Heick, Otto William

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Consensus
Volume 11 | Issue 1 Article 3
1-1-1985
The Antichrist in the Book of Revelation
Otto William Heick
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Recommended Citation
Heick, Otto William (1985) "The Antichrist in the Book of Revelation," Consensus: Vol. 11 : Iss. 1 , Article 3.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol11/iss1/3
THE ANTICHRIST
IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Otto W. Heick
A German scholar whose name has escaped my memory is reported to have called
the Book of Revelation the “Bilderbuch Gottes” (picture book of God) . But the “pic-
tures” are weird and eerie so that Luther was led to say in 1522 that the book makes
him hold that “it is neither apostolic nor prophetic . . . My spirit cannot fit itself into
this book.”* Later, however, (1545) he interpreted the book historically, speaking of
events that were to come upon the church. The seven bad angels mentioned in
chapters 8-10 and 13, he maintained, are referring to notorious heretics of the
1. Works of Martin Luther. Phil. Ed. Vol. VI, (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press), 488 ft.
28 Consensus
church: Tatian, Marcion, Origin, Novatus, Arius, Mohammed and the Pope.^
This historical approach was followed by many of the devotional expositors of
Revelation. Ludwig Harms, for instance, (d. 1865), founder of the Hermannsburg
Mission in Northern Germany which trained many pastors especially for the Joint
Synod of Ohio, regarded the seven letters in Chapters 2-3 as successively portraying
the spiritual development of the church. The letter to the church in Philadelphia, he
says, is a description of the Lutheran Church from the time of its inception to about
1750, for ideally speaking, “the Lutheran Church is the only true church of Christ.”
But alas, since the age of Rationalism, the established Lutheran church, like the
church in Laodicea is neither hot nor cold, but wretched and poor. The beast with its
seven heads, he says, is represented today by Austria, Prussia, England, Russia, Italy
and the Papal States. In all these states, to some degree, godless democrats are set-
ting the fashion.
-
Today it is widely held that Revelation must be interpreted in the light of its con-
temporary hi*5tory albeit with an eschatological concern. Without taking the
references to contemporary history into account, the expositor, Lilje says, the book
“falls headlong into the slough of fantasy and speculation. But Lilje himself re-
mains at times uncertain as to the person or event to which the text may allude. With
respect to Rev. 17:10-12, he says that “it is pointless to calculate the five kings in
terms of Roman emperors” though in the New Testament the emperor is called
“basileus” (I Pet. 2:13, 17; I Tim. 2:2). While Deissmann® and K.L. Schmidt® agree
with Lilje, Lohmeyer^ disagrees. To speak bluntly of seven Caesars in this connection
would have led to a bloody repression of the church by the state, says Lohmeyer.
Following an exclusively unhistorical, eschatological interpretation, Lohmeyer
dismisses the passage as an esoteric, apocalyptic statement, reflecting no historical in-
sight but only apocalyptic faith. Consequently he rejects the widely held notion that
Nero is meant to be the eighth king returning from the dead.
Yet taking seriously the historical roots of Revelation implies that the passage must
have been meaningful to the Christian readers in Asia Minor. Five kings, John writes,
have fallen. Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero have died. Civil War
seemed to be threatening again. The three contesting generals Alba, Otho and
Vitellius were murdered in quick succession, the latter by the soldiers of Vespasian
who restored order and tranquility in the empire. Thus the “mortal wound” was heal-
ed (13:5). Vespasian was the sixth king “who is” when John was writing. He was to
be followed by Titus who, being of poor health,® remained only a “little while” (A.D.
2. Ibid. pp. 488 f.
3. Ludwig Harms, Die Offenbarung St. Johannis. 10th Ed. 1910. Including the Papal States, indi-
cates that the statement was originally made in the later forties of the last century when the
newly elected Pope Pius IX seemed to favor the aspirations of the Italian liberals—A.J. Seiss of
the former General Council followed a similar approach to the Seven Letters of Rev., Vol. I,
176-208. 12th ed. (New York: Charles C. Cook, 1917).
