READING TIME: 2 MINUTES
December 5, 2019
What’s the significance of the number “666” in Revelation 13:18?
“666” is the symbol of the Antichrist. This mark will be given as a sign of devotion or a “pledge of allegiance” to the Antichrist and will function as a passport for the possessor of the mark to engage in commerce. This mark will force people to declare their allegiance— to the Antichrist or Jesus Christ. Receiving this mark has very serious consequences, as we read in Revelation 14:9-10 (Revelation 16:2 pictures the scene). By contrast, Revelation 20:4 tells us that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will refuse the mark of the beast.
This mark seems to be an imitation of God’s sealing of the 144,000 witnesses of Revelation 7 and 14.
I think some miss the intended meaning by speculating and conjecturing (by using “Gematria,” deriving mystical meanings by assigning letters numerical values) to whom this number refers. More than likely only those people who are alive during the Tribulation when the Antichrist is active will understand the intended meaning and significance of this number. John Walvoord’s opinion that the number “6” is one less than the number “7,” which is the number of perfection and completeness. No matter how hard the Antichrist will try to imitate Christ who is God, he will still fall far short of perfection. No matter how powerful a man he is, he is still a man and not God. This idea of incompleteness and imperfection is intensified by the three 6s. This is in harmony with the statement of v. 18 that this number is the “number of a man.”
Whatever the actual significance of 666 is, one thing is certain. Even though the significance is unknown to us now, this number will be a crucial part of his identification.
Ezekiel 9:4 provides us with an ancient historical precedent for marking human beings. In this context, the mark on the forehead was one of preservation, in the same way that blood on the doorposts spared the Israelites from death during the tenth Egyptian plague (see Exodus 12:21-29).
Ron Rhodes make an important point when he writes that “Though modern technology will enable the antichrist and false prophet to bring about a cashless society and control all commerce on earth, we must differentiate between this technology and the mark of the beast, for the technology itself is not the mark . . . The mark itself will identify allegiance to the antichrist, but that is separate and distinct from the technology that enables him to enforce his economic system” (The End Times, 157).
Sources Used
Hitchcock, Mark. 101 Answers to Questions About the Book of Revelation. Harvest House Publishers, 174.
________. 101 Answers to the Most Asked Questions about the End Times. The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group.
________. The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days. Tyndale House Publishers, 335.
Walvoord, John F. The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook. Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, 1990, 587.
Ron Rhodes. The 8 Great Debates of Bible Prophecy: Understanding the Ongoing Controversies. Harvest House Publishers, 213.
________. The End Times in Chronological Order. Harvest House Publishers, 153-155, 157.
READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
December 6, 2019
Apart from knowing what’s going to happen in the future, what are some practical benefits of studying future prophecy?
I plan to answer this question in two parts.
PART 1
Knowledge of Bible Prophecy Can Remind Us That God is Sovereign and That He is Indeed in Control
Sovereignty means several things:
• Ownership – All things are God’s
• Authority – God has an absolute right to impose His will on all His
creatures in harmony with His righteousness, justice, and love.
Control – God is master of the universe.
In a world that seems so chaotic and so completely in the grip of wickedness, we need to remember that our God sovereignly controls it all (See Psalm 2:1-12; Isaiah 40:12-16; 46:9-11; Daniel 9:27; Acts 2:23; 4:25-29).
The Bible tells us God is all-powerful and sovereign and reminds us that His sure purposes for the future will come to pass/occur.
Knowledge of Bible Prophecy Produces Spiritual Stability
Amid uncertain and troubled times, the church needs spiritual stability. Knowledge of Bible prophecy can provide this. Prophecy can have a stabilizing effect as we see current events and circumstances from God’s perspective — 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Thessalonians 2:2.
Knowledge of Bible Prophecy Is a Proof of the Truthfulness of Scripture
Throughout the time of the Bible, God has used prophecy as the means to authenticate His truth.
In Isaiah 41:25; 44:28-45:4, the Persian ruler Cyrus is called by name 150 years before his birth. Also, in these verses, the place of his birth is described, his future military campaigns, the conquest of Babylon, and his treatment of the Israelites.
In 1 Kings 13:1-3 an unnamed prophet gives one of the most remarkable prophecies in Scripture. The reason it is so incredible is that he predicted the name and actions of a king (Josiah) who would not appear on the world scene for 290 years.
Also see 2 Peter 3:4-13.