Misinterpretations of Revelation 13 have led to some amazing "prophecies" among the Churches of God. It is not surprising therefore to find stated in I Cor 13:9 that "we know in part, and we prophesy in part". Verse 8 even says that "prophecies will fail". God's prophecies of course will not fail; they either have been fulfilled, or will be fulfilled. 

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Lamentably, the Churches of God think that Rev 13 depicts a series of events yet in the future. Based on the phrase "mark of the beast", some think they are going to have a bar code stamped on their foreheads, or a computer chip inserted in their neck, or something similarly fanciful.

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Revelation 20:4, however, says that the conditions described in Rev 13 are ongoing throughout the time of God's work with His people, rather than one-off end time phenomena. ​This verse states "Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

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Here we see that all those who will rule with Christ, regardless of when they lived, have rejected the "mark of the Beast". This is very figurative language, emphasised by the word "beheaded". Throughout history, very few people of God have been literally beheaded for their beliefs, but all of God's people have had to give up their own authority over their lives and allow God to figuratively and spiritually be their head.

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What Revelation 13 does is give us an overview of the Beast powers that ruled Jerusalem over a period of 2520 years, with a particular focus on the second half of that period. It expands the description of the Beast powers already given in the book of Daniel.

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In Daniel 7, four separate beasts are depicted with a total of seven heads, the seventh head having ten horns. The same powers are described in Rev 13, except that there they are portrayed as one beast.

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In Daniel 7:8 and 25, an additional power is described as a "little horn" that comes up amongst the ten horns. That little horn is elaborated on greatly in Rev 13, and is portrayed from verse 11 onward as another individual beast, i.e. a "lamb" which "spoke like a dragon", making five beasts in total with the four from Daniel, but all five together constituting one overall Beast. The "lamb" or "little horn" is in Rev 17:11 also called the "eighth" head of the Beast.

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The meaning of the number 666, the number attached to this final fifth beast, identifies it as a historical power, not some future fanciful manifestation as is usually claimed by the Churches of God. This will be explained below.

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Let's go through Revelation 13, and we'll see that it all adds up.

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(I've added my comments in brackets).

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Rev 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast (a combination of Gentile powers) rising up out of the sea (and onto the "earth" of Israel), having seven heads (representing seven independent powers that successively ruled over Jerusalem starting in 575BC: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Seleucid Empire, Rome and Mecca/Medina) and ten horns (representing ten successive Islamic dynasties that subsequently ruled over Jerusalem - listed on the page "The Two Witnesses"), and on his horns ten crowns (showing that the content of this chapter mainly concerns the period when the ten horns were in power, and the eighth head of the Beast, described in verses 5, 6 and 11-18, came up among them), and on his heads a blasphemous name (the Beast powers practised false religions, and spoke lies about the true God).

2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion (showing that this Beast is a combination of the individual beasts described in Dan 7). The dragon (Satan - Rev 12:9) gave him his power, his throne, and great authority (over Jerusalem and the Jews for 2520 years).

3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded (meaning that its time of ruling Jerusalem was over), and (but) his deadly wound was healed (the Roman Empire's time of ruling Jerusalem as the sixth head of the Beast ended in 638AD when Islam, the seventh head of the Beast, conquered the city. However, Roman Catholicism led by the Papacy, having become a power in its own right, independent of the Roman Empire, but in most ways continuing the nature of that Empire, captured Jerusalem once again on behalf of Rome in 1099AD. It thereby became the "eighth" head of the Beast (Rev 17:11), but as the same verse clarifies, it is "of the seven", as it is in reality a reconstituted, or "healed", sixth head). And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

4 So they worshiped the dragon (Satan) who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast (they worshipped its empires, leaders, religions), saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

5 And he was given a mouth (the same mouth described in Dan 7:8 and 25) speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months (1260 inclusive years, from 686, when the Papacy gained independence from the Roman Empire's seat of power in Constantinople, until 1945, more fully explained on the page "The Two Witnesses"). 

6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven (false Christianity spouting forth from the Papacy, taking God's name in vain). 

7 It was granted to him (the overall Beast) to make war with the saints and to overcome them (i.e. the Jews. This began when Babylon conquered Jerusalem, and lasted until the end of WW2). And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations (all the Gentile nations within his dominion).

8 All who dwell on the earth (of Israel, while it was under Gentile control) will worship him (the Beast), whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (but those whose names are in the Book of Life resisted. An excellent example of this is seen in the contrast between the attitude of the Jews and the early Church in Christ's time: the Jews sought to please and put first their Roman, Beast power, occupiers, even saying "we have no king but Caesar" (Jn 19:15), whereas the Church sought to please God and put Him first).

