Who is the Whore of Babylon?

Protestants, love to describe The Roman Catholic Church as “The Whore of Babylon” but who did St. John the author of Revelations really mean was the Whore. St. John gave us several clues, If we read Revelation they would notice that the clothing the Whore was wearing is the key to her identity:

“³And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns. ⁴And the woman was clothed round about with purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abominations and filthiness of her fornication. ⁵And in her forehead a name written, “Mystery”: Babylon the great, mother of the fornications and the abominations of the earth. ⁶And I saw the woman drunken of the blood of the Saints, and of the blood of the martyrs of JESUS. And I marveled when I had seen her, with great admiration.” [Apoc. xvii. 3-6]

Compare Revelation with the following, Her clothing “the woman was clothed round about with purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls” and The holy vestments for Aaron and his sons.

“¹Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from among the children of Israel, that they may do the function of priesthood unto me: Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²And thou shalt make an holy vesture to Aaron thy brother for Glory and beauty. ³And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have replenished with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aarons vestures, wherein he being sanctified may minister to me. ⁴And these shall be the vestments that they shall make: Rationale and an Ephod, a tunic and a straight linen garment, a mitre and a girdle. They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his sons, that they may do the function of priesthood unto me. ⁵And they shall take gold, and hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet twice died, and silk. ⁶And they shall make the Ephod of gold and hyacinth and purple, and scarlet twice died, and twisted silk, embroidered with diverse colors. ⁷It shall have two edges joined in the top on both sides, that they may be closed together. ⁸The very workmanship also and all the variety of the work shall be of gold and hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet twice died, and twisted silk. ⁹And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and shalt engrave in them the names of the children of Israel: ¹⁰six names in one stone, and the other six in the other, according to the order of their Nativity. ¹¹After the work of a graver and the graving of a lapidary, thou shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set in gold and compassed about ¹²and thou shalt put them in both sides of the Ephod, a memorial for the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance. ¹³Thou shalt make also hooks of gold, ¹⁴and two little chains of most pure gold linked one to another, which thou shalt put into the hooks. ¹⁵The Rationale of judgment also thou shalt make with embroidered work of diverse colors, according to the workmanship of the Ephod of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet twice died, and twisted silk. ¹⁶It shall be four square and double: it shall have the measure of a palm as well in length as in breadth. ¹⁷And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones: In the first row shall be the stone sardius, and topaz, and the emerald: ¹⁸in the second the carbuncle, the sapphire, and the jasper: ¹⁹in the third a ligurius, an achates, an amethyst: ²⁰in the fourth a chrysolith, an onyx, and beryllus. they shall be set in gold by their rows.” [Exodus xxviii. 1-20]

The Whore in other words wore the robes and diadem of the Jewish High Priest. What other clues can be ascertained about her? She committed fornications, “having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication…the mother of the fornications and the abominations of the earth.” What did the prophet Hosea say about the nation of Israel?

“²Judge your mother, judge ye: because she not my wife, and I not her husband. Let her take away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts. ³Lest perhaps I strip her naked, and set her according to the day of her Nativity: and I will lay her as a wilderness, and will set her as a land unpassible, and will kill her with drought. ⁴And I will not have mercy on her children: because they are the children of fornications. ⁵because their mother hath fornicated, she is confounded that conceived them: because she said: I will go after my lovers, that give me my breads, and my waters, my wool, & my flax, mine oil, and my drink. ⁶For this behold I will hedge thy way with Thorns, and I will hedge it with a wall, and she shall not find her paths. ⁷And she shall follow her lovers, & shall not overtake them: and she shall seek them, and shall not find, and she shall say: I will go, and will return to my former husband: because it was well with me then, more then now. ⁸And she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied silver unto her, & gold, which they have made to Baal. ⁹Therefore will I return, and will take my corn in his time, and my wine in his time, and I will deliver my wool, and my flax, which covered her ignominy. ¹⁰And now I will Reveal her folly in the eyes of her lovers: and there shall not a man deliver her out of my hand: ¹¹and I will make all her joy to cease, her solemnity, her new Moon, her sabbath, & all her festival times. ¹²And I will destroy her vine, & her fig tree: of which she said: These are my rewards, which my lovers have given me: and I will lay her as a forest, & the beast of the field shall eat her. ¹³And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, to whom she burnt incense, & was adorned with her earlet, and with her tablet, and went after her lovers, & forgot me, saith our Lord.” [Osse ii. 2-13]

