The Revelation of 666 from Moses and Ezra

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Jesus, instructed His Apostle John to send what was revealed to Him by God to the seven churches in Asia, the names of which are all given in it. These churches with Christians in them were to read the revelation, and understand it. It was given to them as instruction and warning. They were told this.... "Here is wisdom; and in whom there is intelligence let them compute the number of the creature, for it is the number of a son of man; six hundred, and sixty, and six.

Short answer: That is correct, however that does nothing for the problem of gematria failing to be a Biblically-endorsed method of interpretation or practice nor against the solid biblical examples of census-taking John was referencing with language formula and context creating a Hebraic parallelism in the process.

Long answer: Being faithful to the scriptures would have shown the seven congregations that gematria is unbiblical, rather we find that it originates from heathen practices popular in Babylonian theology, which is being warned against in the same letter to the seven congregations no less. Those searching the scriptures, which Paul praises, in the seven congregations would have understood John was using the same language of numbering the sons of Israel used by Moses and Ezra — not ideas from magicians and witches and gnostics (oh my). The contexts of all three cases in scripture further clarify this. Thus, those in the seven congregations who searched the scriptures would not have been deceived into believing that the prophecies were being fulfilled in their time.

And, as with Paul’s letters addressed to various congregations and people, or Luke’s Gospel and Acts addressed to Theophilus, we see John’s Revelation along with all these have application beyond the original audiences and indeed were selected for canonization for future generations of the body as a whole to have until Yeshua returns. That’s why around the world we’re discussing and learning from all of these documents today, growing as a body for almost 2000 years. The spirit of the Word transcends space-time.

Peter addressed concerns of Yeshua’s delay when it was realized He was not returning in their day as they may have first thought (just as Yeshua indicated all along) in his second letter to the diaspora scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (2Pe 1.1). Note the seven congregations addressed in Revelation are in Asia (Rev 1.11) who Peter includes in his address in both letters (2Pe 3.1), so there was overlap among audiences, their message wasn’t intended to be compartmentalized. In his second letter Peter addresses the timing of Yeshua’s return, hinting at the distant future:

But do not let this one [fact] escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2Pe 3.8-9 NAU)

Then he elaborates on what to expect when Yeshua does return:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2Pe 3.10-13 NAU)

I hope every honest person realizes by now these things have not happened yet. This letter contains good instruction and teaching for everyone who wants the truth including up to today, not just for the congregations Peter was addressing by name back then, so we will not be deceived by false teachers and prophets, or as I said before, disinfo and counter-intelligence agents/trolls/spies posing as brethren, mimicking the language and sentiments of believers; spooks in cyberspace trying to fulfill the ‘Great Work’ of their Freemasonic temple in Jerusalem and force multiplying propaganda and deceptions through not only the old CIA-run media and entertainment, but now vast legions of sophisticated AI bots creating false consensuses and divisions and perception management on the WWWiretap setup by the Pentagon with DoD fronts and co-ops (Google, FB, IBM, Apple, the telecoms, big data, etc to name a few) building the global hivemind which occurs after the Singularity takes place transhumanists like Kurzweil have long promised, achieving immortality with godlike abilities they believe. The “Sophia” robot (a satanic perversions of Chokmah, Wisdom cf Proverbs 8 & 9) seems to be the chosen mother goddess in this Babylonian Gnostic-Qabbalist scheme for now, a nod to a new genesis (Gen 1.1 Jerusalem Targum: In wisdom (be-hukema) the Lord created).

Will the image/idol that receives life in Rev 13.15 from the false prophet (false Elijah) in the future temple with forced-worshipped at the threat of death be the global interface of this universal Oneness (echad) in the covenant marriage the antichrist will enforce? We will not be able to shrug this off forever and will have to reckon with it head on one day assuming we don’t expire within a few decades, maybe more maybe less. Or will some of us perish in a sacrifice to bring in the new global order with a world capital in Jerusalem as some believe Freemasonry founded America to have the destiny of the phoenix and on its ashes will rise this new system and universal religion in counterfeit fulfillment of Isaiah 56.7? I digress.

Now Paul also addressed false teachings, dirty tricks and heresies similar to the teachings found in modern Preterism; this again shows how the wisdom shared in the letters are of great benefit, beyond the original addressees, to study and answer questions that come up still today:

Now we beg you, my brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and concerning our own gathering to him, that you should not be quickly shaken in your minds, nor be troubled, not by word, nor by a spirit, nor by a letter, as though from us, [saying] namely, "Behold, the day of our Lord has arrived."

Will anyone deceive you in any way? Because [it will not come] except a rebellion {Gk apostasia} should come first and the man of sin should be revealed, the son of destruction, who is an opponent of [God] and elevates himself above all that is called God and that is reverenced, so that he will even sit in the temple of God as God and will portray himself as though he is God. Do you not remember that while I was with you I told you these things? And now, you know what holds back [this day] that he should be revealed in its time. For the mystery of wickedness has already begun to work, however, [it will work] by itself when that which now holds [it] back is taken away from the middle. And then the unjust [one] will be revealed, whom our Lord Jesus will consume by the breath of his mouth, and he will put a stop to him with the manifestation of his coming. (2Th 2:1-8 MGI, my note in braces {})

So Paul said Yeshua would not return until the antichrist,”the man of sin,” “the son of destruction,” sets himself up as God in the temple of God, which links up with what Daniel said and Yeshua himself said while referring to Daniel when speaking of these things in the Olivet discourse. Yeshua also revealed that His second coming, unlike the first, would be as openly displayed as the sun rising in the sky (Mat 24.27), in other words, unmistakable.

Since we know Yeshua’s return has not happened yet, we know the revealing of the false Messiah spoken of by John in Revelation (written after the temple was destroyed per Irenaeus, Clement of Alex., Victorinus, Eusebius, Jerome) and also by Paul in 2 Thessalonians has not happened yet either — because the two events are closely tied together.

Early Christian fathers like Polycarp, Ignatius and Irenaeus, etc, give no indication of Yeshua’s second coming having occurred or of the false Messiah having appeared and Irenaeus explicitly showed the fulfillment of the antichrist prophecies were in the future (“It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy,” Against Heresies 5.30.2), nevermind about a new heavens and earth ruled in righteousness, etc.

So in faithful keeping with the scriptures, regarding Revelation 13.17-8, we must affirm that gematria is a biblically unfounded and unwarranted practice. If some chose to embrace this foul practice anyways, not just in the absence of any examples or endorsements from the scriptures but also in the face of clear references (2) to a numbering of sons of Israel exemplified by Moses and Ezra and then God himself in Revelation 7.4-8 (cf Ezekiel 9.4), then it appears they cannot be convinced with biblically-sound arguments since their position does not stand on a biblical foundation at all but rather on the traditions of men. The vain traditions of men are what Yeshua and the Apostles contended with the most, from the Pharisees then Judaizers and also the Gnostics (now merged under Qabbalism found in so many mystery schools like Freemasonry), and this is the same foe empowered by Satan against the faith today and will be until Yeshua returns.