During the Roman Empire Christians had to decide if God was first in their lives (Mk. 12:30). Should they attend worship services knowing if they did, they could ultimately die? Knowing the risk if they got caught, would God permit a reprieve to His command for assembling (Heb. 10:25). After all, once a new emperor took office the madness would end. They only needed to hide for a few months or in the worst case, ...
Read MoreBy Steve A. Hamilton “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Rev. 13:18). Much ado has been made about the number 666 from the above passage out of Revelation 13:18. It is not our intent to disprove all the various theories as to the meaning of the number and hence the name ...
Read MoreBy Steve A. Hamilton “So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” (Rev. 16:2) The date was 541 A.D. Roman Emperor Justinian was reigning in his 14th year from Constantinople when the plague struck the empire. By the year 542 A.D., the entire empire was fully engulfed by ...
Read MoreTiming is everything for the proper interpretation of the book of Revelation. Various theories have developed concerning the interpretation of the book of Revelation that have ignored when it was written or when it concludes. These theories take advantage of the symbolic nature of the book to express ideas that are beyond the scope of the book itself. We are directed to confine ourselves to the things written in the book without adding to it ...
Read MoreFirst Century Christians lived in a time where their government declared war on Christianity. The assaults on people of faith were not done in secret (Heb. 10:32-34). Lands, homes and property were taken by the governing powers. Preachers were regularly interrogated by civil authorities for speaking the truth about Christ (Acts 5:17-18). Members of the church did not want to assemble because of the government intrusions (Heb. 10:35-39). It just wasn’t safe going to church. ...
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