Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 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. (Revelation 13:11-18 ESV).
The Bible tells us that this mark will either be in the name of the beast or his number. So, it’s not just a microchip, it is specifically the Beast’s name or number. This has caused people to wildly speculate trying to find out who has a name related to “666”. Now the Bible does tell believers to “calculate” his number, so clearly it will be possible to do that, but I don’t believe it is viable until he is revealed. So how can his name be calculated? Well, we have another name in scripture that, when “calculated” reveals something important about their character. You probably know that every letter in both Hebrew and Greek, the two languages used to write the Bible have a numeric value. It is interesting to see what happens when we look at the names “Jesus” and “Jesus Christ” in Greek? Jesus, in Greek, has a numeric value of 888. In the Bible, 8 is the number for new life and resurrection so this is telling us that there is perfect resurrection and new life in Jesus! But it doesn’t stop there. Consider the following how every part of Jesus’ name (even the vowels and consonants), speak of resurrection and new life when examining the numeric value:
- Jesus = 888 or 37 x 8 x 3
- Christ = 1480 or 37 x 8 x 5
- Jesus Christ = 2368 or 37 x 8 x 8
- Vowels in Jesus Christ = 568 or 8 x 71
- Consonants in Jesus Christ = 1800 or 8 x 225
- Vowels in Jesus = 488 or 8 x 61
- Consonants in Jesus = 400 or 8 x 50
- Vowels in Christ = 80 or 8 x 10
- Consonants in Christ = 1400 or 8 x 175
- And note that the ‘3’, ‘5’ and ‘8’ in the multiples of ‘Jesus’, ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus Christ’. 3 speaks of the trinity or God-head, 5 speaks of grace and 8 is new life/resurrection. All amazing pointers to our amazing Lord!
So just as Jesus’ name totals 888, so the name of the Antichrist will total 666. 6 is the number of man as he was created on the 6th day and always falls short of God’s complete number 7. We’ve seen pictures of the coming Antichrist in the Old Testament which are associated with ‘6’. Goliath, you might remember, was 6 cubits and a span tall (1 Samuel 17:4). And as mentioned, King Nebuchadnezzar’s image that he set up to be worshipped was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits across (Daniel 3:1). So yes, people will be able to ‘calculate’ the number of the beast. But again, this is for those that find themselves living when he is revealed. And he is not truly revealed until the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, along with the Church that He works through, are taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8).
Tomorrow I will draw a few conclusions from these past days looking at the “Other Beast.” Today, be assured that Jesus will protect and eternally provide for every believer. He has not lost one and won’t then.