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Ever since John, the servant of God, wrote the Book of Revelation, mentioning the number 666, men have been trying to figure out the meaning of the Mark of the Beast. The number is mentioned in Rev 13:16-18.
I believe the Mark or number of the Beast will be a financial identification system that the Antichrist will establish during the tribulation. He will use the Mark as a tool for controlling all aspects of society.
The Antichrist will make it compulsory for everyone to have a tiny microchip implanted under the skin of their right hand or forehead. The microchip will hold various amounts of data on each person who receives the implant. Right now, the technology exists to fully implement this system. From here on out, the only change will be in how much information those microchips will be able to hold.
Everyone who receives the Mark will also have to swear allegiance to the Antichrist and acknowledge him as the supreme authority. This is why all who take the Mark of the Beast will be condemned to hell. All who choose not to receive the Mark will be unable to buy anything because cash, checks, and credit cards will all be replaced by the Beast system's instant funds.
As time has passed, we have lost the true meaning of the Mark of the Beast. Even though it is clearly defined as a mark that will be placed upon the right hand or forehead, a number of people throughout history have attached new and even weird meanings to the number 666. It has become trivialized by repeatedly associating it with every random occurrence of this number there is.
Some folks believed the Beast number was to be a certain year. Because of this, the year 666 AD was looked on as the date for the advent of the Antichrist. When that date came and went, the year 1666 was then looked on with dread. Nostradamus pointed to the year 1999 as an inverted 666 year.
Because the Beast number will have something to do with the Antichrist's name, scholars have been busy working equations to figure out if every world leader of their day has a name that can be made to equal 666 in some way. Depending on how you figure it, 666 can be made to add up to just about anyone's name.
I have heard a number of superstitions or phobias about this number. One person refused to ride in a car because the license plate had 666 on it. Whenever one person I know goes shopping and the cash register reads triple six in anyway, he'll add something like a stick of gum to go past the unholy number. When President and Mrs. Reagan moved out to California their house number was, you guessed it, Six Six Six. They had it changed to 668. When a governing body, like the UN or Congress, produces a bill numbered 666, it receives a good going over by prophecy watchers to see if it has a connection with end time events.
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh always says the best way to demonstrate absurdity is by being absurd. I recently had a friend send me an e-mail message that listed other numbers of the beast. The list was originally provided to him by another friend. I expanded upon it and use it here as a good example of how people can focus overly on the number 666.
A Collection of Numbers of the Beast
666 Number of the beast 668 Neighbor of the beast 660 Approximate Number of the Beast DCLXVI Roman Numeral of the Beast 666.0000 Number of the High Precision Beast 0.666 Number of the Millibeast 1/666 Common Denominator of the Beast 666[-/(-1)] Imaginary number of the Beast 1010011010 Binary Number of the Beast 29A Hexidecimal Number of the Beast -666 Negative Number of the Beast 00666 Zip code of the Beast $665.95 Retail Price of the Beast $699.25 Price of the Beast Plus 5% State Sales Tax $769.95 Price of the Beast with all Accessories and Replacements $656.66 Wal-Mart Price of the Beast $646.66 Next week's Wal-Mart Price of the Beast $333.00 After Christmas sale Price of the Beast $222.00 Going Out Business Liquidation Price of the Beast Phillips 666 Gasoline of the Beast Route 666 Way of the Beast 665 Older Brother of the Beast 667 Younger Brother of the Beast 666 UP Soft Drink of the Beast 666lb cap Weight Limit of the Beast 666 F Oven Temperature for Cooking Roast "Beast" 666k Retirement Plan of the Beast 666 mg Recommended Minimum Daily Requirement of the Beast 6.66% 5 Year CD Rate at First Beast of Hell, $666 Minimum Deposit 20/666 Vision of the Beast 1-800-666-6666 Toll Free Number of the Beast 999 Australian Number of the Beast 6"X 6"X 6" Lumber of the Beast 66.6 GHZ Computer Processor of the Beast 666i BMW of the Beast 666-66-6666 Social Security Number of the Beast 6/6/66 Birth Date of the Beast 666.AC.com URL of the Beast IAM 666 License Plate Number of the Beast Formula 666 All Purpose Cleaner of the Beast 666 calories Diet of the Beast 969 Dyslexic number of the beast WD-666 Spray Lubricant of the Beast 66.6 MHz FM Radio Station of the Beast 666 KHz AM Radio Station of the Beast Chanel No. 666 The Beast's Favorite Perfume 666% What the Beast Gives in His Game Colt 666 Revolver or Beer of the Beast
I wouldn't totally rule out any other meaning to the appearance of the number 666. For example, Halloween lottery pick-3 drawing once turned up 666 as the winning number. We may have to allow for the occasional sovereignty of God in his attempt to warn folks of the evils of this world--in this case, gambling and Halloween. If there's a wayward Christian at a convenience store buying a dirty magazine or a bottle of booze and the register rings up $6.66, I couldn't think of a better number for God to use to get that person's attention.
Now on the other hand, the next time you receive your water bill and upon opening it, you discover it comes to $6.66 or you realize you've used 666 cubic feet of water--don't go pulling your hair out. Unless it has a direct connection to the Antichrist or is some special message from God, 666 is just another number that randomly comes up.