The Truth About 666 That Most Pastors Won't Tell You

What if I told you the most terrifying number in the entire book of Revelation, 666, was never meant to scare you at all? What if every number in the book of Revelation is doing double duty? What do I mean? Carrying a much deeper value than the numeric value it shows. And what if the reason most people are completely confused by the book isn't just the symbols or the numbers, but the fact that they've been reading the book out of order the entire time? Today, I'm gonna give you two keys to unlock the entire book, and that's not preacher talk. When I learned these two insights, I never read Revelation the same way again, and neither will you. Here's something that's going to save you years of confusion, and I need you to hear me on this. The book of Revelation is not laid out in chronological order. I know that's not what you were taught. I know most of us assume we're reading a sequential book of events unfolding one after another, but that's not the way John wrote it. Think of Revelation less like a track that you run on from start to finish, and more like a house that has many rooms and many doors.

John isn't always saying, here's what happened next, or here's what comes next. What he's saying is, here's what I saw next. And what he sees next is necessarily not what happens next in chronological time. Here's the evidence for that. 40 times in the book, 4-0, John says, I saw. He's recording visions, not a documentary, visions that Jesus revealed to him in real time. Listen to this. In Revelation 12, right after scenes of what feel like never-ending events, John suddenly sees the birth of Jesus, King Herod trying to kill the child just like he attempted to do years before. That's an event that happened decades before John wrote the book. He's not going forward in the future, he's actually going backward. He's giving you a window into a moment of time that has already occurred. And here's another one. John brings up to what feels like the very end of everything, three different times. When you read Revelation, you think it's gonna end, Revelation 7-9, Revelation 16-17, Revelation 19-1. Three times, you think this is the finale, only for John to cycle back and show you something else. A different angle, a different perspective, a different room in the house,

a different way to look at it. Now, don't miss this. This is not sloppy writing on the part of John. This is intentional, why? Because John's goal was never to hand the church a sequential roadmap for plotting the end times on a whiteboard. His goal was to give persecuted Christians a shot of adrenaline in the arm. He wanted to encourage them. He wanted them to know that no matter how bad things look under Roman Empire or Roman rule, no matter how powerful the Roman Empire appeared, Jesus Christ was still on the throne. The victory has already been secured. In a sense, we win in the end. That's the message for us today as well. Not a chart, not a timeline, a king who has already won the victory. So when you see the headlines about Iran or Israel, wars and weapons and chaos, you don't have to panic. You don't have to scramble to find out which verse it fits into. You simply open the book and you're reminded that the ending has already been written. And it doesn't end with Iran. It doesn't end with any empire. It ends with King Jesus. Now, bear with me for one moment here. I wanna pull over and park for a minute

because whenever a new perspective is offered to our learned theology, we can get a little frazzled. I know this because I've read some of the comments on the previous video. I know that when I started studying this book, I felt the same way. So let me establish some ground rules before we go on. You and I can agree to disagree on non-salvation issues and still be friends. I have many friends I don't agree with on every theological issue. They're still friends of mine. Recently, I heard a man boasting online and he said, I haven't changed my theological perspective in over 30 years. My response to him would be, if I would talk to him, that's not something you should pry yourself in. Why? Because we must always be learning and growing in our faith. Every one of us should be developing and maturing as a Christian as we continue to study the Bible over our lifetime. Finally, another thing I wanna share with you, I'm not suggesting that I'm right and everybody else is wrong about Revelation. You should run from anyone who says, I'm 100% right and everyone else is wrong. That's actually called a cult. I'm a fellow sojourner with you on the road. We're learning together.

And here's my goal. I wanna state this clearly. My goal is to interpret the Bible. book of Revelation the same way the first century readers would have understood it. Are there future implications to the book? Of course there are. But good hermeneutics, which is the art and science of biblical interpretation, demands that you and I bridge the gap between the ancient world and our present world. But before we apply it to our present day situation, we have to know what it meant back then to the original audience. Let's get back into it. Understanding the structure of Revelation is one thing. It's not written chronological. But there's a second layer to this book that most Western readers completely miss. I know I did for years. And it's discovered in every number that John writes. You see, the ancient Hebrew world didn't have the luxury of 170,000 words the way we do in English. In fact, don't miss this, biblical Hebrew only had 8,000 words. So the Jewish people developed a system called gematria. This is where numbers carry symbolic meaning far beyond their numeric value. John's first century audience didn't need a footnote when they saw a number.

