Dec 17. Revelation 13. Dwight Bland
This chapter of Revelation is full of many complex concepts. For this summary I’ll focus on one concept, the number of the beast “666”. I have always pondered, who or what is the beast? Growing up in a Baptist church, I grew up with a superstitious understanding of the “marking of the beast”. I was told that it was a demonic, evil number that I should never utter and strive to avoid. Now I understand that there are many schools of thought and possibilities surrounding who the Antichrist is and what “666” means for us. Here are a few different explanations I have found:
Some have tried figuring out the numerical value of a name to see if it adds up to 666. Using this method, many candidates for Antichrist have been the Pope or the Papacy, John Knox, Martin Luther, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and so forth. The codes for unlocking the “number of the beast” are as confusing as they are endless.
The letters of Jesus’ name in Greek add up to 888. It is thought that 666 may be a satanic counterpart to the name of Jesus, or 666 may be God’s evaluation of such a satanic counterpart - it falls short.
Lastly, 666 may harken back to Solomon’s wages. 1 Kings 10:14 says Solomon received “666 talents of gold”. Perhaps this suggests that the Antichrist, like Solomon, is a good man who becomes corrupted.
Chapter 13 displays two types of beasts that are essentially satanic imitations of righteousness (think a false Christ and John the Baptist). Instead of promoting godliness and truth, they create a fake pathway that ultimately leads to destruction. As Christians, our defense against these imitators is seeking understanding and wisdom about who Jesus Christ is and what he stands for. When the “beasts” eventually come to power in the world, things that seem so familiar to us will appear as mere imitations of the truth. However, if we cling to God’s word of the truth about Jesus we will be able to help protect ourselves and others from destruction, and be confident that we will meet the one true Jesus in Heaven.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/ and https://enduringword.com/ have been very helpful resources for this reading (as well as many others).