Yes I do know that if the antichrist were to sit in a new temple and show himself as if he was God he would have to be stting in the Holy of holies. The antichrist will appear to fulfill prophecy just like Christ has already done. He will come speaking great words of peace, he will do miracles such as calling fire down from heaven, he will receive a fatal head wound and come back from death after three days and he will declare himself to be God. None of that has happened yet.
What the heck is this? "Great words of peace?" "Fatal head wounds?" "Resurrection after 3 days." "Declaring himself to be God." None of these things are told to us.
Let's deal with the fatal head wound first from Rev 13:
Revelation 13 paints a picture of first century Rome, the Beast of the Sea and later, the Earth.
The beast with the 7 heads rising up out of the sea was the Roman Empire. "The SEA" often represents a Gentile Nation while the "Earth" represents a specific Land, usually Israel. The 7 heads were the 7 leaders of Rome up to this time:
- Julius Caesar
- Caesar Augustus
- Tiberius
- Caligula
- Claudius
- Nero
- Vespasian
The sixth head was the beast with the mortal wound, Nero, who committed suicide by stabbing himself in the neck. Thus, the first 6 Caesars made up the family line of Julio-Claudian Dynasty which ended with Nero. Following the death of Nero, when the kingdom went dark at the height of its strength, many believed it had died. Nero did not name a successor. Because of this Rome entered a brutal and bloody civil war during the year of the 4 emperors. Galba, Otho and Vitellius were not of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, they were never able to consolidate power to control the whole empire, nor were they recognized by the Senate. Thus, they were not heads. During their reigns, the offensive against Israel ordered by Nero, was suspended.
The Flavian Dynasty marked Rome's rebirth or resurrection. It wasn't until Vespasian that the mortal wound was healed and the Roman Civil War ended and the satanic Beast kingdom was restored. When Vespasian was declared Caesar, his two sons Titus and Domitian were also declared Caesar so that a clear line of succession would be in place. This was an unholy trinity. The Beast of the Earth was Vespasian who I have no problems using the term "AntiChrist" although that Biblical term applied only to the spirit of heresy and is only found in 1 and 2 John. As a type of opposite to God and Son Vespasian who was worshiped as God and His Son, Titus took the same name, Titus Flavius Vespasianus. Thus they were an opposite to God, Father and HS.
Thus Vespasian was the seven head that "grew out" of the sixth severed head along with his son, Titus. Titus was then the 8th head but part of the 7 as stated in Rev 17. The Roman Empire was restored under a new dynasty, the Flavian Dynasty. I believe this historical peculiarity subtly points to these two heads of the beast growing up out of the same severed neck. (Interestingly just as Nero Caesar transliterated into Hebrew characters adds up to 666 so does Titus Flavius Vespasianus by the same transliteration. The fact that two heads grew up in the place of the old severed head is also implied in Revelation 17:11. According to Revelation 17:11 the beast who once had seven heads eventually ends up with eight. This eighth head was the previous seventh head since two heads grew up from the stump of the previous sixth head representing Nero.
The Satanic nature of Rome as the beast started with the birth of Augustus. As a direct opposite to the virgin birth of Christ, Augustus was said to have been born of a serpent.
Concerning the story of the divine birth of Augustus found in the
Theologumena, Suetonius writes:
Augustus’s mother, Atia, with certain married women friends, once attended a solemn midnight service at the Temple of Apollo, where she had her litter set down, and presently fell asleep as the others also did. Suddenly a serpent gliding up, entered her, and then gliding away again. On awakening, she purified herself, as if after intimacy with her husband. An irremovable coloured mark in the shape of a serpent, which then appeared on her body, made her ashamed to visit the public baths any more; and the birth of Augustus nine months later suggested a divine paternity.
Vespasian came from the Earth (Israel) before he returned to Rome as its emperor as he came out of Israel where Nero sent him to put down the Jewish rebellion. In fact many Jews who were against the war viewed Vespasian as their Messiah sent to save them from the zealots.