4. Hanns Lilje, The Last Book of the Bible (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957), p. 7.
5. Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (New York and London: Harper and Brothers,
1922), p. 362, ft. 6.
6. K.L. Schmidt in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by Gerhard Kittel. Vol. I, (Grand
Rapids: Erdmans, 1964 ff.), p. 577.
7. Ernst Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Johannes (1926), pp. 140 ff.
8. Seutonius, Life of Titus, 7.
The Antichrist 29
79-81). The eighth king then, who himself does not belong to this series and yet
belongs to it by his very nature, signifies Domitian (A.D. 81-96). In this person, the
murderous Nero returned just as Jesus said (Matt. 11:14) that Elijah had come back
in the person of John the Baptist.
Commenting on this passage, Lilje® seems to contradict himself. On the one hand,
he says that the numbers may contain illusions to contemporary history; on the other,
that “this passage is not intended to be connected with contemporary history.” But
would the original readers of the Apocalypse not have recognized in these numbers a
veiled reference to the political rules of their times? Suetonius writes that Domitian
ordered the imperial decrees to begin with, “The Lord, Our God
commands.”^® Throughout his reign he was haunted by fear of Jewish messianism.
In A.D. 95 he took action against members of the imperial family whom he suspected
of leaning toward the new faith. One of them—Clement, tradition relates to have
been the third bishop of Rome and the author of the First epistle of Clement. In the
same year, Tertullian relates, he summoned a dangerous Hebrew prophecying in
Ephesus the imminent end of the Roman empire and the rise of a new world ruler to
Rome, and there examined and tortured him. Little wonder that in the eyes of John,
Domitian was the incarnation of the “beast from the abyss”.”
But assuming that Revelation was written under Vespasian implies certain dif-
ficulties if we accept a statement of Irenaeus that it was written “almost in our day,
toward the end of the reign of Domitian.”” However, must we assume that the vi-
sions of John were received in an unbroken succession? May he not have included in
the finished book events separated in time? Was, for example, the vision about
Jerusalem (Chapter 11) experienced at an earlier date but included in the book in
order to stress the fact that God suffered no loss when the temple was destroyed?
Julius Wellhaussen” and R.C. Charles^" regarded the passage as an oracle by a
prophetic zealot who believed in the abiding religious significance of Jerusalem. Lilje
vacilates.^® On the one hand, he says, that Jerusalem “is no longer the place of actual
saving significance,” but that “in some way or other it will have its place in the history
of the last days”. The latter notion reflects his view that “God’s will in creation and
redemption reaches its goal within (italics ours) history.” Schlatter^® regards Chapter
11 as a word of instruction and comfort for the believers from Judaism. Though as a
nation Israel may reject Jesus, a remnant will be saved. Likewise in Chapter 12, John
“prophesies” an event of the past in order to strengthen his readers in the persecution
they have to endure.
To regard Domitian as the eighth ruler, I believe, is corroborated by 666, the
number of the Beast (13:18). In the history of the Church, Christians have been
tempted to read the names of notorious enemies of Christ into this number. The mat-
9. Lilje, p. 226.
10. Seutonius, Li/e o/ Domitian, 15.
11. For relevant passages see J.B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers. Part I, Vol. I, (London: Mac-
Millan, n.d.), pp. 104 ft. Cf. also Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (London: SCM Press,
1955.).
12. Against Heresies. Vol. V, 30, 3.
13. Anali^se der Offenbarung des Johannes. 1907.
14. R.H. Charles, The Revelation of St. John. 2 Vols. 1920.
15. Lilje, pp. 161; 251.
16. Adolf Schlatter, Erlaeuterungen zum Neuen Testament. 10. Teil. 6th ed. 1938.
30 Consensus
ter is complicated, in that some manuscripts read 616. Concerning this number,
Deissmann^^ ventured to propose a solution: 616 = Kaiser theos: K = 20; A=l;
S = 200; A=l; R=100; Th = 9; E = 5; 0 = 70; S = 200 = 616, for like Latin
numbers which are still used occasionally, Greek and Hebrew numbers were also
written with letters of the alphabet. The most sensible way of course, is to use the
Greek alphabet which is used by John (1:8, 21:6). But all attempts to arrange the let-
ters to disclose the meaning of the number 666 have failed. Lohmeyer^® has offered
an entirely new approach to the problem. The number 666, he says, is a
“Dreieckzahl” (triangular number), i.e. the sum total of numbers from 1 to 36 is 666.
