upon those who read it, those who hear it, and who heed its prophecies—“for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Consequently, the Beast must be a first century figure. This temporal notation alone does not prove the Beast is Nero or the Roman Empire. But it does eliminate 100% of modern guesses by the populist “prophecy experts.” We shall see that a number of lines of evidence point us in that direction. A second step in identifying the Beast is determining his geographical location.
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