Revelation 13 - Steve Wiggins Daily Devotional

“And he requires everyone – small and great, rich and poor, free and slave – to be given a mark on is right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark; the beast’s name, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of man. His number is 666.” Revelation 13:16-18

Much has been made about this passage, and the mysterious meaning of “666”. To add further drama, there are no numbers, per se, in Hebrew. Therefore, each letter has a numerical value. So-called “end times experts” have gone to great lengths to develop computer programs that look for “666” patterns in both the numerical and literature worlds. My favorite is the guy who determined that if A = 100, B = 101, and C = 102, etc., the numerical value of the name Hitler totals “666”!

It all makes me wonder what else could these people be doing with their time, which would be more productive for the Kingdom? That is, shouldn’t we be spending more time on sharing the Gospel, instead of trying to convince our neighbors their dog has the “mark of the beast” because the veterinarian placed a micro-chip in Fido?

Here’s what we know. As we learned earlier in Revelation 1, the number 7 is the number of completion. The number 6 is the number of creation. The Lord took 6 days to establish Creation. He rested on day 7: Completion. Whenever we see the number 6 in Scripture, it is generally related to something that man originated, and is generally compared/contrasted to what God had intended. For instance, there were 6 steps to Solomon’s throne…the number 6 is used 273 times in the Bible.

So, there are two distinct images we are focusing-on today: Where the mark is attached, and what the mark means.

John tells us the beast’s mark is seen on the hand and the forehead. This is a direct mockery of the t’fillin (phylacteries) (Matthew 23:5), that Jewish people were commanded to wear. The “forehead” represents our mind/thoughts, and the “hand” represents the things we do.

“You shall bind them (God’s commands) for a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets for your eyes.” Deuteronomy 6:8

Now to the three sixes…this is a mockery of the tri-unity of G_d. It is Mankind’s attempts to be their own judge, savior, and define their own truth. When you combine the beast’s number with its placements on the non-believers’ bodies, it becomes clear that those bearing the “mark of the beast” are simply those whose minds & actions testify that they have forsaken the Father, Messiah, and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), in exchange for Satan, the Flesh, and the World.

Blessings,
~Steve Wiggins, Associate Leader, Worship Leader
Shuvah Yisrael
Daily Devotional, Thursday, December 26, 2013