The number 36 is the triangular number to 8. 1 plus 2 plus 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 is 36.
Every triangular number contains the same meaning as the final number. This means
that the number 8 is the key to unlock the mystery of 666. The numbers 8, 36 and
666 have the same meaning as 8 in Chapter 17:11. Domitian is the incarnation of the
Beast; he is the Antichrist, the supreme but also last expression of enmity against God
and his Christ. The lesser ten kings, the vassals of Roman power, will at first join in
making war on the Lamb; but their war-like mind will quickly (in “one hour”— 18:17)
turn against their supreme commander. Thus the imperial world-power will be over-
thrown by its own forces. In addition, Christ himself will appear as Victor over the
Beast and its vassals (19:17-21) and will usher in a reign of peace for the church.
John’s visions did not extend beyond his own time. Actually, the persecutions
under Nero and Domitian were only the beginning of a reign of uncertainty and terror
for the church for another 250 years. It was not until “the Rider on the White Horse”
assumed historical form in the person of Constantine that the vision of John was
fulfilled and peace became a reality for the church, A.D. 313. The Christians were
jubilant as is, manifested for example, in the lengthy “Panegyric on the Splendor of
Affairs” in Eusebius’ Church Histor];.^^ For Augustine the church as the Kingdom in
space and time is the fulfillment of the millenial hope of Revelation 20. Rome has a
Christian emperor. Christ rules through those men by whom the church is ruled, the
bishops and presbyters. An element of “realized eschatology” is implicit in
Augustine’s view of church and state.
17. Deissmann, p. 278.
18. Lohmeyer, pp. 115 f.
19. Church Historic, X, 4.
20. City of God. XX, 9.


The Antichrist in the Book of Revelation

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 11 | Issue 1 Article 31-1-1985The Antichrist in the Book of RevelationOtto William HeickFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationHeick, Otto William (1985) "The Antichrist in the Book of Revelation," Consensus: Vol. 11 : Iss. 1 , Article 3.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol11/iss1/3THE ANTICHRISTIN THE BOOK OF REVELATIONOtto W. HeickA German scholar whose name has escaped my memory is reported to have calledthe Book of Revelation the “Bilderbuch Gottes” (picture book of God) . But the “pic-tures” are weird and eerie so that Luther was led to say in 1522 that the book makeshim hold that “it is neither apostolic nor prophetic . . . My spirit cannot fit itself intothis book.”* Later, however, (1545) he interpreted the book historically, speaking ofevents that were to come upon the church. The seven bad angels mentioned inchapters 8-10 and 13, he maintained, are referring to notorious heretics of the1. Works of Martin Luther. Phil. Ed. Vol. VI, (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press), 488 ft.28 Consensuschurch: Tatian, Marcion, Origin, Novatus, Arius, Mohammed and the Pope.^This historical approach was followed by many of the devotional expositors ofRevelation. Ludwig Harms, for instance, (d. 1865), founder of the HermannsburgMission in Northern Germany which trained many pastors especially for the JointSynod of Ohio, regarded the seven letters in Chapters 2-3 as successively portrayingthe spiritual development of the church. The letter to the church in Philadelphia, hesays, is a description of the Lutheran Church from the time of its inception to about1750, for ideally speaking, “the Lutheran Church is the only true church of Christ.”But alas, since the age of Rationalism, the established Lutheran church, like thechurch in Laodicea is neither hot nor cold, but wretched and poor. The beast with itsseven heads, he says, is represented today by Austria, Prussia, England, Russia, Italyand the Papal States. In all these states, to some degree, godless democrats are set-ting the fashion.