The Last Temple

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The Last Temple

Copyright © 2012 by Hank Hanegraaff. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of sky copyright © Masterfile Royalty Free. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of sky copyright © Yarik Mishin/SXC. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of man taken by Stephen Vosloo. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of glass copyright © Ivan Pernjakovic/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Photograph of gold shield copyright © Dusko Jovic/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Designed by Daniel Farrell

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
,
^®
NIV
.
^®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.
^TM
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
.

This novel is a work of fiction. With the exception of historical persons and facts as mentioned in the notes, 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.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hanegraaff, Hank.

The last temple / Hank Hanegraaff, Sigmund Brouwer.

p. cm. — (The last disciple ; 3)

ISBN 978-0-8423-8446-9 (sc)

1. Bible. N.T. Revelation XIII—History of Biblical events—Fiction. 2. Rome—History—Civil War, 68-69—Fiction. 3. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600—Fiction. 4. Rome—History—Nero, 54-68—Fiction. 5. End of the world—Fiction. I. Brouwer, Sigmund, date. II. Title.

PS3608.A714L376 2012

813'.6—dc23 2012008612

To my daughter Elise Hanegraaff.

Brilliant and beautiful, she relentlessly

explores the world through the power of story.

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.

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.

• Alypia:
  Widow of Lucius Bellator; former lover of Maglorius; stepmother of Valeria and Quintus
  
• Amaris:
  Wife of Simeon Ben-Aryeh
  
• Annas the Younger:
  Former high priest
  
• Atronius Pavo:
  Captain of the ship that carried John and Vitas to Alexandria
  
• Bernice:
  Queen of the Jews; sister of Agrippa II
  
• Caius Sennius Ruso:
  Wealthy senator; friend of John
  
• Chayim:
  Son of Simeon Ben-Aryeh
  
• Dolabella:
  Wife of Gnaea Lartius Helva
  
• 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:
  Former Roman procurator of Judea
  
• Gnaea Lartius Helva:
  Fiscal procurator of Judea
  
• Helius:
  Nero’s secretary; member of Nero’s inner circle
  
• Hezron:
  Famed rabbi in Rome; father of Leah
  
• Jerome:
  Slave of Damian
  
• John, son of Zebedee:
  Last disciple of Jesus of Nazareth
  
• John of Gischala:
  Leader of the Jewish Zealots in Jerusalem
  
• Joseph Ben-Matthias:
  Prominent citizen in upper city Jerusalem
  
• Leah:
  Daughter of Hezron and a follower of the Christos
  
• Maglorius:
  Former gladiator; former servant in the Bellator household
  
• Marcus Antonius Julianus:
  Roman procurator of Judea
  
• Marcus Cocceius Nerva:
  Roman senator opposed to Nero
  
• Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus:
  Roman emperor; persecutor of the followers of the Christos
  
• Quintus Valerius Messalina:
  Ten-year-old son of Lucius Bellator
  
• Simeon Ben-Aryeh:
  Member of the Sanhedrin; escaped Jerusalem; fugitive of Rome with Sophia
  
• Simon Ben-Gioras:
  Leader of a Jewish faction in Jerusalem
  
• Sophia:
  Wife of Vitas; fugitive of Rome with Ben-Aryeh; a follower of the Christos
  
• Sporus:
  Nero’s young lover
  
• Titus Flavius Vespasianus:
  Son of Vespasian; general of the Roman legions besieging Jerusalem
  
• Valeria Messalina:
  Daughter of Lucius Bellator
  

Province of Judea

The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

REVELATION 13:5-8

From the Revelation, given to John on the island of Patmos in AD 63