Why worry..................be happy!

Recoverer,

I commend you for citing a scholarly article that does not derive from the New Age ghetto.   Most people do not realize that the original identity of "666" is well known in scholarly circles.   Any attempt to interpret ancient imagery must begin by asking what this imagery meant to the author's contemporaries.  Early apocalyptic writings like the Book of Revelation use coded imagery to protect their communities from heightened persecution.  For example, if an apocalyptic seer wished to criticize Roman oppression, he would use "Babylon" as a code word for Rome.  Babylon was of course the center of an earlier empire.  

In both Greek and Hebrew the letters of the alphabet each also stand for numbers.  According to Revelation 13:18, "666" is "the number of a man."  The numerical equivalent of "Emperor Nero" in Hebrew adds up to 666.  By the time of Revelation, Nero had fled in exile to Asia Minor (now Turkey) and was now dead, probably by suicide.  But many were uncertain of his fate and were terrified by 3 Nero impersonators who burst on the scene.  It was commonly believed that Nero would return, perhaps from the dead, to regain power and finish the job he started in persecuting Christians.  This fear is expressed by image in 13:3 of "the Beast" recovering from a  mortal wound.  For this and other reasons, the meaning of "666" is clear.

What then does this prophecy mean?  At the very least, it predicts new Neros arising to torture and execute Christians.   This prophecy was repeatedly fulfilled until the time of Emperor Constantine.   But does it have a secondary application for us today?  I find the case for a modern fulfilment unconvincing.

Don

Thank you Don:

Are you suggesting that the dispensationallist viewpoint comes from the new age ghetto? 

Hopefully the remake of the Omen doesn't do anything to fuel it.

So did i juditha love deanna

Recoverer,

No, but both Dispensationalist Christians and New Agers engage in sensationalistic speculation about an expected Anti-Christ without due regard for the meaning of apocalyptic symbols in the first century.  

Speaking of Dispensationalism, here is an intereeting tidbit.  Most of them believe Christians will be resurrected to reign with Christ on our Earth (citing Revelation 20:1-3) What they overlook is John's vision of a New Heaven and a New Earth with no sea (21:1).  The New Earth is not a remodelled version of our Earth; the old Earth "has disappeared."  The New Earth is best understood as an earthlike spiritual realm in another dimension, perhaps like Focus 27.  However the millenial reign is understood, it too seems to occur in another dimension.  This is just another nail in the coffin of the indefensible doctrine that we need this body to be restored so we can reign on our planet.

Don

I believe that the wonders that await us are far greater than what can be obtained by a refurbished physical earth.


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Could a devil really make war on God? That would be like a rain drop trying to make war with an ocean. Talk about a deluded rain drop.

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