Tabasco Breath
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....or perhaps just mere coincidences...
The number “666†is the numerology of Hebrew letters. It serves the same function of symbolism as Roman numerals. It’s called Gematria. In this ancient Gematria, is it just coincidence that 666 so happens to equal the name of “Caesar Neron†the most despised ruler and oppressor of the Jew in the era Revelations which was written? Christians with a deeper understanding of their history will remember writings of him as the ruler who used early Christians as human torches at his parties. Some earlier New Testament copies of Revelations have “616†rather than “666†and using that same Gematria the name numerically is that of “Caesar Nero†his more common used name without the value of “N†which is 50.
Here:
“In both Hebrew and Greek as well as other languages, letters of the alphabet were used as numbers. So names had a certain numerical value. "Nero Caesar" transliterated into the Hebrew from the Greek (Neron Kaiser) adds up to exactly 666 in Hebrew. N=50, R=200, W=6, N=50 plus Q=100, S=60, R=200 totals 666. This spelling of Nero Caesar was found in the discovery of an Aramaic document in Wadi Murabba`at (BASOR 170, 65). The Latin form of "Nero Caesar" when transliterated into Hebrew adds up to 616. This most likely explains the textual variant in Revelation 13:18 with the number 616. It should also be noted that the Greek word for "Beast" when transliterated back into Hebrew adds up to 666. Ancient writers referred to Nero as a "beast" (See Philostratus Vit. Apoll. 4.38; Sib. Or. 5.343; 8.157). For more detailed commentary see Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 by David E. Aune."
http://www.bibleandscience.com/history/roman.htm
Could that just be coincidence?
Is it really coincidence that Nero was commonly called a “beast†in by ancient writers of that day? In Revelations there is mention of a woman drunk with blood of the Saints sitting on the seven hills. Is it again coincidence from this era there exist coins depicting Rome as the city sitting on seven hills, in which geographically it actually does?
Check out the coin on the right as shown, Here:
Could that just be coincidence?
It is the rulers of Rome who are (killing) drinking the blood of saints, in other words that eras contemporary Christians, and Nero was one of its rulers. In example, 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."
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edmundson/church.ix.html
Hmmm….Nero point blank called a wild beast
Could that just be coincidence?
After Nero’s death there was popular Belief in a Returning Nero; a belief that he had not really died. The legend was so common in that era it was known then and now historically as “Nero Redivivus.†They believed Nero would return from the East with his Parthian armies to destroy Rome and Western culture. Here is the historian Suetonius, and writing from the Sybline Oracles, and the Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4; supporting that late 1st and early 2nd century belief:
Suetonius, Nero, 57 [early 2nd century]
“"Nero died at the age of 31, on the anniversary of Octavia's murder. In the widespread general rejoicing, citizens ran throught the streets wearing caps of liberty. But there were people who used to lay spring and summer flowers on his grave for a long time, and had statues made of him. . .; they even continued to circulate edicts pretending he was still alive and would soon return to confound his enemies. . . . In fact, twenty years later, when I was a young man, a mysterious individual came forward claiming to be Nero; and so magical was the sound of his name in the Parthians' ears that they supported him to the best of their ability, and only handed him over with great reluctance."“
Sibylline Oracles 5.28 [date: between 80 and 132]
“"One who has fifty as an initial will be commander, a terrible snake, breathing out grievous war, who one day will lay hands on his own family and slay them, and throw everything into confusion, athlete, charioteer, murderer, one who dares ten thousand things. He will also cut the mountain between two seas and defile it with gore. But even when he disappears he will be destructive. Then he will return declaring himself equal to God. But he will prove that he is not.“
Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4 [date: near the end of 1st century]
“"And after it has been brought to completion, Beliar will descend, the great angel, the king of this world, which he has ruled ever since it existed. He will descend from his firmament in the form of a man, a king of iniquity, a murderer of his mother--this is the king of this world--and will persecute the plant which the twelve apostles of the Beloved will have planted; some of the twelve will be given into his hand. This angel, Beliar, will come in the form of that king, and with him will come all the powers of this world, and they will obey him in every wish. . . .“
In the Nero Kingdom of Rome the only way an individual could conduct commerce was by certifying performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire, i.e. having to first pay homage to the King; Nero. It was called the “Libellusâ€. They then received this slip of paper showing the approval of the Nero Kingdom. It was Nero’s “Mark†and those trading usually held it in their hands. Remember what Nero was called again? The Beast. They carried the Mark of the Beast.
