666: THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.

How does 666 identify the beast of Revelation 13? ¿What does the Bible tell us about the "number of the beast"? 

Revelation 13 describes a vision of John about two beasts that will appear shortly before the return of Christ. The first one represents a powerful political leader to whom Satan (the dragon) will give authority "over every tribe, people, language and nation"; everyone who is not inscribed in the Book of Life will follow this leader and worship the dragon just like him (vv. 2-4, 7-8).

The second beast represents a religious leader who will support the first, will deceive mankind with many miracles and will kill anyone who does not worship the image of the beast (vv. 13-15). Other Scriptures describe this character as "the man of sin," "the antichrist" and "the false prophet" (2 Thessalonians 2: 3; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 16:13; 19:20).

Worship the image of the beast?

It is true that the phrase "worship the image of the beast" may seem strange to us, but this phrase does not refer to something literal (Revelation 13:15). What the second beast will do is legitimize the authority of another power to be respected, just as it happened almost two centuries ago when the leader of the Catholic Church (the pope) forced the people to accept the restoration of the Roman Empire under dominion by Carlo Magno (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible and Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible ).     

The religious leader of John's vision will force the entire world to submit to a new world government, and one of his methods will be to take control of the economy.

The second beast will make “everyone, small and big, rich and poor, free and slave, have a mark on their right hand, or forehead; and that no one could buy or sell, except he who had the mark or name of the beast, or the number of his name ”(Revelation 13: 16-17). "The mark or name of the beast" will identify everyone who accepts his satanic power.

Now that we know the context, let's analyze what Revelation 13:18 tells us: “Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, count the number of the beast, for he is the number of man. And his number is six hundred sixty-six".

If we bring together verses 17 and 18 of Revelation 13, we see that 666 corresponds to the name of an individual whom the Bible describes as a beast with the power to control the world economy - as we saw, "the mark or name of the beast , or your name number ”will be a requirement to buy and sell.

But where does this number come from and what does it mean to "count" the number of the beast?

In his commentary on Revelation 13:18, Albert Barnes explains that the Greek letters had a numerical value and, therefore, could be "counted." When adding the letters of names like " Lateinos , the Latin", "Nerón César", "Diocleciano Augusto", "FC Juliano, the apostate", "Luther", " Romanus " and "Romano", the result is 666.

Although there may be other alternatives, Barnes also points out that "many of the most obvious solutions point to Rome and the papacy." In fact, as early as the second century, the religious writer Irenaeus said that this number referred to the Latin Empire (ie, Roman) (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible , Revelation 13:18).  

Does the beast of Revelation have any relationship with the Roman Empire? Let's see what the Bible says about it.

The Roman Empire

In the book of Daniel, God revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would be the first of four major successive world empires: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire (Daniel 2: 31-43). 

Later, Daniel had a vision where the same four empires were represented by four beasts and the fourth of them “had ten horns,” in addition to “another little horn [that] came out between them, and in front of him three horns were plucked from the first ... this horn had eyes like a man, and a mouth that spoke great things ”(Daniel 7: 7-8).

According to Barnes, "The horn is a symbol of power that is often used as an emblem or symbol in Daniel" (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible , Daniel 7: 7-8). In this case, the ten horns represent the kingdoms that have shaped the Roman Empire through history and the small horn to a great religious power that will make "war against the saints, and [will overcome] them, until [come] the Ancient of days, and [the] judgment is given to the saints of the Most High; and [the time] will come, and the saints [will receive] the kingdom ”(vv. 21-22).   

In other words, the fourth beast (historically the Roman Empire) would have several resurrections, and the last one would be in force with its religious leader at the time of Christ's return.

This last resurrection will be conformed by “ten kings, who have not yet received kingdom; but for an hour they will receive authority as kings together with the beast ... and they will surrender their power and authority to the beast ”(Revelation 17: 12-13). And when Christ comes to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, these kings will fight with Him (v. 14).

What you need to know

When the time of the end comes and the prophetic beast takes power, the best thing you can do is be close to God. Counting the number of the beast and knowing the meaning of 666 will not save anyone - their salvation will depend only on their "love of truth" and faith in Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:10; Ephesians 2: 8).