YAHWEH, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, IS WITH US!

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins...” ( Isaiah 58: 1)

The Number 666

In contrast to the Number 777, the treble sixes - 666 - represent Satan, the perfection of imperfection: the unholy and immature one: the one who will always fall short of Yahweh's moral stature just as the number 6 will always fall short of the number 7. Perhaps that is why Satan seeks to abolish every sacred seventh portion of time in the calendar of the Almighty.

Over the centuries there have been numerous attempts to explain the number 666, and though some of explanations are plausible, not one, in our opinion, has that ‘total ring of truth’ about it. We hesitate to publish on this particular point mainly because we do not want to risk weakening the clear message of our booklet Understand The Revelation by introducing an explanation of the number 666 about which we ourselves are not absolutely sure. The entire message of the booklet - which is a call to obedience - could be so easily set aside by readers who would focus on that one area of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, because so many have written to A Voice In The Wilderness about this matter we will list a few popular theories about the number 666 and the various titles of the Antichrist commentators have used in the past. Perhaps the most popular Protestant opinion is as follows:

ROMULUS was the first king of Rome and it was after him that the city of Rome and later the Roman Empire was named. The Greek name for Romulus was LATEINOS. This name in Hebrew is ROMITH. In Greek the name Lateinos works out as follows:

L
A
T
E
I
N
O
S 30
1
300
5
10
50
70
200
Total 666

In Hebrew the name Romith also adds up to 666, but, as yet, we do not have the breakdown of how this is done.

The opinion about Romulus is fairly weighty, especially in view of the claim that in two languages the name (Romulus or Romith) equals 666: but the argument still lacks that ‘conclusive something‘ which is difficult to define.

On pages 269 - 270 in the book THE TWO BABYLONS Alexander Hislop writes:

“The name Lateinos has been generally accepted by Protestant writers as having many elements of probability to recommend it. But yet there has been always found a certain deficiency, and it has been felt that something was wanting to put it beyond all possibility of doubt. Now, looking at the subject from the Babylonian point of view, we shall find both the name and the number of the beast brought home to us in such a way as leaves nothing to be desired on the point of evidence. Osiris, or Nimrod, whom the Pope represents, was called by many different titles, and therefore, as Wilkinson remarks, he was much in the same position as his wife, who was called Myrionymus, the goddess with ‘ten thousand names.’

Among these innumerable names, how shall we ascertain the name at which the Spirit of God points in the enigmatical language that speaks of the name of the beast, and the number of his name? If we know the Apocalyptic name of the system, that will lead us to the head of the system. The name of the system is ‘Mystery.’ (Revelation 17: 5) Here, then, we have the key that at once unlocks the enigma. We have now only to inquire what was the name by which Nimrod was known as the god of the Chaldean Mysteries. That name was SATURN. Saturn and Mystery are both Chaldean words, and they are correlative terms. As ‘mystery’ signifies the Hidden system, so Saturn signifies the Hidden god. To those who were initiated the god was revealed; to all else he was hidden. Now the name Saturn in Chaldee is pronounced Satur; but, as every Chaldee scholar knows, consists only of four letters, thus - STUR.

This name Stur contains exactly the Apocalyptic number 666:

S
T
U
R = 60
= 400
= 6
= 200
666

If the Pope is, as we have seen, the legitimate representative of Saturn, the number of the Pope, as head of the Mystery of Iniquity, is just 666. But still further it turns out, as shown above, that the original name of Rome itself was Saturnia, ‘the city of Saturn’... Thus, then, it is evident that, in popular opinion, the original Lateinos had occupied the very same position as Saturn did in the mysteries, who was equally worshipped as the ‘offspring of the Sun’ Moreover it is evident that the Romans knew the name Lateinos signified the Hidden One ... that is Saturn the God of Mystery” (page 270)

Going even further in the direction that the numerical values contained in the titles of Rome's civil and religious leaders add up to 666, we find that the Pope bears in his triple crown the words VICARIUS FILII DEI. This title also adds up to 666:

V I C A R I U S	= 5 = 1 = 100 = 0 = 0 = 1 = 5 = 0	F I L I I	= 0 = 1 = 50 = 1 = 1	D E I	= 500 = 0 = 1
Totals	112	+	53	+	501	= 666

If you read the A Voice In The Wilderness paper entitled Who/What Is The Antichrist? you will see that we do not believe that the Pope is the Beast of Revelation 13. He doesn't fit all the scriptural clues concerning the Beast. We have, therefore, set aside this calculation. Various other individual's names have in recent times have totalled 666: but the methods used leave much room for doubt. For example, if you gave the letter A the value of 100, B=101, C=102, D=103 and so on, then HITLER would equal 666:

H I T L E R	= 107 = 108 = 119 = 111 = 104 = 117
Total	666

In our view this is forcing the issue, for there is no good reason for starting the English alphabet at 100. Besides, Hitler is dead. What of our interpretation of the number 666? We would love to be able to say with absolute assurance that this or that name meets all the requirements and adds up to 666, but we cannot because of the reason mentioned earlier; they all lack that total ring of truth about them. And so we keep up the search till our own minds are 100 per cent satisfied. To achieve this objective we have even examined the renowned computer codes ASCII and EBCDIC; in which each upper and lower case letter of the alphabet has a numeric value as they do in Hebrew and Greek languages. But so far we’ve found nothing to get excited about.

We are looking for an explanation that will be absolutely foolproof, something that will be unassailable no matter from which angle one views it; a computation which will be recognized and accepted without a qualm by every seeker of truth; an answer that will be easily verified by the international reader without the need to be an expert in Hebrew, Greek or Chaldee. Nothing short of this will satisfy us. The Beast, as explained in our booklet entitled Understand the Revelation, is a supernatural Being who is scheduled to be released from the Abyss at the 5^th Trumpet. (the 1^st Woe) No doubt when he makes his appearance he may adopt one or more of those ancient titles which are mentioned at points 1, 2 and 3: but that is left to be seen.

One certainty is that when the Beast arrives on the world stage he will attempt to abolish the Sabbath commandment in Yahweh's law and replace it with his Mark. This act will make plain his real identity; though it will not be so easily recognized by believers who would rather not keep the Sabbath commandment. Just as the number 7 and the triple seven (777) represent absolute perfection and sacred rest: the number 6 and the triple six (666)represents the absolute imperfection and total, unending turmoil with no rest. The number 666 will then symbolize the unsanctified sabbaths of Satan which the Antichrist will try to foist on the peoples of the world.

Writing on this subject in his book NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE author E. Bullinger has this to say:

“If six is the number of secular or human perfection, then 66 is a more emphatic expression of the same fact, and 666 is the concentrated expression of it; 666 is therefore the trinity of human perfection; the perfection of imperfection; the culmination of human pride in independence of God and opposition to His Christ.” (page 282)

On pages 284 - 286 Bullinger adds these interesting points:

“It is remarkable that the Romans did not use all the letters of their alphabet as did the Hebrews and Greeks. They used only six letters, D, C, L, X, V and I. And it is still more remarkable, and perhaps significant, that the sum of these amounts to 666:-

D C L X V I	= 500 = 100 = 50 = 10 = 5 = 1
Total	666”

“The number 666 has another remarkable property. It is further marked as the concentration and essence of 6 by being the sum of all the numbers which make up the square of six. The square of six is 36; (6 multiplied by 6 = 36) and the sum the numbers 1 to 36 = 666. i.e.

1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 ... etc up to +33+34+35+36 = 666.” (page 286)

Just as 6 is the number of imperfection, and the triple six (666) the pinnacle of Satanic imperfection, 7 is the number of perfection and the triple seven 777 the summit of Yahweh's perfection: the absolute perfection of holiness, power, love, generosity and all those faultless qualities which belong to the Holy One of Israel; qualities which are discussed elsewhere at this site.

AMEN

In The Son's Name, For The Father's Glory
A Voice In The Wilderness - USA www.avitw-usa.org