Chapter 1
The Number and the Antichrist
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. Revelation 13:18
(All scripture is taken from the new King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
The number 666 has been of great interest to many of the worlds Christians and theologians for centuries. The number is perceived to reveal the identity of what the world calls the Antichrist.
As we seek out the true meaning of 666 (the number of the beast), it is important to note that the word Antichrist is never mentioned in the book of Revelation. However, the label of antichrist appears four times in the first and second Epistle of John (1 John, 2 John). John, an original disciple of Jesus Christ, authored the Gospel of John as well as the Bibles last and premiere book of prophecy: Revelation.
All of Johns references to antichrist are listed here:
Little children it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 1 John 2:18
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? Hi is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world. 1 John 4:2-3
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John 7
Johns use of the term antichrist refers to any who deny that Jesus is the Christ. Although John predicts that many antichrists will arise in the final days, the label of antichrist is never mentioned in reference to either the mark, the number, or the beast of Revelation 13. What are we to think of the popular belief among society that the number 666 refers to a single man acting as the Antichrist? It is assumed that this person shall take over the world in an evil, destructive, Hitler-type manner. It is also believed that this Antichrist will act as a counterfeit Christ in an effort to lead many away from the true word of God. These are both false, but true presumptions as the number 666 refers to an incontestably dominating empire described as the development of several beasts named in Revelation 13. The collaboration of these beasts will eventually seek to severely discount any notion of spiritually-based religions (including Christianity) that stand in the way of implementing their blasphemous order of iniquity.
So, why is society waiting for this Antichrist to reveal himself? The false viewpoints of an antichrist to top all others have their roots in early translations of the Bible. The King James Version (first published in 1611) states:
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Revelation 13:18
After reading the above verse, it is easy to see why theologians for many centuries have deduced the number of the beast to represent a single man.
The first English Bible to be translated from the original text of Hebrew and Greek was first printed in 1525 by William Tyndale. It states the above verse in similar fashion, depicting the number 666 to be the name of a single man.
However, the same verse (Revelation 13:18) as read fr4om the New International Version clearly reveals the number 666 to be a general label for all men as it states: for it is mans number. His number is 666.
The New International Version (first published in 1973) is a completely new rendition of the Holy Bible. Over a hundred scholars reexamined and translated the original texts of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into clear and contemporary English.
The texts of many other popular versions of the Bible vary as to how they depict the relationship of the number 666 and man. Some translations still suggest that 666 represents a single man, while others advance the theory that 666 universally represents a conglomeration of evils pontificated by the human race.
The original word for man, as the Apostle John penned it in Revelation 13:18, is the Greek word anthropos. In its original meaning, anthropos is used to describe the human species in general. With this in mind, we should consider that the number 666 probably does not refer to the Antichrist as any one mans particular identity.
If the number 666 is not the number of a single man, then it may be the number of all of mankind or mans unconditional destiny.
If we renounce the worldly notion that the number 666 will reveal a Hitler-like dictator, then there is no sense in using the popular tradition of alpha-to-numeric translations as to guess the name of the number 666. This includes the practice of assigning numeric values to letters of names that add up to the sum total of 666. Another fashionable notion among society is that the number 666 may denote a slight imperfection to the holy number 777. The main flaw with this theory is that although the number seven is a significant number that appears many times over in the Bible, the number 777 is more prominently displayed on a casino slot machine, and never appears in Gods Holy Book.
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