13:3 - After Nero died in Rome, the Roman empire was thrust into civil war. The empire was in chaos - wounded beast maybe? When Vespasian took over the rule by force, peace was restored and the strength of Rome was back. It probably looked like a miraculous resurrection.
13:4 - The people look at their great and powerful country (or beast) and use a twisted version of God worship by saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" I wouldn't know anybody that inappropriately worships their country like that...oh wait, uh, maybe I do.
13:10 - That is the call to endurance and faith for the saints! How incredibly powerful is that? If captivity is coming...then I'm a captive. If death is coming...then I die. They trust that God is in control and that His will is going to be done. While the beast rises up and hunts down the saints of God...the saints practice non-violence and continue to trust God. How many modern day American Christians would hold to faith ideals like these?
13:11 - This next beast has the horns of a lamb...so he looks innocent yet speaks like Satan himself. How many men and women have led the world astray with a mask of innocence and a heart of darkness?
13:12 - Vespasian's son, Domition, was worshipped as the God Zeus. There is historical documentation that Christians who refused to worship their Roman rulers were executed.
13:18 - Everybody always wants to know this stuff, so here goes. 666 is a triangular number...one of only four from 0 to 1000. 36 is the square root of 666, and 8 is the square root of 36. 8 is a number that some biblical scholars believe applies to Revelation 17:11, where it talks about the eighth ruler...the new Nero - the anti-Christ. As always, I believe that there have always been anti-Christs and there always will be until the end. One commentator suggested that Satan always has anti-Christs ready for when Jesus finally returns because even he does not know when that will be...so in his opinion history has had a string of anti-Christs just waiting to war against Jesus (Which will be pointless and utterly futile, but hey, they get an "A" for effort).
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