Revelation Commentary by Chapters
by Dave Brown
On Twitter, click or search #RevBT for daily bible study on Revelation.
Revelation Supplement Pages
Go to Revelation Chapters 1-5
Go to Revelation Chapters 6-10
Go to Revelation Chapters 11-15
Go to Revelation Chapters 16-19
Go to Revelation Chapters 20-22
Attribution -- I appreciate the assistance provided by the notes developed by Bryan Gibson.
This page is in two parts:
1. Basic Approach to Interpreting John's Revelation
by Dave Brown
It is important when approaching a complex part of the scriptures to have an overall idea as to what the readers' thought process will be in the interpretation. This is documented here not only to create a clarification in the mind of the writer of the commentary, but to alert the readers of the commentary as to the approach, so that appropriate skepticism can be applied. It is not at all our goal in this commentary to produce "the definitive work" or even to convince readers that this is the only thing it could possibly mean.
In fact, we should start by saying that the book of Revelation is of sufficient complexity, and there have been so many faithful Christians (to say nothing of the false teachers) that have come to different conclusions of passages within it, that we conclude that there had to be some intent on the part of the Holy Spirit to this end. Anyone who would say that his interpretation of every part of Revelation is beyond question should be summarily dismissed from providing any insight. In addition, those who would make parts of the book apply to specific days and events in our current time frame should similarly be dismissed -- the book was not written for such purposes, and any such claim is ample evidence that false teaching is in the making.
With that said, the question might arise, is it possible to get ANYTHING of current use out of a book that is obviously so obscure? Allow the first few verses of the book to answer this question -- Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand." Obviously those who believe this is the truth have to believe that something can be obtained NOW from reading or hearing the book read. It would be impossible to "keep the things that are written" if we cannot understand them. And why would we even write a commentary on our thoughts if we felt that understanding is impossible?
It is important at this point to grapple with what it is that we can and cannot understand. We can certainly see the basic principles that the book is expressing, and we can realize its basic goal and its basic theme. These will become apparent fairly quickly; but there is no reason that one should not take a look at Chapters 21 and 22 at the outset just to get a feel about its ultimate outcome. Indeed this will produce a knowledge, albeit incomplete, of the intent of the book.
A major key is given in Revelation 1:1: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, (even) the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified (it) by his angel unto his servant John ..." That key is the word "shortly." It is clear that this book was written to those who were in tribulation, as indicated in 1:9: "I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation ..." When these people read about things that would "shortly come to pass," they would certainly not understand that this meant in a few hundred or thousand years years. So a major interpretation key will be for us to look to the history of the early persecuted church to identify those things that are being described.
Does this mean that the book has no application to us today? Not at all. While we should not misuse it to try to convince people we know that certain things are going to happen involving specific current names, dates, events and places, there is no reason at all that we should not observe the principles that are being expressed by the book. Let us just suggest a sampling of them at the outset to give an idea of what we are proposing. The following are the types of principles that we can glean from the book and thus enable us to make the proper applications to our current day and age:
This is not an exhaustive list by any means. And while the reader might go down this list and think: "Oh, I know all about that!" -- to this we respond -- don't be so sure and arrogant as to think that you cannot learn something from a detailed study of the book of Revelation. If all you needed was to read the list above, then God would not have troubled John to write the book of Revelation. If you want the blessing that comes from reading and hearing it -- you have to read and/or hear it.
In applying the types of principles listed above, we will view the details within various seals, trumpets and bowls as refer to (1) some immediate events that would occur shortly; but also to (2) recurring events, as opposed to their being isolated and interpreted in terms of just one or a very small number of comparable events and then having no further application. We believe that this is the correct approach for several reasons, but mainly that human nature has not changed since the events of the Garden of Eden. As such, while we are not able to nail down definitively what every symbol might represent in terms of history or prophecy, we can look beyond these specifics to see and apply these principles of human nature, and for that matter, the principles of the good and evil angelic forces that are reflective of a war in heaven that was comparable to that taking place on earth.
