The Last Disciple
Authors: Sigmund Brouwer
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The Last Disciple
Copyright © 2004 by Hank Hanegraaff. All rights reserved.
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Designed by Daniel Farrell
Edited by James H. Cain III
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Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright © 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Some Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
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Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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This novel is a work of fiction. With the exception of historical persons and facts as noted on the website, names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons in the present day is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the authors or the publisher.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the original edition as follows:
Hanegraaff, Hank.
The last disciple / Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8423-8437-7 (hc) — ISBN 978-0-8423-8438-4 (sc)
1. Bible. N.T. Revelation XIII—History of Biblical events—Fiction. 2. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600—Fiction. 3. Rome—History—
Nero, 54–68—Fiction. 4. End of the world—Fiction. I. Brouwer, Sigmund, date.
II. Title.
PS3608.A714L37 2004
813'.6—dc22 2004010713
Repackage first published in 2012 under ISBN 978-1-4143-6497-1
To Ron Beers
Your character, competence, and courage
are a gift to us and to the body of Christ.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Calendar Notes
Intempesta
Mercury
Hora Duodecima
Vespera
Jupiter
Hora Quinta
Hora Sexta
13 Av
The Third Hour
The Fourth Hour
The Seventh Hour
14 Av
The Seventh Hour
The Eighth Hour
The Ninth Hour
15 Av
The Fourth Hour
The Fifth Hour
The Eighth Hour
The Eleventh Hour
Venus
Hora Sexta
Hora Septina
Hora Duodecima
Prima Fax
Saturn
Hora Quarta
Hora Sexta
Hora Undecima
Hora Duodecima
Vespera
Afterword
Discussion Questions
Other Books by the Authors
Christian Research Institute
Acknowledgments
First, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to Tyndale House Publishers for their relentless pursuit of truth. We are especially grateful to Ron Beers, Becky Nesbitt, Jan Stob, Carla Mayer, and Jamie Cain for their input and editorial expertise. They personify Tyndale’s mission statement as “determined, driven, bold, risk-taking, frontier-driven distributors of God’s truth.”
Furthermore, we are deeply grateful for the staff and ministry of the Christian Research Institute—especially Stephen Ross, Adam Pelser, Brenda Marchak, Amy Leonhardt, and Kristen Ross. Thanks also to Dr. Paul L. Maier and Gretchen Passantino for their historical and literary expertise. Together they embody the maxim “In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, and in all things charity.”
Finally, we want to acknowledge Kathy Hanegraaff and the brood—Michelle, Katie, David, John Mark, Hank Jr., Christina, Paul Stephen, Faith, Grace; and Cindy Brouwer and the kids—Olivia and Savannah. Most of all, we are grateful for the grace that our Lord has lavished upon us.
Calendar Notes
The Romans divided the day into twelve hours. The first hour, hora prima, began at sunrise, approximately 6 a.m. The twelfth hour, hora duodecima, ended at sunset, approximately 6 p.m.
hora prima
: first hour: 6–7 a.m.
hora secunda
: second hour: 7–8 a.m.
hora tertiana
: third hour: 8–9 a.m.
hora quarta
: fourth hour: 9–10 a.m.
hora quinta
: fifth hour: 10–11 a.m.
hora sexta
: sixth hour: 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
hora septina
: seventh hour: 12–1 p.m.
hora octava
: eighth hour: 1–2 p.m.
hora nonana
: ninth hour: 2–3 p.m.
hora decima
: tenth hour: 3–4 p.m.
hora undecima
: eleventh hour: 4–5 p.m.
hora duodecima
: twelfth hour: 5–6 p.m.
The New Testament refers to hours in a similar way. Thus, when we read in Luke 23:44, “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,” we understand that this period of time was from the hour before noon to approximately 3 p.m.
The Romans divided the night into eight watches.
Watches before midnight:
Vespera, Prima fax, Concubia, Intempesta
.
Watches after midnight:
Inclinatio, Gallicinium, Conticinium, Diluculum
.
The Romans’ days of the week were Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
The months of the Hebrew calendar are Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar I, and Adar II. In AD 65, the date 13 Av was approximately August 1.
Seventy “sevens” are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
—
D
ANIEL 9:24
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
