdom of the beast, they say, would be a worldwide religious kingdom that requires man's worship. He will speak against the Most High, oppress his saints, and try to change the set times and laws. That's from Daniel. They claim Christian sects that keep the Sabbath claim that Rome changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. This would be the Seven-day Adventists who observe Saturday and see the rest of Christendom as apostate. And certainly more specifically, Roman Catholicism. And the persecution that Rome carried out against the saints for seasons. Well, since the Reformation, there's been an ongoing spiritual war between Mystery Babylon and the two church. Whether Rome is entirely responsible, that's another question. But the woman does sit on the Roman beast and is called Mystery Babylon. So the historical view describes Roman Catholicism as the mother of harlots. They assert that is a perfect name in portrayal for the false mother church at Rome. She possesses great wealth and power. Her tentacles reach into every nation. Church history is interpreted in light of Paul's prediction of a great falling away from the faith. The power of paganism, they say, after Constantine declared, Christianity, the state religion, that that power of paganism grafted itself upon the church vine. The ceremonies of the church grew. The life of faith was lost. It was by works now instead of by faith. And the organized church in the dark ages had very little left to distinguish her from old pagan superstition. Well, this approach was held by a number of the reformers without a Sabbath day link. Many who adapted this view took the 1260 days in Daniel as a day for a year in which the Papal Church dominated Christendom. They saw the sale of indulgences as Revelation's prediction of buying and selling, veneration of statues answered to image worship, the beast performing miracles would be the apparition of Mary and crying saints and various paranormal manifestations. And of course, the Pope being the vice regent or the vicar, the Son of God on earth. The title, the Pope, was viewed as a blasphemous claim against Christ. And some make his name equal 666. Well, the historical school interprets John's prophecy on a wider scale than the first century, and it doesn't limit it to the last seven years of history. The Reformers, however, limited the prophecy because of their intense conflict with Roman Catholicism. I would not limit it to Roman Catholicism, its doctrines and practices. Yes, they are rejected by the better part of Christendom. So where then is the beast now? Well, the symbolic approach, a fourth approach. We're going to look at seven. Bear with me. The symbolic approach sees no historical event or person in revelation. The symbolic approach views man as the beast. Yes, it's general principles, not specific one-time historical events. This great conflict between Christ's church and the devil's world are shown by means of apocalyptic vision. In a book full of symbols, why would you look for a literal person to come whose name equals 666? See, six falls short of seven, the number of perfection. Six has long been recognized, the symbolic school claims, as the number of man, destitute of God. Man falling short of seven, falling short of the glory of God. It represents the final state of fallen man and all his sinful pride. Man created on the sixth day. So here we have John saying, All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is of the world. So the two beasts stand for sinful man in his wicked world, both politically and religiously, under the control of the evil one. So man's day-to-day devotion, which he pays to this beastal system, amounts to worship. Men are deceived into thinking they'll have life if they gratify their cravings by seeking what the world offers, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Well, this mind of the beast produces thoughts, that's his image in their forehead, that are hostile to God, based on images of worldly success. And there are lying signs and wonders, since fallen man finds an outward form of life, pleasures, conveniences, higher standards of living. This mark of the beast is the antithesis to the seal of God. It's not physical, it's spiritual. It's the imprint of the beast's name, that is, his nature and character, as names represent. And every person bears this beastal nature until we're born anew, with Christ's nature, to bear the mark of God. Paul does say we were by nature children of wrath. We are to become, though, now partakers of the divine nature and to be conformed to the image of Christ. For we have bore the image of the earthly or beastal, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. So the symbolic will take all the teaching of the New Testament and spiritualize or take as symbolic everything that's said about these two beasts. The mark on the hand and the head stand for thinking and acting according to the ways of the world. The issue is not a tattoo on your forehead or a micro chip in your hand or some kind of implant. The challenge is not to be conformed to this world, to the image of this world. So the symbolic approach highlights spiritual realities. It makes the book relevant to the church throughout her history. For God's word should, when properly interpreted, speak to the saints of all time, presenting types and trends that transcend a one-time fulfillment. But the downside of the symbolic, however, is that it can lose sight of Revelation's prophetic nature, which is meant to confront the many types of the beast and false prophets that do appear among men at various times in histories. False Christs. Well, before enlarging on my view, let's review the images in the last chapter again. Satan empowers a complete number of beastly kingdoms, represented by seven heads. When an evil kingdom falls, another emerges to exercise the same power. That's the deadly wound. Satanic kingdoms assume God's