They simply knew what it meant. They simply understood that it had a deeper meaning. I wanna walk you through the core numbers that you need to know. And this is a decoder for understanding numbers in the Bible. The number one is connected to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph. Aleph is the number that also means God, one God, beginning with oneness, in the beginning, unity. That's what the number one means. The number two is the number Beit. Beit is connected to the two tablets. It's also an indication of Adam and Eve. It speaks of duplicity, witnesses that need to confirm something, of multiplication. Two is the number of the witness. Let's go to number three. Number three is the number Gimel. Gimel is of the three patriarchs, one God, two tablets, three fathers. It's also the number of the Trinity for us in the New Covenant. The three pilgrimage festivals in Israel. There are three of them, but they are actually a summation of the seven total festivals the Jewish people were supposed to adhere to. Three also speaks of balance, strength, divine revelation. The number four, Dalet, is the number for earth.

Why do I get that? Where do they get that from? The four corners of the earth. Now, the earth doesn't have four corners, but that's the way they refer to the earth. There also are the four winds coming from north, south, east, and west. This is also a number of created order. The number five, Hay, it's also the number of God's grace. Five is the number of the five books of Moses, the people of God. Now, here's where it gets really interesting. The number six is the number of mankind. Now, why is it called the number of mankind? Because God created man on the sixth day. Six is also the number of incompletion. It's also the number of being insufficient. Man was created on the sixth day. He was commanded to work, but it was God who finished the task on the seventh day, which was the day of rest. So the number seven is the number of completion. Don't think of it this way. It's not the number of perfection. Some people wrongly say that. It's actually the number of completion. Now, think about this. How many water jars did Jesus use at the wedding of Cana? Now, this is an interesting one

because we read through these numbers and don't realize the significance. If you go back to John 2, you'll realize there were six of them, six water jars that Jesus turned into wine. Purification jars is what John says. These were vessels used for religious ceremonies. Jesus took, don't miss this, what was incomplete and ritualistic and turned it into something overflowing with joy. That's not a coincidence. What he's saying is this. The system of Judaism that got you here is not sufficient to take you to where God wants you. That is a sermon in a number. I'll give you some more. Remember Noah? Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. There's something missing. Pharaoh chose 600 chariots to chase Israel into the sea. Goliath's spear, and also, by the way, the number six is a picture of the flesh, humanity. Goliath's spear weighed 600 shekels of iron. Babylon, the ultimate symbol of a godless empire in Revelation, is mentioned, brace yourself, six times. And the mark of the beast, that's why you came, 666. It's different than what you think. It's not a microchip. It's not a barcode.

It's not a vaccine. It's the number six repeated three times, which is the number of summation. It's showing us that this is representative of an unholy trinity of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. John is teaching his audience in a language that they clearly understood. They had a decoder to understand this. That following the beast will always leave you empty, always making you want more. You will never be satisfied when you follow 666. Why? Because you'll never arrive at the number seven. You'll never reach rest. You'll never have peace. The number seven, Zion, is the word for completion. And I mentioned this already. Totality, wholeness, seven days of creation. It's all through the Bible. Seven feasts of Israel. Forgive seven times seventy. Mary Magdalene had seven evil spirits. You know what that means? She was totally consumed by darkness. Now, don't hear me. I'm not saying the numbers aren't literal. What I'm saying is they had a deeper meaning. Yes, she probably had seven demons, but he's showing us that she was completely consumed by darkness. In the book of Revelation, there are seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls. The totality of judgment. The number 12 is also an interesting number. Government through God's people. The 12 tribes of Israel. Old Covenant community. The 12 apostles. We see this in the New Covenant authority. Together, both of those 12 and 12 form the number 24. What does that number mean? It's the exact number of elders surrounding the throne of God in Revelation 4. This is the Old and the New Covenant united in worship before one king. Now, I want to take this and I want to show you something in Scripture that you have never seen. It's been hiding in plain sight and it has to do with the numbers 12 and the numbers 7. Two miracles of Jesus that most Christians have read their entire life, but never fully understood. And when you see what Jesus is doing, don't click off. You're gonna want to get this. You're going to be ruined in the best possible way. In Mark chapter 6,