9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword (God takes vengeance on those who come against His city and His people). Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

11 Then I saw another (now separately described) beast (Roman Catholicism/Christianity, the "little horn" or eighth head of the Beast) coming up out of the earth (not only true Christianity, but also false Christianity, as portrayed here by this "beast", originated from the "earth" of Israel), and he had two horns like a lamb (impersonating the true Lamb, i.e. Jesus Christ) and spoke like a dragon (he speaks deceptively, like Satan. Note that this beast has a head and two horns. The first Roman Catholic/Christian crusade which captured Jerusalem in 1099AD is represented by the head of this lamb. Its two horns depict the two subsequent times this beast succeeded in seizing control of Jerusalem. These occasions are described on the page "The Two Witnesses". These three conquests are also recorded in Dan 7:8 and 7:24, where the "little horn" is prophesied to uproot three of the ten Islamic dynasties that successively ruled Jerusalem).

12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence (continues the Gentile occupation of Jerusalem, and the oppression of the Jews, and causes itself to be worshipped in all the territories it controls), and causes the earth and those who dwell in it (the land of Israel) to worship the first beast (as above in verse 8), whose deadly wound was healed (by the Catholic conquest of Jerusalem).

13 He performs great signs (supposed miracles), so that he even makes (appears to make) fire come down from heaven on the earth (of Israel) in the sight of men (the Catholic capture of Jerusalem from the hands of the "infidel" Muslims was taken to be a great and favourable sign from God).

14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth (in the Holy Land) by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived (to create a Catholic Kingdom, in the image of all other Gentile, Beast power kingdoms (see Matt 20:25). The Catholic kingdom in the Holy Land and surrounding territories was called "the Kingdom of Jerusalem").

15 (For) He was (had been) granted power to give breath to the image of the beast (to create the Papal system with its "Christian" rule, in the image of Satan), that the image of the beast should both speak (speak "great things and blasphemies" - see verse 5) and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed (many who refused to worship the Papacy were put to death by it, utilising the political alliances it had forged).

16 He causes all (under his control), both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark (an obvious transgression of God's law, namely Sabbath breaking, even though this head of the Beast calls itself "Christian", and claims to represent God) on their right hand (symbolising their actions) or (and) on their foreheads (symbolising their acceptance of the teachings of this power),

17 and (so) that no one may buy or sell (practise religion in its realm) except one who has the mark (of Sabbath breaking) or (and) the name of the beast (be it Catholic, or "Christian"), or (and) the number (the values) of (associated with) his name (its "Christianity", meaning its unbiblical doctrines and practices, including Sunday keeping).

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number (the values) of the beast (false Christianity), for it is (they are) the number of (a) man (of sinful man, specifically here the office of "the man of sin" mentioned in II Thes 2:3): His number is 666 (various explanations regarding Papal titles are offered as possible solutions to this riddle. These certainly fit the attitude and mindset of the holders of this office, described in II Thes 2, but they do not explain why the specific number mentioned is 666, and not some other number. That explanation, I believe, is to be found in mathematics, as I will try to explain further below).

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The development of false Christianity

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We see in Rev 13 that false Christianity, which had begun with individual "false apostles" (Rev 2:2, II Cor 11:13), and had progressed to being an organised "synagogue of Satan" (Rev 2:9), and subsequently had obtained a "throne" (Rev 2:13) and with it a "mouth" (Dan 7:8, Rev 13:5) i.e. the Papacy, and over the course of time had become a "little horn" (Dan 7:8, 20, 24-26) when it gained independence from the Roman Empire in 686, ultimately became the two-horned "lamb" (Rev 13:11), also called the "eighth" head of the Beast (Rev 17:11), when it conquered Jerusalem in 1099. The Papacy is also pictured as a "woman" wearing scarlet and purple and labelled "Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots" in Rev 17:3-6, 18, due to the fact that much of its religion was derived from the religion of ancient Babylon, and because it became the progenitor of false Christianity in general.

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God's Third Commandment

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Now to the explanation of the number 666. God's law is made up of ten principles. In Ex 34:28, Dt 4:13 and Dt 10:13, these ten principles are called the "ten words" and are known to us as the ten commandments. The third commandment instructs man to "not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain", referring to the sin of "blasphemy" (see v6 above), i.e. misrepresenting God in word.

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The two-horned lamb, which at its core symbolises Catholicism and the Papal institution, has greatly transgressed God's third commandment throughout its long, unsavoury history. In two verses alone, Rev 13:5-6, this power is three times described as being blasphemous.

 

It has blasphemed God by claiming to sit "as God in the Temple of God" (II Thes 2:4), thereby assuming the place of Christ as head of the Church. It has also blasphemed God by altering three of His ten commandments (as predicted in Dan 7:25). It has unashamedly taken God's name in vain by adding to the words of Scripture, e.g. Matt 28:19 and I John 5:7. In addition it has claimed that the host of abominations it has committed have been sanctioned by God, which is another great blasphemy. Countless examples could be shown in which the stated doctrines and beliefs of this organisation have misrepresented God to the world.

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How does this lead us to the number 666?

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Mathematics is God's law in numbers. Numbers are also called values, and God's values are displayed in numbers. God attaches a value from 1 to 10 to each of His ten commandments, and gives us the decimal system of numeration in the process.

