As we’ve said before, the emperors—many of them, anyway—required everyone to bow down to an image of the emperor and say, “Caesar is Lord!” The emperor needed thousands of religious officials to support and enforce this worship, acting with the power and approval of the emperor. They are represented by this second beast. This unholy priesthood is very good at its job. They were able through trickery to even make these images of the emperor appear to speak, even to breathe out smoke and fire as a way of creating fear and encouraging persons to bow and worship him, or else receive the consequences.
Worship of the emperor—bowing before his image and saying, “Caesar is Lord”—was a required pledge of loyalty to the emperor and the empire. Anyone who would not do this was suspected of treason. If the Romans took anything seriously, it was any threat of rebellion. Recall the trial of Jesus. Pilate could have cared less about all the religious charges being made against Jesus, but when Jesus was charged with being opposed to Caesar, Pilate took swift action.
If the threat of death didn’t force everyone to worship the emperor, the Romans could play another card—an economic one. That’s what the “mark of the beast” is all about. Verses 16-17:
… [the beast] causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.The Greek word used here for “mark” is charagma, the term for the imperial seal on official documents. You could only receive this seal by worshipping the emperor. In effect, it was a business license. Without it, you couldn’t buy or sell anything. Something else was behind this “mark of the beast.” What was used throughout the Roman Empire on a daily basis that had the image, name and blasphemous titles of the emperor? Coins, of course.
John is saying to his fellow Christians, “These Romans want to boycott us in order to force us to worship their gods. We will boycott them! Don’t do business in any way, shape or form with Rome! Don’t even carry a coin with the hideous mark or image of the beast on it. To do otherwise is to support an evil empire that is oppressing and killing your fellow brothers and sisters. To use this filthy money, to bow down so we can get a license to sell and buy is to receive the mark of the beast! It’s as if the mark or image of the beast isn’t on the coins or the documents but on our very foreheads and hands! We must not do this! For we have another mark, the mark of Christ on our foreheads—the mark of baptism. We belong to Christ, not the emperor. I know this is difficult and costly. But it is far better to suffer now than to renounce our faith in Christ and suffer far greater later.”
Remember the whole issue of apartheid in South Africa? Do you recall how a small white minority were calling all the shots there, and leaving people of other races impoverished? During that time, it was brought to the attention of Church leaders in many main-line denominations that pension funds were being invested in companies and corporations in South Africa benefitting from apartheid. A decision was made to divest from any such companies, for to do otherwise was to support that oppressing regime. In a sense, this is what John is saying to Christians of his era.
Next, John turns back to the beast himself, to the emperor. Lest there be any confusion, he’s going to identify the beast:
This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six (Rev.13:18).
There’s probably nothing in Revelation that’s the source of more speculation that than the identity of “Mr. 666.” He’s been identified with popes, presidents, and leaders throughout the centuries. But what was John really saying here?
Note that John says that understanding this requires “wisdom” or understanding. In other words, he admits to writing in code and that this can only be understood by knowing how to break it.
John is practicing “gematria,” a kind of numerology. Greek, Hebrew and Latin didn’t have numbers like the English language does. We have an alphabet and a number system—1-2-3, etc. Those who spoke Greek, Hebrew, and Latin used their alphabet to double for numbers. (Think of Roman numerals.) It would be like us saying that A stands for 1, B for 2, C for 3, etc. You could send someone a message using a combination of letters, if you knew the numerical value of each letter.
John is saying that the beast is the person who name comes out numerically as “666.” Six is the number of evil. Said three times, “666” means that this beast is the very embodiment of evil! The name that scholars have found that matches the numbers “666” in Greek, Latin or Hebrew is “Neron Caesar”—Nero!
Remember the beast that had a mortal wound but somehow survived or had even been resurrected. As we’ve said before, this was thought by many to be Nero, but I think John was saying this: “Every emperor who comes to power and persecutes God’s people is Nero brought to life again. Every ruler who does the unholy, cruel and unjust things Nero did—including Domitian, the present emperor—is Nero alive again! He is the epitome of evil. He is 666! And though he would pretend to be a god, he will get what he deserves sooner or later. He will be judged by the true God!”
The important thing in Revelation is a warning—live by the oppression and persecution of others and you’ll reap what you sow. Nero has been alive throughout history and he is alive and well all over our world today! But history shows us that every nation or ruler who has built on the crushed bodies of persons sooner or later crumbles.
The United States of America had best take heed. God has given the United States great wealth, power and influence. How are we using them? Does it concern you—as it does me—that one American corporation (I won’t say which one) made $39 billion from the violence of the Iraq war? Does it concern you—as it does me—when you learn that income growth for the bottom 90% of Americans averaged just $59 /year over the past four decades, while income growth for the top 10% averaged $116,071 /year? Does it concern you—as it does me—when you hear that one wealthy member of the U.S. House of Representatives (again, I won’t say who) raked in $3.5 million in federal farm subsidies and called himself a “successful businessman” and then, at the same time, voted to cut food aid for the poor and called food stamps stealing “other people’s money”? I fear we are long past the need for some serious soul-searching as a nation—of who we are, why we are and what we are doing. We aren’t so high and mighty that we can’t fail and fall.
The heart of Revelation has to do with the challenge that faces every generation of Christians, whatever their historical setting and circumstances, to be who we say we are—true followers of Jesus Christ. Maybe we aren’t forced to bow down to some emperor and say he’s a god, but there are pressures on us to compromise, to get along, to be like everyone else.
Paul wrote these words to the Christians living in Rome:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).J. B. Phillips’ translates this: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mold.”
The message of Revelation can be summed up this way: don’t allow the culture to call the shots! Don’t allow it to determine your values and priorities. You belong to Jesus Christ. Live as citizens of the Commonwealth of God!
When self-centered materialism shapes and molds our values, remember who you are! You are more than your credit cards. You are more than money. The brand you wear is not just Abercrombie and Fitch. No, you’re branded as disciples of Jesus Christ.
If you want to find the “mark of the beast,” look for the pressures in everyday life which would undermine the values of mercy and love, compassion and caring, generosity and hospitality—those things which are meant to be the identifying marks of the followers of Jesus Christ.
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