WHAT IS THE MEANING OF 666 IN THE
APOCALYPSE ? I have never found the answers I
seek regarding specific texts of the Apocalyse, Rv 13:
16-18 and 14: 9-11: “…If anyone is
clever enough, he may interpret the number of the beast:
it is the number of a man, the number is 666”;
“…And the smoke of their torture will go up
forever and ever. There will be no respite, night
or day, for those who worshiped the beast or its statue
or accepted branding with its name”. *** I cannot give you a completely satisfactory answer here without saying that the explanation of the whole Apocalypse, not only the two passages in question, is a bit complicated because of the liberal use of symbols and imagery. The Apocalypse, a word of Greek origin, means ‘revelation’. It is God’s revelation of hidden things, particularly with respect to the future. The sacred writer received these revelations as visions. It is not so much the visions themselves that are of value, but what their symbolism represents: numbers, things, people, etc… It is easy to get confused. Similar revelations are the Old Testament visions of Ezekiel and Daniel, who wrote during times of hardship to reaffirm faith in Yahweh. To properly understand the Apocalypse, one has to remember that they were written to reassure Christians who were suffering persecution at the time. Saint John, the author of the Apocalypse, wrote about the time of hard persecution by the Roman Empire (the Beast), under the instigation of Satan. John tells of a vision from God where the Lamb is given a decree against the persecutors. There will be tragedies, but the faithful will be protected. The scourge will pass among them for the conversion of hearts. But, Rome, the Beast, the Babylon, will be destroyed. Afterwards, there will come a time of prosperity for the Church of Christ, followed by a new assault by Satan. Then the final reign of our glorious Savior will come. The Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse, is a book of hope. God lives among his people. The Church will survive in spite of all suffering. It is in this context that the passages mentioned in the question should be interpreted, especially the number of the Beast, the Antichrist: 666 (also 616). The Jerusalem Bible states that, in Greek as well as in Hebrew, ‘each letter had a numeric value depending on its place in the alphabet. The number of a name is the total sum of its letters. In this case, ‘666’ would be Nero Caesar (in Hebrew letters). It would appear that he would be the one represented by this “number of a man” (Rv 13: 18). This explanation seems plausible. A lot of ink has been used in the effort to interpret this number, sometimes by those who are not well qualified and who are inclined to dwell on fantasy. The first Christians in Asia, who could have told us about this number of man, understood more fully what John was alluding to. By writing a little bit obscurely for the local pagans, John avoided increased persecution. For example, he substituted the name of Rome with the name of Babylon. Unfortunately the first Christians didn’t leave us their explanations of the number that contained so much warning. The number 6, which represented something that was incomplete (7 minus 1), revealed also that the reign of the Beast would not succeed, and that Christians should remain hopeful. The Apocalypse is a message of hope to all believers in a time of severe persecution against the Church. |