From: Vernon Jenkins (vernon.jenkins@virgin.net)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 12:18:40 EDT
George,
Thanks for writing. Perhaps you will allow me to answer your question in a
structured fashion.
1. Regarding Rev.13:18, it is God who poses the riddle, and it is He who has
assigned the unique number 666 to the beast.
2. Our attempts (as 'understanding believers') to solve the problem are
intended to further some serious purpose - the words of Rev.22:19 and the
imperative of the riddle itself making this abundantly clear - and we are
encouraged by the promise of wisdom.
3. At first sight, the matter appears to consist in equating some
individual's name with the number 666. Clearly, this requires us to read its
constituent letters as numerals and apply some acceptable rule of bonding in
order to obtain the number represented by the name.
4. At the time of John's writing, two systems (in which all letters assumed
a double identity as numerals) would have been in common usage, viz the
Hebrew and the Greek. It would therefore have followed that the original
documents upon which all our Bible translations are based would, in God's
wisdom, have been as much sets of numbers as life-giving scriptures.
5. So, to return to the matter of the riddle, we have to question its direct
interpretation, for that would lead inevitably either to a seemingly
purposeless 'witch-hunt', or else a realisation of the obvious after the
beast had assumed power. But if not this, what, then, can be its true
purpose?
6. Because the use of gematria (ie the reading of words as numbers) was
implicit in the process of identifying the beast, we infer that it is - in
this context, at least - a divinely-sanctioned procedure.
7. But has the same procedure a wider application as a tool of biblical
exegesis? While Rev.13:18 has nothing to say about this possibility, I
believe the favourable outcomes obtained by applying it to the Greek form of
the Lord's name and the Hebrew of the Bible's first verse must be considered
decisive. Thus, we find the letters forming the word 'Jesus' have a combined
value of 888 (as opposed to the 666 of the Antichrist); the number 296 being
a factor of both 'Jesus' and 'Christ'; the same number appearing as 7th word
of Genesis 1:1 ('...the earth.'); 666 appearing three times in a geometrical
representation of this first verse with its outline of 6.6.6, and so on.
8. The numbers indelibly associated with the Hebrew words of the OT and the
Greek of the NT appear to have a complementary and precious message to bring
to an increasingly apostate world, viz God is; He is exceedingly able; and
His Word, undoubtedly true.
Shalom,
Vernon
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Murphy" <gmurphy@raex.com>
To: "Vernon Jenkins" <vernon.jenkins@virgin.net>
Cc: "Michael Roberts" <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk>; <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 1:10 AM
Subject: Re: The power of ten
> Vernon Jenkins wrote:
>
> > Michael,
> >
> > You are surely aware that much of what you have written is cpmpletely
> > irrelevant to the matter raised, viz the Christian believer's response
> > to the Lord's command, 'count' (AV), or 'calculate' (NASB), that is a
> > significant feature of Rev.13:18.
>
> From the fact that the writer of Revelation tells readers to "calculate
the
> number of the beast" it does not remotely follow that there is any
biblical authority
> for trying to get any theological result by "calculating" any other words
of scripture.
>
> Shalom,
> George
> George L. Murphy
> gmurphy@raex.com
> http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
>
>
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