prerogatives and persecute people. They are supported by apostate religions that promote their devotion. They perform supernatural signs and wonders. They set up idolatrous worship that marks all who buy into their law. And a symbolic number identifies the nature of the beast. So what do I understand 666 to represent? I see it as the number of man rather than amen. Mankind again was created on the sixth day. He labors for sixth days. As six falls short of seven, man's works continually fall short of God's glory. Jesus, on the other hand, fulfilled all righteousness, and his name in Greek equals eight eight eight. In the name Jesus, each digit is one more than seven, the complete number, whereas 666 yields the opposite phenomena, revealing man's absolute need for a redeemer. So I see 666 speaking volume, depicting man's character and condition, the name, the number and mark of the beast. I do not see them as physical features. They are symbols. His name reveals his character, his number, his activity, his mark of ownership. That doesn't mean that we're not seeing buying and selling with numbers. And we'll talk more about that. And the worship of images. Now we have images everywhere, not just on television or on uh desktops and laptops. We have them on our phone. So Adam and Eve sought to be like God, but ended up stamped with the dragon's rebellious nature. He promised you'd be like God's. So we see John teaching that mankind is not only lost, but bound to the dragon, revealing his character and his nature. So this image of buying and selling with his number and mark is very appropriate. The beast leaves his sinful mark on human hands and heads. This is the result of believing a lie that says a life consists of the things one possesses. But you cannot serve God and money, Jesus said. And Paul defined covetousness as idolatry. And John tells us covetousness equals worship. He says, little children, beware of idols. That is the state of the human race. Not only in so-called non-Christian lands, but everywhere and on an ongoing basis. It will only end when Christ returns. So in Revelation 7 brings us to the end, while six introduces judgment. The sixth seal, the six trumpet, the six-bull tell us the end is quickly approaching. So the core message of Revelation is that the time is short. We're at six. We're at the head being wounded and the seventh head. Jesus is coming soon. The harvest is at hand. The wheat and tares have grown to full stature. It's time to swing the sickle in and separate them. Since the number six points to the nearness of this end, putting three sixes together reveals sinful man. On the eve of the final judgment. And without God's redemption in Christ, mankind will share in the dragon's fate. Repentance and faith in Christ are the only way of escape. So the dragon manifests himself in these two beasts, false religion and evil government. They both usurp Jesus. The beast of evil empires has a complete number of seven heads. He can suffer a crushing blow like Rome did, only to raise his ugly head to make war on the saints another day in another form. He's like the proverbial cat with nine lives. We'll make it seven. So first century Rome represents one early form of how the beast operates in society and emerges from man's collective sin. More recently, as we mentioned in the last lesson, there would be everyone from Adolf Hitler to Mussolini to Mao to Stalin. Yes, that regime, though, the third right, proudly placed itself in the seat of God. Hitler attempted to redefine the Christian faith, replacing it with an ideology that suited his ends. He hoped to harness the church in the service of his new society. Well, he couldn't control certain church leaders, and they were treated like criminals. And Hitler's treatment of the Jewish people is a running economy, as we said, on the beast's deadly pursuit of the woman. But even Hitler could not exhaust Satan's evil acts. For neither of the two beasts are limited to one place or time in history. That's what we're saying. They are universal and continue and arise in different forms. Now I'll come back to this in a moment, but let me mention number six. More forecasters have seen Islam as the beast. With an ongoing global war on terror, Islam is now more likely to feature as the beast. Remember the attacks of September 11, 2001. Americans became aware of the intense hatred of Islamic extremists against the United States. A Newsweek article asked, why do they hate us? It stated bin Laden and his followers are not an isolated cult. They come out of a culture that reinforces their hostility, distrust, and hatred of the West and of America in particular, the Great Satan. To say that Al-Qaeda was a fringe group may be reassuring, but it is false. Well, that's from Newsweek. Islam's hatred of Israel and Christianity is neither a recent nor passing phenomenon. Those who see Islam as the fulfillment of the beast. It's an old hostility, goes back even before Abraham's son of promise, Isaac, and the son born after him, after the flesh, born, uh, I should say before him, after the flesh, Ishmael. The son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. So Isaac is born of grace by the Spirit, but Ishmael is born of the flesh and law. And so in seeing Islam as the fulfillment, it goes all the way back. And in the past 30 years, Arab-funded schools, as we saw in Gaza, have churned out tens of thousands of Muslims versed in the Quran who view the West as the great Satan. And Hollywood movies and Americans' foreign policy at times seems to reinforce their perception. So this awkward reality has led some in the West to dust off old essays and older prejudice, predicting a clash of civilization that will lead to Armageddon between the West and Islam. It's not the first clash. Remember, the Crusaders testify to the bloody clashes of the past. But more forecasters will therefore identify the beast as a revived Muslim empire to which all