Contending With Two Ferocious Wild Beasts - The Mark of the Wild Beast

 John now sees how Satan maneuvers the political parts of  his visible organization to cause the maximum suffering for the remainign ones of the seed of God's woman.  (Genesis 3:15) He returns to describing "the wild beast" itself:  "And it puts under compulson of all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in the right hand or upon their forehead, and that nobody might be able to buy or sell  except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of the wild beast, for it is a man's number; and its number is six-hundred sixty-six." - REVELATION 13:16-18. 

The wild beast has a name, and his number is 666.  Six as a number, is associated  with Jehovah's enemies.  A Philistine man of the Rephaim was of "extraorindary size," and his fingers and toes  were in sixes." ( 1 Chronicles 20:6)  King Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden image 6 cubits in breadth and 60 cubits high, to unify his political officials in one worship.   When God's servants refused to worship the image of gold, the king had them thrown inti a fiery furnace.  (Daniel 3:1-23) The number six falls short of seven, which stands for completeness from God's standpoint.  Therefore,  a triple six represents gross imperfection.

A name identifies a person.  So how does this number identify the beast?  John says that it "is a man's number," not that of a spirit person,  so the name helps to confirm that the wild beast is earthly, symbolizing human government.  Just as six fails to measure up to seven, so 666-six to the third degree-a fitting name for the world's gigantic  political system that fails so miserably to measure up to God's standard of perfection.  The world's  political wild beast rules supreme under the name-number 666, while bit politics, big religion, and big business that  keep the wild beast functioning as an oppressor of mankind and a persecutor of God's people.

Next time: Contending With Two Ferocious Wild Beasts - The Mark of the Wild Beast

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