-Today it is widely held that Revelation must be interpreted in the light of its con-temporary hi*5tory albeit with an eschatological concern. Without taking thereferences to contemporary history into account, the expositor, Lilje says, the book“falls headlong into the slough of fantasy and speculation. But Lilje himself re-mains at times uncertain as to the person or event to which the text may allude. Withrespect to Rev. 17:10-12, he says that “it is pointless to calculate the five kings interms of Roman emperors” though in the New Testament the emperor is called“basileus” (I Pet. 2:13, 17; I Tim. 2:2). While Deissmann® and K.L. Schmidt® agreewith Lilje, Lohmeyer^ disagrees. To speak bluntly of seven Caesars in this connectionwould have led to a bloody repression of the church by the state, says Lohmeyer.Following an exclusively unhistorical, eschatological interpretation, Lohmeyerdismisses the passage as an esoteric, apocalyptic statement, reflecting no historical in-sight but only apocalyptic faith. Consequently he rejects the widely held notion thatNero is meant to be the eighth king returning from the dead.Yet taking seriously the historical roots of Revelation implies that the passage musthave been meaningful to the Christian readers in Asia Minor. Five kings, John writes,have fallen. Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero have died. Civil Warseemed to be threatening again. The three contesting generals Alba, Otho andVitellius were murdered in quick succession, the latter by the soldiers of Vespasianwho restored order and tranquility in the empire. Thus the “mortal wound” was heal-ed (13:5). Vespasian was the sixth king “who is” when John was writing. He was tobe followed by Titus who, being of poor health,® remained only a “little while” (A.D.2. Ibid. pp. 488 f.3. Ludwig Harms, Die Offenbarung St. Johannis. 10th Ed. 1910. Including the Papal States, indi-cates that the statement was originally made in the later forties of the last century when thenewly elected Pope Pius IX seemed to favor the aspirations of the Italian liberals—A.J. Seiss ofthe former General Council followed a similar approach to the Seven Letters of Rev., Vol. I,176-208. 12th ed. (New York: Charles C. Cook, 1917).4. Hanns Lilje, The Last Book of the Bible (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957), p. 7.5. Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (New York and London: Harper and Brothers,1922), p. 362, ft. 6.6. K.L. Schmidt in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by Gerhard Kittel. Vol. I, (GrandRapids: Erdmans, 1964 ff.), p. 577.7. Ernst Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Johannes (1926), pp. 140 ff.8. Seutonius, Life of Titus, 7.The Antichrist 2979-81). The eighth king then, who himself does not belong to this series and yetbelongs to it by his very nature, signifies Domitian (A.D. 81-96). In this person, themurderous Nero returned just as Jesus said (Matt. 11:14) that Elijah had come backin the person of John the Baptist.Commenting on this passage, Lilje® seems to contradict himself. On the one hand,he says that the numbers may contain illusions to contemporary history; on the other,that “this passage is not intended to be connected with contemporary history.” Butwould the original readers of the Apocalypse not have recognized in these numbers aveiled reference to the political rules of their times? Suetonius writes that Domitianordered the imperial decrees to begin with, “The Lord, Our Godcommands.”^® Throughout his reign he was haunted by fear of Jewish messianism.In A.D. 95 he took action against members of the imperial family whom he suspectedof leaning toward the new faith. One of them—Clement, tradition relates to havebeen the third bishop of Rome and the author of the First epistle of Clement. In thesame year, Tertullian relates, he summoned a dangerous Hebrew prophecying inEphesus the imminent end of the Roman empire and the rise of a new world ruler toRome, and there examined and tortured him. Little wonder that in the eyes of John,Domitian was the incarnation of the “beast from the abyss”.”But assuming that Revelation was written under Vespasian implies certain dif-ficulties if we accept a statement of Irenaeus that it was written “almost in our day,toward the end of the reign of Domitian.”” However, must we assume that the vi-sions of John were received in an unbroken succession? May he not have included inthe finished book events separated in time? Was, for example, the vision aboutJerusalem (Chapter 11) experienced at an earlier date but included in the book inorder to stress the fact that God suffered no loss when the temple was destroyed?Julius Wellhaussen” and R.C. Charles^" regarded the passage as an oracle by aprophetic zealot who believed in the abiding religious significance of Jerusalem. Liljevacilates.^® On the one hand, he says, that Jerusalem “is no longer the place of actualsaving significance,” but that “in some way or other it will have its place in the historyof the last days”. The latter notion reflects his view that “God’s will in creation andredemption reaches its goal within (italics ours) history.” Schlatter^® regards Chapter11 as a word of instruction and comfort for the believers from Judaism. Though as anation Israel may reject Jesus, a remnant will be saved. Likewise in Chapter 12, John“prophesies” an event of the past in order to strengthen his readers in the persecutionthey have to endure.To regard Domitian as the eighth ruler, I believe, is corroborated by 666, thenumber of the Beast (13:18). In the history of the Church, Christians have beentempted to read the names of notorious enemies of Christ into this number. The mat-9. Lilje, p. 226.10. Seutonius, Li/e o/ Domitian, 15.11. For relevant passages see J.B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers. Part I, Vol. I, (London: Mac-Millan, n.d.), pp. 104 ft. Cf. also Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (London: SCM Press,1955.).12. Against Heresies. Vol. V, 30, 3.13. Anali^se der Offenbarung des Johannes. 1907.14. R.H. Charles, The Revelation of St. John. 2 Vols. 1920.15. Lilje, pp. 161; 251.16. Adolf Schlatter, Erlaeuterungen zum Neuen Testament. 10. Teil. 6th ed. 1938.30 Consensuster is complicated, in that some manuscripts read 616. Concerning this number,Deissmann^^ ventured to propose a solution: 616 = Kaiser theos: K = 20; A=l;S = 200; A=l; R=100; Th = 9; E = 5; 0 = 70; S = 200 = 616, for like Latinnumbers which are still used occasionally, Greek and Hebrew numbers were alsowritten with letters of the alphabet. The most sensible way of course, is to use theGreek alphabet which is used by John (1:8, 21:6). But all attempts to arrange the let-ters to disclose the meaning of the number 666 have failed. Lohmeyer^® has offeredan entirely new approach to the problem. The number 666, he says, is a“Dreieckzahl” (triangular number), i.e. the sum total of numbers from 1 to 36 is 666.The number 36 is the triangular number to 8. 1 plus 2 plus 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 is 36.Every triangular number contains the same meaning as the final number. This meansthat the number 8 is the key to unlock the mystery of 666. The numbers 8, 36 and666 have the same meaning as 8 in Chapter 17:11. Domitian is the incarnation of theBeast; he is the Antichrist, the supreme but also last expression of enmity against Godand his Christ. The lesser ten kings, the vassals of Roman power, will at first join inmaking war on the Lamb; but their war-like mind will quickly (in “one hour”— 18:17)turn against their supreme commander. Thus the imperial world-power will be over-thrown by its own forces. In addition, Christ himself will appear as Victor over theBeast and its vassals (19:17-21) and will usher in a reign of peace for the church.John’s visions did not extend beyond his own time. Actually, the persecutionsunder Nero and Domitian were only the beginning of a reign of uncertainty and terrorfor the church for another 250 years. It was not until “the Rider on the White Horse”assumed historical form in the person of Constantine that the vision of John wasfulfilled and peace became a reality for the church, A.D. 313. The Christians werejubilant as is, manifested for example, in the lengthy “Panegyric on the Splendor ofAffairs” in Eusebius’ Church Histor];.^^ For Augustine the church as the Kingdom inspace and time is the fulfillment of the millenial hope of Revelation 20. Rome has aChristian emperor. Christ rules through those men by whom the church is ruled, thebishops and presbyters. An element of “realized eschatology” is implicit inAugustine’s view of church and state.17. Deissmann, p. 278.18. Lohmeyer, pp. 115 f.19. Church Historic, X, 4.20. City of God. XX, 9.

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