Who do you think the “Beast” is... The Antichrist... “The Beast & the False Prophet were thrown alive into the Lake Of Fire!”
I mentioned this on page 14...
Many over look the clues right in front of them when interpreting the Book of Revelation. Regarding the number of the beast (666), Rev. 13:18. It is almost universally thought that this beast represents to Roman Empire personified in its Emperor Nero, either by the early Roman period, or a new revived Roman Empire. This is further illustrated in Rev. 17:9, And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (10) 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. (11) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
First, there is used in the ancient cultures of the Jews, Greeks, Roman, and Latin's, a form of coded numerology called gematria. Gematria is a form of numerology in which the letters of the Hebrew (or Greek or Latin) alphabet are substituted with corresponding numbers. The first ten letters are given number values that increase consecutively from 1 to 10.
Even though the Book of Revelation was written in Greek, it used Hebrew symbology, thus Hebrew gematria. Nero Caesar, written as Neron Kaisar by the Hebrews, adds up exactly to the Hebrew spelling of 666. In the Latin Vulgate the number is written 616, which equals Nero Caesar in Latin.
Back to the above Rev. 17:10 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. (11) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The Hebrews view Julius Caesar as the first king or emperor, even though he was a dictator in the Roman Republic (See Josephus and other Jewish writings). Augustus Caesar (my avatar!) was officially the 1st Emperor of the Roman Empire, but not in the listing of Roman rulers (kings) by the Jews. So, starting with (1) Julius Caesar, (2) Augustus Caesar, (3) Tiberius Caesar, (4) Caligula Caesar, (5) Claudius Caesar, the five (5) who had fallen at the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation.
Rev. 17:10...and one is...(6) Nero Caesar...he must continue a short space (time)...Nero committed suicide on 9 June 68 AD. You then had three emperors in a short span, Galba (8 June 68 AD–15 January 69 AD), Otho (15 January 69 AD–16 April 69 AD), and Vitellius (17 April 69 AD–20 December 69 AD), before finally Gen. Vespasian was declared emperor by his army, and he marched on Rome and deposed Vitellius. He became emperor on 22 December 69, and ruled to his death on 24 June 79. Emperor Vespasian was the general that Nero sent to put down the Jewish rebellion in 66 AD. He had Jerusalem surrounded in 68 when Nero committed suicide. He withdrew from Jerusalem to return to Rome, and when he became emperor, he sent his son Titus back to siege Jerusalem again, which he did until its brutal fall in 70 AD.
Early Christians writers mention that it was at this time (Vespasian's withdrawal) that many of the Christians who were trapped in Jerusalem fled to Pella, in the mountains of Judea. Matt. 24: 16-22, "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; (17) Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. (18) Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. (19) How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! (20) Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. (22) “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
They were shortened because of Nero's death and Vespasian's withdrawal. They had a short time to get out before Titus returned, hence the call for urgency to leave.