“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,” Revelation 13:18.

The number of 666 and that is the number rather than three separate sixes. It has always been an enigma and has always been used to try to portray that we’re living in the last days. There has been all sorts of formulations on how to make that 666 fit some contemporary figure and that ought to give us some indication that there’s something wrong with a methodology, when it continually gives a wrong answer.

We see 666 is the number of the beast and that the beast is a man. So who is this man? All attempts to make him a modern person have failed. For 100 years men have been trying to identify the beast as someone of this time. Mussolini, Hitler, Pope Leo X, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, Bill Gates and even Barack Obama have been identified at one time or another as the beast. Newspaper eschatologists try to find the meaning to the Book of Revelation in current events.

Frederick Farrar in his book on early Christianity stated that what is necessary to find a relevant solution to the number 666 is to find something that fits the context of the book of Revelation.

We need to consider some important facts about what Revelation is saying. We must look at the time indicators “near,” “shortly” and “quickly.” And we see in Revelation chapter 11, which states the temple was still standing, John is told to go and measure the temple. We know the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. So the time indicators in the book of Revelation tells us that the events of the book of Revelation, were to take place within that particular time period prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Revelation tells us that the events are shortly to come to pass. Revelation 1:1 says “things which must shortly come to pass.” Revelation 1:3 says, “for the time is at hand,” and then when we go to Revelation 22:6, where Jesus is saying the same thing, “And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.” And then in verse 10, “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.”

The book is bracketed in its non-visionary portions in its introduction and its conclusion by statements. These events are near and they are shortly to come to pass. Thus we must conclude that whoever 666 refers to, it must refer to somebody in John’s life expectancy, something near.

Furthermore, when we read Revelation, one of the first impressions you get from the book is that it was written to seven churches that existed in the first century. As a matter of fact, in Revelation 1:4, he says, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia.” He’s writing to those particular Christians in those particular churches. In verse 11, he says, “send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” He names the particular churches.

Now in verse nine of chapter one, he says, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Here we find that the church in that day, the seven churches he’s writing to, are in a time of trial and tribulation. Not only must the number and the man be relevant to the first century, but we understand that John is dealing with particular Christians under trial. Why would he tell them about something to come to pass 2000 years in the future?

They’re suffering. They might say, “that’s interesting, John, but we’re dying. We’re being beheaded. Our blood is flowing for Jesus Christ.” The idea that John was writing of something 2000 years or more in the future would not have been relevant to their current situation. John is writing to them and he says, particularly, “I am your brother in tribulation.” So very clearly John is dealing with real life issues relevant to the first century.

There are great judgments all around them. Furthermore, in Revelation 6:9-11 a specific question is asked when the fifth seal is open, he says, “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

Revelation is a book written regarding things shortly to take place because the time is near for people who are in tribulation, who are suffering, crying out how long, and the answer is “a little season,” a little while longer. That cannot refer to anything beyond the first century and give legitimacy to the whole gist of the book. The time references and references to the churches clearly indicate that the Book of Revelation is written about things in their time period.

Is part of Revelation referring to the future, when Christ will return? Yes. But, much of the letter is about what were then current events. Not current today, but current and relevant to the original audience, the seven churches of Asia. The book is a revelation, an apocalypse, a revealing. It was written to be understood by the seven churches, not as a mystery of future things beyond their comprehension. For more information on the timing of the Book of Revelation, see my article at: http://godeeperbiblestudy.com/2018/12/the-historical-setting-of-the-book-of-revelation

Now we have to come up with a relevant candidate and probably the most relevant political candidate would be Nero Caesar, and in fact, if you take the name Nero Caesar and put it into Hebrew characters and take the numbering system that the Hebrews used, which were in fact letters of the alphabet, you end up with 666.

Commentators and textual scholars believe what is happening is this. The value 666 is a value that is computed on the basis of spelling Nero’s name. In Hebrew. There are ancient documents that give the spelling of Nero’s name from Ugarit and other places in Hebrew characters, and when you add them up, they add up to 666. The Jews did not have a separate numbering system as we do. They used the letters of their alphabet to indicate numeric value. The first letter was used for one, the next letter for two, and so forth. Similar to how the Romans used letters such I,V,X,D,L and M to indicate numbers.

