The Antichrist is Nero Resurrected
A man of pretext for war. He burned up the city because every time he would kill a bunch of Christians they would keep popping up, so right before he committed suicide he admitted that he set the fire to city in frustration.
What if the reason you don’t think Nero is the Antichrist is because your conscience is not attuned to it yet? Causing you to depersonify and dullify yourself to the reality of who we are really dealing with.
Nero was the worse and the first on the church, and more specifically because he was at the time around Paul who when you compare to Domitan is like night and day. Nero was a pussycat. Nero was last of the Julio-Claudians. Nero was not only the sixth emperor of Rome, he was the first to persecute Christians. For the purposes of Revelation though he is considered the 5th, not the 6th, only because Claudius adopted the name of Julius Caesar and was himself also adpoted by Julius Caesar amazingly. That persecution began in the middle of November 64 A.D. and continued until June 8, 68 A.D. when Nero committed suicide, a period of 42 months. This where we get our 1260 days of end time events separating the last week to some distant future which could be now between 2000 and 2007, also seen in Daniel. The fact that Nero killed by the sword is well documented. Paul, for example, is said to have died under Nero by decapitation with a sword. Tertullian credits “Nero’s cruel sword” as providing the martyr’s blood as seed for the Church. He urges his readers to “Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect.”
Emperor Augustus of Rome was born with the given name Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 B.C. He took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian) in 44 B.C. after the murder of his great uncle, Julius Caesar. In his will Caesar had adopted Octavian and made him his heir.
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95sep/augustus.html See the calculation of the number of a man.
Likewise, history records that Nero took his own life with the sword. Roman historian Suetonius describes Nero’s death: “Then with the help of his secretary, Epaphroditus, he stabbed himself in the throat.”
It is interesting, from a historical perspective, that Nero was actually referred to as a “beast” by his contemporaries. For instance, the pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, who lived at the time of Nero, states: “In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.... And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet.”
Nero ruthlessly murdered his parents, his brother, his pregnant wife (whom he kicked to death) and other family members. He was a homosexual, who found sexual gratification in watching torture. He enjoyed dressing up as a wild beast and raping male and female prisoners. He illuminated his garden parties with the bodies of Christians, covered with pitch and set aflame.
Roman historian Tacitus (56-117 A.D.) spoke of Nero’s “cruel nature” that “put to death so many innocent men.” Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) described Nero as "the destroyer of the human race” and ”the poison of the world.”Roman satirist Juvenal (60-140 A.D.) speaks of “Nero’s cruel and bloody tyranny.” Suetonius (70-160 A.D.), speaks of Nero’s “cruelty of disposition” evidencing itself at an early age. He documents Nero’s evil and states: “neither discrimination or moderation [were employed] in putting to death whosoever he pleased on any pretext whatever.” When Nero committed suicide on June 8, 68 A.D., two major inter-related historical situations faced the world. Both carried with them catastrophic consequences.
First, with the death of Nero, the Julian-Claudian line of emperors came to an end. In other words, the blood line which had received worship from the Roman Empire had been cut off forever. To the superstitious, pagan world this was most significant. This was no small matter to the subjects of the Roman Empire.
Second, catastrophe upon catastrophe followed the death of Nero and the extinction of the Roman Empire’s founding family. The empire found itself engulfed in civil wars, to the extent that “eternal Rome” was endanger of being reduced to rubble.
Josephus writes concerning these civil wars: “I have omitted to give an exact account of them, because they are well known by all, and they are described by a great number of Greek and Roman authors.”
Tacitus writes: “The history on which I am entering is that of a period rich in disasters, terrible with battles, torn by civil struggles, horrible even in peace. Four emperors failed by the sword; there were three civil wars, more foreign wars and often both at the same time.... In Rome there was more awful cruelty.... Besides the manifold misfortunes that befell mankind, there were prodigies in the sky and on the earth, warnings given by thunderbolts, and prophecies of the future, both joyful and gloomy, uncertain and clear. For never was it more fully proved by awful disastersm of the Roman people or by indubitable signs that gods care not for our safety, but for our punishment.”
Suetonius wrote, concerning the long months following Nero’s death, that the empire “for a longtime had been unsettled, and as it were, drifting, through the usurpation and violent death of the three emperors, was at last taken in hand and given stability by the Flavian family.”
Titus Flavius Vespasianus restored political stability and established a new dynasty of the Roman Empire. Under the rule of Vespasian the empire was revived and the Beast lived once more.
The relevant verses in Revelation regarding the death and revivification of the Beast are most readily understood as prophesying the earth-shaking historical events after the suicide of Nero in 68 A.D. Rome died, as it were, but returned to life once again.
Did you know that Nero was the great great Grandsom of Claudius and Claudius was adopted by Julius Caesar and Claudius changed his name to Julius Caesar. Rev. 13.18 is asking for your wisdom to see underneath.
Don’t think in terms of mass persecutions, think in terms of killing your own family members. That is highly evil beyond belief. Evil does not need to be wide open. It can be sitting right there in the heart of one man killing his own family membes, my God!
Nero was much worse than Domiton. Tertullian said Domitan also cruel like Nero often ceased from his attempts. Banishment (as in John) is his more likely avenue whereas Nero would just put you to death.
Domitian was the 6th the one “who was”. Hitler was not Nero. Antichrist will be far worse than Hitler, insteal Nero who will kill his own family for God sakes!!
The possible negative consequences of this is that in not recognizing the difference in nature of Nero to other forms of evil men, you may confuse the Antichrist to be more like certain men in history as oppossed to the real Antichrist’s nature of Nero.
Take another look. It would be highly beneficial for you to read about Nero, independent sources not hell bent on not making him Nero.
The view I have espoused here may, in all likelihood, run contrary to what you have been previously taught. My encouragement to you, would be to examine this teaching in light of the Scriptures. Bearing in mind John’s original audience (Rev. 1:4,11), his call for their careful consideration (Rev. 1:3; 13:9), and his contemporary expectation (Rev. 1:1, 3).
David Chilton in his book, Days of Vengeance, makes this comment:
“It is significant that ‘all the earliest Christian writers on the Apocalypse, from Irenaeus down to Victorinus of Pettau and Commodian in the fourth, and Andreas in the fifth, and St. Beatus in the eighth century, connect Nero, or some Roman emperor, with the Apocalyptic Beast’. There should be no reasonable doubt about this identification. St. John was writing to first-century Christians, warning them of things that were “shortly” to take place. They were engaged in the most crucial battle of history, against the Dragon and the evil Empire which he possessed. The purpose of the Revelation was to comfort the Church with the assurance that God was in control, so that even the awesome might of the Dragon and the Beast would not stand before the armies of Jesus Christ.”