HERE:
“A libellus (plural libelli) was a document given to a Christian to certify performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire. They could also mean certificates of indulgence, in which the confessors or martyrs interceded for apostatate Christians.[1]
"Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from this same year [250 AD]."[2] This particular year falls into the period of persecution under the emperor Decius. Four libelli were found among the thousands of papyri at the archaeological site near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (POxy 658, POxy 1464, POxy 2990 and POxy 3929).
Participating in pagan sacrifices was a sin for Christians and punished by excommunication, because the New Testament forbade Christians to either participate in "idol feasts" or to eat "meat sacrificed to idols". However, not participating made one liable to arrest by the Roman authorities. A warrant to arrest a Christian (POxy 3035) was also found at Oxyrhynchus, this too has been dated precisely—to the year 256. The grounds for this arrest are not documented, however, and it predates the persecution under the emperor Valerian I by about a year.“
Could that just be coincidence?
...and no, I am not a pretreist.
Apocalyptic literature is a genre’ meant to redress a current dilemma, and in this case their treatment under the rule of Rome with a futuristic outcome in the form of literature to provide hope and vindication. So when it comes to Bible interpretation an analogy I like to use is studying the Vietnam War. If you choose to study just the American version of events you will embark on a good start, but yet it’s just the tip of an iceberg. You’d have to in addition look at both North and South Vietnam history, as well as the French, Russia, Japan, heck even China to make sense of it. The same goes with the Bible. If you choose to solely read the Bible and try to make sense of it without reading all the external yet extremely interconnected material found outside the Bible which provides one a better understanding of the culture; their mindset; their paradigm, their literature, it too is just a good start.
Needless to say the Bible is indeed divine, but it wasn't written in a divine vacuum. As inspired as it is, it is a product of its environment to in many casess redress matters of that environment..
God Bless
The number “666†is the numerology of Hebrew letters. It serves the same function of symbolism as Roman numerals. It’s called Gematria. In this ancient Gematria, is it just coincidence that 666 so happens to equal the name of “Caesar Neron†the most despised ruler and oppressor of the Jew in the era Revelations which was written? Christians with a deeper understanding of their history will remember writings of him as the ruler who used early Christians as human torches at his parties. Some earlier New Testament copies of Revelations have “616†rather than “666†and using that same Gematria the name numerically is that of “Caesar Nero†his more common used name without the value of “N†which is 50.
Here:
“In both Hebrew and Greek as well as other languages, letters of the alphabet were used as numbers. So names had a certain numerical value. "Nero Caesar" transliterated into the Hebrew from the Greek (Neron Kaiser) adds up to exactly 666 in Hebrew. N=50, R=200, W=6, N=50 plus Q=100, S=60, R=200 totals 666. This spelling of Nero Caesar was found in the discovery of an Aramaic document in Wadi Murabba`at (BASOR 170, 65). The Latin form of "Nero Caesar" when transliterated into Hebrew adds up to 616. This most likely explains the textual variant in Revelation 13:18 with the number 616. It should also be noted that the Greek word for "Beast" when transliterated back into Hebrew adds up to 666. Ancient writers referred to Nero as a "beast" (See Philostratus Vit. Apoll. 4.38; Sib. Or. 5.343; 8.157). For more detailed commentary see Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 by David E. Aune."
http://www.bibleandscience.com/history/roman.htm
Could that just be coincidence?
Is it really coincidence that Nero was commonly called a “beast†in by ancient writers of that day? In Revelations there is mention of a woman drunk with blood of the Saints sitting on the seven hills. Is it again coincidence from this era there exist coins depicting Rome as the city sitting on seven hills, in which geographically it actually does?
Check out the coin on the right as shown, Here:
Could that just be coincidence?
It is the rulers of Rome who are (killing) drinking the blood of saints, in other words that eras contemporary Christians, and Nero was one of its rulers. In example, 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."