Clearly the opening chapter establishes that these things “are shortly coming to pass,” and no doubt some of them may have been in process at the time that John received the vision. To apply the satanic figures to Rome and the apostate church is a natural initial interpretation, and one that we would expect the early Christians in the first and second centuries to make. However, we know things that would prevent this from being totally restrictive:
In not limiting the application to first and second century Rome, we also sound the alarm against those who would misuse the book to state that certain passages are referring only to particular contemporary events.
Can we see events that are very much like those described in the book of Revelation unfolding around us? Absolutely. Can we say that any particular verse is being fulfilled by any of these events to the exclusion of others? If/when we do so we violate Revelations 22:18-19, and the very possibility of that is something that should strike fear into all of our hearts.
2. THE SYMBOLISM OF NUMBERS
Source: Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press), pp. 21-25
The inner significance of numbers was a kind of device which always had fascination for the Oriental mind. In that early day, when language was primitive and the vocabulary meager, one Hebrew word sometimes was compelled to do duty for a score of diverse meanings. Under such conditions men came naturally to use numbers as we use words. They were the symbols of moral or spiritual truth. A certain number would suggest a definite concept. The conceptions arose quite naturally through certain primitive associations- Just as the sound of a given word by long habit calls up the corresponding idea, so a certain number, by acquired association, called up a definite concept. Such numbers become symbols and cannot be read with the literal exactness that we employ when interpreting mathematical formulae.
The Number "1" After this fashion men saw a single object and came to associate with the number "1" the idea of unity or independent existence. It stood for that which was unique and alone. This word does not appear symbolically in the book of Revelation. It is, of course, at the base of other numbers that do appear--some frequently.
The Number "2" Amid the dangers of primitive life, with a fear of wild beasts, or of hostile attack by his enemies constantly before him, man gained courage in companionship. Two were far stronger and more effective than one. Thus the number "2" came to stand for strengthening, for confirmation, for redoubled courage and energy. There was a symbolic significance in the fact that Jesus sent his disciples forth two by two. Two witnesses confirmed the truth, and their testimony which otherwise would have been weak was made strong. Always this number meant augmented strength, redoubled energy, confirmed power. So in the book of Revelation the truth of God is confirmed by two witnesses who are slain and rise again and ascend to heaven. This symbolizes a strong witness which prospers then seems to be beaten to earth only to rise again to heavenly triumph. Likewise there are two wild beasts mutually confirming and supporting each other as they wage war against the cause of righteousness. They present a formidable foe. But over against them God has a "twofold" instrument of warfare--the conquering Christ and the sickle of judgment. These prove to be too great for the two beasts to defeat. Thus, symbolically, we see the cause of righteousness triumph over evil.
The Number "3" Wishart suggests that man found in his primitive home the divinest thing that life had of offer him—father love, mother love, filial love. He found God reflected in the interplay of love and kindness and affection in his own household and began to think of the number "3" as a symbol of the divine. In his more thoughtful moments he carried that idea back into his conception of God, For this reason, doubtless, there appear glimmerings of a Trinity not only in the theology of the Hebrews but in the dreams of the Greeks. The divinest thing in life was "3" and the divine origin of life was "3." Here in the ultimate world ground were father love, mother love, and child love. Here, too, were the glimpses of the great mysteries which we express in the terms "Father," "Son," and "Holy Ghost". Three came to carry the thought of the divine.
The Number "4" When man went outside his home and looked about him, he had no conception of the modern world as we know it. No Copernicus had ever opened his eyes to the vast significance of the universe. To him the world was a great flat surface with four boundaries, east and west and north and south. There were four winds from the four sides of the earth. There were four angels, he thought, to govern the four winds. In the town he placed himself within the limit of four walls. Thus when he thought of the world he thought in terms of four. Four became the cosmic number. In Revelation there appear four living creatures symbolical of the four divisions of animal life of the world. There are four horsemen symbolical of the destructive powers of the world at war. The world in which men lived and worked and died was conveniently symbolized by "4".