She was “drunk with the blood of the saints.” It is known to historians that the Jews actively aided Nero in persecuting the early Church. Our Lord even condemned the Jewish leaders of His time because this characteristic manifested itself numerous times before his time as well:

“²⁷Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead mens bones and of all filthiness. ²⁸So you also outwardly in deed appear to men just: but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. ²⁹Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, ye hypocrites: because you build the Prophets sepulchres, and garnish the monuments of just men, and say: ³⁰If we had been in our fathers days, we had not been their fellows in the blood of the Prophets. ³¹Therefore you are a testimony to your own selves, that you are the sons of them that killed the Prophets. ³²And fill you up the measure of your fathers. ³³You serpents, vipers broods, how will you flee from the judgment of hell? ³⁴Therefore behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and scribes, and of them you shall kill and crucify, and of them you shall scourge in your Synagogues and persecute from city to city: ³⁵That upon you may come all the just blood that was shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. ³⁶Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.” [Matth. xxiii. 27-36]

Even before the death of the last Apostles we find the Jews “drunk… with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” Let us not forget Stephen’s speech before the Jews and his martyrdom in the The Acts of The Apostles.

“42And God turned, and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: Did you offer victims and hosts unto me forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ⁴³And you took unto you the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphem, figures which you made, to adore them. And I will translate you beyond Babylon. ⁴⁴The tabernacle of testimony was among our fathers in the desert, as God ordained speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the form which he had seen. ⁴⁵Which our fathers with Jesus receiving, brought it in also into the possession of the Gentiles, which God expelled from the face of our fathers, till in the days of David, ⁴⁶Who found grace before God, and desired that he might find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷And Solomon built him a house. ⁴⁸But the Highest dwelleth not in houses made by hand, as the prophet saith: ⁴⁹Heaven is my seat: and the earth the foot stool of my feet. What house will you build me, saith our Lord? or what place is there of my resting? ⁵⁰Hath not my hand made all these things? 51You stiff necked and of uncircumcised hearts and ears, you always resist the holy Ghost: as your fathers, yourselves also. ⁵²Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they slew them that foretold of the coming of the Just One, ⁵³Of whom now you have been betrayers and murderers: who received the Law by the disposition of Angels, and have not kept it. ⁵⁴And hearing these things they were cut in their hearts, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But he being full of the holy Ghost, looking steadfastly unto heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. ⁵⁶And he said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. ⁵⁷And crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. ⁵⁸And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him: and the witnesses laid of their garments beside the feet of a young man that was called Saul. ⁵⁹And they stoned Steven invocating and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ⁶⁰And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin unto them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting to his death.” [Act. vii. 42-60]

Those that claim that the “Whore” is the Catholic Church need to read their Bibles much more carefully because there are trace clues there that show us who the Whore really was. I also find it interesting that it is asserted (with no proof whatsoever) that for some reason Revelation is applicable in its prophecies to our day and age (or indeed any future age). Now while to some extent this is true (since the Church has always recognized that there will be a real Anti-Christ at the end of the world), it is pretty apparent that if we take a view of “realized eschatology” (and recognize that since John was writing specifically to 7 churches many of which do not exist anymore), that the bulk of Revelation (at least the first 19 chapters) is already fulfilled prophecy.

The Identity of the Beast

Revelation speaks of having “wisdom” to calculate the number of the Beast.

“¹⁸Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred sixty six.”

