The beast coming up from the earth

The beast coming up from the earth
by Ronaldo Gomes

As we see already, the beast that John saw was The Roman empire. But John saw another beast coming up from the earth:

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon"

Apocalipse 13:11

Who was that beast? Let’s see

As we saw before, beast means enemies, We can see that in Corinthians or in the Daniel's book:

“If, after the way of men, I was fighting with beasts (ENEMIES) at Ephesus, what profit is it to me? If the dead do not come to life again, let us take our pleasure in feasting, for tomorrow we come to an end”

1 Coríntios 15:32

“I had a vision by night, and saw the four winds of heaven violently moving the great sea.

And four great beasts (ENEMIES) came up from the sea, different one from another"

Daniel 7:2,3

“These great beasts are four kings who will be cut off from the earth”.

Daniel 7:17

And horns means kings:

DANIEL 7	REVELATION 13
And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will come to power; and after them another will come up: he will be different from the first ones and will put down three kings.  Daniel 7:24	And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.  Apocalipse 17:12

So, ten horns means ten kings and the two horns of the second beast means two kings.

The first beast king man,we know was Nero.

- Nero persecuted Jews and Christians

- Nero burned Rome and blamed Christians

- Nero preached Christians on poles and set fire to illuminate Rome

- Nero killed his own mother

- Nero was called a beast by the early Christians

And its name of 666 by the Hebrew gematry

Incidentally, according to church history, persecution of Christians began with Nero.

In Greek his name is 616. but a recently discovered papyrus (115) shows that John used both numbers to a hebrew public and Greek public.

In this papyrus there is the 616 number. So he were the first horn of the second beast, the beast tha come up from the earth

.

Persecution of the early church had occurred sporadically and in localised areas since its beginning. The first persecution of Christians organised by the Roman government took place under the emperor Nero in 64 AD after the Great Fire of Rome. The Edict of Serdica was issued in 311 by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in the East. With the passage in 313 AD of the Edict of Milan, persecution of Christians by the Roman state ceased.The total number of Christians who lost their lives because of these persecutions is unknown; although early church historian Eusebius, whose works are the only source for many of these events, speaks of "great multitudes" having perished, he is thought by many scholars today to have exaggerated their numbers

Prior to Nero's accusation of arson and subsequent anti-Christian actions in 64, all animosity was apparently limited to intramural Jewish hostility. In the New Testament (Acts 18:2-3), a Jew named Aquila is introduced who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Italy because emperor Claudius "had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome". It is generally agreed that from Nero's reign until Decius's widespread measures in 250, Christian persecution was isolated and localized.:105–152 Although it is often claimed that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor, general dislike for Christians likely arose from their refusal to worship the gods or take part in sacrifice, which was expected of those living in the Roman Empire.:105–152 Although the Jews also refused to partake in these actions, they were tolerated because they followed their own Jewish ceremonial law, and their religion was legitimized by its ancestral nature.:130 On the other hand, they believed Christians, who were thought to take part in strange rituals and nocturnal rites, cultivated a dangerous and superstitious sect

And how about the another horn?

Domitian intensified the Imperial cult, where everyone were forced to worship the Roman's gods.

Everyone had to prostrate themselves front a Roman god, raise their right hand and declare their veneration to the Roman god and the Emperor. 

Domitian also revived the practice of the imperial cult, which had fallen somewhat out of use under Vespasian. Significantly, his first act as an Emperor was the deification of his brother Titus. Upon their deaths, his infant son, and niece, Julia Flavia, were likewise enrolled among the gods. With regards to the emperor himself as a religious figure, both Suetonius and Cassius Dio allege that Domitian officially gave himself the title of Dominus et Deus ("Lord and God"). However, not only did he reject the title of Dominus during his reign, but since he issued no official documentation or coinage to this effect, historians such as Brian Jones contend that such phrases were addressed to Domitian by flatterers who wished to earn favors from the emperor.

Arch of Titus in Rome

To foster the worship of the imperial family, he erected a dynastic mausoleum on the site of Vespasian's former house on the Quirinal, and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, a shrine dedicated to the worship of his deified father and brother. To memorialize the military triumphs of the Flavian family, he ordered the construction of the Templum Divorum and the Templum Fortuna Redux, and completed the Arch of Titus.

Construction projects such as these constituted only the most visible part of Domitian's religious policy, which also concerned itself with the fulfilment of religious law and public morals. In 85, he nominated himself perpetual censor, the office that held the task of supervising Roman morals and conduct. Once again, Domitian acquitted himself of this task dutifully, and with care. He renewed the Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis, under which adultery was punishable by exile. From the list of jurors he struck an equestrian who had divorced his wife and taken her back, while an ex-quaestor was expelled from the Senate for acting and dancing.

In 87, Vestal Virgins were found to have broken their sacred vows of lifelong public chastity. As the Vestals were regarded as daughters of the community, this offense essentially constituted incest. Accordingly, those found guilty of any such transgression were condemned to death, either by a manner of their choosing, or according to the ancient fashion, which dictated that Vestals should be buried alive.

Foreign religions were tolerated insofar as they did not interfere with public order, or could be assimilated with the traditional Roman religion. The worship of Egyptian deities in particular flourished under the Flavian dynasty, to an extent not seen again until the reign of Commodus. Veneration of Serapis and Isis, who were identified with Jupiter and Minerva respectively, was especially prominent.

veneration

4th century writings by Eusebius maintain that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign. The Book of Revelation is thought by some to have been written during this period. Although Jews were heavily taxed, no contemporary authors mention trials or executions based on religious offenses other than those within the Roman religion.

Everyone had to prostrate themselves front a Roman god, raise their right hand and declare their veneration to the Roman god and the Emperor. The mark of beast means veneration.

Domitian signed a decree that anyone who did not provide the Roman cult could not buy or sell.

Today many peoples think that the mark of the beast is something physical. But God also mark your followers the same way:

"And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads"

Apocalipse 9:4

"And I looked, and, see, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father' name written in their foreheads"

Apocalipse 14:1

So it’s not a physical mark, but a mark about veneration. Domitian made this by decree. Who get veneration to a Roman’s god had a mark of the beast. Thats why Domitian was called by new Nero and New beast. Nero and Domitian have persecut the jewish and christians, so they were the two horns of the second beast, Rome.

I know you must be thinking right now about the beast dominate whole the world.Let's see in the next post.

Thanks for reading! See ya!