"This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666." (Revelation 13:18)

Much has been made about the number of the beast. For generations men have tried to add up the letters in the names of various notable people in an attempt to prove that this or that person was the beast. As one commentator put it, such schemes prove nothing for they prove too much. That is, just about anyone’s name can be made to fit one or another mathematical scheme that results in 666, so such calculations prove nothing.

We need not know the significance of this number beyond what is plainly revealed: it is the number of man. It doesn’t matter which man for it is not the number of a specific man, but of man in general. What are the things of man? Man’s will, man’s power, man’s wisdom and man’s righteousness. Whenever these things are in the forefront, you can be certain that Satan is behind it all. According to the Lord Jesus, Satan savors the things of man, not the things of God. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:23)

The truth is filled with the things of God – His sovereign will, His irresistible power, His flawless wisdom, and His perfect righteousness, all as they are revealed in His Son, the Lord Jesus. This is the God-ly message. All other messages are “beast-ly.”

Want to hear some great sermons? Visit
FreeGraceRadio.com