The Number

In today’s first reading, from the beginning of Revelation 15, we pass from the wrathful, intrinsic consequence of our sinful choices to what amounts to the mother of all victory parties.

Then I saw
something like a sea of glass mingled with fire.
On the sea of glass were standing those
who had won the victory over the beast
and its image
and the number that signified its name.
They were holding God's harps,
and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb:

There are many famous symbols in the book of Revelation, but perhaps the most notorious of them is mentioned here in passing and earlier in its enigmatic fullness:

Here is wisdom.
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.
Revelation 13:18

Enormous amounts of ink have been spilled in print (and bytes allocated in cyberspace) in various attempts to decode that infamous number – 666. People with particular agendas like to devise ways to make that number point to their personal bête noir: from Adolph Hitler, to the Popes, to Bill Gates III. (There are also sci-fi interpretations involving computer chips, barcodes, etc.)

As for the person the human writer might have been thinking of, the most logical candidate is actually the Emperor Nero, for both linguistic and historical reasons (Nero was the bête noir for the 1st century Church – even after he was dead).

Another way to look at it is to see 666 as being the highest yet imperfect mockery of God (who would be symbolized by the number of perfect fullness - seven - writ thrice: 777).

Any way you look at it, 666 means the enemy of God and his people.

As for the relevance of this prophecy for the future, as mentioned before, at the end of the day (and at the end of all things) we will realize that the details of what God has planned are more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. We can spend a little time speculating about it, but ultimately it is beyond our reckoning and we should be focusing on what we are to do here and now.

So, what meaning does the prophecy of the beast’s number have for us here and now?

Consider that the book of Revelation often depicts humanity as divided between those who marked with the number of the beast and those marked for God and that the marks appear on people’s foreheads.

The simplest lesson to draw from this is that it needs to be clear to everyone that we belong to Christ, from the way we live our lives, as clear as if it were marked on our forehead.

If it is not, if our lives appear no different from the lives of everybody else, then de facto we bear the mark of this world.

Is that how we want to meet Christ when he comes, either when we die or at the end of all things? With the mark of this world on our forehead?

Choose you this day whom ye will serve...
(from Joshua 24:15)

Miserere nobis, Pie Jesu Domine