They should demonstrate first that they have the wisdom to calculate the number of the beast before they claim to be credible in their pronouncements. St. John’s Gospel was written in Greek initially and Nero’s name in Greek adds up to 666. In some of the early Latin translations from the Greek, it reads “616” not 666. Interestingly enough, Nero’s name in Latin adds up to 616! The second century Christian St. Irenæus who argues against this number (616) tells us in his comments on the subject (v. 30,1) that the number 616 was actually found in some Copies in his time.

“Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six; that is… I do not know how it is that some have erred following the ordinary mode of speech, and have vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount of fifty from it, so that instead of six decades they will have it that there is but one.” (Irenæus, “Against Heresies,” V 30:1)

The variant rendering has also been “found in some manuscripts of the Greek text of Revelation [such as the late third Oxyranchus papyrus fragment].”ⁱ Another major manuscript which gives this reading is Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus of the fifth century. The numerical values of the Hebrew letters in Neron Kesar (Nero Caesar) are:

200

100

200

thus

נֵרוֹנ קֵסַר

666

It has been charged by some that Neron Kesar is merely a convenient “misspelling” of Nero’s name in Hebrew. This objection overlooks the fact that before the modern introduction of dictionaries the world was simply not as concerned as we are about uniformity in the spelling of names. Alternate spellings were common (e.g., “Joram” and “Jehoram” in the Old Testament), especially in the transliteration of words into a foreign tongue. But the allegation of misspelling is wholly wrong anyway. The form Neron Kesar (1) is the linguistically “correct” Hebrew form, (2) is the form found in the Talmud and other rabbinical writings, and (3) was used by Hebrews in the first century, as archaeological evidence has shown. As F. W. Farrar observed, “the Jewish Christian would have tried the name as he thought of the name-that is in Hebrew letters. And the moment he did this the secret stood revealed. No Jew ever thought of Nero except as ‘Neron Kesar,’ and this gives at once . . . 666”ⁱⁱ

“A Handbook on the Revelation to John,” New York: United Bible Societies, 1993, pages 204-205 provide a good summary of current conclusions:

“There are many interpretations of the name represented by the number 666. The most widely accepted one is that it stands for the Roman Emperor Nero. Written in Hebrew letters, the numerical value of the letters of the (Latin) name “Neron Caesar” adds up to 666. Some commentators are of the opinion that no one specific person was in the writer’s mind, but that by 666 the writer meant total imperfection. Number six is one short of the perfect seven, and three indicates completeness, so the imperfect number six given three times symbolizes “complete imperfection.” But the way in which the writer states the matter makes it quite probable that he had some historical person in mind… As the RSV (Revised Standard Version) footnote shows, one Greek manuscript and a few ancient versions have 616, but 666 is the better attested text.”

All the earliest Christian writers on the Apocalypse, from Irenæus down to Victorious of Pettau and Commodian in the fourth, and Andreas in the fifth, and St. Beatus in the eighth century, connect Nero, or some Pagan Roman emperor, with the Apocalyptic Beast . It is also interesting, from a historical perspective, that Nero was actually referred to as a “beast” by his contemporaries. For instance, the pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, who lived at the time of Nero, states:

“In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.… And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet.”

Emperor cult worship is well known in the Roman empire. Nero claimed to be the equal of the god Apollo. Seneca taught Nero that he was destined to become the revelation of divine Augustus and the god Apollo(Seneca On Clemency 1.1.6; Gentry 1989b, 63). The Hebrew word “BALAAM” (worship of man) interestingly enough also adds up to 666.

“¹⁶And he shall make all, little and great, and rich, and poor, and freemen, and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand, or in their foreheads. ¹⁷And that no man may buy or sell, but he that hath the character (The Greek says Stamp), or the name^α of the beast, or the number of his name.” [Apoc. xiii. 16-17]

The “Character of the Beast” or “Mark of the Beast” refers to the “stamp” (the Greek says “stamp” not “mark”); the image of Caesar which was stamped upon Roman coins. Without the stamp, nobody could buy or sell; not even with unstamped metals of gold or silver. The Romans hoped to control all business in their empire by this means.

