666— THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME
By Dr. Stephen Jones
Blog Post Date: 7-26-2019
Revelation
13: 18 says,
18 Here is wisdom. Let him
who has understanding calculate the number of that beast, for the number is
that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six [666].
The
Greek text that is translated “six hundred and sixty-six” is just three Greek
letters chi, xi, and sigma. Like the Hebrews, the Greeks used their letters as
numbers, so each letter carries a numeric value. The letter chi served as their
number for 600, xi was their number 60, and sigma was their number 6. So by
putting these letters together, this was how they wrote the number 666.
John,
of course, was well acquainted with these numbers. However, he does not explain
this number, other than to tell us that it is the number of “that beast” and
the number of “a man.” Every number has both a positive and a negative side to
it, depending upon its application. In biblical numerology, we find that the
number six is the number of man, or humanity in general. A triple six would
indicate the apex or even the perfection of man, for it is built upon the
foundation of the number six.
In
biblical law, six days was the time to work, and then the seventh day the
people were to rest. Likewise, a slave was to work for six years and then be
released for a one-year vacation in the seventh year. This seems to be the
underlying reason for the association between 666 and man under the earth
beast. Man was to labor six days— that is, 6,000 years— from Adam to the great
Sabbath rest known commonly as the Millennium.
The
good news about the number six is that when we view it as a time cycle, it
signifies the END of labor or slavery and the beginning of rest (seven).
Solomon’s Gold
The
number 666 appears twice in Scripture, not only in Rev. 13: 18 but also in 2
Chron. 9: 13,
13 Now the weight of gold
which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.
As
with so many things, the New Testament must be interpreted with its double
witness, the Old Testament. It is plain that in 2 Chron. 9: 13the number 666 is
associated with gold, which is also used as money. Certainly, this statement
has an economic color to it, even as we see in John’s reference. Thus, when we
look at John’s statement in its natural flow of the revelation of history, it
is remarkable that it would coincide precisely with the rise of the
international banking system as invented and developed by the family of
Rothschilds.
Solomon’s
gold, or wealth, was given to him, along with wisdom and peace, in order to
build the Kingdom of God in his day. Unfortunately, the last half of his reign
was spent in rebellion.
Because
of this, God judged him by dividing Israel into two nations, giving the bulk of
the tribes to a political rival (1 Kings 11: 11-13). Just as Solomon’s sin
divided the kingdom, so also today we see the Freemasons obsessed with Solomon,
his temple, and his dark arts. Freemasonry is part of the earth beast which is
characterized by the number 666.
The Temple Vessels
Jerusalem
was captured by the king of Babylon in 604 B.C. Jehoiakim was the vassal king
of Jerusalem under Babylon until he revolted in 597 B.C. Jehoiakim was then
killed and replaced by Jehoiachin. Then
King Nebuchadnezzar “brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the
house of the Lord” (2 Chron. 36: 10). So the vessels of the temple were taken
to Babylon with Jehoiachin in 597 B.C.
The
deportation of the temple vessels appears to be the most important event to
Ezekiel, for he dates his ministry and revelations according to Jehoiachin’s captivity
in 597 B.C., as we see in Ezekiel 1: 2. The importance of this date is seen in
history, because 666 years later, the Roman army took Jerusalem and brought the
vessels of the temple to Rome.
It
is curious also that 1,260 years after 70 A.D. brings us to the year 1330. In
1296 the English had taken the sacred vessels from Scotland to London, but in
1328 the Treaty of Northampton was signed, and the English agreed to return
them. In 1330, however, the noblemen in England prevented the king from returning
these sacred vessels. These sacred vessels included the Stone of Scone, or
Jacob’s Pillar, the stone on which the ancient kings of Israel were crowned in
Jerusalem. This Stone was returned in 1996, which was 700 years after being
taken to England and 666 years from when it was supposed to be returned.
Hence,
we see the chronology as: 666 plus 1,260 years plus 666 years comes to the year
1996. The first 666 was about the sacred temple vessels; the last 666 was about
the Coronation Stone. This implies that the Coronation Stone is sacred and is a
prophetic type that is connected to the temple vessels in Jerusalem.
But
what does this tell us about the meaning of the number 666? It is associated
with the captivity of the temple vessels and also with the removal of the Stone
signifying the divine right to rule with the Dominion Mandate. Both of these
have to do with the long captivity that began in the time of Jeremiah when
Babylon took Jerusalem. The earth beast is the final entity that has had the
right to put the earth into captivity under these beast systems.
The Golden Image
Daniel
3: 1 says,
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king
made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six
cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Note
the measure of 60 x 6. If this “image” was actually a statue of a man, the
proportions would have been 6: 1, rather than 10: 1. So if this was a man, he
was a very thin man. But it is more likely that it was a pillar with some sort
of golden emblem or figure on the top of it. This would explain why no
religious leaders were assembled, but only “the satraps, the prefects and the
governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all
the rulers of the provinces” (Dan. 3: 3). Although this ceremony was religious
in nature, it was designed to set up Babylon’s gold standard— the worship of
gold, based on “the love of money.”
The
numeric value of Daniel 3: 1 is precisely 4662, or 666 x 7. This connects the
event with the earth beast and the 666 of Rev. 13: 18.
Gematria
If
we calculate the gematria of the entire verse (Rev. 13: 18), which speaks of
the number 666, the numeric value adds up to 666 x 15. Hence, built into the
text itself is this mysterious number, and the odds of this happening are only
one in 666. Furthermore, verse 17 as a whole also carries a numeric value of
666 x 16. The odds of two verses in a row each being multiples of 666, can be
calculated as one in 443,556 (i.e., 666 x 666). The odds increase greatly if we
were to take into account that both of these verses speak of this very topic.
In
Rev. 18: 5, the phrase, “for her sins have piled up as high as heaven,” carries
a numeric value of 666 x 6. The phrase in Rev. 14: 11, “those who worship the beast
and his image,” carries a numeric value of 666 x 6. Likewise, the phrase,
“merchants of the earth,” in Rev. 18: 3, also carries a numeric value of
precisely 666. This is supported by the Hebrew word yitron, “profit” (Eccl. 1:
3) and the Greek word euoporia, “wealth” (Acts 19: 25), which have a gematria
of 666.
Antichrist
Although
the word “antichrist” never appears in the book of Revelation— and is, indeed,
a word that only John himself uses in his other writings— theologians and Bible
teachers have tended to identify the various “beasts” with antichrist.
Certainly, there is a connection, but I do not believe that they are the same,
nor are they synonymous.
The
idea of a “beast” is seen most clearly in the book of Daniel, where the four
empires that were to arise were described as beasts: lion, bear, leopard, and
iron-toothed beast, along with an extension (“ horn”) of the fourth beast. The
Greek word translated “beast” is therion, a wild, dangerous, or venomous
animal. Every wild beast needs a handler, and thus, every kingdom needs a king
to guide it. If we think of the king as the antichrist and his kingdom as the
wild beast, then we can see the connection between the two, as well as their
distinction.
