Revelation Chapter 13

VERSE 18 continued “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

The Golden Image

There is a direct comparison to be made between the golden image of the Book of Daniel and the image of the beast in the Apocalypse.

Image of Beast (Revelation 13:18)

600 (six hundred)

60 (threescore)

6 (six)

666

Image of Gold (Daniel 3:1)

Height 60 cubits

Breadth 6 cubits

In both instances the numbers are multiples of six. Both refer to statues that are set up. Both have to do with religious worship, and in each case the penalty for failure to do so is death. A studied comparison of the detailed activity of King Nebuchadnezzar, representative of the civil or dragon element, and the actions of the beast and its image, the clerical or religious element, assists in a better understanding of the prophetic role each will follow in the near future in putting to death the last members of the body of Christ. When the two accounts are combined, the Holy Spirit furnishes a prospectus of what to expect.

Daniel 3 shows that the civil element will act as executioner. In the type, when the three Hebrews were brought before the king, they were given an opportunity to recant. Their reply was, “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter” (Dan. 3:16). In other words, when the chips are down and this issue is brought to public attention in the future, religious scruples and conscience being at stake, then a definite and positive stand will have to be taken. Prudence will no longer be expedient.

After the negative response of the three Hebrews, the king of Babylon’s visage changed, for their refusal was an affront to his authority and a wound to his prestige— and that before a large audience. The bowing to the statue was to be a display of unity. Leaders from all the various provinces were to get together and simultaneously worship the image at a given moment; i.e., when the music, a national or religious anthem, was played.

The image in Daniel was described as golden to indicate a religious symbol. The statue was most likely that of Bel. As the god of the Babylonian Empire, “Bel” was incorporated into names such as Belshazzar (Isa. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; 51:44; Dan. 1:7; 5:1). The image of gold was set up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon (Dan. 3:1). Since Babylon is a symbol of Christendom, Dura indicates the scene of action.

In the near future in Christendom, there will be a drawing together of the peoples to make a choice. King Nebuchadnezzar did not anticipate any dissent, for he thought the circumstances warranted his receiving unanimous support. Although he did obtain a real demonstration of power, he resented the handful who opposed his order. Desiring unanimous compliance, the king gave the three Hebrews another opportunity to indicate their support and loyalty. When they declined, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.

In the type the three Hebrews were delivered miraculously; not even the smell of smoke was on their clothing. Besides the men who cast them into the furnace, the only thing destroyed was the rope or cords which bound them. With their survival the king was “astonied” (as stone, frozen with astonishment). In the antitype, however, the Lord’s people will be delivered according to the spirit, NOT the flesh. It is the cords of flesh that will be burned or destroyed.

Whereas the Hebrew children were physically delivered in connection with standing by their convictions and honoring God, the feet members of the body of Christ will be delivered only as new creatures; their cords of flesh will be burned and they will enter beyond the veil of human experience.

The statue erected by the king of Babylon represented two things: (a) the invisible purported national god himself and (b) a physical representation of his likeness. So, in the Apocalypse, in the final analysis, two entities will be thrust before the public eye: (a) the beast and (b) his image.

The Trinity

The number 666 is composed of three 6’s. The fact that it is one number, yet contains three integers, suggests the doctrine to be used as a ploy in the future, namely, the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity will serve as a test upon all to determine their orthodoxy . . . opposers will be eliminated from society as cultists, nonconformists, and heretics.

It should be noted that the number six, in itself, is not sinful, for the Holy City of God (Revelation 21) is replete with the multiple of six. Moreover, the basic measuring reed of the future Temple of God to be built in Jerusalem is spoken of as six cubits in length (Ezek. 40:5). What makes the number 666 so detestable is that it is the counterfeit sacred number whereby the Papacy will assume again the prerogatives of Deity in the present life.

The pagan Trinitarian doctrine, as shown so profusely by Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylon’s, 62 existed many centuries prior to the introduction of Christianity into the world. This unholy and un-scriptural doctrine found its way into nominal churchianity about the time of Constantine. It not only existed in Babylon but also was expressed in the complicated theology of Hinduism and Brahmanism. Nearly a hundred years before Christ, Kalidasa, one of the most renowned poets of India, composed the following hymn in honor of the Trinity:

In those three Persons

The one God was shown,

Each first in place,

Each last—not one alone;

Of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma,

Each may be first, second, third,

Among the blessed three.

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62. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1948).

Continued with next post.