Revelation: What is the Meaning of 666? (Part 1)

Revelation: What is the Meaning of 666? (Part 1)

666.  The number of the beast.

A while back I wrote on Facebook that I was going to preach about 666, and the first thing my mother-in-law wrote in response was, “Scary number!”  To a lot of people, the number 666 IS a scary number.

In fact, 666 even has its own clinical phobia.  Hexakosiohexekontahexaphobia.  “Fear of the number 666.”  (What I’m more afraid of is trying to pronounce that word.)  Believe it or not, President Reagan and his wife Nancy were known to have this phobia.  They changed the address of their Bel Air, California home from 666 St. Cloud Road to 669 St. Cloud Road.

What is behind the fear of this number from the Bible?

What is behind the fear of this number from the Bible?

It’s probably the most infamous number in the world.  Just about every person who professes to be a Christian associates some negative connotation with that number.  Even people who are very secular in their worldview think negatively of 666.

I’ve known song leaders in the church whose consciences would not allow them to lead any song whose number in the book was 666.  There are reports of people who were born on June 6, 1966 or June 6, 2006 getting all kinds of grief for being born on 6/6/66 or 6/6/06.

There are all kinds of interpretations out there as to what 666 represents.  Some use gematria, the assigning of a numerical value to certain letters of the alphabet, as a way to attempt to determine its meaning.  Some people, seeing that Revelation 13:18 says that 666 is the number of a man, will take the names of people who are evil or whom they consider to be evil, and they’ll try to use gematria to fit their names to spell out 666 in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew.  Some will go back to notorious evil people of biblical times like Roman emperors Julius Caesar, Nero, or Domitian and try to fit their names to 666.  Others will go to more recent historical figures like Martin Luther, Napoleon, Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Bill or Hillary Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, George W. Bush, or Barack Obama and try to fit their names to 666.

The problem with using gematria to interpret 666 was summed up by Bible scholar F.F. Bruce in the following way:

The three rules for making any name yield the desired 666 are: (1) if the proper name itself will not yield it, add a title; (2) if the sum cannot be found in Greek, try Latin, or Hebrew; (3) if that does not work, misspell it!

Bible commentator James Coffman told of a Bible scholar who tried to use gematria to make “Nero” come up to mean 666.  He first tried adding it up in Greek or Latin, and when that wouldn’t work he switched to Hebrew.  That meant he couldn’t use the vowels in Nero’s name since there are no vowels in the Hebrew language, but that didn’t add up either.  So he then added the title Caesar to Nero’s name, and found that wouldn’t work either unless he misspelled Caesar.  Only then could he finally make “Nero” add up to 666!

The other problem which is easily apparent with using gematria to interpret 666 is that there are many possible answers.  Thus, it soon becomes a matter of opinion as to which one we accept as the correct interpretation.  For these and other reasons, we must reject gematria as the proper method of determining the meaning of 666.

There are other interpretations of 666 that are out there (and by “out there,” I really mean out there.)  Some believe barcodes are the mark of the beast because Revelation 13:17 says, “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”  Barcodes work by assigning shapes or lines of different widths to each number.  Some sources maintain that the “guard bars” (the lines on the ends and the middle of the standard Universal Product Code, or UPC, barcode) are the code for the number 6.  Hence, every barcode supposedly contains 666.

Others believe that the Internet, the World Wide Web, or computers in general are what Revelation’s 666 refers to.  Some look at “www” and say it means “666.”  Technology has frequently been viewed suspiciously by those searching for the meaning of 666.  For example, I read that the first Apple computer, Apple I, sold for $666.66 and Intel’s Pentium III had a clock speed of 666.666 megahertz.  This has caused some to denounce computers as a tool of the beast.

Some have determined that the VISA credit card is the meaning of 666.  Using gematria, the letters V-I-S-A spell out 666…if you combine Roman, Greek, and Babylonian languages, that is.  In fact, many look at credit cards, debit cards, and smart cards in general as the proper interpretation of 666, again considering that Revelation 13:17 associates buying and selling with 666.

And then there is the notion that 666 refers to microchips.  A microchip is a passive RFID (radio frequency identification) device that contains a unique identification number which can be read with a scanner.  Some sources believe that, besides being used for identification, microchips will be used to store information, as tracking devices, and required for commerce transactions.  Some people react to this by taking Revelation 13:17 and concluding that 666 is a prophecy about microchips and all other RFID devices.  (Incidentally, all kinds of brands in general have also been suggested as the meaning of 666.  Unlike microchips, however, they have been around for centuries.)

The problem with all of the above interpretations of 666, and indeed the mistake most people make when they try to interpret what any part of Revelation means, is that they ignore the very first verse of Revelation.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and SIGNIFIED by his angel unto his servant John.” 

