Who is the Beast? In Revelation 13? His identity is a number, 666. A lot of Bibles read ‘it is the number of a man.’ For many years people have been watching for a man whose name adds up to 666. As we know letters have numerical value in Greek and also In Hebrew, and in Bible Numerics, numbers have meaning. E.g. 8 is the number of resurrection and new life. Jesus’ name adds up to 888. A number stated three times is the meaning of that number in its ultimate expression. 7 is the number of God and 6 is the number of man under sin, always coming short of the glory of God. Is the beast ‘a man’?
Is the Beast the Antichrist as many believe? Some translations, e,g, the NIV, renders it “It is man’s number.” It is suggested that the phrase should read “it is a human number.” The Beast with its seven heads and ten horns is not ‘a’ man. Beasts represent systems and are representations of spiritual activity. Is the number on the forehead and the right hand is a literal number? We have the technology for it. However in the context, it shows that taking the mark involves a rejection of God. It is related to how we think and what we do. Those with the mark are those who think and do according to the Beastly spirit. God’s servants also have a mark. They bear this Name on their foreheads. It is called a seal in Revelation 7:3 and Revelation 9:4. These are those who think according to God’s Word. In Ezekiel 9:4, 6, God instructs that those who mourn the sad state of the Temple be marked. God knows those who are His. From Eden until now, the question is - Are you going to let God be God or are you going to be your own god, deciding good and evil for yourself? while the serpent continues to whisper 'Did God really say that?'
666 is the monster that has grown in the Earth since the Fall when Man rejected God and His Word and opted to be their own god and decide good and evil for themselves. 666 is Man under sin grown to its fullness in the Earth. They became Man- centred instead of God- centred. If you don’t have the mark of the Beast you cannot buy and sell. I have just been listening to someone on Vision radio talking about all those who have lost their living because of their stance against SSM. Romans 1 reveals that the whole gender-bender thing is rebellion against the Creator. The mark is not only that, but it is opposition to the whole way of Christ – the Antichrist spirit.
The Dragon [Satan] stands on the sand. [some Bibles read ‘ I stood’ but it is ‘it stood’] It calls the Beast up out of the sea. The sea in scripture represents the people of the earth. The Beast has been there all along and has come to a ‘head’ in various empires throughout history. It is expressed in Humanism and other such philosophies which have infiltrated into every strata of our society. Now the Dragon calls the Beast into manifestation in the earth. This is what we are seeing happen right now. 666, Man under sin and in rebellion against God, is coming to its ultimate expression, when man will ‘call evil good, and good evil ; put darkness for light and light for darkness, put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter’ [Isaiah 5:20]
A second Beast rises from the earth. He has two horns like a lamb He looks harmless, but he speaks like the dragon. [‘Did God really say that?’]This is the religious face of Humanism. It appears religious but is very deceptive. These are those who call themselves ‘Christians’ and even appear on TV in religious garb, but they speak according to the dragon. In the name of ‘love’ they put Scripture aside. Is God unloving? We only have to look at the Cross to see the answer to that question. God IS love and wants what is best for us. This Beast also puts Man at the centre and misrepresents God. They endorse what God calls ‘sin’. They are deciding good and evil for themselves. The result of the decision made in Eden long ago is rising up to its fullest in the earth.
God is longsuffering but will not allow sin to go unpunished. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sow, that will he also reap.” [Galatians 6:7] Yet God is always merciful. During this day of Grace, we can exchange the Beast’s mark for God’s mark. God loves all people and doesn’t want any to perish but all to come to repentance. [2 Peter 3:9]The days ahead may be dark, but it is at just such a time that God’s Church will rise in the earth in glory and power. This will be the Church’s finest hour.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon you and his glory shall be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60: 1, 2