666

Introduction to 666

This will hopefully be my 666th Vocal post. I asked friends if they had any suggestions and Pam Reeder suggested a piece on the history of the meaning of the number.

That seemed a good idea along with my own observations and some musical connections as well. Hopefully this will not turn out to be a dry and boring piece and you will find some entertainment and maybe even learn something.

As I write this I have written 656 stories and have three awaiting publication so I have another six to write and submit before this, but this is story Six Six Six.

666 Musically Speaking

I’m not sure when I first became aware of 666 as a concept but I remember being in a youth club in my early teens and someone showed me their copy of a “banned” album, “666” by Aphrodite’s Child which featured Vangelis ( full name Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou or Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου in Greek) and Demis Roussos . The album was not banned at all (like say John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Two Virgins” and Jimi Hendrix Experience “Electric Ladyland” both for their covers), and although Aphrodite’s Child produced some awfully twee singles this album was anything but. My two favourites from it are “Babylon” and “The four Horsemen '' which you can listen to here along with some apocalyptic paintings by John Martin.

Iron Maiden released “666 The Number Of The Beast” and a simple trawl of the internet will show lots more that relate to this number. I am sure Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne have been there.

So How Did 666 Become The Number Of The Beast

From Google:

“Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

According to the Bible Man was created on the sixth day so his number is six and God’s number is seven though I cannot see the logic in that.

Repeating numbers, and 666 is obviously one, are, in some circles, called “Angel Numbers” because they come with Divine messages.

666 has had a bad reputation because of its biblical meaning as “the number of the beast”.

The spiritual meaning of 666 is an encouragement to refocus.

Seeing 666 tells you to pay closer attention to any fixation you have on earthly problems.

It is something that has had its bad reputation enforced by the media and films, you think “The Omen” and “The Exorcist” and many more. This is almost like the number 13 being unlucky, there is no logical reason,

The Bible is continually being rewritten and some words are often misinterpreted because of the different languages being used. The Number of The Beast may be one of those instances. Ask anyone why they should fear the number 666 and the chances are they will refer to the aforementioned films or the Bible or some arcane text.

This was found here

“In the Hebrew language, superlatives are expressed by repeating the word or phrase, the ultimate being its repetition three times. Thus, when Isaiah saw the Lord lifted up and exalted in the Temple, he heard Seraphim singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:1-3). The number 666 therefore represents the number of Man carried to its zenith.

The use of this number is most appropriate because during the Tribulation Satan will work to exalt his man, the Antichrist, as the world’s Messiah. Further, on the earth at that time there will be a demonic trinity who will represent the Humanistic aspirations of Man — Satan masquerading as God, the Antichrist pretending to be the Messiah, and the False Prophet mimicking the role of the Holy Spirit by pointing people to the false Messiah.

The second reason the number 666 is used is because of its symbolism in Jewish thinking. The Bible tells us that in the year in which King Solomon received 666 talents of gold, he turned his back on God and became obsessed with women, horses, and money (1 Kings 10:14 and 2 Chronicles 9:13). Thus, in Jewish history, the number 666 came to stand for apostasy.

The third reason the number is used is related to the fact that in both Hebrew and Greek, the letters of the alphabet also stand for numbers. This makes it possible to add up a numerical value for every name. The Antichrist’s name will add up to 666 in either Greek or Hebrew (or perhaps both) and will thus be an expression of the ultimate apostasy — presenting one’s self as a substitute for the real Messiah.”

Conclusion on 666

I sincerely believe that 666 has no real power and is not special in any real or mathematical sense but has been built up by writing and superstition to become an extremely infamous set of digits.

Appendix 666

Lena Borondia ponts out that The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is an excellent Bible as it is studiously and carefully edited to return the best and most accurate translations to the words.

In the Bible, the number 7 is used to represent completeness/wholeness, or perfection. As the original words to translate to "sin" literally mean to "miss the mark" or not quite, essentially. So, the number 6 is used in the Bible as a means of showing something or someone's failure to hit the mark - their imperfection. Also, things in the Bible are repeated 3 times for emphasis. So, the number 666 shows the completeness of the "beast's" failure to hit the mark - essentially showing it's lack of perfection and its failure in general.

Also, the beast is essentially used to portray, not Satan, but the political powers of the world as Revelation 13:7. Because human governments cannot ever reach purely perfect and complete success, they will always fall short of 7, making them 6, and because of their drastic failure, they are 666 - emphasizing their failure. Therefore, someone gets the "mark of the beast" by aligning themselves with human governments as opposed to God's Kingdom.

Here's the link