The evil is not the number 666, but what it represents. The first readers of Revelation understood its meaning to their present persecution. Multiple scholars remind us that 666 is a code word in OT and NT for the oppressive empire. In the OT the weight of gold that came to Solomon in taxes was ‘six hundred sixty-six talents of gold” 2 Chronicles 9:13 (NRSV) (I Kings 10:14). The writer of I Kings is telling us something. Solomon’s oppressive powers had become like Pharaoh. Pharaoh had made slaves of Israel, and later, by forced labor and power of empire, Solomon again made slaves out of God’s people. The Roman empire apparently gave a mark to certify that you had said, “Caesar is Lord,” to buy and sell. It was their way of merging nationalism with religion, always a dangerous mix. The sad thing about locking in on the number is that many trust the empire more than God and do not know that they have thus already taken the mark.
Father, may our love for You and Your kingdom be so central that we never let the governments of men consume us and get their mark on us. Amen!
