The Mark of 666

Q:

Dear Pastor,

I grew up in a church where Satan or the Apocalypse was never discussed. What exactly is 666?

A:

As much as we relish our warm-fuzzy, church-culture rooted in our awesome God, it’s a travesty not to know the whole truth regarding what else lurks in the spiritual landscape. Omission is like lying, and we pastors lie to our congregations when we shy away from discussing the entirety of the spiritual realms, namely, that we have a devastating enemy there, too—and he has an active army with a strategy to kill, steal and destroy us whenever he can (John 10:10.) His name is Lucifer (Satan, The Devil.)

There are many dimensions to the unseen world (the Apostle Paul mentions at least three levels of “heaven” in 2 Corinthians 12), and there are numerous scriptures addressing the invisible realm of the spirit. To successfully follow God we must also understand the Devil and his ways in order to see the vast differences between the two. Please note that caution requires us to place the Devil in his proper spot beneath the Lord in rank and influence; in no way comparable to God in power, intelligence or ability. We often make the mistake of saying Satan is opposite God, since we like to visualize good and evil entities as equal rivals. Yet Satan is a created being, God is not. (Satan’s rival is Michael, the valiant arch-angel who is captain of God’s angel armies.) No, there’s no one like our God, so there cannot be an opposite. Satan is a diminished, high-ranking angel who once enjoyed authority in the highest heaven. He became corrupted by his arrogance and pride. He then forfeited his eternal post and was thrown down to earth as a wretched, ruined being. Now we, the people of earth, deal with him. In order to defeat him in our lives, we must also know his plans—the biblical authors and the prophets of God have outlined and warned of it for thousands of years. The Bible warns about “666.”

Revelation chapter thirteen explains: “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six”(Revelation 13:18, NASB20.) The Book of Revelation is packed with raw, spiritual-data; an on-site recording of what the Apostle John was actually seeing, hearing and experiencing while in heaven. He was shown a time when the spirit of the Antichrist arrives into our world in human form. (The antichrist demon is already here in spirit.) The person of the Antichrist is to Satan like the Holy Spirit is to God. He is a demonic spirit-power operating in the world while fully connected to its source, which is Satan.

“666” is Satan’s identification number, as well as, some kind of numerical code used to orchestrate satanic control of the world. The Antichrist will lead the entire human population into destruction, aligning the nations of the earth with the Devil’s final acts of evil. The triple-hex...six is spelled “hex” in the Greek language...is God’s numerical signal to us that the end is near. We don’t know precisely how this number fits into end-time events but it is referred to as “the mark of the beast.” Simply put, “666” is launched at the end of human history and will usher in the collapse and full destruction of the world.

The story of the end of the world is a long, complex collection of biblical facts, prophecies and time-lines that I am not an expert at explaining to you. But I have good news! Jesus is the light of the world even in the darkest of the dark-ages. Nothing can hide from God’s light and all evil is exposed in his presence. In fact, his perfect love casts out all fear. Keeping our focus on him will give us the peace and reassurance to face whatever comes. “And because of what Christ did, all you others who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. His presence within us is God’s guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit’s seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself” (Ephesians 1:13, 14, TLB.)

A final thought: if you’re reading this, you were hand-selected by God to be alive on the earth in these last days. You have within you…whether you know it or not…the strength, wisdom and perseverance to live every day of your life in the fullness of your destiny, even in the joy of the Lord! If the person of the Antichrist is now here on earth, if “666” is here, your Bible has told you what to do: “Don’t take the mark.” (Revelation 14:9, 10)

Do you have a question or comment for Pastor Adrienne? Email your inquiries to: info@adriennewgreene.com. For more information & contact for bookings, please also explore: www.askpastoradrienne.com.