The Last Sacrifice
Read The Last Sacrifice Online
Authors: Sigmund Brouwer
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The Last Sacrifice
Copyright © 2005 by Hank Hanegraaff. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph of man taken by Stephen Vosloo. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Designed by Daniel Farrell
Edited by James H. Cain III
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
,
®
NIV
.
®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.
™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
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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 sacrifice / Hank Hanegraaff, Sigmund Brouwer.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8423-8441-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-0-8423-8442-1 (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.A714L375 2005
813'.6—dc22 2005016381
Repackage first published in 2012 under ISBN 978-1-4143-6498-8
To Christina.
Your encouragement for the Last Disciple series is inspirational, your enthusiasm infectious.
Contents
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.
Dramatis Personae
Alypia:
Wife of Lucius Bellator; former lover of Maglorius; stepmother of Valeria and Quintus
Amaris:
Wife of Simeon Ben-Aryeh
Ananias:
High priest; father of Eliazar
Annas the Younger:
Former high priest
Atronius Pavo:
Captain of the ship carrying John and Vitas to Alexandria
Bernice:
Queen of the Jews; sister of Agrippa II
Boaz:
A Pharisee of high standing
Caius Sennius Ruso:
Wealthy senator; friend of John
Chara:
Wife of Strabo
Chayim:
Son of Simeon Ben-Aryeh; in Rome as a “hostage”
Cosconius Betto:
Sailing master on the ship carrying John and Vitas; brother of Kaeso
Eleazar:
Governor of the Temple; son of Ananias
Falco:
Prominent Roman citizen
Gaius Calpurnius Piso:
Plotted to kill Nero
Gaius Cestius Gallus:
Governor of Syria
Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus:
Prefect of the praetorian guard; member of Nero’s inner circle
Gallus Sergius Damian:
Slave hunter; brother of Vitas
Gallus Sergius Vitas:
Famed general of the Roman army; former member of Nero’s inner circle; husband of Sophia; brother of Damian
Gessius Florus:
Roman procurator of Judea
Helius:
Nero’s secretary; member of Nero’s inner circle
Hezron:
Famed rabbi in Rome; father of Leah
Issachar, son of Benjamin:
Silversmith in Alexandria
Jerome:
Slave of Damian
John, son of Zebedee:
Last disciple of Jesus of Nazareth
Joseph Ben-Matthias:
Prominent citizen in upper city Jerusalem
Leah:
Daughter of Hezron and a follower of the Christos
Lucullus:
Roman commander on Patmos
Maglorius:
Former gladiator; servant in the Bellator household
Malka:
Old, blind woman Quintus lives with in Jerusalem
Nahum:
Glassblower in Jerusalem; husband of Leeba; father of Raanan
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus:
Roman emperor; persecutor of the followers of the Christos
Nigilius Strabo:
Farmer on the island of Patmos; husband of Chara
Quintus Valerius Messalina:
Seven-year-old son of Lucius Bellator; in hiding in Jerusalem
Simeon Ben-Aryeh:
Member of the Sanhedrin; escaped Jerusalem; fugitive of Rome with Sophia
Sophia:
Wife of Vitas; fugitive of Rome with Ben-Aryeh; a follower of the Christos
Sporus:
Nero’s young lover
Valeria Messalina:
Daughter of Lucius Bellator; in hiding in Jerusalem
Part I
Prologue
Rome
Capital of the Empire
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
—Revelation 12:11