The Romans had two taxes: the “right-hand” (business) tax, and the “head” tax. The ‘mark’ on the right-hand or forehead (Apoc. xiv. 9) may very well represents these two taxes; one for business transactions and the second for slaves, who were marked on their foreheads.

Another of the key verses in understanding the book of Revelation is chapter xvii. 9-11^β which says,

“The 7 heads are 7 hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. 5 have fallen, 1 is, the other has not yet come” (NIV). This seems to refers to the Roman empire and seems to best fit the kings as follows:

1. Julius Caesar (49 - 44 BC.) Was The First

“Emperor” or “King”

2. Augustus C.(31 BC - 14 AD)

3. Tiberius C. (14 - 37 AD)

4. Caligula C. (37 - 41 AD)

5. Claudius C. (41 - 54 AD)

6. Nero Caesar (54 - 68 AD)

The five fallen kings May means Nero is emperor (Gentry 1989b, 104). This is how Josephus counted the emperors in Antiquities of the Jews (Book 19.1.11). Some count Vespasian as the last king. Nero was the first Roman Emperor to “make battle with the saints” (13:7) and he did die by the sword (13:10). Nero who killed with the sword would die by a sword that he put in his own throat June 9, 68 AD (Suetonius Nero 49; Gentry, 1989b, 63). Next the Apostle John tells us, “the other has not yet come” (the seventh), “and when he comes, he must remain a little while.” Following Nero came Galba, who reigned less than seven months.

The Beast (Nero) and Whore (Jewish) Connection

Nero was Greatly influenced by mistress (A Whore and prostitute) Poppea (or Poppæa), who later became his wife was almost certainly a Jewish proselyte, as the language of Josephus, QeosebhV gar hn (Ant. xx. 8, 11) almost implies. Poppea at least twice championed Jewish causes, (Jos. l.c., and Vita, 3) by exerted her influence with Nero in favor of the Jews (see Lightfoot, Philipp. 5 note)…

According to some historians, It was Poppea that urged Nero to kill his mother, Agrippina the Younger, and to divorce and later murder his first wife, Octavia. She is also reported to have persuaded Nero to kill the philosopher Seneca, who had supported Nero’s previous mistress, Acte Claudia. Poppea is believed to have stirred Nero to attack Christians after the Fire of Rome and to have helped free Jewish priests at the request of Josephus.

The City of the Whore Destroyed

We also read in John’s prophetic vision the city of the “Whore” will be destroyed by fire. Jerusalem had been a center for commercial trade, but true to prophecy it had been completely destroyed by fire in 70 a.d.,^γ whereas, Rome was only partially burned.

“⁸Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine, and with fire she shall be burnt: because God is strong that shall judge her. ⁹And the kings of the earth, which have fornicated with her, and have lived in delicacies, shall weep, and bewail themselves upon her, when they shall see the smoke of her burnings? ¹⁰Standing far off for the fear of her torments, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that strong city: because in one hour is thy judgment come. ¹¹And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and mourn upon her: because no man buy their merchandise any more, ¹²Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stone, and of pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all Thyne wood, and all vessels of ivory, and all vessels of precious stone and of brass and iron and marble, ¹³And cinnamon, and of odors, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. ¹⁴And the apples of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee, and all fat and goodly things are perished from thee, and they shall no more find them. ¹⁵The merchants of these things which are made rich, shall stand far from her for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶Saying, Woe, woe, that the great city, which was clothed with silk, and purple, and scarlet, was gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls: ¹⁷Because in one hour are so great riches made desolate: and every governor, and every one that saileth into the lake, and the shipmen, and they that work in the sea, stood afar off,” [Apoc. xviii. 8-17]

God had promised blessings to the Jews if they obeyed, Deut. 28, 8 and seven curses if they disobeyed, verses 15 -20. God’s Covenant is effected by His Oath. The word “oath” is based on the word “seven.” And so the number “seven” represents the Covenant. In Leviticus he threatens to punish the Jews with fire if they break the Covenant.

