My Hero Nero

In a recent discussion here with some preterists, some still hold the incorrect idea that Nero was the beast/antichrist. Here are some reasons I posted going on 4 years ago why this idea is wrong:


Many preterists believe Nero was the "beast/antichrist/that Wicked/son of perdition/man of sin".

But they're WRONG !

Why?

1.) The beast will commit the AOD by entering the temple, setting up his statue in it, which the FP will supernaturally cause to speak, declare himself to be God, & demand that he & his statue be worshipped. Nero was never in Jerusalem, so he couldn'ta done those things.

2.) The beast will overthrow three other kings or rulers to attain his full power. Nero was APPOINTED Caesar by the Senate & Claudius, his grand-uncle & stepfather.

3.) The main "beast" will have another "beast" as his deputy who will be a miracle-working false prophet. Nero had no deputy at all, let alone one who could work miracles!

4.) No man can overcome the "beast". Nero was overthrown by the revolts of General Galba .

5.) Nero never issued, nor ordered to be issued, any "mark of the beast". To say his image on Roman coins was that mark is more-than-absurd & ridiculous!

6.) The Revelation plainly sez that the beast and false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire at Jesus' return, but Nero DIED by having his secretary Epaphrodatus stab him. Galba's men, who'd come to arrest Nero, tried to save his life, but he died in fronta them.

Thus, while Nero was a pretty evil person, he was NOT the great antichrist "beast". The REAL "beast MUST fulfill EVERY prophecy about him EXACTLY, TO THE LETTER. Sorry, prets, you're gonna hafta find another candidate to be your beast!

robycop3, Sep 24, 2017

Yes, Nero failed to meet many of the Scriptural criteria for the beast, and so has everyone else so far. NNE since the time of Jesus has entered the temple in Jerusalem accompanied by a miracle-working false prophet, set up a statue of himself, & declared himself to be God. This didn't occur in the old temple, & the new one hasn't been built yet.

The precedent for the "abomination of desolation" was in the 160s BC when Antiochus Epiphanes conquered Jerusalem, entered the temple, set up a statue of Zeus in it, & sacrificed a pig on the altar. The coming beast will do similar, except he will stop the sacrifices altogether, be accompanied by a miracle-working false prophet, set up a statue of himself, as he won't recognize any god but himself, & have the false prophet issue the "mark of the beast".

Plainly, those events HAVEN'T YET OCCURRED! There hasn't been a temple for them to occur in ! But there will be, & those events WILL occur.

Sorry, preterists; your doctrine is false. The eschatological events are still future !

 

When the prets see Nero wasn't their "beast" they next turn to TITUS. He became a prince of the Romans when they made his dad Vespasian the new Caesar. However, he didn't set up a statue of himself in the temple before it was destroyed, nor declare himself God, had no miracle-working false prophet as his deputy, nor issued any marka the beast. Realizing those things, prets next turn to some unknown Roman soldier(s) whom they say entered the temple, set up some statue in it (a notion completely unknown in both Jewish & secular history), or count the ensigns with depictions of eagles on them that each legion carried as an "image of the beast", and coins with a depiction of Caesar's head on them as the marka the beast.

In other words, prets hafta really stretch things to try to make history fit their garbage. The whole pret myth is phony as a $3 bill.

But this thread is about NERO. While Nero was guilty of many debaucheries, kinky sex, and murders, he fell far-short of the Scriptural criteria for the beast/antichrist.

 

I don't see any prets taking up for their hero Nero here. (Or Preston, Gentry, Sproul, or any other of their quacks.)

 

Scripture PROVES itself mostly-literal. Jesus said not one stone of the temple would be left upon another, & that LITERALLY came to pass, exactly. One can read Matt. 24 to see many of Jesus' prophecies in it have come to pass LITERALLY, exactly as written. And there's no valid reason to believe the rest won't come to pass just-as-literally and exactly!

 

We seein Rev. 17 a brief description of a beast with a harlot riding it, which is certainly not literal. However, the angel showing it told John its literal meaning.