The scheme for May – June can be found here

1 Ch 12-13; Rev 13-14; Psalm 52

The ‘Number of the Beast’ has of course been a matter for endless speculation over the years. Put simply, we don’t know – we might perhaps surmise that it is Nero, but that is to assume that Rome and not for example faithless Jerusalem is in view in this book.

One lesson perhaps we all need to learn is that there is much in the pages of Scripture which we may never have access to. That there are parts of it which would be obvious to the first hearers of the message, but to us are lost as we know so little of their context. In part this should come as no surprise to those who are aware of cultural diversity and that there is much of the culture of other peoples today which we cannot comprehend.

The danger is that these parts of scripture become a distraction from that, the meaning of which is all too plain.

Perhaps the work of the Beast is to keep us so distracted?