Mark of The Beast

Clinton Chisholm | COVID-19 vaccine and the mark of the
beast in Revelation
Published:Sunday | November 8, 2020 | 12:11 AM
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20201108/clinton-chisholm-covid-19-
vaccine-and-mark-beast-revelation
Contributed
Chisholm
One can sympathise with the unease among many Christians with taking any COVID-
19 vaccine, but such a vaccine could in no way be seen as the mark of the beast
mentioned in Revelation.
THE IDENTITY OF THE BEAST
The identity of the beast in Revelation 13 and 17 has intrigued many for a long time.
The scare that the number of the beast has produced in Christian and non-Christian
alike is well known. Who or what is the beast in these passages? We explore just a
few key aspects of this fascinating, if not grotesque, creature. First, we need to notice
that there is dual imagery involved from the texts themselves.
Whereas Rev 13:18 says the number of the beast is “the number of a man”, i.e.,
individually portrayed, the angel in Rev 17:10 says the seven heads of the beast
represent seven kings. Seemingly, these seven kings “arise in chronological
succession; some have already died, one is now reigning, one is yet to come (17:10-
11). Thus, the beast is generically portrayed as a kingdom [or line of kings]”, as
Kenneth Gentry argues in The Beast of Revelation.
Somewhat puzzlingly, Rev 17:11 declares “the beast which was and is not, is himself
also an eighth, and is one of the seven”. Given the centrality of the emperor to the
Roman Empire, at times, the one was treated as synonymous with the other, so writing
about Augustus, the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC-AD 18) says “the state is Caesar”.
How does the number 666 assist in identifying the beast individually? Well, by
appealing to the age-old and first-century Jewish tradition of gematria (playing with
the numbers behind letters of the alphabet, called isopsephia in Greek). You may
recall that Latin letters also double as numbers, e.g., XVI is 16, X =10, V=5, I=1.
Interestingly, there are a couple of manuscripts of Rev 13:18 that have 616 instead of
666 as the number of the beast. This manuscript change seemed not to have been
accidental. As the revered late textual critic and Greek scholar Bruce Metzger
says, “Perhaps the change was intentional, seeing that the Greek form Neron Caesar
written in Hebrew characters … is equivalent to 666, whereas the Latin form Nero
Caesar … is equivalent to 616.” (Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the
Greek New Testament, p. 752)
Metzger further says, “When Greek letters are used as numerals the difference
between 666 and 616 is merely a change from [chi] to [iota]… .”
Do note that contrary to the mistranslation of Rev 13:17 in the KJV and the
NKJV, “…the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name”, and a
consequent misunderstanding by a certain denomination, there are not three different
things re the mark of the beast but two: “…the mark of the beast or the number of his
name”, as the Greek text reads!
Nero is the only emperor whose name fits the gematria riddle hand in glove, so he
seemed to have been the individual beast John had in mind. “The generic identity of
the beast is the ancient Roman Empire of the first century” (Gentry, The Beast, p.11),
headquartered in Rome, the centre of the empire and the city with seven hills or
mountains (Rev 17:9).
THE CHARACTER OF THE BEAST

The terror and dread that the beast generated are most apt as a description of the
character of Nero than any other emperor. Nero’s epitaph is dreadful. As a person, he
was regarded as a beast, a monster and was popularly called ‘the tyrant’. Here are a
few select quotations about Nero:
1. “In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have
seen many, 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 has gorged himself on this diet.” (Apollonius
of Tyana, b. 4 BC, cited in Gentry, Before Jerusalem Fell, p.214)
2.“[Nero’s persecution claimed] a vast multitude of the elect … through many

indignities and tortures.” (Clement of Rome, b. AD 30, cited in Gentry, Beast, p.54)
3.“[Nero] compelled four hundred senators and six hundred Roman knights, some of
whom were well to do and of unblemished reputation, to fight in the
arena.” (Suetonius, b. circa AD 69, cited in Gentry, Before Jerusalem, p.213)
4. “[Nero] … inflicted unheard-of punishments on … Christians … And their death

was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that, wrapped in the hides of wild beasts,
they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on fire, that when the
darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night … whence it came about
that, though the victims were guilty and deserved the most exemplary punishment, a
sense of pity was aroused by the feeling that they were sacrificed not on the altar of
public interest, but to satisfy the cruelty of one man.” (Tacitus, b. circa AD
56, Annals, 15.44)
Nero killed his parents, brother, aunt, and many others close to him and even kicked
his pregnant wife to death.
So then the character of the beast as described in Revelation matches what is known
about Nero’s character. It is instructive, too that Rev 13:5-7 speaks of the beast
warring with the saints and overcoming them for 42 months.
Nero was the first emperor to persecute Christians as Christians, and this persecution
began some months after the great fire of Rome (July 19, AD 64). From the middle or
late November, AD 64, Nero assaulted the Church, causing the deaths of many
Christians, including Peter and Paul, and this state of affairs haunted the Church until
his suicide on June 9, AD 68, almost exactly three and a half years.
- Rev Clinton Chisholm is a retired Jamaica Baptist Union pastor and former
academic dean of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology.

Mark of The Beast

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mark of The Beast

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mark of The Beast

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Clinton Chisholm | COVID-19 vaccine and the mark of the

THE CHARACTER OF THE BEAST

2.“[Nero’s persecution claimed] a vast multitude of the elect … through many

4. “[Nero] … inflicted unheard-of punishments on … Christians … And their death

You might also like