GENESIS RELOADED
PART SIX: THE NUMBER OF MAN
“As [God] is perfect, so His works and His words also must be perfect. And when we see number used not by chance, but by design; not at haphazard, but with significance; then we see not merely so many works and words, but the Living God working and speaking.” - E. W. Bullinger (1837-1913)
In the previous section we showed that man was [and still is being] created on the sixth day, and thus has the number six impressed upon him. And six days are appointed to him for his labor. But the number six tells not only of labor, but also of sorrow, and it specifically marks all that is under the sun:
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-4)
Therefore, six is the number, not only of man, but of labor also – of man’s labor as apart and distinct from God’s rest. And six is the number stamped on all that is connected with human labor. We see it stamped upon his measures, which he uses in his labor, and on the time during which he labors. And we see this from the very beginning:
“Corresponding to these measures we have the first division of the natural time-spaces which measure man’s labour and rest – the day, consisting of 24 hours (4×6), divided into the day and night of 12 hours. The multiples and subdivisions are also stamped by the number six: the months being 12, while the hours consist of 60 minutes (6×10), and the minutes of 60 seconds (6×10).” – E. W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture
The remainder of this segment contains some more interesting observations about man’s number – the number six, from E. W. Bullinger’s classic Number in Scripture:
There are three men which stand out in Scripture as the avowed enemies of God and of His people. Each is branded with this number six that we may not miss their significance:
1. GOLIATH, whose height was 6 cubits, and he had 6 pieces of armour; his spear’s head weighed 600 shekels of iron (1 Sam 17:4-7).
2. NEBUCHADNEZZAR, whose “image” which he set up, was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits broad (Dan 3:1), and which was worshipped when the music was heard from 6 specified instruments.
3. ANTICHRIST, whose number is 666.
In the first we have one six connected with the pride of fleshly might.
In the second we have two sixes connected with the pride of absolute dominion.
In the third we have three sixes connected with the pride of Satanic guidance.
So if six is the number of secular or human perfection, then 66 is a more emphatic expression of the same fact, and 666 is the concentrated expression of it; 666 is therefore the trinity of human perfection; the perfection of imperfection; the culmination of human pride in independence of God and opposition to His Christ.
The number 6 was stamped on the old mysteries. But 666 was the secret symbol of the ancient pagan mysteries connected with the worship of the Devil. The great secret symbol consisted of the three letters SSS, because the letter S in the Greek alphabet was the symbol of the figure 6. a = 1, b = 2, g = 3, d = 4, e = 5, but when it came to 6, another letter was introduced! Not the next—the sixth letter (z, zeta)—but a different letter, a peculiar form of S, called “stigma” (V). Now the word stigma (stigma), means a mark, but especially a mark made by a brand as burnt upon slaves, cattle, or soldiers, by their owners or masters; or on devotees who thus branded themselves as belonging to their gods. It is from stizw, stizo, to prick, or brand with a hot iron. Hence it came to be used of scars or wound-prints, and it is thus used by Paul of his scars, which he regarded as the tokens of his sufferings, the marks which he bore on his body for the sake of his Lord and Master, and marking him as belonging to the one who had bought him (Gal 6:17).
It is also remarkable that the Romans did not use all the letters of their alphabet, as did the Hebrews and Greeks. They used only six letters, D, C, L, X, V, and I (the M appears to have been merely two D’s). And it is still more remarkable, and perhaps significant, that the sum of these amounts totals 666:—
| 1. D = |
500 |
600 |
666 |
| 2. C = |
100 |
| 3. L = |
50 |
60 |
| 4. X = |
10 |
| 5. V = |
5 |
6 |
| 6. I = |
1 |
The number 666 has another remarkable property. It is further marked as the concentration and essence of 6 by being the sum of all the numbers which makes up the square of six! The square of six is 36 (62, or 6×6), and the sum of the numbers 1 to 36 = 666, i.e., 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32 + 33 + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666.
The talents of gold brought to Solomon in a year were also 666 (1 Kings 10:14). But this perfection of money-power was only “vanity and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 2:8,11; compare I Timothy 6:10).
It’s also worth mentioning that the Assyrian Empire endured for 666 years before it was conquered by Babylon. And Jerusalem was trodden down by the Roman Empire exactly 666 years from the battle of Actium, BC 31, to the Saracen conquest in AD 636.
So while one figure (6) is significant, two figures (66) are still more so; and three figures (666) seem to denote the concentration or essence of the particular number.