it says that Jesus took his disciples away from the crowds. They're near the town of Bethsaida or Bethsaida, which is a Jewish community on the Jewish side or the west side, northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. And a major crowd gathers and what do they say? We don't have any food. What are we gonna do? We're hungry and the crowds getting restless. What should we do? And Jesus says, what do you have? And they come and say, well, we have this little boy who has a lunch. He only has five loaves and two fish. And Jesus takes those two things, five loaves and two fish, and he feeds how many people? 5,000. And when it's over, notice this, he took the five loaves and two fish, looking up to heaven. He blessed it. Then when it's over, he sends them out and he says, all right boys, go pick up baskets of leftovers and then consolidate them together. And notice how many they have left over. They picked up 12 baskets full of bread and fish. Now, most people read that and they move on, but stay with me. Not long after that, Jesus is gonna go in Mark 8 and he's gonna cross over to the other side of the Decapolis. And what it says is he's gonna perform another miracle in the similar fashion. You've always wondered, why two miracles where there's a reason for this? I mean, you only have to feed 5,000 men and 15,000 total one time to get people to believe, but Jesus is doing something very different here. You see, when Jesus crosses over the other side of the sea, that is the region of the Gentiles. That's the region of the Decapolis. It's a different reason entirely. Another crowd gathers around. Again, there's no food. And I want you to see what happens. Jesus says, how many loaves do you have for the people? And they said, seven. If you thought one miracle was enough, you'd be wrong. Why? Jesus is gonna do it again, but he's gonna do it differently. Follow me here. The first miracle was on the west side in the Galilee region. The second miracle was on the east side in the Gentile region. When Jesus says the first time, pick up the baskets you have left, they have how many? 12. Then when he says after feeding the 4,000, you're gonna love this, go pick up the baskets. They have what? Seven large baskets of leftover pieces. The Decapolis on the other side is the Gentile region. Now, why is this number seven important?

Well, you have to go back and understand what the significance of seven is in the Old Testament. After God sent Joshua to lead the people into the promised land, they came in contact literally with Gentile nations who were against them. Deuteronomy 7 lists all of these nations by name. I want you to see this. The Hittites, the Gigasites, the Amorites, and many other Ites we can't pronounce. But notice what it says. Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, for a total of seven nations. They were Gentile nations, and the seven baskets of leftover bread point to the seven Gentile nations that were driven out by Joshua when he entered the land. And so, in a sense, they called the East side, the land of the seven, they called the Jewish side the land of the 12. 12 baskets for the Jews, seven baskets for the Gentiles. Jesus came first for the what? For the Jew, then for the Gentile. What is he showing us here? Jesus is showing us he is the sustainer and the savior for both. He's not just the bread of life for the Jewish people, he's the bread of life for all people. Now here's the thing that absolutely wrecked me of this story. The disciples, those closest to Jesus, actually missed the entire account. How do I know that? If we go back to Matthew 8 and we scroll down to the boat as they were leaving, you will see the disciples are having a discussion about bread. And Jesus asked them a question. Look at verse 16.

They were discussing among themselves why they didn't have bread. Jesus, aware of this, asked, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not understand? Do you not comprehend? Don't you understand the significance of what happened? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and do not see and ears and do not hear? What he's saying is you're hard-headed. Pay attention. And do you not remember when I broke the five for the 5,000, how many baskets were left over? Did you collect? Well, they say 12. Interesting. And when I broke those, and by the way, five is the number of the Jewish people because five books of Moses, they were called the Torah, the people of the book. How many baskets left over when I fed the 4,000? What do they say? Seven. And Jesus says, do you still not understand? Here's what he's doing. He is practically begging them to connect the dots. 12 and seven. Jews, Gentiles. Here's what he's showing us.