Islamic nations belong. And they give the seven following quick reasons to support Islam as the beast, looking at the specifics we've already said. Islam says no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. That's clearly antichrist. Christians believe that Mohammed is a false prophet, that Islam is the second major religion of the world, so it perfectly fits the false prophet Muhammad. The number 666 also fits Muhammad because he started Islam in the sixth century. And they say by 666 A.D. he had set up this antichrist religion. Well, Islam surrounds Israel, and God's focus is on the promised land. The Old Testament is full of prophecies concerning the nations around her. And these nations are Islamic. Revelation's beast has two horns. Islam has two main sects, Shunni and Shehite. So that's the second reason they say Islam is. But the Dome of the Rock becomes a third reason because it occupies the location of the ancient Jewish temple. Solomon's temple was located there, right there where the Dome of the Rock now sits. So these are the many reasons. Islamic extremists do behead infidels, a fifth reason, as the Bible predicts. The martyrs beheaded, the infidels, the Christian infidels put to death. And over a million in recent times. Most recently, the largest numbers in the Sudan in northern Africa. Well, Islam did make fire come down from heaven in the full view of men on 9-11. And we're seeing now Iran not only shooting missiles at Israel, but at its neighbors. Denies that Christ came in the flesh. And whoever does that, John says, is the is antichrist. Well, we could get into Sarah al that one should only buy and sell with those who keep the Quran. But that view, I think you've got a feel for it. And uh we could say more. But what will complete the oracle of the beast? Bear with me a little bit longer. Um I know this session, we're going to go into the 30-minute mark, but technology has become such a focus, AI. Um, and in popular films, technology um becomes a threat, a form of the beast, in a way that we even have people involved in AI warning us. Uh so there are many more possibilities to John's prophecy. The image of the beast may be wider and more subtle in our day than we think. Uh they set up an image that it could speak. And it makes me think now not only again of the one-eyed monster in our living room, the television set, but computers and desktops, uh, the laptops, the phone. Uh it's on, it's alive with color and sound. It is warm, it needs room to breathe, and it has enormous influence on our minds and activities. From the time we're born now. And a larger part of these transmissions, though, propagate a materialistic worldview that is anti-Christian. Technology and medicine are also producing miracle drugs. And they may promise very soon a way back to the tree of life, immortality, cyber sort of people, artificial hearts and lungs, rejuvenating cells, uh cloning. But they produce and will produce men acting like God. Yes, they can do fire from heaven to destroy life, but technology will also lead to man seeking immortality, being his own savior, taking the place of God. Well, the buying and selling of numbers, uh, with numbers, all goods, is now conducted uh just about throughout the world. We have the EAN, the Code International Technology, makes it possible to number not only every selling item, but every person on earth. And it can lead to a greater control of people. I mean, we have biotechnology recognizing a person even from behind them. And uh, the technology influence is likely in the future to dominate every facet of life. Well, it can be used for good, but we know the beast would have man adore his own image, worship the creature rather than the creator. Mankind trusts in science and technology, claiming that religion is only an opium of the people. Uh, we need to really focus all our time and effort on science and technology and not the superstitions of religion. This could become the sounding theme in the future by which we worship the work of our hands to save us. That's likely to increase in the future. Well, I believe that the image of the beast is all around us and has always been. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the flesh, and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father, but from the world. And the apostates of the Christian West have been the leaders of the world's decadence. You could say with John, they went out from us. I believe Antichrist as originating in the church needs renewed emphasis. Imposters, counterfeits will always fall short of the real thing. Well, Revelation is a book of dynamic visions, and we continue to say it cannot be defined in a one-time, cut and dry formula. For that reason, it speaks to every generation and is not merely a prediction of someone to come, but a visionary account of something present at the time of John and present throughout the church age in many forms, with various heads that seem to be wounded and re-emerged. So we should expect Satan's war against the saints to take many shapes and sizes until Jesus returns, with the aim always to silence that, if not by persecution and death, by deception, seduction, offering a substitute, even a substitute way to live forever. So the praetorist, the futurist, the historical, the symbolic, and some of my views. Well have a look at the scripture, we said, like the Bereans, and until next time, we'll look next time at the time question, the uh time frames of both Daniel and Revelation as they relate to the end times. God bless you till then, and we pray, Lord, help us to recognize, Father, all the manifestations of that which is antichrist, false worship, blasphemous that would take your place in our life. Lord, we want you to be our great treasure, our our our first love. Oh Lord, help us, help us to love you more than our own life. Oh God, we ask. We look to you now to empower and strengthen your church in Jesus' name.