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
I have several translations of the Bible, and every one of them (save two) says that in Revelation 13:18, the number 666 is the number of a (certain) man.
“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.” (King James Version)
“Here is scope for ingenuity. Let people of shrewd intelligence calculate the number of the Wild Beast; for it indicates a certain man, and his number is 666.” (Weymouth’s New Testament)
So who is this man? There have been many books written about this coming man of sin, the son of perdition (II Thessalonians 2:3). And there are hundreds of thousands of pages on the Internet as well. A couple hundred years ago, there were undoubtedly those who believed Napoleon Bonaparte was the Antichrist. And those who lived through the horrors of WWII must have thought the same of Adolph Hitler. During the course of my own life, I have heard everything from King Juan Carlos of Spain to former president Ronald Wilson Reagan (each of his 3 names contains 6 letters = 666) to Mikhail Gorbachev. One theory pinpoints Prince Charles as the future leader, or Antichrist, of the New World Order. And I have also had some emails forwarded to me which “prove” that Barack Obama is the Antichrist. Will it ever end?
It is not my intention to further speculate as to the identity of this man. More than enough has already been written. And most everything that has been written has been wrong. But it is my intention to reveal an aspect of this prophecy that most miss, largely because they have their eyes fixed upon the outward things, and fail to look inwardly. Most prophecy teachers focus either upon the past or the future, and fail to understand “that they themselves are beasts.” (Ecclesiastes 3:18).
IS, WAS, AND IS TO COME
If you were to do a little research, you would find that almost every opinion about this “man of sin” falls into one of the three following categories:
PRETERISM: Preterism is a Latin word meaning past, and teaches that most, if not all of Biblical prophecy, has already been fulfilled. Preterists teach that the Book of Revelation is primarily a prophecy about the Roman war against the Jews in Israel, a war that began in 67 AD and ended with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Preterists are unanimous in their opinion that Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire from 54-68 AD, was the Antichrist. Because the Roman emperors were worshiped as gods, there was a rumor circulating about that he would be restored to life, even well after his death, and that he would rule once again (see Revelation 13:3).
PREMILLENNIALISM: Premillennialists believe that Christ will return at the end of the Church Age and establish a literal 1,000-year kingdom on earth. According to this view, which has had an enormous amount of exposure thanks to the popular Left Behind series, the coming of this world leader, the Antichrist, is yet future.
AMILLENNIALISM: This system, endorsed by St. Augustine in the 4th century, interprets the 1,000-year Millennium to be the Church Age. But since well over 1,000 years has passed since the Holy Roman Catholic Church was first established, church officials have had to adjust their belief that the 1,000 year kingdom is symbolic of a much longer period of time. They also believe that Christ’s work on the cross has bound Satan (Revelation 20:2) where believers are concerned, even though the spirit of antichrist remains in this world, even to this very day (I John 2:22; II John 7).
So, which of these views is correct? Well, none of them are entirely correct. However, there are truthful aspects of each. But what most Christians don’t know (because the church does not teach this fundamental truth), is that The Revelation of Jesus Christ (who IS, who WAS, and who IS TO COME – v. 1:4), and most all prophecy in general, is written on THREE levels: the PAST, the PRESENT, and the FUTURE:
“Write the things which you have seen [the past], and the things which are [the present], and the things which will take place after this [the future].” (Revelation 1:19)
“That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Ecclesiastes tells us that history always repeats itself. A good example of this can be seen in Daniel 11:21-31, which describes one of the more wicked kings of that day, Antiochus IV. He is the one Daniel says, “shall pollute the sanctuary, take away the daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh desolate” (v. 31). The Dictionary of Bible and Religion (p. 54) tells us:
Out of the power struggle, Antiochus IV came to the throne, announcing himself as the manifestation of Olympian Zeus and taking the title Epiphanes [Greek for: "God manifests"]. In order to unify the kingdom behind him, he insisted that all subject peoples honor him alone as divine. The Jews were forbidden to practice circumcision or to offer the sacrifices required by their law, but were to pay him divine honors at an altar he ordered erected in the Temple at Jerusalem. This was viewed by Jews as the “abomination of desolation” mentioned in Daniel.
And in 168 BC, Antiochus IV further desecrated the Temple by sacrificing a swine (an unclean animal by the Law of Moses) upon the holy altar. These unspeakable acts led to the Maccabean revolt, and Jerusalem’s independence was eventually won. [For the historical record of these events, see the apocryphal books I & II Maccabees.] The Temple was cleansed in 164 BC, and is celebrated in the Feast of Hanukkah.
