When I was breaking into puberty, Richard Milhouse Nixon was America’s president. On his staff was a man that many thought might just be the end-time dude, the replacement-Christ, the anti-Christ. It had everything to do with his name. Heinz (Henry) Kissinger, Nixon’s Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, was of European descent and was greatly used in opening lines of diplomacy between the U.S. and China and brokering peace deals between Arabs and Israelis. He drew gasps from many religious buffs who heard him declare “Peace is at hand” near the end of the Viet Nam conflict.
The Peace Man.
But the empirical evidence seemed to be, not his name so much, but the letters in his name. If one assigns numerical value to each letter of his name in both Hebrew or English, one arrives at the sum total of ‘666′. Of course others thought Reagan was the anti-Christ because His first, middle and last name each have six letters each. 6-6-6. Then came the Pope, the Secretary General of the U.N., George Bush, various Russian leaders, and Bob Dole. Oh, and Prince Charles. (I think it’s because he’s a prince and the Bible sometimes refers to this coming world monarch as a “prince.” I think.)
Rick Warren is another. There have been stranger guesses, I suppose. Or maybe he’ll be the false prophet (now behave all you fightin’ fundies).
Frankly, if you strive hard enough, nearly anyone’s name could sum out to 666. I like what a guy named Salmon wrote: “If the proper name by itself will not yield to it (i.e., 666), add a title; secondly, if the sum cannot be found in Greek, try Hebrew or even Latin; thirdly, do not be too particular about the spelling…We cannot infer much from the fact that a key fits the lock if it is a lock in which almost any key will turn.”
Here’s an idea worth considering. Maybe John the Revelator was thinking along these lines. Sorry, no predictions here of the WHO, only the certainty of the WHAT.
Consider the Roman numbering system. The Roman numerals are, of course, as follows:
I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
Add them up.
What’d you come up with?
Six hundred and sixty-six, right?
Oh, I almost forgot. There is another Roman numeral that I did not include in the list. Anyone have a guess? Oh, you are a smart little cookie! Good for you. That’s right.
M.
And what does ‘M’ amount to?
Right again. Can’t get nothing by you, can I? It’s numerical value is ONE THOUSAND.
Hey, wait a minute! Isn’t there something significant about ‘1,000′ in the Revelation? Something about a Ruler coming to set up His Kingdom and rule for a THOUSAND years? And at the end of the thousand years (aka, the Millennium), the Father will come to earth and the Son will turn the Kingdom over to His Father forever! And we will be the Father’s habitation and the Bridegroom Lord and His Bride will dwell together under His roof forever…
So…
Going back to 666, I don’t have the foggiest who the “little horn” is but I do know this: he has designs to rule and reign for a long, long, long time, but no matter how much he wants to reign exclusively, he will NEVER achieve his goal. For there is another who is coming—bet your bottom dollar on it—and the government will be on His shoulder, and every knee shall bow and everyone will confess that HE is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I do know His name. The other guy?
It doesn’t really matter if it’s him, him, so-and-so or whatsisname. All I know is, his term will be less that a single presidential term (no, I am so NOT inferring anything by that, just pointing out the meteoric rise and fall of this would-be Christ) and will still not be able to rule everyone on the planet. Sure he will have great, diabolical power and his presence will prove terrifying. And his campaign slogan is ”worship me or die.” I know all this. And I know we will need wisdom like we’ve never known in the coming days (see Revelation 13:18) and great “endurance and faith” (13:10).
But he is a man of the SIX and six is one short of seven which refers to God’s man. His perfect, completed man. Earthly Man at his best will always fall short of the ideal. And his term will soon be over. This is deTERMined by the King who will reign forever.
Have your I, V, X, L, C and D, o enemy. The ‘M’ is for MESSIAH!
Cue Handel. It’s time to sing and shout!
Earlier today my cell phone bellowed out the UGA fight song. Since I was busy facebooking, I decided to let my voicemail pick it up. An hour later, I listened to my caller’s message.
a day or two afterward in a friend’s post. And then, this morning, a testimony that was given during our worship service alluded to it. It occurs to me that though I have been on a path of pursuit to know God for nearly three decades, I still only see Him with blurred vision.
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