Jesus is the Savior, not only for the Jew, but he's also the Savior of the Gentiles. Friends, that's why the numbers are important to understand. They are screaming to us something deeper than their numeric value. And they've been sitting in the boat completely oblivious of what Jesus is saying. So you're probably wondering, what does this have to do with the book of Revelation? Well, let me bring this home because this is where everything connects. When John writes to the seven churches in Revelation, that's not an arbitrary number. John could have written to many churches. Seven means totality. He is not writing only to the seven congregations in the first century of Asia Minor, but they give us a picture of every congregation. He is writing to all churches and all places at all times, including ours today. Your church is actually in this letter. You can apply the truth to your church. When Jesus describes the 144,000, 12 times 12 times 1,000, he's not describing a literal headcount of people who made some specific denominational list or made it to the end group. No, the reason you know this is because deep down inside, you understand the number is too tidy. 12,000 of this tribe, 12,000 of that tribe, 12,000 of that. Wait, hold on, 12,001, I'm sorry,

you're the last person, you didn't make the cut. Really? No, that's not what's going on here. Yochanan, you're out of line, we have too many. No, John is describing complete total redemption of the people of God across both covenants. Both of the covenants, new and old, will be saved. The fullness of Israel and the fullness of the church, 12 and 12 locked together. When you see the days, 1,260 days or 42 months or three and a half years appearing over and over, that is seven cut in half, incompletion, brokenness. It's a time that's not yet whole. It's symbolic language for a period of trial and suffering that God has determined, contained, and will bring to an end on his own terms. Friends, this is why John wrote this book in this language. He wasn't trying to confuse you. He wasn't trying to scare you. Think about it. Why would God write 65 books of encouragement and hope and excitement and joy and peace, and then one book that's a horror movie, a fear factor manual? That's not how God works. He was writing in a way that every persecuted Christian who had grown up in the synagogue, who had memorized the Torah, who knew the Exodus, who knew Daniel, who knew Ezekiel, they would understand everything

John was saying immediately. It would have been the greatest comfort for them. And here's the bottom line for us today. The numbers in Revelation are not a puzzle to be solved. Let me say that again. The numbers in Revelation are not a puzzle to be solved. They're a promise to trust. They're telling you that God has numbered every single day. He has bound every trial. The one who fed both Jew and Gentile on that hillside years before, who took the 12 and the seven baskets and fed the whole world, is the same one who's holding the world in his hands. The chaos in the Middle East, the fear in... your gut when you read the news. God has not lost count. He's not lost control. And remember, this book is not in chronological order, which means when John shows you the end, he's not showing you a sequence. He's showing you a certainty that victory is not coming. Victory has already been secured. For the one who has eyes to see, the one who has ears to hear, Revelation is not a horror story. It's a superpower. Let me close with this. You will never fully understand Revelation

or any book of the Bible for that matter without discernment from the Holy Spirit. You can know every number. You can understand every symbol, every literary device, every Old Testament connection, and still miss the point. Why? Because this book ultimately is about a person, not a pattern. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the only way to have your eyes opened is to know the one who gives sight to the blind. If that's not you today, if you've been reading about the end of the world and you've never made peace with the one who holds the world in his hands, this invitation right now is open to you. Not after the rapture, not when you get your life together, not when you clean yourself up, no, now. The King whose victory is already secured is still welcoming people today into the kingdom of heaven. If this video helped you see something you haven't seen before, do me a favor, share it with someone who you think will benefit from it. Also, would you take a moment, if you've benefited, would you subscribe to the channel? It really helps us get the word out. And would you like and comment? I try to answer all the comments, although there are a lot of them.

You could put in the comment section something you want me to cover in the days ahead. I'd love to try to do that. Until next time, get into the word until the word gets into you.