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edmundson/church.ix.html
Hmmm….Nero point blank called a wild beast
Could that just be coincidence?
After Nero’s death there was popular Belief in a Returning Nero; a belief that he had not really died. The legend was so common in that era it was known then and now historically as “Nero Redivivus.†They believed Nero would return from the East with his Parthian armies to destroy Rome and Western culture. Here is the historian Suetonius, and writing from the Sybline Oracles, and the Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4; supporting that late 1st and early 2nd century belief:
Suetonius, Nero, 57 [early 2nd century]
“"Nero died at the age of 31, on the anniversary of Octavia's murder. In the widespread general rejoicing, citizens ran throught the streets wearing caps of liberty. But there were people who used to lay spring and summer flowers on his grave for a long time, and had statues made of him. . .; they even continued to circulate edicts pretending he was still alive and would soon return to confound his enemies. . . . In fact, twenty years later, when I was a young man, a mysterious individual came forward claiming to be Nero; and so magical was the sound of his name in the Parthians' ears that they supported him to the best of their ability, and only handed him over with great reluctance."“
Sibylline Oracles 5.28 [date: between 80 and 132]
“"One who has fifty as an initial will be commander, a terrible snake, breathing out grievous war, who one day will lay hands on his own family and slay them, and throw everything into confusion, athlete, charioteer, murderer, one who dares ten thousand things. He will also cut the mountain between two seas and defile it with gore. But even when he disappears he will be destructive. Then he will return declaring himself equal to God. But he will prove that he is not.“
Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4 [date: near the end of 1st century]
“"And after it has been brought to completion, Beliar will descend, the great angel, the king of this world, which he has ruled ever since it existed. He will descend from his firmament in the form of a man, a king of iniquity, a murderer of his mother--this is the king of this world--and will persecute the plant which the twelve apostles of the Beloved will have planted; some of the twelve will be given into his hand. This angel, Beliar, will come in the form of that king, and with him will come all the powers of this world, and they will obey him in every wish. . . .“
In the Nero Kingdom of Rome the only way an individual could conduct commerce was by certifying performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire, i.e. having to first pay homage to the King; Nero. It was called the “Libellusâ€. They then received this slip of paper showing the approval of the Nero Kingdom. It was Nero’s “Mark†and those trading usually held it in their hands. Remember what Nero was called again? The Beast. They carried the Mark of the Beast.
HERE:
“A libellus (plural libelli) was a document given to a Christian to certify performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire. They could also mean certificates of indulgence, in which the confessors or martyrs interceded for apostatate Christians.[1]
"Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from this same year [250 AD]."[2] This particular year falls into the period of persecution under the emperor Decius. Four libelli were found among the thousands of papyri at the archaeological site near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (POxy 658, POxy 1464, POxy 2990 and POxy 3929).
Participating in pagan sacrifices was a sin for Christians and punished by excommunication, because the New Testament forbade Christians to either participate in "idol feasts" or to eat "meat sacrificed to idols". However, not participating made one liable to arrest by the Roman authorities. A warrant to arrest a Christian (POxy 3035) was also found at Oxyrhynchus, this too has been dated precisely—to the year 256. The grounds for this arrest are not documented, however, and it predates the persecution under the emperor Valerian I by about a year.“
Could that just be coincidence?
...and no, I am not a pretreist.
Apocalyptic literature is a genre’ meant to redress a current dilemma, and in this case their treatment under the rule of Rome with a futuristic outcome in the form of literature to provide hope and vindication. So when it comes to Bible interpretation an analogy I like to use is studying the Vietnam War. If you choose to study just the American version of events you will embark on a good start, but yet it’s just the tip of an iceberg. You’d have to in addition look at both North and South Vietnam history, as well as the French, Russia, Japan, heck even China to make sense of it. The same goes with the Bible. If you choose to solely read the Bible and try to make sense of it without reading all the external yet extremely interconnected material found outside the Bible which provides one a better understanding of the culture; their mindset; their paradigm, their literature, it too is just a good start.
Needless to say the Bible is indeed divine, but it wasn't written in a divine vacuum. As inspired as it is, it is a product of its environment to in many casess redress matters of that environment..
God Bless