So did Antiochus Epiphanes fulfill the prophetic requirements of Daniel 11:21-31? Absolutely! In 168 BC, Antiochus IV stood in the Temple in Jerusalem and claimed to be God. And it appears as though even the apostle Paul alluded to this historical fact:
“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (II Thessalonians 2:4)
But the comparisons did not end there, for the historian Josephus recorded similar types of events, which led to the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire:
“NOW Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly, he sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem, to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest of the nation into captivity.” – War of the Jews, II, 10:1
“Now on the next day, which was the seventh day of the week, when the Jews were crowding apace to their synagogue, a certain man of Caesarea, of a seditious temper, got an earthen vessel, and set it with the bottom upward, at the entrance of that synagogue, and sacrificed birds. This thing provoked the Jews to an incurable degree, because their laws were affronted, and the place was polluted.” – War of the Jews, II, 14:5
These examples show us how history repeats. When Jesus spoke to His disciples on the Mount of Olives concerning the end of days, He referred to Daniel’s prophecy, not as a past event, but as a yet-to-be-fulfilled future event (see Matthew 24:15-28). The preterist camp believes that all of these things were fulfilled with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. And the prophecies spoken by our Lord concerning the Jewish Temple (Matthew 24:2; Luke 19:41-44) were indeed fulfilled at that time. But those who were still alive in 70 AD and had to endure the tribulation of the Roman war against the Jews, those who were closest to our Lord, and who recalled the things Jesus had told them, must have believed that the end of days was indeed at hand. For Jesus Himself had told them:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29,30)
But Jesus did NOT return “immediately after the tribulation of THOSE days” to establish His kingdom upon the earth. Instead, another prophecy was fulfilled:
“And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, … and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.” (Deuteronomy 28:68)
This prophecy was written nearly 1500 years before it was fulfilled. Those Jews who survived the siege and destruction of Jerusalem were taken aboard Roman ships back to Egypt, where the slave market was overly saturated for years.
So since Jesus did not return at that time, premillennialist prophecy teachers believe that a future world ruler known as the Antichrist shall also stand in a future rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, claiming to be God. One was, and one is to come. But what about the “IS” part of this prophecy? How does this prophecy apply to us? Before we address this, a bit of irony:
Many religious Jews today believe that before their long-awaited Messiah can come, the physical Jewish Temple in Jerusalem must be restored. And most Jews have rejected the notion that Jesus is the Messiah. And many Christian prophecy teachers believe that an impostor (the Antichrist) will sit in this Temple and deceive the nation of Israel into thinking that he is their messiah. And yet, Christians here in the United States are encouraged to support the nation of Israel in their endeavor to rebuild this temple. So what’s wrong with this picture? Are Christians unwittingly supporting the rise of the Antichrist? Hmmm…
We have seen how many of the physical symbols in the Bible (the letter of the Word) are indicative of spiritual things. But because most have their eyes set upon worldly things, they are not able to see it. And inaccurate Bible translations don’t help much, either. Here are two that are (here in Revelation 13:18) better than most:
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty six.” (Concordant Literal New Testament)
“This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.” (New International Version)
Those who have been given wisdom need not concern themselves (other than for educational purposes) with past events (Philippians 3:12-14), nor do they need to worry about future events (Matthew 6:25-34). Christ’s elect must focus their attention upon the here and now, for their time is at hand (Revelation 1:3). So how does this prophecy apply to us? In a footnote to Revelation 13:18, the New Living Translation tells us that the statement “the number of a man” can also read: “the number of humanity.” So with this in mind, let us attempt to calculate the number of the beast. Exactly who is this beast that sits in the temple of God? You might be surprised:
“I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.” (Ecclesiastes 3:18)
“I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.” (Psalm 73:22)
“Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?” (Job 18:3)
God’s Spirit no longer dwells in buildings made of stone. The heart is the new temple of the living God (I Corinthians 6:19; II Corinthians 6:16), and we [speaking of humanity in general] are the beast!
