It is of paramount importance for us Christians to perfectly understand this number because the Bible categorically states that anyone that receives this number shall partake in Gods wrath(Rev 14:9-10) God is Spirit God is spirit and we are flesh so we cannot understand what he says without his guidance(John 4:24). In order to better understand this number we have to stop using our logic to decipher it and let Gods spirit reveal it to us.If You notice in Rev 13:18 The bible says:"Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast."That means he that doesn't have understanding(and this understanding comes from God)cannot understand this number. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.Romans 7:6 also says :"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." These verses are trying to tell us that in order to understand Gods words perfectly we need to have a spiritual understanding of them and not a logical understanding.The Jews used logical understanding to try to interpret Elijah's prophesied return and that was why they didn't recognize him when he came(Mark 9:13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.) -John 7: 27:"Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is". The Jews also didnt recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they tried to interpret his coming based on logic and till date judaists still expect the messiah(John 5:43:"I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. "(Notice it says come in his own name.The beast doesnt bear Gods name but its own name (rev13:17) So they await the man with the " beast image" not Gods image) Understanding what the number means: In order for us to have a proper understanding of This number we need to be spiritual. God didn't make us to have a physical and carnal understanding, Mans fall did. God always speaks in spiritual terms as we see in 1 sam 16: 7 "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart".Man is more interested in the outer meaning and appearance of things.God is more interested in the inner meaning and appearance of things What does the number of the beast mean: Notice that the bible says in rev 13:18 that ' it is the number of a man'; This means that the number 666 is a number borne by man(not a single man but carnal humanity in general).Lets look carefully at the places that the number 6 and 666 occur in the bible to have a better understanding of what the number means -If You read Genesis chapter one You will realize that man was created on the 6th day and on that 6th day he was given dominion over Gods creation so 6 is the number of Man in control. -God commanded man to work for 6 days and rest on the 7th day in the book of exodus so 6 is the number of mans works and 7 the number of Gods rest resting from the rebellious works of our hands and submitting to God. Now if 6 is the number of man who governs and 7 is the man submitted to God and doing Gods works(in his rest read Hebrews 4) it means man is incomplete without Gods spirit living in him(col 2:10: And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power)We are only complete in God so 6 is the number of an incomplete man. Hence if man is in control of his life (1st 6), it means he hasn't submitted to God and is rebellious(2nd 6)and is therefore incomplete and doesn't bear Gods image(3rd 6) 666 Is the number of beasts name: Lets take notice of the fact that the Bible calls the mark of the beast 'the number of his name'(rev 13:17).For us to properly understand this,We have to understand what a name represents. What is a name: A name is like an identification something unique that we identify someone with.Parents usually name their children as a means of identification. To understand what a name means in light of the Bible light let us read rev 14:1 :"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." The Bible says here that the Lambs (Jesus)fathers names was written on the foreheads of the saints(The forehead isnt the physical forehead it is the mind)What does this mean.Having Gods name written in their mind means they were identified with him they thought like him they bore his image.and just like a father 'names' a child God gives his children an identity, an image.The adoption of a new name and hence a new identity is also illustrated in marriage,When a man gets married to a woman the woman shares the same last name with him.This shows the oneness they both share they both become one body and soul and she loses her former identity in him. The beast name therefore means its image, its mind. If the number of its name is 666 and 666 means man in control,unsubmissive,rebellious and incomplete it goes to show You what the beast represents, It is a godless unsubmissive and rebellious civilization that seeks to make humanity think like it and bear its image. Anyone who refuses to bear its image and conform to it is destroyed (rev 13:15-17And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all(Global requirement), both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, 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 You see that anyone who doesn't accept this name is destroyed. Symbolism of the right hand and forehead: I have explained to You what the forehead means spiritually.I said it means the mind.It symbolizes the mind, thought-life and philosophy of a person. In order to understand what the right hand means lets check the bible for verses with "right hand" Psalm 110:1:"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at "My" right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool". The right hand here means the place of authority,the place of rule.It indicates Gods deeds and actions.It symbolizes the power and authority Jesus has to do Gods will on earth.Notice Jesus sits at his "Fathers" right hand.This shows that he submits to his fathers Authority and hence is empowered to do his Fathers will.Meanwhile,The second beast requires that humanity receive the "mark"in "their" right hand.(a mark is something that identifies something so when we have this mark we show we are for the beast) This symbolizes the fact that he requires them to live by their own authority and be empowered to do whatever the beast deems to be fit.I.e He makes humanity rely on their deeds and actions and seeks to eradicate reliance on God. When the Bible says they shall receive the mark in "their" right hand it means that when they have this number they shall control and have authority over their own actions and deeds instead of submitting to Gods control and rulership:Rebellion What does the Bible mean by "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'? Buying means exchanging money or valuables for goods while selling means exchanging goods and valuables for money or other valuables.So what does the Bible mean when it says that no man shall buy and sell?It means if You refuse to compromise If You refuse to be conformed to the world You would not have a part in the world system.If You rebel against the educational systems You cant have a certificate.If You do not compromise Your standards at work You cant function in the system.If You refuse to be promiscuous society labels You as being prude or infertile. For example, a Christian counselor in the uk called Gary McFarlane lost his job at a branch of Relate after telling his manager that the Bible forbade homosexual activity and it was his duty to follow this it is claimed. On the set of greys anatomy Isaiah Washington lost his role simply because he used a derogatory epithet toward co-star T. R. Knight and his sexuality. (T.R Knight was gay)Countless of Christians were murdered simply because they didn't renounce God .All the apostles were persecuted because they would never renounce God and conform to the world.