Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #35 of Revelation, chapter 13, and we are going to be reading Revelation 13:18:

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.

In our last study we discussed “wisdom” a little bit and we saw that when God says, “Here is wisdom.  Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast,” the Lord is saying that these things must be spiritually discerned through the wisdom of God.  And the wisdom of God is laid out in the Bible when we compare Scripture with Scripture and make sure that all conclusions harmonize with everything else in the Bible.  You have to look at the words that are used in a verse and compare the words with where they are found in other places in the Bible and pray for wisdom and guidance and the Lord often grants that wisdom and understanding.

Here, God is saying that the number of the beast is “the number of a man.”  Let us correct that before we move on.  The King James translators put the word “a” in there and when we see that word, we start to think of an individual – the number of “a man” – and people have, therefore, speculated that it is speaking of Hitler or Stalin.  Whenever a particularly wicked man has risen up in the world (and this happens from time to time), people think the man is that “man of sin” and the man that this verse in Revelation 13 is talking about, but that is incorrect.

The “man of sin” is Satan.  The Bible verifies that, without question.  It is not the Pope.  It is not Hitler or any other evil individual, but it is Satan himself.  So in this verse, the word “a” should be eliminated.  If you have a pen, just scratch it out because it is not in the original Greek text.  It literally should read, “for it is the number of man.”  It is the Greek word “anthropos” and it is in the genitive case.  It is that which pertains to or belongs to man.  Here the number of the beast is the number of man and God has in mind unsaved mankind in general and that is what this number represents: “and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”  It is “666” and it is the number of the beast; it is the number of unsaved man.  Satan and unsaved mankind go together.  They are his emissaries within the kingdom of darkness, so it is the number that identifies with both.  This number “666” is found elsewhere in the Bible.  In Chronicles or Kings it refers to the number of items of gold that Solomon took in one year, which were 666 talents of gold.  But, for the most part, this number is not found written out as “666” but it is written as either “two thirds” or “two parts” in the Bible.  If we take “two thirds” and write it as a decimal, it would be “.666,” so when we see “two parts” or “two thirds” in the Bible, it is basically equivalent to “666.”  We find that a few times. 

Let us go to 1Samuel 30:8:

And David enquired at JEHOVAH, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtakethem, and without fail recover all.

David is inquiring of the Lord because Ziklag had been taken and burned to the ground and all the wives and children of David had been captured by the Amalekites.  Now David, who was about to be stoned by his own men, is inquiring of the Lord what he should do and the Lord tells him to pursue them, overtake them and recover all.

It goes on to say in 1Samuel 30:9-10:

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

Notice that David had six hundred men and four hundred continued on with David to pursue the Amalekites to recover the captives, their wives and their children, but two hundred men were so faint they could not go further and they stayed behind with the stuff.  Let us compare the four hundred to the two hundred.  You have four hundred, which is “two thirds” and you have two hundred, which is “one third.”  The two thirds would identify with “666,” but these men are David’s men and they went to battle with David; that seems to be a very good thing that the four hundred went with David because David is a type of Christ.  But the two hundred or the “one third” stayed back and we cannot say that is very valiant of them, so is there some sort of mistake?  If “two thirds” represent “666,” the number of unsaved man and “one third” relates to the true believers, then the division seems like it is a mistake – the four hundred or “two thirds” are going to battle and the two hundred or “one third” are staying behind.

Well, let us look a lit bit further in 1Samuel 30:21-25:

And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. Then answered all the wicked men and menof Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which JEHOVAH hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is  that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

Notice that the Bible identifies the men that went with David to the battle as “wicked men of Belial,” and that is not said of the two hundred men that stayed behind with the stuff.  Why is that?  One possibility is that this battle had to do with the delivery of captives and we know David is a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ delivered the captives of sin when He made payment for the sins of His people from the foundation of the world.  And the Bible is very jealous in guarding that atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ very carefully, as we read in Isaiah 63: “Of the people there was none with me…and my own arm brought salvation unto me.”

Therefore, perhaps, this battle in which captives are delivered could be a picture of salvation and Christ alone gets the glory, as typified by David, and those that seek to join in the work in that way could represent the wicked.  On the other hand, the two hundred or “one third” that stayed with the stuff were trusting that David would recover the captives – their wives and their children, and so forth.  So, in a way, they are a better illustration in this historical parable of the true believers that do not go forth to the battle with the Lord Jesus Christ in which the captives are delivered.  But they are beneficiaries of that, as David returns and shares the spoils with them.