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST
God told us way back in Genesis that His plan was to create man in His image. And this process began with Adam and Eve. But Christianity teaches that mankind was already perfectly created in the image of God; that is, until we fell from grace. And why do they believe this? There are many reasons, including poor Bible translation, false teaching, and a failure to “study to show themselves approved.” But the number one reason, of course, is because the god of this present wicked age, in complete accordance with God’s will, has blinded their eyes from the Truth. For instance, Kenneth Copeland has said that when Adam was first created, he was so shining, so glorious, so spiritual, so GOD-like, that one could not even see his body for the glorious radiance of his spirituality. Oh really? Is this what we learned about “nakedness” in part three? Mankind is NAKED, although he “… knoweth not that he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and NAKED” (Revelation 3:17). And because man is not cognizant of his own condition, he proudly tends to boast of his “own” accomplishments, just as Nebuchadnezzar did (see Daniel 4).
“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?” (Revelation 13:4)
And man fails to glorify our sovereign LORD (who has already declared the end from the beginning – Isaiah 46:10) for the things HE has done. For example, Christians often talk about the grace of God as if they really believe they are saved by God’s grace. But in reality, they do not believe that anyone is saved by God’s grace. Instead, they believe that is it their (free will) CHOICE for Jesus that saves them. According to Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, the word “choice” is briefly defined as “the act of choosing, selection.” In other words, they believe that their act, work, or deed of “choosing Christ,” usually via some form of a “sinner’s prayer” is what saves them. But Paul disagreed. It is NOT of ourselves. God’s free gift was given even BEFORE the world began. (see Ephesians 2:9; II Timothy 1:9).
“Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.” (Isaiah 2:8)
“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.” (Revelation 13:8)
God is creating man in His image. This is an established Scriptural fact. But although:
“… they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.” (Romans 1:21-23; New Revised Standard Version)
And how have sinful men exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal being? One way is by claiming that God is triune, consisting of three PERSONS. What did the second commandment say?
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4)
Our Israeli fathers held such a fearful reverence for their LORD that they would not even use vowels in an attempt to spell out His name, referring to Him only as YHWH. And it was considered blasphemy to even utter His holy name as well. Even today, religious Jews print the words “G-d” and “L-rd” without the vowels for fear that this would be an attempt to pronounce His holy name. But Christian theologians have blatantly violated the second commandment by creating God in the likeness of sinful men, referring to Him as three persons. And the beast (man) worships this image that he has created. But it doesn’t end there. For now that this false image of God has been established in the hearts and minds of believers, another image has been created as well: one of the triune man, consisting of a body, an immortal soul, and a spirit. And they worship the image of this beast as well, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God, capable of making free will choices. But man does not consist of a body, an immortal soul, and a spirit. Read Genesis 2:7 again. What does it tell us?
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Lifeless body + God’s precious breath of life = living soul. So what happens when God removes His precious breath of life from the body? The soul DIES (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Ezekiel 18:4).
Once again, the Scripture plainly tells us:
“For the creature [that's us] was made subject to vanity [we were created this way], not willingly [we did not of our own 'free will' rebel against God's will], but by reason of Him [according to His plan] who hath subjected the same in hope.” (Romans 8:20 – KJV)
According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word for vanity (#3153) in a figurative sense denotes transientness. Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary offers this description of the word transient:
“A thing is transient which in fact is not lasting; a thing is transitory which by its very nature must soon pass away; a thing is temporary which is intended to last or be made use of but a little while…” (Vol. 2, p. 1385)
These physical, fleshly bodies of ours are temporary vessels, wherein “dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). In earlier installments, it was made perfectly clear that our first parents were not created as perfect beings. The symbolism of the number six itself even bears this out:
“The number six represents what falls short of the number of completeness, seven.” – The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001, Third Edition (footnote to Revelation 13:18)
The creature was made (and is still being made) subject to vanity. The creature (once again, that’s us) is in a transition process. We are being made (an ongoing process) in the image of God. And that image will not be completed until we are clothed with brand new, incorruptible spiritual bodies (see I Corinthians 15:35-57). Jeremiah speaks of this as well:
“And the vessel that he made of clay [the physical man] was marred [by design] in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel [the spiritual man], as seemed good to the potter to make it.” (Jeremiah 18:4)
In a MySpace.com discussion group one day, a fundamental Christian told me I was taking this verse out of context, and that the “vessel” is really talking about the nation of Israel (v. 6). And the reason he believed this, of course, is because he, like most all Christians, have not been taught how to compare spiritual with spiritual. So let’s see what the Scriptures reveal when we put these foundational principles into play:
“Nay but, O MAN, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:20,21)
Six is the number of man, the number of imperfection. Seven is the number, not only of perfection, but of completion as well. Shouldn’t this tell us something?
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A specified epoch; as, in Caesar’s day