Revelation 13:17-18; 666

Revelation 13:17-18 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. 

Spiritual wisdom will be needed to solve the mystery of iniquity, so as not to be deceived by it. The full meaning of the number of the beast will be granted to those saints who are on earth when the beast is here in person. Of this we are certain: no one at present has sufficient wisdom to understand the number of the beast. What is meant by the trinity of sixes has been the subject of much research and debate. Many Greek and Hebrew names have a numeric value of 666.

Ellicott, in his most valuable commentary, devotes much space to the significance of this symbolic number, but wisely concludes his treatment by saying:

I am disposed to interpret this six hundred and sixty-six as a symbolic number, expressing all that it is possible for human wisdom and human power when directed by an evil spirit to achieve, and indicating a state of marvellous earthly perfection when the beast-power has reached its highest development, when culture, civilisation, art, song, science, and reason combined to produce an golden age – that men will begin to say that faith in God is an impertinence, and the hope of a future life is a libel upon the happiness of the present. Then will the world-power have reached the zenith of his influence; then will only wisdom descended from above be able to detect the infinite difference between a world with faith and a world without faith, and the great gulf which the want of a little heaven-love can fix between an age and an age.

Expositors have brought skill, learning and, in some instances, great research to question, What is meant by the number 666? There is divine wisdom wrapped in this symbolic numeral (which also occurs in 1 Kings 10:14 and 2 Chronicles 9:13), and only spiritual understanding can unlock the mystery.

1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, 

2 Chronicles 9:13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold; 

No doubt its full, precise and final solution will be apparent to the wise and godly during the Tribulation days, when the power of the beast will exhibit the highest human development in pride, impiety, and combined religious and political opposition to God and His anointed. In general this is the moral significance of 666. Its meaning, when finally known, will call for prompt repudiation of the beast, who is the political minister of Satan in blasphemous opposition to God.

The number 666 is man’s number, the unit six being impressed upon him at his creation and in his subsequent history. Man was created on the sixth day. His appointed days of toil are six per week. The Hebrew slave was to serve six years. For six years the land was to be sown. Under the sixth seal in the sixth chapter of Revelation an appalling and universal breakdown of all governmental power and authority takes place in the coming days of Tribulation.

The numeral seven is God’s number and usually denotes what is perfect and complete, but six falls short of that and signifies human imperfection and toil. In the growing development of man’s history he goes from bad to worse, and six combined with six increases in moral significance until man openly and directly opposes God.

There is an obvious connection between the first and the last of the four major world powers. In character they are identical, except that the last is the worst of the four. The image of gold set up by Nebuchadnezzar for his own glorification was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide (Daniel 3:1, according to the Aramaic). No doubt this image was meant to consolidate and unify the numerous different religions of the Babylonian empire – under threat of awful death it had to be worshipped. Daniel 3 points forward to the even deeper and truly satanic evil of Revelation 13.

[Herbert Lockyer, All About the Second Coming, Hendrickson, 2007, 118-119]