The Mark of the Beast and 666: #2

So you want to know who/what the Beast in the book of Revelation is and the significance of 666.

In order to answer these questions, we must first discern their significance in the book of Revelation and then we can ask what the application might be for us today.

666

First, I am not the antichrist even though I was born in 6-66.

Secondly, I can assure you the Mark of the Beast and “666” is not embedded on the barcode of a product label.

In case you haven’t heard, it became popular back in the 1980’s (the code was invented in the early 1970’s) to suggest that the barcode of almost every product you purchase allegedly has a 6 at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the number.

NB: There is even a 1½-hour YouTube video explaining this—which I will not provide the link for because I don’t think any of you are interested in wasting that much time, nor would I want you to do so.

There are 2 problems with this suggestion.

First, the “guard bars,” as they are known, on products are not “6’s.” According to the creator of the system, they “resemble” “6’s” but they are not “6’s.”

The second problem, which makes the first irrelevant, is that John (the author of the book of Revelation (Rev 1:9) was using an ancient practice of gematria.

Allow me to explain. But before I do, let’s explore Rev 13:16-18 and its immediate context (you didn’t think I was going to tell you the complete answer in this single post did you?).[1]

The Mark of the Beast

The text in the NAS reads:

“And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”  (13:16-18)

We should note that many translations have a footnote at the end of verse 18 stating that something along the lines of “some manuscripts read 616.” Though the manuscript evidence for 666 is very strong, the fact that some manuscripts read 616 is worth noting because it indicates how some in the early church read the text. I will address this in a future post.

666: John’s readers knew what it meant

It is important to note that when John tells his readers to “calculate the number of the Beast” (13:18) he assumes that they were able to do so. We might paraphrase this statement as, “Go figure it out.” In other words, John is in effect saying, “you know what I mean!”

NB: this provides another reason why it cannot be barcodes: John’s readers either knew what it meant or, were able to figure it out.

Of course, someone might try to contend that the command to “go, figure it out” are John’s words to us in the future. And we did figure it out. It is on your can of soda!—which used to be called “tonic” in Boston—maybe it still is.

However, we know that John was not speaking to us on this point because the book of Revelation was written to the seven churches of Asia (1:4: 2:1-3:22).

Yes, the “7” churches represent all of Christianity. But John’s first concern was the Christians of his day! This is evident in that each of the seven letters (2:1-3:22) were particularly relevant to the churches to which it was addressed.

This is the same with any of the letters of the NT. For example, 2^nd Timothy was particularly relevant to Timothy—even mentioning his mother and grandmother by name (2 Tim 1:5)—even though it has abiding significance for us. To understand 2^nd Timothy we must first discern what Paul was saying to Timothy and then we can aim to apply to today.

Whatever 666 meant it must have been something discernable to John’s readers.

• Sorry, it is not a barcode on your coke or your package of Twinkies. (do people actually drink a coke with their twinkies?)—I haven’t had a twinkie in years! Maybe in the New Jerusalem we can eat Twinkies and they won’t do irreparable damage to our health! After all, there is no more sickness.

666 in context

Though our modern Bibles place a chapter break between 13:18 and 14:1, there was no such break in the original. The break, unfortunately, serves to cut off 14:1 from 13:16-18. Yet, it is clear that 14:1 is continuing the point at hand.

Note 14:1:

“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

What we recognize immediately from 14:1 is that the 144,000, who have the name of God on their foreheads, contrast those who have the Mark of the Beast.

Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast

The contrast between those who have the Mark of the Beast (13:16-18) and the 144,000 who have the Seal of God (14:1)[2] is evident.
John depicts the 144,000 as, “having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” (14:1). Similarly, the Mark of the Beast is on the forehead or the right hand (13:16).

NB: Nothing should be made of the fact that the Mark of the Beast is on the forehead or the right hand, while the seal of God is only said to be located on the forehead. The difference is simply that the Mark of the Beast is tied to economics—you can’t buy or sell without it—and so it is also on the right hand. The seal of God has no such economic benefits. That both are on the forehead indicates a sign of ownership.  

In addition, the people of God are given “His name (the name of Jesus) and the name of His Father” (14:1). By way of contrast, the Mark of the Beast is “the name of the Beast” (13:16).

There is no question, then, that the Mark of the Beast is contrasted by the Seal of God.

So, what do the Mark of the Beast and 666 represent?

We will continue to explore this question in our next post.

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[1] I will explore this in more detail in my upcoming commentary on the book of Revelation: Revelation A Love Story, Cascade Books, pending, 2024.

[2] It is not called the “Seal of God” in 14:1. The parallels between 14:1 and 7:1-8, however, affirm that the Name of God on the foreheads of the people of God is surely the Seal of God. This is affirmed by most, if not all, scholars.