Number of the Beast

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The Number of the Beast, or Mark of the Beast, is a mysterious phrase used in Revelation:

“ 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.[1] ”
The number seven represents perfection in the Bible. As six is somewhat less than seven, it can be considered beastly. The invitation to calculate implies that a code of some kind is being used. The phrase "number of a man" suggests that the number represents a personal name. The letters of the name "Nero Caesar," emperor at the time Revelation was written, adds up to 666 when written in Hebrew characters. A few early manuscripts give the number as 616 rather than as 666. "Many interpreters expect a future, greater fulfillment in a world ruler who is violently opposed to God and his people," according to the ESV Study Bible.[2]

Meaning of the Number

According to the Futurist interpretation of the Book of Revelation it is a mark that will be forced upon the citizens of the world by the government of the Antichrist. The penalty for not accepting the number is either death, persecution, or a lack of financial security. Those who do accept it however, will suffer eternal damnation or "the second death."[3] According to Revelation:

“ And it will cause all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to have a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and it will bring it about that no one may be able to buy or sell, except him who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of its name.[4] ”

The Number of the Beast has been commonly used in popular culture, for example in The Omen series of movies. Some people interested in Bible prophecy have pointed to many parallels between the modern economy (such as the use of bar codes and RFID tags) and the potential for a system such as the one described in the book of Revelation.[5]

Many prophecy teachers regard the meaning of the number to represent the timing of when the identity of the Antichrist is revealed. Since most scholars regard the Abomination of Desolation as the point in time in which the Antichrist is revealed, they postulate that Isaiah 66:6 could denote the Abomination of Desolation, since the verse denotes the commotion within the Temple in Jerusalem. The number 666 refers to the numerical denotation of the verse. The verse reads:

"Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve."[6]

Starting with Isaiah 66:1 and reading through the chapter, one might consider the reason behind the Abomination of Desolation: The Jews are reverting to the old practice of sacrificing animals- when in actuality, the Mosaic Law was fulfilled in the Atonement of Christ. The Jews have denied Christ and are worshiping in the newly rebuilt temple. In other words, God is using the Antichrist to punish the people for denying his Son, Jesus Christ.

Interestingly, Arabic numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6...) were not added in the Bible until the invention of the printing press, but the letters of Roman numerals were the standard form of numbers in hand copied western manuscripts (I,II,III,IV,V, VI.../ i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi...), and later for chapter number headings in printed books, for example in older King James Bibles printed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and in tables of content in books and for designating major headings in outlines of written material. In Hebrew and Greek Bibles, all the letters of the alphabet−which also have numerical values−are used as chapter and verse numbers.

VICARIUS FILII DEI

According to the Seventh-Day Adventist author of the article, "False Religions: List of Catholic Heresies and Human Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church in the course of 1600 years", compiled by Rev. Stephen L. Testa,[7] the number of the Beast 666 is the number of the title VICARIUS FILII DEI "Vicar of the Son of God".

However, the name of the woman who started Seventh-Day Adventism, Ellen Gould White, in Latin characters, calculated by the value of Latin characters as Roman numerals, also adds up to 666:

E = 0 — L = 50 — L = 50 — E = 0 — N = 0: = 100
G = 0 — O = 0 — U = 5 — L = 50 — D = 500: = 555 (Latin V is U as in DIVS JVLIVS CÆSAR Dios Julius Caesar)
W = 10 — H = 0 — I = 1 — T = 0 — E = 0: = 11 (Latin W is "double-U" UU - VV = 5+5 = 10)
100 + 555 + 11 = 666 — Ellen=100, Gould=555, White=11.

Many names and titles total 666. The identity of the Beast of Revelation cannot be established or proven with any certainty by gematria alone. Revelation 13:18 was written in Greek, not Latin, and the numerical value of the Greek letters of the transliterated Latin NRWN QSR (NiRoN QaiSaR), or Neron Caesar, also totals 666, but the Greek letter equivalent transliteration of VICARIUS FILII DEI does not (it totals 1723).[8]

“This famous number [666] has been made to yield almost all the historical names of the past eighteen centuries: Titus, Vespasian, and Simon Giroas; Julian the Apostate and Genseric; Mohamet and Luther; Benedict IX and Louis XV; Napoleon I and the Duke of Reichstadt; and it would not be difficult, on the same principles to read in it one another’s names” (Vincent, Word Studies, vol.11, p.531)—Reuss, "The Secret of the Number 666"

This raises the question of which (if any!) of the more than 200 popes was or is in fact the "man of sin", the "antichrist" and the "beast of Revelation" whose number is the number of a man (one man)—666. And since according to the text of the Bible it is a man, one man, a particular individual, it cannot be an organization or institution represented or headed by a multiplicity of men, or an indefinite succession of men. (See multiple versions of Revelation 13:18 and interlinear text of Revelation 13:18.)

However, the Revised Standard Version reads Revelation 13:18 as "...it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six." The Greek grammar of the chapter allows such a reading.
Compare commentaries on 1 John 2:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and Revelation 13:18.

See also

Gematria

Revelation, Book of (historical exegesis)

References

  1. ↑ Revelation 13:18.
  2. ↑ ESV Study Bible., Crossway Bibles. (Kindle Locations 330753-330754). Kindle Edition.
  3. ↑ Revelation 20:4
  4. ↑ Revelation 13:16-18
  5. ↑ Relfe, Mary S. When Your Money Fails, 1981
    Relfe, Mary S. The New Money System, 1982.
  6. ↑ Isaiah 66:6
  7. ↑ The first heresy that Pastor Testa lists is "Wax candles introduced into the church" in the year 320. The selective use of Proof texts in the article is a classic example of Confirmation bias for the purpose of Polemic.
  8. ↑ VICARIUS — V upsilon Υ = 400 — I iota Ι = 10 — C kappa Κ = 20 — A alpha Α = 1 — R rho Ρ = 100 — I iota Ι = 10 — U upsilon Υ = 400 — S sigma Σ = 200: = 1141
    FILII — F phi/fee Φ = 500 — I iota Ι = 10 — L lambda Λ = 30 — I iota Ι = 10 — I iota Ι = 10: = 560
    DEI — D delta Δ = 4 — E eta Η = 8 — I iota Ι = 10: = 22
    1141 + 560 + 22 = 1723

External links

VICARIUS FILII DEI 666, The Number of the Beast (biblelight.net) In this article, Greek Paradosis "Tradition" also adds up to 666—which makes Paul's word in 2 Thessalonians 2:17 a command to us to "stand firm and hold to the" Beast! (See 2 Peter 3:15-18)

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