"We have no King but Caesar."

[CatholicKnight3]

I have made a mention of this before, and I am wondering about this observation I have made with regards to historical facts, and this response made by the Jews to Pilate when Pilate asked if Jesus was their king.

Here are some facts in history. The last Caesar (the bloodline) emperor was emperor nero. He died in 68AD. Well, Rome for the first time (in their relatively young empire) went through a real struggle in 69AD with regards to who would be the new emperor.

In history, 69AD is known as “the year of the 4 emperors.” (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) It is interesting in that after the dust settled after that year, Vespasian (who was in charge of the territory present day Syria and Israel) the 4th emperor in 69AD took charge and held power for a decade.

The interesting thing about Vespasian is that he was the one that ordered the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. He also declared the territory to be named Palestine.

With the spoils of war and eradication of the the temple, Vespasian used the funds to construct the Flavian Ampitheatre. Better known as the Colosseum.

I am not going to say that John was writing about the year of the 4 emperors as some kind of prophecy with the 4 horsemen. Although I think it is historical fact that many of the letters written during that period were written in code. Meaning, very rarely did any letters mention emperors by name. Lets not forget that the Romans viewed the emperors as pagan gods and direct descendants of them. It would be certain death for anyone writing anything disparaging about an emperor by name. It does seem as though Vespasian could be equated as the pale horsemen in that judgement and hell came with him when he sacked Jerusalem.

I do find it interesting reading how the emperor not of Caesar blood ordered the destruction the temple. It certainly seems like a judgement based on that response the Jews gave to Pilate.

“We have no king but Caesar.”

It almost seems like God allowed the temple to remain until the last caesar died.

 

[TimothyH]

I find this post provocative, and I mean that in a good way. It provokes thought.

I had not though of these things and really have nothing to add except to say that the concept is extremely interesting!

I’d love to hear more.

-Tim-

 

[CatholicKnight3]

I find this post provocative, and I mean that in a good way. It provokes thought.

I had not though of these things and really have nothing to add except to say that the concept is extremely interesting!

I’d love to hear more.

-Tim-

I just find a lot of these historical events fascinating. I believe the more we know about historical events the more we grow in faith.

The battle of Milvian Bridge that took place in 312ad. That was a very key moment in Church history, and really vital of the expanse of the Church.

In 303AD, the emperor Diocletian passed several edicts of non-toleration towards Christianity. During this period, it was the most severe period of Christian Martyrdom in history. Worse than the period of Nero.

Anyway, there was a real division among the generals that were highly ranked in the Roman empire. Two of these generals were names Maxentius and another general was Constantine.

Well, there was a big struggle and with the help of prayers from Constantine’s mother Saint Helena, Constantine converted to Christianity. However, it was after Constantine saw a vision in the sky. According to Constantine, on the way to meet Maxentius, he saw this symbol, and was told to put this sign on the shields of his soldiers.

http://wordonfire.org/getmedia/f1e06c2e-19ef-444a-b779-e2ef5d5133c4/Constantine-Chi-Rho.aspx

This was the sign that was seen and it represents the Christ in Latin. Anyway, they were outnumbered by Maxentius’s forces, who was a pagan. He actually consulted a pagan oracle before meeting Constantine, and reportedly the oracle said to him that “the enemy of Rome will die today.” He saw that as a victory. He went to meet Constantine and he was defeated. He drowned in the Tiber River.

After this battle, Christianity became the official religion of Rome, and it still is today.

 

[irenaeuslyons]

I have made a mention of this before, and I am wondering about this observation I have made with regards to historical facts, and this response made by the Jews to Pilate when Pilate asked if Jesus was their king.

Here are some facts in history. The last Caesar (the bloodline) emperor was emperor nero. He died in 68AD. Well, Rome for the first time (in their relatively young empire) went through a real struggle in 69AD with regards to who would be the new emperor.

In history, 69AD is known as “the year of the 4 emperors.” (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) It is interesting in that after the dust settled after that year, Vespasian (who was in charge of the territory present day Syria and Israel) the 4th emperor in 69AD took charge and held power for a decade.

The interesting thing about Vespasian is that he was the one that ordered the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. He also declared the territory to be named Palestine.

With the spoils of war and eradication of the the temple, Vespasian used the funds to construct the Flavian Ampitheatre. Better known as the Colosseum.

I am not going to say that John was writing about the year of the 4 emperors as some kind of prophecy with the 4 horsemen. Although I think it is historical fact that many of the letters written during that period were written in code. Meaning, very rarely did any letters mention emperors by name. Lets not forget that the Romans viewed the emperors as pagan gods and direct descendants of them. It would be certain death for anyone writing anything disparaging about an emperor by name. It does seem as though Vespasian could be equated as the pale horsemen in that judgement and hell came with him when he sacked Jerusalem.

I do find it interesting reading how the emperor not of Caesar blood ordered the destruction the temple. It certainly seems like a judgement based on that response the Jews gave to Pilate.

“We have no king but Caesar.”

It almost seems like God allowed the temple to remain until the last caesar died.

Very interesting thoughts. Thanks for sharing. I am inclined to think much of what is described in Revelation is accorded to history. It is only when we get to chapter 12 that we see the birth of the Church. Even the churches that were mentioned earlier all happen to be along the same Roman road that would have been traveled once Johns message had hit the mainland from Patmos.