Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The number of the Beast translates to Nero Caesar. St. John was writing to the 7 Churches of Asia. Revelation was written prior to the destruction of the Temple 70 AD. which Christ had prophesied. Nero was the Beast. To begin to understand Revelation one needs total understanding of OTProphets. A few good books regarding Revelation are PDF's available.
Before Jerusalem Fell by Kenneth Gentry
Paradise Restored by David Chilton
A good video on YouTube Father Thomas Hopko, search his name and Armageddon.
Revelation Andrew of Caesarea, by Dr. Jeannie Constantinou– The first Patristic Commentary written in 611.
The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom are best for assistance in Scriptural reading.
The Christian Church is now the Israel of God. It has nothing to do with the State of Israel. The final judgment will be with the apostasy of Christians which is rampant in the US through various denominations which sadly have deviated from the Faith for hundreds of years now. The first Christians were Jews who knew their Scripture. There was no New Testament yet. They knew the Prophecies of Daniel which predicted the very day of Christ. They knew the Prophecies of Isaiah, who by the way, was cut in half by angry Jews. They found Christ in the Psalms….in the prophetic passages. The Early Christians were the remnant Jews. The righteous and good souls who shed their blood willingly for Christ, just as bravely as the 3 Youth had walked into the fiery furnace. And. Who was the Angel who saved those boys from the flame? It was Christ. Who spoke from the burning bush? Christ. Who was with God at creation. Christ. The Holy Spirit who moved upon the waters. The Trinity. The Jews knew what Jesus meant when He said, "Before Abraham was, I am." This was not an intellectual riddle. It is Christ Who led them all along. This is why the Gospel of John begins with the same three words as Genesis 1. "In the Beginning." This IS the Evangelion. The Good News. The Bible is the Greatest Love Story. It reveals how God found the weakest of all people, the Hebrews, and brought them out of Captivity. The story of their trials, their faith, their struggles and those righteous among them who foreshadowed Jesus. And those who fell to idolatry and even as Jeremiah witnessed, child sacrifice. Those who slayed the Prophets. Isaiah. Cut in two. Jeremiah. And Ezekiel who was tied to two donkeys and ripped apart. We read of them all in Hebrews Chapter 11. The famous "By Faith" witness of the forefathers.
“36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”
Throughout time God….Condescended to us, finally to become one of Us. To die our death for all of us live under a horrid death sentence. It reveals that we crucified HIM. Not only is He God. He is the FIRST Truly Human Being. He is the NEW Adam. He conquered death by Death. He was crucified at the very hour they were killing the lambs. And in 3 Days He rose from the Grave. He was seen by hundreds of people. He made a way for us. He didn't begin a new Religion. He ended Religion. H
“1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Christ is the Cure for Religion.