|
by
Doug Ward |
Driving during a snowstorm on April 9, 2016, I lost control of my car and ended
up in a ditch. I was not injured and the car was undamaged, but ever since then
I have felt anxiety in certain driving situations. This kind of fear has been
called "vehophobia."
There
are names for numerous sources of fear, even some rather exotic ones. For
instance, fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia, and fear of the number
666 is hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
Mathematically
speaking, 666 is an interesting number. It is the sum of the numbers 1, 2, 3,
etc. up to 36. It is represented in Roman numerals by DCLXVI, with each of the
symbols D, C, L, X, V, I showing up exactly once.
But
these are not reasons for fear. The scary thing about 666 is its appearance in
the Bible's book of Revelation-and in chapter 13, no less-as the "number
of the beast."
John,
the author of Revelation, wrote to Christians in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)
in the late first century. Asia Minor was part of the powerful Roman Empire,
which kept the peace and provided many benefits to its subjects, while imposing
certain requirements. Among those requirements was participation in worship of
the emperor.
For
Christians, whose first loyalty was to the God of Israel and his Son, Jesus the
Messiah, emperor worship was unacceptable. But by refusing to participate, they
faced public disapproval, exclusion from mainstream social and economic
circles, and sometimes even death. (For more on the pressures faced by these
Christians, I recommend David deSilva's historical
novel, A Week in the Life of Ephesus,
published by IVP Academic.)
In
Revelation 13 John described a vision he had seen in which the political and
religious authority of Rome appeared as two beasts who wielded great power and
demanded universal submission. Followers of Rome were marked with "the
name of the beast or the number of its name." This number was 666, the
"number of a man" (verse 18).
Numbers
play a symbolic role in Revelation. In particular, 7 is featured as a symbol of
completion or perfection. The number 6, which is just less than 7, hints at the
idea that human beings, created on the sixth day, on their own fall short of
perfection. The number 666 implies that Rome, as impressive and powerful as it
seems to be, is a mere human empire that wields authority only because God
allows it.
John
wrote Revelation to encourage Christians not to be frightened by the Roman
beast and its number. If they would remain faithful to the one true God, he
said, they would be rewarded with eternal life on a renewed earth. He
transmitted the following message from God in Revelation 2:7: "To the one
who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise
of God." For almost 2000 years, Christians have clung to this promise.
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
version 3.66.
On 16 Mar 2023, 16:25.
