Thank you for your response. Read Rev. 20:4-6. This explains that those who have overcome the beast have part in the 1000 year reign of Christ. As you can see from verse 4 and 5, these are not only souls that are alive at His coming, but that have died over the eons in Christ. You must note that these people are either A) martyrs for Jesus and/or B) overcame the beast. According to v. 6, these are the ONLY ones to take part in the 1000 year reign. According to v. 12, the rest of the dead are raised AFTER the 1000 year reign and are judged according to their works - these would be those who A) died and went to hell (v. 14) and B) died before the Christ (v. 15) but are written in the book of life (like Abraham or Moses).
Now, keeping this in mind, you must either be part of the 1000 year reign of Christ (dying in Christ and THEREBY overcoming the beast) OR be a part of the book of life (lived before Jesus but believed in the salvation of the Messiah and lived according to the Law.) What are you seeing here?
I want to take a minute here to explain something about the beast that a lot of people have a hard time with. The beast is not one man. I know, I know, "it's a number of a man, though!" Read the original text. "Man" in this verse (13:18) is "anthropos" which is a derivative of anthropology and means "mankind" or human being. Contrast this with "arrhen" or "arsen" which means "male" - a clarification of a distinct, individual man. Why would John not write arrhen over anthropos if he were talking about a distinct individual?
Also, let's look closer at the beast and see how it is possible that it is an individual: 13:2 "like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as a mouth of a lion.." Contrast this with Daniel 7 and you see the same imagery, which is known to be Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. How is one man capable of encompassing these awesome world powers of the past? 13:3 "...one of his heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed..." How can a man be wounded to death and then live, excepting in the case of miracles of God? Further, how is "one of his heads" consistent with one man? 13:7 "...and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations..." If a man is given power over ALL of these, he must've lived through ALL time. Sound impossible yet? Don't believe "all means "all"? Ok, read on... 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." (emphasis added) Why would John say something like this if he didn't mean it? "ALL... SHALL..." -- This is a verse with magnitude. This is absolutely saying that those who DO NOT worship Jesus DO worship the beast. Moving on, to ch. 17:8, the angel says "The beast that thou sawest was and is not...and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." 17:9-17 goes on to explain about the seven heads and ten horns which are upon the beast that they are kings. How is one man 17 kings? Is there any doubt anymore that the beast is NOT a man? The beast is a multi-faceted creature, as the imagery conjures and the prophecy states. To say that the beast is one man is a bold-faced lie. There is no evidence to support this claim. Iron sharpens iron as much as Scripture sharpens Scripture - if Scripture is not supporting Scripture then the INTERPRETATION of Scripture MUST be false.
I have heard the Nero theory. It is obviously not plausible. Rome, however, is a part of the beast. It is one of the seven heads. Rev. 17:10 - "...five are fallen, one is and the other is not yet come..." There is little room for doubt when looking at the imagery and consistency of the beast format.
Finally, as far as the 666 literal number, one must remember that this is the "number of his name"... not the beast itself. Remember, the beast is a multi-faceted creature... it is fallen powers, it is current powers, it has a number and a mark and an image. I believe, as I've said before, that the number is written as an arrow pointing back to Solomon. Is it pure coincidence that "Here is wisdom" would introduce the sentence introducing the number of the beast? Is it pure coincidence that Solomon is most known for his wisdom and gold... 666 talents of it? Is it worth mentioning that Paul stated "For the love of money IS the root of all evil..." (I Tim. 6:10 - emphasis added) - that is a very powerful sentence... Could you believe that overcoming the "number of his name", if that truly meant the love of money, could really mean "overcoming the love of money"? After all, doesn't every country - past or present - mint its own currency? Didn't Christ - after asking "whose image is this?" - say "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's"?
Sorry, I do go on and on... Again, thank you for your response and I encourage you to read Revelations symbollically... remember that this is a SPIRITUAL PROPHECY. Literal interpretations aren't consistent within symbolic text. In other words, when John is describing the beast we see one ugly, weird look-ing thing rising out of the sea. We know that this won't literally happen. Yet, for some reason, we automatically go to literal interpretations of things like receiving a mark in the forehead or a wound to the head. Revelations is highly symbolic and spiritual. Old symbols have been reused and symbolic clues have been given to support new prophecy. Also, this book MUST be read with a spiritual mindset that knows, appreciates and recalls all other Scripture. This CANNOT be read alone and hoped to be understood. God bless you in your search for truth - and always seek Him first!