Number Of The Beast 666

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NUMBER OF THE BEAST

Pastor Mike here.

I want to talk to you about the number of the beast – six, six, six – today.

And this is really Part 2 to a video I made a while ago focusing on the mark of the beast.

But this time I want to drill down on the actual number and unpack it.

We read about six, six, six in Revelation chapter 13, starting with verse 16…

16 Also [the false prophet] causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

And so we have the description of the number of the beast.

MARK OF THE BEAST IS SYMBOLIC

And as I’ve already referenced in my previous video, the mark of the beast in Revelation chapter 13 is used as a symbol.

It’s symbolic of allegiance, of commitment to, of fealty (“sworn loyalty to a lord” ~ Google Definition).

The ‘lord’ people are required to show sworn loyalty to is the first beast of Revelation 13, the political beast (representing all government, education, business, entertainment, etc — any human institution under the control of the devil).

The second beast of Revelation 13 forces the worship of the first beast.

The second beast (the false prophet) is a spiritual or religious beast (representing all false religions, but especially apostate Christianity).

And the mark of Revelation 13 that the second beast is requiring all to take is “the name of the [first, political] beast or the number of its name.”

666 REPRESENTS ANTI-GOD

Which brings us to six, six, six.

It’s a number that comes up short.

777 would represent God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

666 would represent anti-god consisting of…

(1) The dragon in Revelation 13 who is the devil,

(2) the beast from the sea / political beast (representing all government, education, business, entertainment, etc — any human institution under the control of the devil)

and

(3) the beast from the land, the false prophet / spiritual beast (representing false religion and apostate Christianity in particular)

And taken together, they are anti-god, a counterfeit trinity.

These join forces to destroy the Church.

And 666 is their number.

BRIGHTON ON THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST 666

In his popular commentary on the Book of Revelation, Dr. Louis Brighton puts it this way…

“The mark or brand of the beast is identified with ‘the name of the beast or the number of its name’ (13:17), that is, the name is represented by its number. Ancient Hebrew and Greek used letters of the alphabet to represent numerals. Among the Jewish people in particular there arose the practice of representing the name of a person by the numerical value of the letters of his or her name. Thus each name could bear a particular numerical value. This practice was known as gematria.” (pg 248)

Dr. Brighton goes on…

“The number of the beast ‘is a human number’ (Rev 13:18), for the number ‘six hundred sixty-six’ is expressed in human language and words. …Thus 666 would represent and point to one particular individual. The person most commonly accepted is that of Nero. If ‘Nero-Caesar’ is transliterated into Hebrew letters, equivalent to NRON QSR, then the total would be 666 (N [50] + R [200] + O [6] + N [50] + Q [100] + S [60] + R [200] = 666). …If Nero is the particular person to whom the number 666 cryptically refers, he is the type or model of what the beast really represents, and he is not the final fulfillment, for he had been dead around twenty years when John wrote Revelation. Nero could serve as one example of what the beasts [of Revelation 13] represent: all anti-Christian forces.” (pg 248-249)

Dr. Brighton concludes…

“If the number 777 were to be used, it would refer to the holy Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; hence, 666 would be an evil trinity that mimics the Holy Trinity but always falls short. ‘The wisdom’ referred to at the beginning of [Revelation 13, verse 18] is then the wisdom that comes from God and enables the Christian to know and understand what this unholy trinity is and represents at any given time here on earth. This wisdom enables the Christian to discern how the evil forces of the dragon, both secular and religious, are always and everywhere active, at war to destroy the church and her witness to Christ.”(pg 249)

NUMBER OF THE BEAST 666 CONCLUSION

And so we have the number of the beast – six six six – especially in particular today.

It would represent anti-god, the dragon/devil, political beast and false prophet (a counterfeit trinity) joining forces to destroy the Church, the evil Emperor Nero from first century Rome as a type or model of all anti-Christian forces at anytime throughout history.