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To mirror Catholicism's transgressions mathematically, see what happens when in a specific way we bring into disarray the numbers attached to God's laws or values. We can do this by using any three numbers (three being representative of the third commandment, i.e. not taking God's name in vain) between 1 and 10 (the numbers of God's ten commandments).

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If we take for instance the numbers 1, 2 and 3 and combine them into multi-digit numbers, mixing them up into as many combinations as possible using each number only once, it gives us six possible numbers: 123, 132, 213, 231, 312 and 321. If we add these numbers together we get 1332. If we proceed to divide 1332 by the average of the three digits we have used (which is 2) we get 1332÷2=666.

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If we take the numbers 4, 5 and 6, we see the same thing. 456+465+546+564+645+654=3330. The average of 4, 5 and 6 is 5. And 3330÷5=666.

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Non-consecutive numbers yield the same result: Take for instance 1, 8 and 9. 189+198+819+891+918+981=3996. The average of 1, 8 and 9 is 6. 3996÷6=666.

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Using numbers where the average produces a fraction works just the same. Let's take 1, 2 and 4. 124+142+214+241+412+421=1554. The average of 1, 2 and 4 is 2.333....... , or to be precise, 2 and a third. 1554÷2.333....... (2 and a third) = 666.

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Care must be taken when using the number 10 doing these calculations. If for instance using 2, 6 and 10, the number 2 stands for 2 x 100, the 6 stands for 6 x 10, and the 10 stands for 10. Writing that as a three digit number equals 270. Therefore the numbers

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2 6 10

2 10 6

6 2 10

6 10 2

10 2 6

10 6 2

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should for the purpose of addition be written as

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270

306

630

702

1026 

1062 

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  Add those six numbers together, then divide that number by the average of the three digits used, which is 6, and the calculation will be 3996÷6=666.

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I believe that this mathematical explanation shows why the false Christian beast is given the number 666.

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James 2:10-11 says "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law".

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This passage of Scripture states that if you break one of God's ten commandments, you have broken them all. As the number 666 is only arrived at in the above demonstrated formula by using three numbers, 666 is a mathematical outcome unique to the number 3, representative of the third commandment. To put it simply:

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The number 666 is a mathematical depiction of the transgression of God's law by breaking the third commandment.​​

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As mentioned above, Roman Catholicism has misrepresented God in regard to many significant spiritual matters, even to the point of tampering with the actual list of His ten commandments: they have discarded the second commandment, changed the day associated with the fourth commandment, and split the tenth commandment into two parts. As a result, most of the commandments have been shifted out of their assigned places. Dan 7:8 and 25 foretell that this power, described as a "little horn", would "think to change times and laws". This they certainly have done for those many millions of people under their influence.

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​​Of course, all humans have misused God's name and thereby transgressed His law, and so we have all earned the 666 label. However, by accepting Christ's sacrifice and turning from our transgressions, God rids us of that description.

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The big difference between true and false Christianity is that true Christianity has upheld God's law, summed up by the ten commandments, while false Christianity has institutionalised and justified transgression of God's commandments, has forced others into also transgressing them, and has claimed to have done all this in the name of God!

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To give credit where credit is due, I developed the idea for the explanation of the Biblical number 666 after consulting the website www.archimedes-lab.org. I did this as part of researching the mathematical properties of the number 666, as I had begun to suspect that there was a mathematical link between the concept of lawlessness and the number 666. The above website, amid a plethora of mathematical information about many numbers, makes the following statement (though not connecting it to the law of God in any way):

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"Take ANY number having 3 consecutive digits and sum all 6 possible combinations, here 789: 789 + 798 + 879 + 897 + 978 + 987 = 5,328. Now, if you divide the result by 8 you'll obtain 666".

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As it turns out, the above statement is in reality dealing with three individual numbers: 7, 8 and 9. In addition, as shown in my calculations above, and contrary to this statement, the numbers don't need to be consecutive, and they don't need to involve single digits. Also, to be precise, the total of the six numbers needs to be divided by the average of the three individual numbers used, which in this example is 8.

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It becomes clear by doing further calculations that this law doesn't only apply to the ten basic numbers 1 to 10. Rather, any three numbers of any size will yield the same result.

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If we take for instance the numbers 22, 34 and 49, we'll see that this law works just the same:

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22 34 49 (2200+340+49) = 2589

22 49 34 (2200+490+34) = 2724

34 22 49 (3400+220+49) = 3669

34 49 22 (3400+490+22) = 3912

49 22 34 (4900+220+34) = 5154

49 34 22 (4900+340+22) = 5262

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2589+2724+3669+3912+5154+5262=23310

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The average of 22, 34 and 49 is arrived at thus: 105÷3=35

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and, finally

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23310÷35=666

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Endless similar calculations could be demonstrated.

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As the spiritual application of God's law is limitless, likewise this mathematical law depicting the transgression of God's law is limitless in its application.