15. Again, the ‘fifth king’ mentioned in the book of Revelation17 may well refer, at least initially, to Nero. So too, the number of the beast ‘666’ is computed by many to be a reference to the incendiary arsonist Kesar Neron18 – even though together with the Westminster Standards we ourselves see it as referring centrally to the later Romish Papacy.
– 10 –
16. Indeed, the “Great Tribulation” in the book of Revelation 19 certainly seems to be a reference to the awful seven-years-long “Great Tribulation” and greatest bloodbath the World had ever seen or ever shall see (cf. Matthew 23:15-16,29-33 & 24:1-9,15 22,28). It started with Nero’s destruction of Rome in A.D. 64. And it terminated only with the Roman destruction of faraway Jerusalem itself, in 70 A.D.
