The Beast: 666
Here it is:
- "... no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six. " (Revelation 13:17-18)
Please prayerfully consider each of these holy words of God about the number of the beast. The number 666:
- is the number of a man
- Is the number of his name
- Is derived by mathematical calculation
- The wise can calculate the number
Some say that the number of his name could be a registration number. A registration number like 200-400-66 does add up to 666. But, registration numbers are not public. The wise could not identify the beast. Besides, a registration number is not the number of one's name. My name is Jim Phillips. My social security number is not the number of my name. It is a form of identification used by my government to identify me instead of my name. But my social security number is not the number of my name. I could change my name one thousand times and it would have no effect on my social security number, because my social security number has nothing to do with my name.
Now, lets return to the text:
- "... no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six. " (Revelation 13:17-18)
The readers of the book of Revelation would have clearly understood these passages. The people of that era did not have a separate set of symbols which represented numerical value. They simply did not have numeric symbols like 1,2,3 and etc. But, each letter in the Hebrew and Greek alphabet had a number equivalent. The first letter of the Greek alphabet is alpha which had a numerical value of one. The second letter was beta which had a numerical value of two, and so on. Everyone in that day who knew arithmetic could calculate the number of his or her own name. So, if a public person were too demonstrate the attributes of the beast, it was a simple matter to translate that leader's name into Greek or Hebrew and then calculate the number of his name to see if it added up to 666.
Nero Caesar was translated as Hebrew in two ways: rsq nwrn or rsq nwr, representing Neron Caesar and Nero Caesar respectively. The numerical value of Neron Caesar in Hebrew is 666. The numerical value of Nero Caesar in Hebrew is 616. This is critical knowledge because some of the ancient Greek manuscripts for the book of Revelation say 616 instead of 666. For both spellings of Nero's name to match both the typical and variant Greek texts is astounding evidence that Nero is the key to identifying the beast.
Nero did commit the murders of countless Christians in the first century. He even coated them in tar and set them ablaze as lights at his parties. But before you jump to the conclusion that the persecutions of the beast are completely in your past, please prayerfully consider some additional scriptures: These scriptures provide additional information about the beast:
1) The beast will die and rise again.
2) The beast is associated with four great ancient empires.
1) Revelation 17:8 tells us that The beast "was, and is not, and is about to come". Revelation 13:3 tells us that the beast was "wounded fatally". In other words, the beast dies and comes back to life. So, the Nero of the first century could come back to life in our future as the beast of Revelation.
2) Revelation 13:2-3 says that the beast had 10 horns, was like a leopard, bear and a lion… A very direct connection with the four beasts of Daniel 7:1-8, representing representing Babylon, Media Persia, Greece and Rome.
In conclusion, we see that the beast can be associated with a resurrected Nero but also will reflect Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome in some way.