Also, in 2Samuel, chapter 8, we see this division made again.  Again, speaking of David, it says in 2Samuel 8:2:

And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

Again, there are “two thirds” and “one third.”  The “two thirds” are put to death and the “one third” are spared and kept alive.  It is the Biblical picture of God’s elect, typified by the “one third.”  Then there is the historical account we are probably very familiar with in 2Kings, chapter 1, but I will read it anyway in case some is listening that is not familiar with the account of the prophet Elijah.  The king is dying and he desperately wants to see Elijah, so he is sending his captain and soldiers to forcibly bring Elijah to him.  It says in 2Kings 1:9-15:

Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. And the angel of JEHOVAH said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

What do we see in this interesting historical account?  We see that two captains and their fifties were burned up and one captain and his fifty were spared and they lived.  Again, it is a picture of the division of the human race: “two thirds” are under the wrath of God and they will be destroyed and “one third” are spared by the grace and mercy of God; they are the ones God has predestinated to receive salvation and they will live. 

This is also a very nice illustration of how we need to approach God.  We approach Him very humbly.  We do not approach him arrogantly and proudly, demanding of God, as the former captains and their fifties did of Elijah: “Come down quickly.  The king wants to see you.”  Notice the humble language of the third captain who said: “O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.”  There were no demands and no orders to Elijah, but just a show of humility and supplication, and that is how God’s people approach God – very humbly and not arrogantly.  We do not go to God in the way that is common in the churches of our day: “I accept you, Lord, and now you are my Saviour.”  They are basically demanding God to save them because they did something.  We do not do that.  We go very humbly, “Let my life be precious in your sight,” and then we waited very humbly for Him to save.

Let us go to one more place where there is this “two thirds” and “one third” division.  It says in Zechariah 13:8-9:

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith JEHOVAH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, JEHOVAH is my God.

Here, God is making it easier to understand.  The “one third” is His people and He is their God and the other “two thirds” are cut off and they will die.  Notice in verse 8 where God says, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith JEHOVAH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die.”  When will that come to pass?  Where is that land?  The word “land” is a word that can also be translated as “earth,” so it could read, “It shall come to pass that in all the earth, saith JEHOVAH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein.”  We have learned that in the Day of Judgment (and it began on May 21, 2011) God cut off the “two thirds.”  It is not an actual number, but it is a figure that represents all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth and that means billions of people.  But God cut off that “two thirds,” or the “666,” the number of (unsaved) man, but the “third part” shall be left therein.  This is a proof verse and evidence that it has always been God’s plan to leave His people alive on the earth to live throughout the Day of Judgment, a prolonged period of time which, perhaps, could continue for 1,600 days. 

God’s people will be here the entire time, so it is very interesting that this word “left” is used in verse 8: “The third shall be left therein.”  That world “left” is translated as “remain” in some verses.  It says in Proverbs 2:21-22:

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

The word “remain” is the same word as “left.”  It is also the same division of people we are reading about in Revelation 13.  The “perfect” are those made perfect through salvation because God does not see any more sin in them and they will remain in the earth.  It is interesting how it is the Lord’s plan to cut off the wicked from the earth; it is almost as though the people of God just remain here.  The Bible does say that the Lord’s people will inherit the earth.  Of course, God does not mean this present earth.  He will destroy it with fervent heat, along with the whole creation and He will create a new heaven and new earth.  But, in a sense, since the people of God remain on the earth in the Day of Judgment (and let us just think about how that would work) and let us say we are correct that October 7, 2015 is the conclusion of Judgment Day and the end of this creation and God’s people are here on the earth; Christ comes and destroys the world and I am sure that would not take long – in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye – and He creates a new earth and there are His people; it is as though we had never left.  We are also recreated and we have a new resurrected body that is joined with our spirit and we become one whole new personality, in both body and soul.  We are dwelling upon a new earth and as far as the time line goes (if we want to put it that way), we go right up to the very end of the world when there is no more time; God destroys it and creates a new heaven and new earth and places His people in that new creation and we have inherited the earth.  So, as it says in Proverbs 2:21, “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.” 

This also reminds us of what it says in 1Thessalonians 4:15-18:

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

And it is comforting as we read these things and we see how they fit so well with other Scriptures and the things God has opened up to us from His Word.  We know we are being tried “as in a fire,” as it says in 1Corinthians 3.  Every man’s work is put to the fire to see if it is “gold, silver, precious stones,” or “wood, hay stubble.”  The “gold, silver, precious stones” remain and they are left therein.  We are alive and remain on the earth until that day and then the Lord will turn our attention to eternity future when He finally destroys this world.