Count The Number of the Beast
Some might say that the book of Revelation is written to identify certain signs and warnings to be exposed or occur during our day, that is, after Jesus Christ crucifixion and ascension as a perfect sacrifice. Looking into the matter more closely, we will see that it is not. The Book of Revelation is of Christ and by Christ, Revelation 1:1, who the Apostle John calls the Word in the Gospel of John,1:1.and was from the beginning. To understand what Revelation 13:18 is saying, is to go back to the Garden of Eden.
Revelation 13:18, Here is wisdom, ” Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is a number of a man; and his number is six hundred and threescore and six”.
This scripture requires wisdom, James 1:5, and understanding, Proverbs 4:5. Both are necessary, according to verse 18. The Book of Revelation means the unveiling of Jesus Christ that was once hidden and is now revealed to the Apostle John. Revelation 13 instructs the reader to take note of the action verb “count.”
The word count in the Greek dictionary is number 5585 and it means to use pebbles in numeration, to compute. The prime number is 5586 and it means to use pebbles warn smooth by handling. King David used a smooth stone to kill Goliath,1st Samuel 17:40. But David’s stone was warn smooth because of the smoothing by the waters in a brook, not by the excessive handling of a men’s hands.
How long does it take a pebble to be worn smooth? Of course it takes a long time. A pebble is a small stone, or a piece of stone taken from a larger rock. Much like the Apostle Peter, who was known as Simon, then Cepas, but Jesus changed his name to Petros, meaning a small stone. Peter was a small stone or a pebble, taken from a larger Rock, namely Christ. We see also in the Book of Revelation those who will gain the victory over the beast and the number of his name.
Revelation 15:2, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” 3, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,”Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.”
We can read in the Book of Deuteronomy 32:31, “for their rock is not our Rock.” Those who understand the difference in the rock are those who know the true Rock from the fake rock. Satan is seen as always trying to stand in the place of God, raising up fake pebbles, his children, who are smaller pieces of himself. Since the Garden of Eden, Satan who was in type, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil who God told Adam not to touch, has pawned himself off as God, trying to keep mankind in his camp. Verse 31 tells us that he is a fake. He destroyed himself because of his pride, Proverbs 16:18; and inequity was found in him, Ezekiel, 28:15. We are told in Revelation 13:18, to count the number of the beast. The picture we see is the one who has weakened the nations, shaken people and nations with his pebbles who are used to deceive men, and to usurp God Himself. This is the meaning of the word count referred to in Revelation 13:18 and not a future event but it has been ongoing from the very beginning.
The Beast
During the days of the Nation of Israel, there were times when the people rebelled against God. God looks at sin as a type of debt, Matthew 6:12. If the Nation defaulted on the vow they took, Exodus 19:8, then they would be sold to other nations to pay off their debt.
Deuteronomy 28:68, (last part of verse), And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
This rebelling and selling of the people occurred many times; the Book of Judges records at least 4 different times they were sold to their enemies, 2:14; 3:8; 4:2; 10:7; and Esther 7:4; Isaiah 50:1; 52:3, the lesson here is that once God starts working with an individual, or a nation, He will not give up on His Fatherly nature, but will discipline them through other nations in order to build them up.
Their sin was that they were robbing God, Malachi 3:8, by not allowing God to bless them by building them up as a model nation, Deuteronomy 4:5-8. It was not the breaking of the Ten Commandments but the sin of not recognizing the authority of God. If the people wouldn’t recognize the authority of God, who they could not see, then maybe, they will submit to the authority and governments of men, who they could see, 1st Peter 2:13,14, or suffer the consequences of not submitting.
We read in Jeremiah 3:8 where God says He didn’t sell the House of Israel, but divorced Her. The house of Israel was scattered and became known as the ,lost tribes of Israel. 1st Peter 1:1; James 1:1.
The House of Judah was not divorced because the promised Seed we read about in Genesis 3:15 and the Seed becoming a Prophet who God will raise up, Deuteronomy 18:18, had to be brought forth lawfully. The House of Judah was sold to another nation as stated in the Book of Daniel. This is the story of Daniel and his 3 friends who were under authority of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. Babylon didn’t start with Nebuchadnezzar but with Nimrod, Genesis 10:9-10, and will continue as we read about it in the Book of Revelation, chapters 17;18. Nebuchadnezzar was a composite in type of all Gentile nations. He is called a servant of God, Jeremiah,25:9. He, like any other ruling authority, who doesn’t recognize the sovereignty of God, and worship the work of his own hands, will be humbled. In God’s eyes, he is a beast, Daniel 4:33. And so it is with everyone who doesn’t understand that all authority and rulers are raised up by God. God humbled Nebuchadnezzar and he eventually saw his error. There is no struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil as some suppose. Just as Nebuchadnezzar was a servant of God, Satan is also a servant without realizing it.
An easy way to know the difference between a beast and a man is to examine their nature, or being able to know them by their fruit, Matthew 7:16. A beast will walk on all fours, with his head facing the ground, and won’t even consider looking up. A man, especially a man of God will walk upright and is able to look to the heavens.
Ecclesiastes 7:29, says that God has made man upright but he has sought out many inventions, in other words, lived by his own devices and authority, including religious worship. This is how most men and women live, in a world without the knowledge of of knowing the differece between the true Rock and the fake rock. Once we are called and respond to God’s calling, we have a different relationship with God, never on all fours, looking down, or earthly, but looking upward, and never conscientiously, usurping the authority of God. Remember the curse God placed upon Satan. On his belly he would crawl and eat the dust of the earth? Genesis 3:14
Leviticus 26:13, “I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt,that ye shall not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.”