(1.) An Admonition to Wisdom, Ch. 13:18
“Here is wisdom”, John says: “He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the Beast; for it is the number of a man”,—or rather, “the number of man”, for there is no article in the Greek, implying that the reference is not to any particular man—[479] i. e. it is a human number. The mark of the Beast, like that of an ancient devotee to his idol, is put upon both the hand and brain (v. 16)[480] of all the people who accept his authority, without any distinction of rank, rich and poor, bond and free, small and great, all alike, showing that their powers are uniformly devoted to the service of this world. John exhorts the church to wisdom in discerning this Beast, indicating the subtleness of his hidden power. The number of his name, i. e. designation, is six hundred and sixty-six (some manuscripts read six hundred and sixteen, but this is almost certainly an error of transcription), the symbol of a threefold, composite power of evil which includes the Dragon, the First Beast, and the Second, and which culminates [pg 175] in the last, viz:—600, a hundredfold of six, a numerical designation of the Dragon, plus 60, tenfold of six, a similar designation of the First Beast, plus 6, onefold of six, a like designation of the Second Beast, if considered alone, which together, equal 666, the numerical designation of the full power which the Second Beast represents. The key to the mystical designation 666, according to this interpretation,[481] is found in the number six, the number of evil, one short of seven or perfection, Satan's number, whether multiplied by ten or not, here thrice repeated, six, six, six, each repetition multiplying the previous number tenfold, or six a hundredfold added to six tenfold added to six a single fold, producing a triple symbol of the full power of evil. In this symbolism we seem to have the thought of a trinity of evil striving in antagonism to the divine trinity; and though we cannot be sure that John had this in mind, yet it seems quite in accord with the apocalyptic method of depicting truth. If the reading 616 is preferred, the First Beast is then designated by 10, the symbol of earthly completeness, instead of 60 as above, a much less likely symbolism, but not affecting the general meaning.
The mark of the Beast is one of the most disputed points in the whole book, and some commentators, while suggesting a probable interpretation, prefer to leave the meaning unsolved. Certainly all interpretations finding in the number a cryptic name, such as Neron Caesar, or Lateinos, notwithstanding their wide acceptance by modern interpreters, should be discarded as fanciful.[482] The number was evidently intended as a designation rather than a name; it is a symbol like every other number in the Revelation, and any attempt to solve it by reference to the Jewish gematria, or numerical indication of names, is foreign to the method of the book, and only involves it in greater obscurity, as the different answers obtained in that way will show.[483] [pg 176] While that interpretation has been the generally accepted view with preterists, a revolt against its arbitrariness is manifest in late writers, and cannot but be felt by the attentive student.[484] That six hundred and sixty-six is a triple symbol of the full power of evil, has found acceptance with a multitude of readers, and is the most satisfactory interpretation to those who hold the symbolic view.
In conclusion it should be said that the identification of this Beast, or of the former one, with the Antichrist of John's Epistles is of more than doubtful value in arriving at the meaning intended; for the Apocalyptist studiously avoided the use of that term though quite familiar with it (I Jn. 2:18; 2:22; 4:3; and II Jn. 1:7), and we surely cannot do better than to follow his example. Indeed the entire interpretation of the Apocalypse will be permanently advanced when all direct reference to a personal Anti-christ is finally eliminated as foreign to the purpose, if not the thought of the book. In the broad sense of the term the Anti-christ is the Against-Christ in any and every form. John tells us (I Jn. 2:18) there are “Many antichrists” (ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ), a term peculiar to John in the New Testament; our Lord said (Mat. 24:24) “There shall arise false christs” (ψευδόχριστοι), a different term in the Greek, and evidently referring to more than one; and it may well be doubted whether the prediction is anywhere intended to refer to a single person. The term may be understood in a general way to include the Two Beasts, the Harlot, and all other forms of anti-christianity, but no more definite identification can with any probability be made.
D. The Lamb on Mount Zion, Ch. 14:1-20
The closing part of this fourfold vision, revealing the final outcome of the preceding conflict in the glorious triumph of the Lamb and his followers, is now given for the comfort of the church, and to relieve the sombre shadows of the earlier parts of the vision by a foregleam of victory.
1. The Redeemed with the Lamb, Ch. 14:1-5
We see here a vast and virgin multitude, a hundred and forty-four thousand, a large and perfect number, the former symbol of the complete first-fruits from Israel (ch. 7:4), now used by synecdoche to represent all the redeemed who have been chosen from among men, the best of their race, who are called “the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb”,[485] and who stand with the Lamb upon Mount Zion, in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, having his name and the name of his Father written upon their foreheads, signifying to whom they belong and marking them as antipodal to those who have received the mark of the Beast (ch. 13:16), and who sing a new song, the song of victory (the Incommunicable Chorus), known only to the redeemed. Of this blessed company it is said that “they are without blemish”, i. e. they are sinless before God, which is apparently an explanation of the symbolism used in saying that they are “virgins”, and “not defiled with women”,—or “among women”. Roman Catholic commentators, however, usually interpret literally, and apply the passage to those women who have never entered into wedlock for the kingdom of heaven's sake—a construction that it scarcely seems to bear.[486] Futurists generally maintain that the vision refers to the earthly Zion, and connect the incident with the second advent, making the hundred and forty-four thousand to consist of Jews alone.