Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts - The Mark of the Wild Beast - Continuue

 The wild beast has a name, and this name is number 666. Six, as a number, is associated with Jehovah's enemies. A Philistine man of the Rephaim was of "extraordinary size," and his fingers and toes were in sixes." (1 Chronicles 20:6) King Nebuchadezzar 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 into 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 beast is earthly, symbolizing human government. Just as the six fails to measure up to seven 666-six to the third degree-is 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 big politics, big religion, and big business keeps that wild beast functioning as an oppressor of mankind and a persecutor of God's people. 

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts - The Mark of the Wild Beast - Continue

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