I do declare, Eyelog, you, sir, are a man after my own heart! You’ve left me utterly speechless. And grinning from ear to ear. And excited too! That was such a massive pile of manure that I was sure I would find a pony in there somewhere. Haven’t found him yet, but hope springs eternal.
OK. On a more serious note, I give up. I still think the burden is on you to support your literal interpretation of Rev. 13:3, 12 (the mortal death wound that was healed) particularly given the Lord’s own affirmation in Rev. 1:1 that the revelation given to John and recorded in this book was given in signs and symbols. But you are determined to interpret it literally and insist that I explain the symbolism, if indeed it is symbolism as I believe it to be. Since it doesn’t look like we’re going to move this discussion forward unless this issue is resolved or at least addressed by me, I will explain what I think the passage is talking about. Just remember, you asked for it, so I don’t want to hear any complaints about the length.
First, a few observations that I think are critical to a correctly interpreting this book. The first of these observations is the historical context. The book was written in the latter half of the first century, perhaps as early as the reign of Vespasian as emperor (69-79AD), though it may have been as late as the reign of Domitian (81-96AD). Nero, who had been emperor immediately prior to Vespasian and who reigned 54-68AD, was the fifth emperor of the Roman Empire (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero), and the first to emperor to persecute the church, though his persecutions were largely limited to the city of Rome and its immediate environs. After Nero, there were three minor emperors (Galba, Otho, and Vitellius) over a period of less than two years. Because their reigns were so short, these are often not counted among the emperors. Excluding these minor emperors, the next to reign after Nero was Vespasian, then his son Titus (responsible for the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD) who reigned only about 2 years. Each of these emperors after Nero abandoned Nero’s persecution of the Christians. However, after the death of Titus, his brother Domitian (who is believed to have been responsible for the poisoning of Titus) became emperor. At first, Domitian was ambivalent toward the Christians in the manner of Vespasian and Titus before him. However, later in his reign Domitian not only revived the persecutions that Nero had instigated, but he extended them throughout the empire and increased their severity. In a sense, Domitian was the reincarnation of Nero’s wickedness and soon his cruelty and wickedness knew no bounds. Now hold that thought for a moment and we’ll come back to it shortly to show why it is significant, especially to Rev. 13.
The next thing I think is critical to a proper interpretation of this book is an understanding of the timeframe in which the symbolic visions were to take place. Fortunately, the book itself gives us some clues. Twice in the very first chapter of the book and twice in the very last chapter of the book the Lord makes it clear that the things described in symbolic language in the book would begin to happen very soon.
According to the record, the things the Lord revealed to John (and to those Christians who were undergoing intense persecution) were “things that must soon take place.” The events described through signs and symbols in the visions of John would begin to happen at once! Furthermore, in the original Greek, the word “must” is an impersonal verb that indicates that a moral necessity is involved; the nature of the case is such that the things revealed here
must come to pass shortly for only in this way could those early Christians be assured of the immediate help they needed. It is worth noting that Jesus used this same word in Matthew 16:21 when he told his disciples that “He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” Because of the lost state of men, it was absolutely necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem to die on the cross. Only then could His purpose for coming be accomplished.
Similarly, the word “soon” means that the things in the book would come to pass very soon, or quickly. It is the same word that Paul used in 2 Timothy 4:9 when he told Timothy, “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me.” Paul’s life was about to end. He was alone except for Luke. All others had left him. So, he was anxious to see Timothy once more before he died.
Finally, we must remember to whom this letter was written and the purpose of its writing. The book was sent to the seven churches of Asia, and its purpose was to give them comfort, consolation, and hope to endure the persecutions which they were suffering. Though the church had had a rather auspicious beginning (Acts 2:47) and grew quite rapidly for a time, Satan and his forces had now had time to regroup and he was doing all that he could to bring a swift end to the rapid growth of the church. He had found a willing accomplice first in Nero and then later in Domitian who was in a sense the embodiment of all the wickedness of Nero, reincarnating, as it were, Nero's rather limited persecution of Christians and then extending it throughout the whole of the Roman empire. In the meantime, many Christians were beginning to have some doubts about the commitment they had made. After all, most of them had never personally seen or heard Jesus and now Rome seemed invincible. From their limited perspective and with the faith of many of them beginning to waver, it appeared that the church was soon to be totally destroyed. "Perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps Jesus is not in heaven. Perhaps God has forgotten about us. Else, why is He not doing anything to stop this persecution?" It is against this background that the Lord gives this revelation to John- to let His people know that they are part of a larger conflict between the forces of God and the forces of Satan, that Christ is still on His throne, that they should continue to persevere, and to encourage and comfort them in the knowledge that He was and they will be eternally victorious over all world conditions.
OK, that’s a lot of background but it was necessary in order to see the context of the book generally and chapter 13 in particular. Chapter 12 is a picture, from Heaven’s perspective, of Satan’s (the dragon) attempts to stop God’s grand plan of redemption in its tracks by killing Christ. Being unsuccessful in his efforts, the dragon (Satan) turns his attention to God’s people (i.e., the church). If he can destroy the church, he can still thwart God’s plan. Which brings us to chapter 13.
In chapter 13, the dragon (Satan) finds some allies to help him in this battle against God’s people. The first beast is Rome, embodied in the Roman emperor. The seven heads of the beast represent the first seven emperors (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian). The head (or the emperor) portrayed in verse 3 is Nero. He had begun a persecution of God’s people, but it was rather limited and short-lived. When Nero died the persecutions ended (at least insofar as Rome’s directing them) and it appeared to have been a death blow to the persecuting force of Rome against God’s people. For the next fourteen years or so the church enjoyed relative peace from Roman persecution. But then Domitian came to the throne and things changed for the worse. Much, much worse. In a figurative sense Domitian was the reincarnation of Nero’s cruelty, wickedness, and persecution against the church. This is perfectly symbolized in Rev. 13:3 and Rev. 13:12 as one of the heads of the beast (Nero) is mortally wounded, but the persecutions that had been initiated by that beast were begun again, expanded and extended in the other head, Domitian.
I think that’s enough. You may or may not agree with this interpretation but I hope I have accomplished these things:
- To offer an interpretation that is consistent with what Revelation says about itself, that the visions contained therein would begin to happen within a very short time.
- To offer an interpretation that is consistent with what Revelation says about itself, that the visions contained therein are revealed through signs and symbols. A symbol cannot represent itself.
- To show show how "the mortal wound [that] was healed" can be interpreted symbolically, consistent with the symbolism of the book.
- To offer an interpretation that is consistent with the historical context at the time the Revelation was given to John.
- To offer an interpretation that would be both meaningful and comforting to those to whom John was writing, to those who were in the very midst of severe persecution.
I warned you that chasing this rabbit would get us off topic, but you insisted that I chase it anyway. It’s all your fault.
Originally Posted by Harrell
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