So the Jews called him: the beast who comes from land and sea. In one sect in Jerusalem, they called him the dragon; but in most places, they called him: the beast who comes from land and sea.
So he set up Ecclesias - churches. He set up Ecclesias, and he's poking fun at the Jews. What he did was, he had his mighty deeds inscribed on stone tablets, and hung in the churches. Well hang on, if you're a Jew, what was written on stone tablets, that's very important to you? The Ten Commandments. In other words he's like: you've got your stone tablets, I've got mine - and mine are more visible than yours. Yours is in a crate buried somewhere, no one can find it. How about this! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, right?
And so he put his mighty deeds on these stone tablets, and he had his underlings there; and the rule was that: before you could buy and sell in the Agora, you had to come make an offering to Domitian as the Son of God, just for the divine privilege of having the Son of God rule over you.
The problem was: how did you enforce it? How did you know who had given their offering, and who didn't? So he had his underlings there, and if you gave your offering to Domitian, you were given a mark on your forehead or your forehand, and that told the people in the Agora that you could now buy and sell.
So in 85AD, in Ephesus in the Agora, what did you have to have on your forehead or your forehand in order to buy and sell? You had to have the mark of the beast, the mark of the beast.
So Domitian was a narcissist, and obviously he built a statue of himself over the top of the Gods. So every year he had something called the Domitian Games - which is very creatively-titled to honor him - so the Domitian Games took place in the Roman coliseum; and the Roman Empire was divided into 12 regions.
Have you guys ever seen the Hunger Games? If you've seen it, it's exactly that okay; where you had 12 regions sitting in a big coliseum, and he would stand - think about the language of Revelation. He would stand before the Roman Coliseum, and he would make region one stand up, and he would say: this I have for you, but this I have against you; and this I have for you, and this I have against you.
When you walked into the coliseum, you were given a white robe and golden crowns, in order to make a giant, massive choir, to sing the praises of Domitian. They would sing the same hymn every year at the Domitian Games: Worthy are you oh Domitian, oh son of God. Worthy are you to receive honour and glory and riches and blessing. Worthy are you, oh Domitian, oh son of God. Worthy are you, to receive honor and glory and riches and blessing. They would stand and they would sing this song to honor Domitian, and they would cast down their golden crows around the feet of Domitian. Think about any movie you've ever seen about Roman Empires. When the Caesar is standing in the coliseum - what's happening? People are throwing gifts at his feet.
Then the Domitian Games would happen, and there was all this death and carnage, and hatred and terror.
The way the Domitian Games ended was the people would stand, and they would sing another song: Worthy are you oh Domitian, oh son of God - you who are worthy of honour and glory and riches and thanks.
And the final character of the Domitian Games would come out, and his job was to clean up all the dead bodies, and his name was Hell, Hades.
Hades - so think about Revelation, Chapter 4 - and I saw the new kingdom and Jesus is sitting on the throne - not Domitian. Jesus is sitting on the throne, and we're all wearing white robes, and we're casting down our golden crowns around the glassy sea, and we will sing to Him a new song.
In other words, the revelation that John has of heaven, is that Domitian's not in charge - Jesus is. It was hope for the oppressed. It was: there's a new day coming.
So Domitian, think about when you see ancient pictures of Caesars. What are they always holding in their hands? Scrolls.