(1 Timothy 4:10:For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.)If the Apostles had chosen to compromise the truth they would have saved their lives in the system and gotten the approval of men but they would have been out of favor with God (Luke 16: 15And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. People have assumed that, because verse 18(of rev 13) says that the number 666 is the number of a man, this number can only be attached to a single individual. The reality is that in the Greek language, "the number of a man" can also mean "a human number" or "a number of humanity". The number is associated with the Beast's system of religion and government. The number 666 could very well represent the apex of human perfection, because under the leadership of the Antichrist/Beast, the magnificent religious, governmental, and economic system of the beast alliance of nations will appear to be the best system ever devised. In the study of the numerical symbolism of the Bible, the number 6 is clearly associated with Mankind or humanity; therefore, the number 666 appears to be the number of the collective consciousness and morality of humanity. (In other words the standards and morals the world lives by and requires humanity to live by)and that is why It is no coincidence that in the world we live in today,All the nations of the world are required to live according to "international law" (which is man made),Not Gods laws.Any nation that rejects democracy and secularism is labeled and ostracized.The powers that be utterly reject Gods laws all in the name of humanism. We bear the number 666 when we seek to see with our own eyes (gen 3:5-6) and not with God's eye(Note that eye here means understanding).Seeing with Gods eye is when we see the things that he wants us to see(seeing his glory instead of our "nakedness"(Read Gen 2:25, Psalm 32:8,John 9:41). Seeing with our own eyes means seeing the things satan wants us to see(ourselves and what we can do without God Read Gen 3:6).Whenever we see with our own eyes,we exalt the self , we ignore the need for God,We are not in Gods rest,We govern our own lives , are incomplete and hence bear the forbidden number. Because God the Father allows an evil global system to exist before his Son's return, the number 666 could very well be viewed in the context of the entire religious, economic, and governmental system that is controlled by the Antichrist Spirit (Satan)(2.Thes 2:4). -Eze 28:3: "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee" -Eze 28:6-9: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 2 thess 2:3-4:Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. As You can see from the above verses it is when mankind attains the so called "god consciousness"(666,apotheosis,secular perfection,non reliance on God)which Satan promised Them that Gods judgment would come.It is when Mankind feels they can solve their problems by their own wisdom.It is when they feel that they have mastered the whole universe by their genius,(science and technology) and solved all the mysteries of nature that Gods judgment will come.And who is God going to use to judge them?Strangers:Christians who refuse to conform to the system but rather submit to God.That is why they are called strangers because they are unlike the rotten and self suffient world around them.In the same way Lot and Noah stood out in their respective generations.And what are they going to use to judge the world?The sword:Gods word. - 2 Thess 2::4 says the man of sin sits "in" the temple of God showing himself that he is God. The man of sin is the personification of the sin of man: which dwells inside universal humanity(Gods temple:Remember we are Gods temple 1 cor 6:19-20). New agers and satans agents would teach that embracing the sinful nature within us is the only path to become "godlike(apotheosis,secular perfection, 666).And that humanity should get rid of any restraint(The word of God that restrains us from being sinful 2 thess 2:7) in order to fully become free and "godlike" 666 is the same image of sin(tree of knowledge of good and evil) that satan made eve feel could make her attain perfection and make her a god and fooled her to think that rebelling against Gods commandments was worth it.It is the height of the lawlessness and hatred of God that People would be deluded into embracing instead of denying themselves to know the true God and bear His image.And millions would be fooled into accepting it In conclusion the number 666 isn't a physical number don't expect a government to arise that will issue this number on the right hand and forehead or underneath the skin.Even if that happened 98% of people will never receive it.(and the Bible claims the whole world worshiped the beast)Its a spiritual number and majority of the world today possess it. Way of escape: Submission to God rejection of the world(serpent) way of thinking(materialism,immorality and carnality )and non conformity to the worlds serpent image(Romans 12:2)are the only way to escape Gods wrath.Shedrach Meschach and Abednego preferred to be placed in a fiery furnace of fire than to bow down to the satanic Babylonian image established by Nebuchadnezzar.Are You read to do the same? Remember this: None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. (Dan 12:10).Unless God opens our eyes We will never fully understand the mysteries of God and hence never get to understand his words(Prov28:5). Only few people will ever get to realize the things I write here and then it might be too late. Wake up and be reconciled with Your Maker.Let him rule Your heart.He bought You with a price(1 cor 6:19,20)You are not Your own You are not free to live as You like submit to Your Maker

Bit to long to read at the moment :blink:

I don't know why I continue to click on this topic. I'm way confused :P Actually, I've yet to read an entire post. To lazy. Not really sure why I'm typing this either. Chronic boredom, I guess. And if you've read this far into my worthless post, I think there's something wrong with you. :silly: