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The meaning of 666 and its identity

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Revelation 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 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.
18 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.

In the book Book of Revelation Chapter 13:16–18, the Textus Receptus manuscripts of the New Testament, cryptically asserts 666 to be 'the number of a man' associated with the Beast of revelation.. Some manuscripts of the original Koine Greek use the symbols χξϛ chi xi stigma (or χξϝ with a digamma), while other manuscripts spell out the number in words. But there are a few that try to misdirect or say it is another number or put in the margin that some 'authorities' that 'read Six hundred and sixteen.' or 'one early ms has the letters for 616'

But it is clear that it is 666 and today this has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist. Now the number 666 in and of itself doesn’t mean anything bad. Sometimes something might cost 666 dollars, or someone’s address or phone number might contain the numbers '666' and many other examples. But in the Bible this number does have significance, in the final verse of Revelation 13 we find an identifying clue for the Beast: 'Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred sixty and six.'

So the Bible tells us that this number '666', is the number of a man, symbolized by the first beast of Revelation 13. Notice that “666” is not the “mark of the beast,” but is an identifier, something that helps us to identify who or what that beast is. This Beast is identified elsewhere as Babylon, which brought false worship and confused the people with it. You have to understand that false worship had spread from that to the true God, to the created objects such as the Sun, Moon and Stars. The ancient Babylonian false worship was basically development of star worship of what were created objects they saw. The heavenly bodies were seen as gods and worshipped as a supernatural beings. We find the sun, moon were identified with Shamash, Sin, and the planet Venus with Ishtar, Jupiter was Marduk, Saturn was the war god, Mercury was Nebo, Mars was Nergal, god of the dead as we find in history.

This system of identification was taken over and modified by the Greeks and Romans, using the names of their own deities. But when the Greek sailors and soldiers went to the temples they had to know or identify the "gods" or religious system they were worshiping, so the use of numbers/letter symbols of which "god" the temple was dedicated to or worshipped. We see the same system of identity in use today with the use of symbols on monstrance icons or on books, altars, baptismal fonts, communion hosts, letters which also have numeric meaning.

The use of "IHS" is translated some claim as a symbol for the name of Christ. As Greek has its own alphabet and in it “Jesus” is spelled “ιησυς” and when capitalized it becomes “ΙΗΣΟΥΣ”. The claim is that if you take just the first three letters of this word or “ΙΗΣ” which are the Greek letters “iota”, “eta” and “sigma”. When these letters are converted into modern alphabet it becomes “IHS”. However, no one can explain how these letters came about and their meaning with any certainty or real evidence which "god" they may represent.

The Roman Catholic priests hold up a monstrance during their high mass, and the form of a monstrance is that of a circular window which contain a host, which symbolizes the sun. It is surrounded by a golden rays of the sun emitting all around that circular window which contain "IHS" in the form of a host. This sunburst monstrance with the round host that symbolize the sun encased for the people to adore and venerate and so anytime this pagan sun symbol is viewed by the congregation, they kneel in submission. If you look you find that "IHS" is also the mystery name that the Roman Catholic churches have on their altar, on their vestments, when they say mass. You find this in the definition of "monstrance"...

mon·strance /ˈmänztr(ə)ns/

noun (in the Roman Catholic Church) an open or transparent receptacle in which the consecrated Host is exposed for veneration.

Now only is the symbol also on their host but they claim it becomes or transformed into the actual body of Christ, but we will leave that for another discussion. So letters in Greek had numeric meaning and these letters were used to identify what system of worship or "gods" the temples were dedicated to or followed.

We see in Revelation 13:18: “18 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." The thing that throws most people off is when they look just at the "number of the man" 'anthrōpou' or 'of a human being' and then we are given the number which is 666. The number can represent the system of worship and at the same time show it is led by a "human being" not God, so we see how the number can be used to identify this antichrist entity, which at the same time is represented by a man.

Now as many will argue many other names, such as Nero, or Mohammed, or a king of Israel, none of these can be it as they do not fit the things it does or the length of its power, especially when it comes to the timeline which stretches to the end times. But we have to understand what prophecy in Revelation tells us and it gives us clues to follow of this system of worship which is led by a man..
 
We read the following which gives us clues in the first part of the chapter, Revelation 13:1-8...
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

So we see it comes from the vast number of people as it rises from the sea, and "sea" in the Bible, symbolizes "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues", verse 1.

We see in Revelation 13 verse 2, it is the composite of the four beasts in Daniel 7:1-7...
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

The dragon (or devil) gives it power and authority as we also see back in verse 2 of Revelation 13, "and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.".
It receives a deadly wound, verse 3, "as it were wounded to death" and we see it is healed, "and his deadly wound was healed:".
It is a strong political power, verse 7, "and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.".
It is also a strong religious power, verses 4, 8, "and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?", "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him".
It is guilty of blasphemy, verses 1, 5, 6, "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle..".
It wars with and overcomes the saints, verse 7, for "forty and two months"/1260 years, verse 5.

Lets look at clue given by this prophetic time period found in scripture which is the 'forty and two months/1260 years/ time, times and half a time' mentioned in Daniel and Revelation:

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Daniel 12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

If we look back to Daniel we see the word 'time' in this prophetic context refers to a period of a year. In the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, he went crazy for seven years which is given as "seven times" in the text, and humbled and ate grass as an ox as seen in Daniel 4:32:

Daniel 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

So in prophetic reading we see the days equal years, so lets look how many days are in a time, times and half a time, it means time (or 1 year), times (or 2 years) and half a time (or 1/2 year) or a total of 3 1/2 years. Most people who look at it would stop at this point and accept the 3 1/2 years only at face value.

But these are prophetic years so each day is a year and 3 1/2 years would be 3 1/2 times a Jewish year of 360 days (360 x 3.5= 1260) so comes out to 1260 days, and a prophetic day equals a year so using the same methodology as is used for the 70 weeks of Daniel we calculate it to actually represent 1260 literal years. So, 'Time, Times and half a Time' in prophecy is really 1260 years. To confirm this formula we need only to look at the book of Revelation.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Here the woman represents the faithful church, who flees into the wilderness for 1260 days. Again using the day=year formula, this actually speaks of 1260 years that the church would be persecuted. Now look at verse 14:

Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Here the exact same time of persecution is referred to as 3 1/2 times, again meaning the same period of 1260 days/years as found in verse 6. In the book of Daniel, we saw this exact same period of persecution in church history:

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

This verse in context is referring to a period of time that the little horn or Antichrist power will persecute the true believers or true church, again for 1260 years. The same is true for the time given "that it shall be for a time, times, and an half" for Daniel 12:7

So why is it not a year equal to 365 days as we hold today? Well in ancient times the year was held to be at 360 days. The fact that the prophets understood a year as 360 days is well attested, and can be seen in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as seen in the use of "time, times and half a time" (i.e. 1+2+0.5=3.5), "1,260 days" and "42 months". These references represent a period of 1260 years (based on the 360 day Jewish year multiplied by 3.5). Divide 1,260 days by 42 months and you will get a 30-day month, as 12 months of 30 days equals 360-days in a year

These time periods occur eight times in scripture:
Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half".
Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven".
Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 11:2, "42 months".
Revelation 11:3, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:6, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 13:5, "42 months".

We see how the 1260 day-for-year prophecy is found in Daniel 7, 9 and 12 and again in Revelation 11, 12 and again in Revelation 13. so many chapters in the Bible all pointing to that same 1260 year period which today we know as "the dark ages". These "1,260 days" spanned the Middle Ages and so we are given many clues that show us what identifies this antichrist entity, which at the same time is represented by a man. And it clearly it cannot be Nero, or Mohammed, or any of the many others some claim as they do not fit the description or the timeline..
 
Now, Revelation 13 says to calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

The alphabet of Latin, just like the alphabet of Hebrew and Greek, has numeric values because arithmetic numbers were unknown as these came much later. Now, we do have the title of a man who represents a religious entity that spans this timeline, and we find that numbers do add up to '666'.

Vicarills Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of God in Latin) or Vicar of Jesus Christ is what he claims to be and the name would obviously apply to the official title of a "man" who, by virtue of his office, and continue on, century after century as we see has happened.

The Annuario Pontificio, the official Vatican yearbook, carries the traditional titles for the Pope, and he still carries the title, although they try to subtly hide it..
 
When you study the features of the Beast, you’ll see that it inherited all the features of its predecessors, namely the body of the Leopard (Greece see Daniel 7) not for its swiftness but its cruelty and the many Greek philosophies the Roman church brought into Christianity. The feet of the bear (Media/Persian Empire), the mouth of a lion, i.e. Babylon. (Note, the Pope claims also to have inherited the title Pontifex Maximus or in short ‘pontiff’ directly from Babylon) and of course the dragon himself gave him the power, seat and great authority (Rev.13: 2 cf.12:9). The Beast is said to continue for 42 months (Rev 13:5) which of course is the 1260 years of cruel Roman papal reign as we see history repeating itself when the son of perdition takes his seat in Jerusalem for another 1260 days when the seventh trumpet is sounded.

