Beastly Number
The number of the beast, 666, is based on the dimensions of the great image erected by Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon.
The “Beast
from the earth,” the “False Prophet,” uses economic coercion and
religious deception to induce men and women to “render homage to the beast,”
and to erect an image to honor it. All who give allegiance to the “Beast”
take its “mark” and “number.” In the book of Revelation,
this description uses language and imagery from the third chapter of Daniel.
By taking the “number of the beast,”
the “inhabitants of the earth” are authorized to engage in commerce - to
“buy and sell.” Those who refuse the “number” are banned from the
marketplace.
Those who receive the “brand” of the
“Beast” will discover to their horror that their names are not “written
in the Lamb’s book of life.” Refusal to take the “number” comes with
serious costs, but the consequences for giving allegiance to the “Beast”
are far more severe - (Revelation 14:9-11).
- (Revelation 13:14-18) – “And he deceives the inhabitants of the earth by the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to the inhabitants of the earth that they should make an image to the beast who has the stroke of the sword and lived… and he caused that as many as should not render homage to the image of the beast should be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that they should give to them a mark on their right hand or on their forehead; and that no one should be able to purchase or to sell, except he that has the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: he that has understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for it is, the number of a man; and his number is 666.”
GREAT GOLDEN IMAGE
The preceding passage employs language from
the incident when King Nebuchadnezzar erected a great “golden image” and
commanded everyone in his domain to “bow down and render homage to the image
that I have erected” - (Daniel 3:1-7).
In Daniel, the Babylonian ruler summons
all the “deputies, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all
the rulers of the provinces” to the dedication of his image, representing all
levels of imperial society, and all “peoples, nations and tongues” are
commanded to bow down and “give homage” to the image. Refusal to do so
results in a horrific death in a “fiery furnace.”
Likewise, in Revelation,
the “False Prophet” causes the “inhabitants of the earth” to
erect an image of the “Beast” and to “render homage” to it. All
who refuse are killed. And he causes “the
small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond” to take the “mark”
or the “number” of the “Beast,” essentially, the whole of
society.
THE NUMBER
The same passage provides the background
for the “number of the beast” - 666. Nebuchadnezzar’s “golden image” measures
sixty cubits by six cubits, dimensions that reflect the Babylonian sexagesimal
base-60 numeral system. In the Greek Septuagint version of Daniel,
the number is represented by the two Greek nouns - exékonta (60) and ex (6).
In Revelation, when John alludes to
words and phrases from the Hebrew Bible, he uses its ancient Greek translation,
the Septuagint.
In chapter 13, the number “666” is
represented by three Greek nouns - exakosioi (600), exékonta (60), and ex (6). The verse has added
600 to the original sixty-by-six dimensions from Daniel. The verbal and
numeric connections are deliberate.
The number
“666” conforms to the pattern found elsewhere in Revelation whereby
numbers are doubled, tripled, and even cubed. For example, the number 12 is
compounded into 144,000 (12 x 12 x 1000). The “ten days of tribulation” at
Smyrna become the “thousand years” during which Satan is bound in the
“Abyss” (10 x 10 x 10).
In the Greek text, “666” consists of
three distinct
whole numbers – 6, 60, and 600. They, in
turn, represent the three entities that plot against the “Lamb” and his
followers, the “Dragon,” the “Beast from the sea,” and the “Beast
from the earth.”
“For its number is also of man” (anthrōpou
estin kai ho arithmos autou). Here, anthrōpou is used for “humanity”
in general. Just as the “golden image” of Nebuchadnezzar is “his
image” and erected by him, so the “number of the Beast” is linked to
humanity in its idolatrous religion.
THE IMAGE
What distinguishes the “image of the beast”
is not its shape, size, or form, but the total allegiance that men must give to
it. It is the ultimate form of idolatry, and in this case, state idolatry, in which the
political order demands a level of allegiance that belongs only to God. Effectively,
the State becomes divine.
The call for anyone with “wisdom” to
“count” and understand the “number of the beast” also echoes
Daniel:
- (Daniel 12:9-10) - “Shut up and seal the prophecy until the season of the end. Many will purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined…but none of the wicked will understand, but they that are wise shall understand.”
Only those with wisdom from above can understand
the beastly number. It cannot be decoded or calculated by mathematical formulas
or mystical interpretations.
When a political entity appears in the world that uses economic might promiscuously against nations, peoples, and individuals to coerce them into submission, that will be the first clue that the “Beast” is “ascending from the sea.”
When the “beast” does appear, we
must choose whether to submit to its idolatrous demands by giving it our total
allegiance or to “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” If we do the latter,
we will find ourselves excluded from economic life and persecuted by this
beastly entity.
If we do the former, our names will be
expunged from the “Lamb’s book of life” and we will face a horrific
fiery death in the “lake of fire,” the “second death.”