Revelation 13
The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. Revelation 13:15-18 NIV
The mysterious number 666 is referred to as the “number of the beast,” and has been widely discussed in popular culture and amongst Biblical scholars. So what does the number 666 represent? The truth is that the exact meaning is a mystery, as John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, intended it to be. In reality, it likely has multiple meanings. Most interpreters of this passage of Scripture believe it is the number that corresponds to the name of the antichrist. How? In ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, letters represented numerals according to their order in the alphabet. Adding up the corresponding numbers gave you the number of the person’s name. Turning a number into a name seems like a daunting task, but it is the key to unlocking the name of the antichrist. For example, if the Greek letters for Nero Caesar (Neron Kaisar) are translated into Hebrew (nrwn qsr), the letter numbers add up to 666 (50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 =666). Many people have claimed that the Roman Emperor Nero was the “antichrist” of Revelation 13 because the number of his name is 666 and because he inflicted “antichrist-like” horror upon the first century Christians. Some consider Nero to be a historical antichrist, and that we should not expect one to appear in the future. Others, however, interpret the book of Revelation as being both historical and predictive of upcoming future events. This is called the dual fulfillment principle of prophecy. According to this view, Nero was indeed an “antichrist,” as well as a picture of the future antichrist, whose number-name will also add up to 666. This makes sense because there are many different names that can potentially add up to 666, depending on what number is assigned to each letter. The bottomline is that God wanted it to remain a mystery, so that is exactly how it will stay until it is time for the next antichrist to be revealed. Knowing this, we should not spend too much time or energy speculating about who the future antichrist will be. The number 666 could also refer to the “unholy trinity” of: Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet. The Bible often uses the number 7 to refer to God and His perfection. Traditionally, 6 is thought to be the number of man, created on the sixth day and always “falling short” of God’s perfection. We know that the beast/antichrist will strive to be like God. He will likely even claim to be God. But, just as the number 6 falls short of the number 7, so will the antichrist, with his “trinity” of 6’s, ultimately fail in his effort to defeat God. Whatever the exact underlying meaning, the number does symbolize the worldwide dominion and complete evil of this unholy trinity, designed to try to undo Christ’s work and overthrow Him. Thanks to God’s Word we are well informed, and are able to catch a glimpse of how the unholy trinity will ultimately be defeated by Jesus. (See Revelation 19:19-21 and 20:10). Although the unholy trinity is powerful, we must remember that each member of this group is a created being, and their Creator is infinitely more powerful than all of them put together.