Rev. 13:14 says that the Antichrist will set up an "image to the beast" and demand allegiance from all peoples. The image of Nebuchadnezzar was a prophetic 'type' of this future image. Nebuchadnezzar's statue was 6 cubits wide and 60 cubits high. Irenaeus (AD 120-202), the 2nd Century theologian and student of Polycarp (who was a personal student of John the Apostle), believed that these numbers allude to 666 - the mark of the beast and the number of his name.
Irenaeus wrote:
"In the previous books I have set forth the causes for which God permitted these things to be made, and have pointed out that all such have been created for the benefit of that human nature which is saved, ripening for immortality that which is [possessed] of its own free will and its own power, and preparing and rendering it more adapted for eternal subjection to God. And therefore the creation is suited to [the wants of] man; for man was not made for its sake, but creation for the sake of man. Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the Word justly reckons 'as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance - in fact, as nothing;' so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces toward the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, "There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.' For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.
"And there is, therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess the number 666, since he sums up in his own person all the commixture of wickedness, which took place previous to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was 600 years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And Antichrist also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just.
Please note that Irenaeus points out that the roots of the Antichrist originated during the "apostasy of the angels," who first appeared in the "times of Noah" and came back to establish themselves as "idols since the flood." These idols were Baal, Apollo (mentioned in Rev.), Osiris, Horus, etc., all of which are the same being in essence, which the people have worshiped over the ages, and which same Apollo will be resurrected, and will return, in the last days."For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of 60 cubits, while the breadth was 6 cubits; on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the time of the end. For that image, taken as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then the 600 years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image (60) for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of 6000 years, and unrighteousness, and wickedness, and false prophecy, and deception; for which things a cataclysm of fire shall also come upon the earth.". (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk 5, ch. 29.)
He also links the 600 years of Noah to the 66 cubits in Nebuchadnezzar's statue, to form the number 666. He also notes that the Antichrist will contain "the whole apostasy of 6,000 years." In this way, Irenaeus is saying when he expects the prophecy to be fulfilled. Since 6,000 years have transpired from Adam until now the Antichrist should now be appearing.
Note also that Irenaeus says that Christians will be caught up -- "when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this." He says that this would happen before the Tribulation Period sets in. This is a 2nd Century theologian's view of the pre-tribulation rapture.
It is important to note that Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp, who was a student directly under the Apostle John. This permits no room for error to have crept into New Testament Christianity -- not this early, and not through a personage so close to the Apostle.
This may be the strongest evidence that Apostle John taught a pre-tribulation rapture, as did others. So let us ignore the satanic deceptive clammerings about Darby, who was a sort of Martin Luther in bringing forth once again the correct early theology of those who learned directly from the Apostle John himself.
ROYAL HEIR
Feel free to email me at: creyner@yahoo.com
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