Revelation 1:1

Revelation was signified.  In other words, it is a book written using signs and symbols.  Symbolism.  Symbolic language.  The overwhelming majority of it is not meant to be taken literally.  666, literally in the original Greek six hundred sixty-six, is not meant to be interpreted as a literal number.  It’s symbolic of something.  Most people recognize this, although some don’t.

But what does 666 symbolize?  This leads to the next mistake many make.

When it comes to Revelation, a lot of Christians forget that God told them to always “speak the truth” (Eph. 4:15).  The truth is defined by God as his Word (John 17:17), which is why we are also told to “preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2).

People go to barcodes, gematria, historical figures and credit cards to figure out what 666 means instead of going to where they should have gone first:  the Word of God.

I want to take us first and foremost to God’s Word to interpret 666 and some of the other symbolism of Revelation.  That’s how we will have the truth, because God’s Word is truth and we are to speak the truth.

Let’s also remember a couple of other important items as we continue this study.  First, Revelation was originally written two thousand years ago to a people who would have had no idea what VISA cards, the Internet, Barack Obama, Napoleon, Nixon, or Hitler were.  Therefore, does it make sense to ascribe these meanings to 666?  Would the first century A.D. Christians of Laodicea and Ephesus have had a clue what a barcode or a microchip were if John had told them 666 stood for those things?  How could knowing about the invention of the Internet two thousand years after they lived have helped them to become better Christians?  Obviously it wouldn’t have.  So when we try to figure out what 666 or anything else in Revelation means, let’s ask ourselves if our theory would in any way be relevant to the first century Christians.

In like manner, remember 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Revelation is part of “all Scripture.”  So are the verses about 666.  “The man of God” referred to in the passage would not only be the Christians of two thousand years ago but also you and me today.

Thus, the true, scriptural interpretation of 666 would have helped those Christians in John’s day to be better servants of God.  It likewise will help us to be better servants of God.  The true interpretation would apply to them and us equally.

Want to know if you’re on the right track in trying to figure out what 666 means?  It’s when you come to a conclusion about 666 that would spiritually benefit all Christians from John’s time up to today and until Christ comes again.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this study…

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The Prophet Hosea on Mercy and Truth

The Prophet Hosea on Mercy and Truth

For over two hundred years after the death of Solomon, those ten tribes in the northern part of Palestine never worshiped God. If you want to see just how longsuffering God is, consider that during this time they had nineteen kings and not a single one of them was righteous. It was not that they had no way to know God, for He sent prophet after prophet to call them back. They refused to hear.

A lack of Mercy will bring down a great people.

A lack of Mercy will bring down a great people.

They chose to not know Him. God’s messenger, Hosea, described them and their destiny in this way: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you from being a priest to Me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children” (Hos. 4:6). The end was at hand. It was the end of that nation. Their children would never enjoy the favor of God again.

How did all of this happen? Look at the verses in the first part of Hosea chapter four. In the very first verse, Hosea describes the path traveled by Israel in its journey away from God. “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” Where there is no desire for truth, there is no room for true mercy and compassion. Think of how often truth and mercy are connected with the Lord. Remove these from any nation, and there is no hope for that nation. They have left these holy values and ignorance of God prevails.

What happens in a society where there is no mercy, truth and knowledge? Look at the words found in verse two. There is swearing and lying. We tend to think of swearing as using profanity, but in this context, the emphasis is swearing to tell the truth and not doing it.

What else happens? There is killing, stealing and adultery. Killing is also described in the last part of this verse as bloodshed upon bloodshed. The blood of the oppressed flows so freely that it touches the flow of blood from other killings. There is theft of property and even the taking of another man’s wife. Adultery in any nation will ultimately lead to the moral decay of that nation.

The most revealing phrase in this path away from God is, “They break all restraint.” The entry of sin may begin with a “little sin,” but it does not end there. The Bible describes it as adding sin to sin. The door through which little sins enter soon opens to the entry of many others. There finally is no restraint in our lives. “They break all restraint.” We think it cannot happen, but it is inevitable!

Read these verses again. How far is America from being like Israel—no mercy, truth or knowledge? How close are we from being a nation which has broken all restraint?

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Abounding in Hope

Abounding in Hope

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

On the edge of bleakness, Hope stands sure.

On the edge of bleakness, Hope stands sure.

I don’t know that there is any worse feeling than that of hopelessness. Left unchecked, it is soon followed by despair. These strong feelings present themselves those who are suicidal. Satan desires humans to die in sin so they may accompany him to the place prepared for him and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Satan does not want people to have hope, and that means that hope is a powerful tool of God for good. God is the God of hope (Romans 15:13). This verse also presents a connection between joy, peace, faith, and hope. Joy, peace, and faith are powerful tools of the Holy Spirit that enable the Christian to abound in hope.