So when you take Neron Kaiser, the Hebrew spelling of Nero Caesar’s name and add it up in Hebrew characters, it comes up to exactly 666. https://www.studylight.org/commentary/revelation/13-18.html

We all know the number 666, but interestingly, some ancient manuscripts of the Bible have 666 and some manuscripts have 616.

If you’ll look in Revelation 13:18, if you have a marginal reference bible, you’ll notice that there is a variant on the number six, six, six, some manuscripts say six, one, six.

And that’s because in Hebrew it can be Nero Kaiser, or Neron Kaiser. And that final “n” in Hebrew is worth 50 points. If you spell Nero Caesar’s name in Latin, it comes up to 616. So apparently what’s happening, is some scribe in the early centuries began to change the value from 666 to 616 because the people knew Latin, it would make the computation correct and identify Nero. But people outside of the original sphere of the early Christian Jewish background would not be able to compute with the Hebrew numbers. They would have been reading the scriptures in Latin. So either way, the early church viewed Nero Caesar as being the 666 candidate.

CONCLUSION

What can we conclude? The time elements of Revelation show that the temple is still standing. Nero was the king or Caesar at the time of the drafting of the book of Revelation, which would have been about the mid sixties. Nero was the sixth Caesar and John states that at the time of the writing of Revelation, The fact that the number does in fact add up to his name.

Additionally, Revelation 17:10 states, “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” Notice John writes “one is.” Not one in the past or future, but he was at the time of the seven churches of Asia. At the time Revelation was written, in about 65 AD, Nero was the Caesar. He was the sixth Caesar and was followed after his death by Galba who only ruled a short space, 7 months.

I believe Nero is the candidate that fits the time period and the numbering of his name matches the number of the beast.

“And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” Revelation 13:5-8

In Revelation 13:5-8, we find that the beast demands worship on himself and he makes all sorts of blasphemies. If you know anything at all about Nero Caesar, you will be aware that Nero was blasphemous character. He was one who had on his coins his picture with the rays of the sun coming from behind his head because he mimicked the god Apollo, the sun god who pulled the sun across the sky each day in ancient mythology. Nero saw himself as Apollo or the sun god. There are many references that show that Nero had divine pretensions. Furthermore, if we’re aware of the first centuries of the Roman Empire, we will be aware that the Caesars were worshiped as divine, and so we say that very clearly, the evidence in many different directions, points and converges upon Nero Caesar.

Nero not only fits the time period of Revelation, he not only has a name that numbers 666 (and 616), but he fits the description of the beast. He demanded worship, he made war with the saints (the Christians), brutally killing them and his empire had power “over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” You could not buy or sell in Rome without using coins with Nero’s image. The reason for the money changers in the temple was to exchamge Roman coins, with the pictures of Caesar for silver coins without his image. Nero outlawed these coins. Either willingly (in the forehead or mind) or merely as a convenience (in the hand), you needed that mark of the beast cast on that coin to buy or sell.

My conclusion that Nero was the Beast of revelation is not new or unique to me. It has been widely accepted by scholars and Biblical historians for almost 2000 years, since the time John wrote the Book of Revelation.

Was Nero a king?
In the first century, were the Caesars referred to as kings? Six hundred years before the Caesars came on the scene, the prophet Daniel, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, called the leaders of Rome by the term “kings.” Daniel (605 BC) prophesied concerning four world empires, one of which was the Roman Empire. During the fourth of these kingdoms, Daniel speaks of the establishment of God’s spiritual kingdom under the leadership of His Son. Daniel’s description of the kings (Caesars) is quite revealing: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever,” Daniel 2:44. Jesus was born during the reign of the second emperor, or king, of the Roman Empire, namely Augustus. During Jesus’ trial, Pilate and the religious leaders entered into a heated controversy over Jesus. They lashed out against Pilate with these words: “But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar,” (οὐκ ἔχομεν βασιλέα εἰ μὴ Καίσαρα, ouk ecomen basilea ei mh kaisara), John 19:15.