“¹⁵if you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments that you do not those things which are appointed by me, and bring my covenant to nothing worth: ¹⁶I also will do these things to you: I shall quickly visit you with poverty, and burning heat, which shall waist your eyes, and consume your lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured of the enemies.… ²⁷But if you will neither by these means hear me, but walk against me: ²⁸I also will go against you in contrary fury, and will chastise you with seven plagues for your sins,” [Lev. xxvi. 15-16 ; 27-28]

It also had been prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed by fire in the following passages.

“²Son of man make known to Jerusalem her abominations: ³and thou shalt say: Thus saith our Lord God to Jerusalem: Thy root, and thy generation of the land of Chanaan, thy father an Amorite, and thy mother a Cethite.… ³⁵Therefore hear o harlot the word of our Lord.… ³⁸And I will judge thee by the judgments of adulteresses, and them that shed blood: and I will give thee into blood of fury and zeal.… ⁴¹And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and shall do judgments in thee in the eyes of very many women: and thou shalt cease to fornicate, and shalt give rewards no more.” [Eze. xvi. 2-3 ; 35 ; 38 ; 41]

“²Son of man, there were two women daughters of one mother. ³And they fornicated in Ægypt, in their youth they fornicated: there were their breasts pressed, & the paps of their virginity were broken. ⁴And their names Oolla the elder and Ooliba her younger sister: and I had them, and they bare sons, and daughters. Moreover their names, Samaria Oolla, and Jerusalem Ooliba.… ¹⁷And when the children of Babylon were come to her unto the bed of paps, they polluted her with their fornications, and she was polluted of them, & her soul was filled of them. ¹⁸She revealed also her fornications, and discovered her ignominy: and my soul departed from her, as my soul departed from her sister. ¹⁹For she hath multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she fornicated in the land of Ægypt.… ²²Therefore Ooliba, thus saith our Lord God: Behold I will raise up all thy lovers against thee, of whom thy soul is filled: and I will gather them together against thee round about, ²³the children of Babylon, and all the Chaldees, the nobles, and the tyrants, and princes, all the children of the Assyrians, the young men of goodly beauty, all the captains, and magistrates, the princes of princes, and the renowned riders of horses. ²⁴And they shall come upon thee well appointed with chariot, and wheel, a multitude of peoples: with brigantine, and buckler, and helmet they shall be armed against thee, on every side: and I will give judgment before them, & they shall judge thee by their judgments. ²⁵And I will put my zeal in thee, which they exercise with thee in fury: thy nose, and thine ears they shall cut of: and the things that remain shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons, and thy daughters, and thy very last thing shall be devoured with fire.… ⁴⁴And they went to her as to an harlot woman: so went they unto Oolla, and Ooliba wicked women. ⁴⁵They therefore are just men: these shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of blood shedders: because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. ⁴⁶For thus saith our Lord God: Bring a multitude to them, and deliver them into tumult, and into spoil: ⁴⁷and let them be stoned with the stones of peoples, and let them be thrust through with their swords: they shall kill their sons, and daughters, and their houses they shall burn with fire.” [Eze. xxiii. 2-4 ; 17-19 ; 22-25 ; 44-47]

The burning of Jerusalem by fire also had theological significance. The City of Jerusalem is often referred to as a daughter.