Having a life filled and overflowing with hope is a process that begins with faith, the foundation of joy and peace.  It is “in believing” that God fills us with joy and peace. Faith comes by hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17). Joy and peace are the natural results of believing (in an obedient way) God’s word. The Ethiopian nobleman went on his way rejoicing after believing (in an obedient way) the word of God (Acts 8:39). Peace comes from the fact that we have Christ as our reconciler (Ephesians 2:14-22). It is a blessing of putting our trust in Christ. Philippians 3:6-7 emphasize the connection between trusting in God through prayer and receiving the peace of God that passes all understanding. When we have faith producing joy and peace, then we have wonderful hope in the One who can bring the abundant life both now and in eternity (John 10:10).

 

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Diligent or Lagging?

Diligent or Lagging

In Romans 12, Paul offers a number of short exhortations to his readers. The King James Version translates the first part of verse 11, “Not slothful in business.” The Christian should be diligent for his employer, but the context this verse has more to do with the business of the church.

Are you too lazy to be diligent in following the path God has given you?

Are you too lazy to be diligent in following the path God has given you?

We sing a song, “I want to be a worker for the Lord.” Do we mean those words when we sing them? Do we truly want to “be busy every day in the vineyard of the Lord,” or are we just giving lip service?

All disciples are to be actively engaged in the work of the Lord’s church. We should be busy making disciples (Matthew 28:19), encouraging each other (Hebrews 10:24-25), and helping the needy (Galatians 6:10; James 1:27).

We do not always see the fruit of our labors, but we must not give up. If we are mocked or rejected or persecuted by those around us, we keep obeying God (1 Peter 2:19-20). The things we do in the name of the Lord are not done in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). May we never lag in diligence when it comes to the Lord’s work.

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Spiritual Placebos

Spiritual Placebos

Placebos are fascinating things.

A placebo, in medical terms, is an ineffectual treatment for a disease, or other malady, given to the patient for the sole purpose of deceiving the patient. While that seems like a mean thing to do, placebos are important when doing research, in order to see whether or not a given drug is actually more effective than a placebo. The fascinating thing about placebos is how often they seem to actually make people think they feel better. People given placebos will in some cases heal faster, or feel better, than people who are given nothing. This effect is not completely understood, but it is recognized as a real thing,, and is called a placebo effect.

Are placebos harmless?

Are placebos harmless?

The whole phenomena suggests that a percentage of our health problems are, indeed, all in our heads. Either that, or the brain has greater power to heal the body than some skeptics might want us to believe. Either way, a placebo’s ability to help only goes so far. There are numerous health problems which cannot be dealt with mentally, or made to go away through such a simple trick.

While a placebo is a medical term, the concept can be seen to manifest in other areas of life. We often do things, not because they provide actual help, but because they make us feel better. Realistically, if your home has large glass windows right beside a stout door, the deadbolt on the door is not going to keep anyone out if they really want to get in, but we turn the deadbolt anyway because it makes us feel safer. It’s a placebo for sleeping better at night.

Placebos are mostly harmless, except and when they distract you or prevent you from doing what you really need to be doing. Feeling better is great, but if it’s all just a mental trick, it’s nothing more than self-deception.

In religion, the Bible argues that a lot of what people engage in is of little actual spiritual value. You might say that a great deal of religion is nothing more than a spiritual placebo – activities which make the person doing them feel spiritual, without actually improvingthat person’s standing with God.

We read in the Scriptures: “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20-23; NKJV)

Notice also what Christ says about worthless worship: “In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:9; cf. Isaiah 29:13)

There are two commonalities between the two cited passages: both mention the commandments of men. When God tells you to do a thing, the commandment has real spiritual value. When a man tells you to do a thing, even if it makes you feel like you are being spiritual, it’s a worthless spiritual placebo. It cannot do a thing to actually save your soul or make you pleasing to God.

When Jesus was confronted by the chief priests who wanted to know His source of authority, Jesus pointed them to John the Baptist, asking of them whether John’s baptism was from God or from men. (cf. Matthew 21:23-25) It was a good question which cut right to the heart of the matter.

Anything we do in religion should be “from God.” Whenever we engage in a particular practice, we should ask ourselves – “is this from God or from men?” If it is from God, and we can find in the Scriptures a, “thus saith the Lord,” then we should do it with all our hearts.

If it is from men, we can safely ignore it, knowing that while it might of an “appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion,” it is of no actual spiritual value. The commandments of men can never be more than a spiritual placebo. They might make us feel good for a while, but in the end we are just as spiritually sick as when we started.

 

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