Let's get to it…
Where does 666 come from?
It comes from the sixth day of creation - Gen. 1:24-26
The Sixth Day
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”
We have man, beast, and leadership (dominion/rule) all connected by this sixth day.
666 is an identifier - it tells us WHAT to look for (man), his nature (beast), and his position (leader/holds dominion)
Whomever this antichrist is must possess all three.
Here's the tricky part…
Antichrist is not just a man, but an office. A high place in leadership. Like with any high office, such as President, these leaders change out. We've had many presidents all of which are similar (because they hold the same office and duties) but they all have different characteristics about them and do different things.
It's the same with antichrist. While there are many antichrists, (1 John 2:18), only a few actually fulfill bible prophecy. Christians have always speculated as to whom the antichrist was, and they were probably all right - just not the prophetic one. Let's look at this…a man…with a beastly nature…in a high (or highest) leadership position….
Nero = Man, Beast, Leader
Hitler = Man, Beast, Leader
Stalin = Man, Beast, Leader
Bill Clinton = Man, Beast, Leader
Obama = Man, Beast, Leader
Get the picture?
Indicators in the Gospels
The three verses in the gospels describing what to look for before fleeing, I believe, are speaking of several different signs or indicators telling them when to flee. Two being antichrist, one being an event.
Yeshua says:
Matt 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand…"
Daniel was speaking of Antiochus who sacrificed a pig on the altar and proclaimed that he was God. Yeshua was not saying that this was going to happen again, or that in order for a pig to be sacrificed on the altar, the temple must be rebuilt. No. He was using Daniel's prophecy of Antiochus as a picture of something UNCLEAN entering a HOLY PLACE and rendering it desolate. Remember, the bible is written for everyone but in some instances, it is meant regarding a specific person or age or "ring". So, with a single verse, God could be speaking of a specific person, ring, or it could be more than one ring. Not everything is meant for this generation but there COULD be shadows where we could look for something similar in order to identify it. So, this means that we have to look at themes rather than word for word fulfillments because they may not be for us or play out exactly as written like in the case of Daniel's account of antichrist sacrificing a pig in Maccabees.
In Mark's account,
Mark 13:14 says
"So, when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand) …"
I believe he was speaking of a specific person and for THIS ring. This ring is unique because unlike times past where it was regional, (The Maccabean war, & Jewish war in the first century) this time it's worldwide. But there must be one person whom we can look at, who fulfills prophecy of the antichrist for THIS ring, so that we know where we're at in the timeline. (Think political and see if you can figure it out. Remember: Man, Beast, Leadership) I will explain this in another post as it's huge and honestly, I'm finding it difficult to put it into words.
Luke's account,
Luke 21:20 says "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies…"
This was speaking of the Roman armies (headed by Vespasian) surrounding Jerusalem in 70AD. Notice, he's not speaking about a person or an antichrist - instead, he's pointing to an event. Something unclean (Roman armies/gentiles) entering the Holy City (Jerusalem).
Israel being surrounded by armies is another thing most Christians are waiting to happen for this ring, but this was already fulfilled exactly so while it COULD happen again, it is not required as the words are fulfilled.
Why three 6's?
6 is the number of man, and 6 describes the character of man, the third 6 points to how much/far (worldwide).
When you put all three together, it's describing fullness.
When man has become utterly corrupt to the point of being like an animal and it reaches worldwide, you have fullness or THE END. The end of this age anyway.
So, 666 also tells us the condition of the world when it has reached the end - when it is so full it's about to burst, so to speak.
What Does "Counting the Number of His Name" Mean?
There are many who like to look at the gematria (counting the numerical value of each letter) of a person's actual name which seems superficial to me. A "name" speaks to the character, authority, or reputation of the person. "According to Hebrew notions, a name is inseparable from the person to whom it belongs, i.e., it is something of his essence." (Strong's #3686 onoma)
So, this points us back to 666 and his beastly character and his position of authority (rulership/dominion).
There is much more to say on this subject that I could write a book so I'm going to end it here. I hope you, the reader, got something out of this because I'll be the first one to admit, I am NOT a writer, or a teacher, I don't have initials after my name, and I have difficulty putting my thoughts to paper. But this is what I STRONGLY believe the Lord has shown me.
Any thoughts or comments?
If you enjoyed this post and want to be notified of more, then please subscribe. It would make my day.
Or you can