Papal Rome had outlawed the Holy Scriptures during its long reign of 1260 years from 538 A.D. to 1798 A.D.

His number 666 can easily be worked out from his many titles, one of which is ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’ meaning ‘in the place of God.’ Indeed' the pope has taken the place and name of God by calling himself ‘holy father’. (See also (2Thess.2) vicar=short for, in place of, and Dei=short for Deity.

In Roman/Latin numerals, V=5, I=1, C=100, A=0, R=0, I=1, U=5 (same as V), S=0. Total= 112
F=0, I=1, L=50, I=1. I=1. Total=53
D=500, E=0, I=1. Total=501. Grand Total= 112+53+501=666

In no way am I bashing Catholics as they to have been blinded from the truth of all of this. There are many Spiritually born again Catholics who have seen the truth and have left the Roman Catholic Church.
 
Well, its hard for anyone to leave their church, but the evidence is clear, of who it is...
'Revelation 13:5 says this first beast would also blaspheme God. Luke 5:21 reads, “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

Today in the Catholic Church they allege that every Priest has power to forgive sins. Catholic Quote: “To pardon a single sin requires all the omnipotence of God... The Jews justly said: ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But what only GOD can do by His omnipotence, the PRIEST can ALSO do by saying ‘Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis’ [I absolve you from your sin].” — Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, pages 34-35.

No man on Earth can forgive sins. As for power, Elizabeth I defied the Pope and he sent word to all Catholics in England not to obey the Queen. Henry of Germany offended the Pope and he had to stand barefoot in the snow for three days to pay penance to the Pope before he would forgive him.

The Papacy also regularly make claims to take the place of God on Earth, which is clearly according to the Word of God blasphemous. John 10:33 says, “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, makest thyself God.” As stated previously, the beast makes many blasphemous claims and this is another Biblical definition for blasphemy and criteria for identifying the beast enforcing the mark.

Remember that the apostle John demonstrated that antichrist came from the early Church and he also demonstrated that antichrist was in place of God. Does the Pope put himself in place of Christ, and hence match the definition of antichrist?

We hold upon this earth the place of God almighty.” — Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894.

The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ, Himself, hidden under the veil of human flesh.” — Catholic National, July 1895.

The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous.”....

What about this mysterious number 666 that sends a shiver down the spine of so many people when they hear or see it, as they conceive it as being the devils number. Is 666 really the devils number? The book of Revelation says that 666 is the number of his name and that it is the number of a man. Revelation 13:16-18 reads, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 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. 18 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.” The word translated “count” in the verse eighteen above means to count, compute, calculate or reckon according to the Thayer dictionary.

So 666 is the number of a mans name and Revelation says that this man is the head of this antichrist beast power. Since the beast power is the Papal Church, it is not hard to work out who the most prominent man of this system is. The Pope wears a triple tiered crown which signifies he is the king of Heaven and Earth and Purgatory. This of course is obviously wrong. There is a King of Kings and His name is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is King of Heaven and King of Earth and since there is no purgatory, that one can go to the Bishop of Rome. On the original crown are inscribed the words in Latin, the Papal title “VICARIUS FILII DEI”, which means “Vicar of Christ” or Substitute for Christ, which is synonymous with Antichrist, i.e., assuming the power of God on earth. The literal meaning of each word of this Papal title is as follows: VICARIUS - substituting for, or in place of, FILII - means son and DEI - means God. They now deny that this was ever a Papal title but the evidence though it is no longer blatantly obvious, does still exist. Here is one of their very own quotes.

Question:What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope’s crown, and what do they signify if anything?
Answer:The letters inscribed in the Pope's mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the Church which is a visible society must have a visible head. Christ, before His ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to the office of Peter as Bishop of Rome, was recognized as the head of the Church. Hence to the Bishop of Rome, as head of the Church, was given the title ‘Vicar of Christ.’ Enemies of the Papacy denounce this title as a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us that Christ did not only give His Church authority to teach, but also to rule. Laying claim to the authority to rule in Christ’s spiritual kingdom, in Christ’s stead, is not a whit more malicious than laying claim to the authority to teach in Christ’s name. And this every Christian minister does.” — Our Sunday Visitor, (Catholic Weekly), April 18, 1915, thirteenth question under "Bureau of Information,” p. 3, (on page 2 appears “sanctions for the editor” from Pope Pius X, dated May 17, 1914; from the Apostolic Delegate, John Bonzano, dated April 27, 1913; and from J. H. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind., dated March 29, 1912).... 666 The Mark Of The Beast - Page 2
 
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