“¹⁵all that passed by the way have clapped their hands upon thee: they have hissed, and moved their head upon the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth? ¹⁶all thine enemies have opened their mouth upon thee: they have hissed, and gnashed with the teeth, and have said: We will devour: Lo this is the day, which we expected: we have found it, we have seen it. ¹⁷Our Lord hath done the things that he meant, he hath accomplished his word, which he commanded from the days of old: he hath destroyed, and hath not spared, and he hath made the enemy joyful over thee, and hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries. ¹⁸Their heart hath cried to our Lord upon the walls of the daughter of Sion: Shed tears as a torrent by day, and night: give no rest to thyself, neither let the apple of thine eye cease.” [Lam. ii. 15-18]

Unfaithfulness to God is frequently compared to sexual immorality. The penalty for fornication by the daughter of the priest called for a special punishment. It was to be burned to death.

“⁹The daughter of a priest if she be taken in whoredom, & dishonor the name of her father, shall be burnt with fire.” [Lev. xxi. 9]

So, when Jerusalem was offered the grace to accept Christ, but instead rejected Him, she is referred to as the "Whore of Babylon" who is subsequently burnt to death.

Special Note: The Scriptures that have been presented here are from the Douay-Rheims 1610 a.d. (1635 a.d. Print) Bible [drv].

Annotations

☝ The character or the name. As belike for the perverse imitation of Christ, whose image (specially as on the Rood or crucifix) he seeth honored and exalted in every Church, he will have his image adored (for that is Antichrist, in emulation of like honor, adversary to Christ’s) so for that he seeth all true Christian men to bear the badge of his Cross in their foreheads, he likewise will force all his to have another mark, to abolish the sign of Christ. By the like emulation also and wicked opposition he will have his name and the letters thereof to be sacred, and to be worn in mens caps, or written in solemn places, and to be worshipped, as the name of JESUS is and ought to be among Christian men. And as the ineffable name of God was among the Jews expressed by a certain number of four characters–(יהוהּ)–(therefore called Tetragrammaton) so it seemeth the Apostle alludeth here to the number of Antichrist's name.
And here it is much to be noted, that the Protestants plucking down the image of Christ out of all Churches, and his sign of the cross from mens foreheads, and taking away the honor and reverence of the name Jesus, do make room for Antichrist's image, and mark, and name. And when Christ’s images and ensigns or arms shall be abolished, and the Idol of Antichrist set up instead thereof, as it is already begun: then is the abomination of desolation which was foretold of Daniel and our Saviour.
☝ ⁹And here is understanding, that hath wisdom. The seven heads: are seven hills, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings. ¹⁰Five are fallen, one is, and another one is not yet come: and when he shall come, he must tarry a short time. 11And the beast which was, and is not: the same also is the eight, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction. [drv]
☝ At Pascha, –i.e., Easter– (a.d. 70), Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, began preparations for a vigorous siege. At the same time, Jews from all parts of the world were assembled to celebrate the pasch. Their presence but added fury to the factions and revolt of the Jews. Famine and pestilence increased their sufferings. But the city was taken; the Temple was destroyed, and then was fulfilled the prophecy of our Lord, “Thy enemies shall come upon thee, and they shall cast a trench about thee, and beat thee flat to the ground and thy children who are in thee, and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone.”
Julian the apostate, 363. Shortly after his ascension, he openly professed idolatry, and in many ways manifested his opposition to Christianity. In order to falsify the Prophecy of our Lord regarding the temple of Jerusalem, he ordered it to be rebuilt; but each time God frustrated his designs in a miraculous manner, fulfilling the prophecy of Christ through the Jews, who did not leave a stone upon a stone of the old foundation, for when they attempted to rebuild a fire burst forth and drove them away. After a reign of twenty months, Julian fell in a battle against the Persians. His last words were: “Thou hast conquered, Galilean.”
Above Text taken from: “The Manual of the Holy Catholic Church, Embracing Light from the Altar, or the True Catholic in the Church of Christ” by Rev. James. J. McGovern D. D. Published with the Appropriation of the most Rev. James Edward Quigley, D. D. Archbishop of Chicago. Printed 1906 a.d.

References

☝ ABC’s of the Bible, Reader’s Digest , 1991 pp. 362
☝ The Early Days of Christianity, Chicago and New York: Belford, Clarke& Co., 1882, p. 540.