Waters of Life

Biblical Studies in Multiple Languages

Search in "English":
Home -- English -- Revelation -- 138 (The Number of Anti-Christ)
This page in: -- Arabic -- Armenian -- Bulgarian -- ENGLISH -- French? -- German -- Indonesian? -- Polish? -- Portuguese -- Russian -- Yiddish

Previous Lesson -- Next Lesson

REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 5 - ANTI-CHRIST AND THE LAMB OF GOD (REVELATION 13:1 - 16:21)
PART 5.3 - THE FALSE PROPHET APPEARS (REVELATION 13:11-18)

3. The Number of Anti-Christ (Revelation 13:18)


REVELATION 13:18
18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.

Hosts of theologians, speculators and sectarians dealt with this verse. Already in the 2nd century bishop Irenaeus wrote that the exact knowledge of the meaning of the number had been lost. When we pass on explanation hints from some books anyway, then we hope that it may help to perceive the number of the beast from the sea, when it will come out.

Biblical References to the Number 666: In the Bible we find the number 666 three times. King Solomon yearly received 666 tons of gold from taxes and tributes besides other special payments (1 Kings 10:14). This number signalizes for the time of Solomon a high standard of living, a prospering economy, a versatile culture program, arms build-up, but also demoralization along with a falling away from the true God and an increasing syncretism!

The clan of Adonikam numbered 666 men, who decided in the first return from the Babylonian captivity to go to the devastated home country of Judea (Ezra 2:13). The name of their ancestor Adonikam means “My Lord arises“ - the Lord arises so as to bring to an end the dispersion of the Jews and to bring them back in their home country. So then, the number 666 relates to the return of the Jews to the Holy Land.

The third mentioning of this number is in Revelation 13:18. Here it is said that 666 is the number of the demonic beast and at the same time the number of a human being. In the Jewish language each letter has also a numerical value so that each word can also be understood as a number and vice versa. Out of that a secret lore has been developed.

The Number 666 in the Era of John: In the Latin language there is a similar principle of correspondence between letters and numbers: I = 1; V = 5; X = 10; L = 50; C = 100; D = 500. Out of these ordinal numbers most of the natural numbers could be generated which were used in the Roman Empire, that is, in its economy, science and military. Adding these six numbers gives the result of the number six hundred and sixty six!

In addition to this Latin system of numbers several names used in the time of John, if written in Hebraic letters and “translated” into numbers give the result of the number 666, first of all the name “Nero", the Roman Caesar (54-68 AD), who had Rome burnt, had blamed the Christians for the fire and initiated a bloody persecution of Christians in 64 AD.

Also the text on a known Roman coin with the shortened name and title of Caesar Domitian (81-96 AD) give the result of the number 666. Domitian had referred to himself “our Lord and God” and had all Roman citizens in his dominion worship him. He seems to be one of the archetypes for understanding anti-Christ in the book of Revelation of John. To Domitian also goes back a great persecution of Christians.

Beside names also several words of the Greek language give the result of the number 666. Those include TITAN = the mammoth, LATEINOS = the Roman, EUANTHOS = the beautiful, THERION = the beast, SKOTOS = the darkness, OIKOUMENA = ecumenicalism. All these words were sometimes related to for an explanation of the anti-Christian traits of the beast from the sea.

References from Modern Times: Later on, there were people whose name corresponded in this manner to the number 666. Perhaps the most important example thereof is the title of Napoleon, the strategically acting power hungry conqueror, namely BONAPARTE.

More recently the number 666 occurs not only in “translations” of names but also in entirely different areas of life. In Hebrew letters, for instance, the beginning of every internet address worldwide ("www” stands for “world wide web") is the number of anti-Christ! Even president Nixon is said to have phoned to Neil Armstrong being on the moon on 07/20/1969 and dialed the number 666 6 666. The cars of the municipality of Jerusalem had the number 666 666 for a long time, but later on they were exchanged.

These examples may prompt us to think about it even though they provide no evidence that the issue is entangled in wickedness, but at the best they are indications. In this respect it is important that the number 666 is “the number of a man” and not the number of an object.

Mathematical Background of This Number: The number six has only the denominators one, two and three. It can also be generated as the product of all these denominators (6 = 1x2x3) as well as of their sum (6 = 1+2+3). Such a number is called a perfect number. In the Bible the number six often stands for restlessness, toil and work. In six days God created heaven and earth and afterwards rested, but not before (Genesis 1:24-31). The seraphim above the throne of God have six wings and never cease to sing: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:2; Revelation 4:8).

Six squared is 36, and 666 is the sum of the first 36 numbers of our number system (666 = 1+2+ ... +35+36).

Even from the number 18, which is thought of by some expositors as the number of hypocrisy (2 Timothy 3:1-4), the number 666 can be generated: 666=(18x18)+(18x18)+18.

666 is also the product of the numbers six and 111 as well as of the numbers 18 and 37 (666 = 6x111 = 18x37). The combination of these quotients is interesting too:

  • 18 x 37 = 666, the number of anti-Christ
  • 24 x 37 = 888, the number of the name “Jesus"
  • 40 x 37 = 1480, the number of the title “Christ"
  • 80 x 37 = 2960, the number of the word “Son of Man"

Each of these combinations of numbers gave reason to versatile analyses and interpretations. In them there is hidden some wisdom.

A simple interpretation of the number 666 is as follows: if you turn it upside down, you obtain 999 which is 1000 minus 1. Some expositors understand this as a sign of the last attack of the underworld against God and his millennium.

We confess that we lack wisdom and understanding and we do not know as already Bishop Irenaeus did, what the number of the beast from the sea exactly means. In our knowledge we are entirely dependent on the grace of our coming Lord Jesus Christ. He will open the eyes of his church in due time so as to recognize the beast from hell and to long for the coming of the Savior during all sufferings and persecutions. We do not wait for anti-Christ and his false prophet, but for the Lamb of God, the conqueror of Golgotha.

Watch; For you do not know on what day our Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42)

QUESTION:

  1. What is the value and significance of the sign: “www"?

www.Waters-of-Life.net

Page last modified on November 30, 2012, at 10:19 AM | powered by PmWiki (pmwiki-2.3.3)