The Numbers "5" and "10" Next, man turned from the study of his home and the world about him to study himself. Perhaps our decimal system arose from the intensive study by a man of his own fingers and toes. That was a crude and cruel age where many were maimed and crippled through disease, accident, or warfare. A perfect, full-rounded man was one who had all his members intact. So the number "5" doubled to "10" came to stand for human completeness. The whole duty of man was summed up in "10" commandments. The picture of complete power in government was that of a beast with ten horns. In Revelation the dragon, the first beast, and the scarlet beast have ten horns each, and in the case of this last beast the ten horns are called ten kings — complete world power as it appeared to belong to Rome with her provincial system. As a multiple, "10" occurs also in many of the higher numbers of Revelation; "70" = a very sacred number, "1000" = ultimate completeness—completeness raised to the nth degree, etc.
The Number "7" When man began to analyze and combine numbers, he developed other interesting symbols. He took the perfect world number "4" and added to it the perfect divine number "3" and got "7," the most sacred number to the Hebrews. It was earth crowned with heaven--the four-square earth plus the divine completeness of God. So we have "7" expressing completeness through union of earth with heaven. This number runs throughout the book of Revelation, There are seven Spirits, seven churches, seven golden candlesticks, seven stars, seven sections to the book, each, save the last, divided into seven parts. The sacred number, multiplied by the compete number "10," resulted in the very-sacred "70." There were seventy member of the Jewish high court, Jesus sent out seventy prepared workers. In a sweeping figure he presented the idea of an unlimited Christian forgiveness when he told a disciple to forgive his brother seventy times seven.
The Number "12" In the field of multiplication, "4" was multiplied by "3," and the resultant "12" became a well-known symbol. In Hebrew religious thought it was the symbol of organized religion in the world. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve gates to the Holy City in Revelation. This number was reduplicated to 144,000 when the writer of our Apocalypse wanted to picture the security of a perfect number sealed from the wrath of God visited upon the world.
The Number "3 and 1/2" In the realm of division the perfect number "7" was cut in half. The resulting "3 and 1/2" came to express the incomplete, that which was imperfect. It symbolized restless longings not yet fulfilled, aspirations unrealized. When the writer of apocalyptic wished to describe that condition, when he found it necessary to picture the world waiting for something which had not arrived, when he saw men in despair and confusion seeking for peace and light, he used "3 and 1/2." This takes several forms: "3 and 1/2," "a time, times, and a half time," "forty-two months," "1,260 days,"--all have the same meaning. In Revelation two witnesses preached "3 and 1/2" years--an indefinite time; the court of the Temple was trampled by the ungodly "3 and 1/2" years; the saints were persecuted "forty-two months;" the church was in the wilderness "1,260 days." Always "3 and 1/2" or its equivalent stood for the indefinite, the incomplete, the dissatisfied; but in it all were the hope and patient waiting for a better day when truth would be delivered from the scaffold and placed on the throne usurped by wrong.
The Number "6" One last number must be treated in this study of symbolism. To the Jew the number "6" had a sinister meaning. As "7" was the sacred, "6" fell short of it and failed. "Six" was the charge that met defeat, with success just in its grasp. It had within it the stroke of doom. It had the ability to be great but failed to measure up. It was for the Jew what "13" is for many today—an evil number. Some building skip from floor twelve to fourteen because thirteen is a bad rental proposition. Many hotels have rooms 12, 12A, and 14, but no 13, because no one wants to sleep in that room. It is possible that the dread of this number goes back to a night when thirteen man broke bread at the same table. From that room went one to commit the blackest betrayal in history and one to make the supreme sacrifice of history. Thus "6" was an evil number for the Jews. It is important to keep this in mind when we come to the number "666" in Revelation.
Conclusion From this observation of the symbolic use of numbers, it follows that the numbers which occur in the book of Revelation cannot be understood with real numerical value, nor even as round numbers. They are purely symbolic, and we must discard our mathematical ideas and seek to discover their symbolic significance. A large part of the unscriptural dispensationalism of the past and present is based upon a false view of the value of the numbers employed by the writer.
Apart from this symbolism of numbers in Revelation, there is an abundance of other figurative language. Many objects are used symbolically. Birds, beasts, persons, cities, elements of nature, weapons, qualities (1ight, darkness, etc.), precious stones--all these and many others are made to serve the writer's purpose as he gives to us his picture book of the triumph of righteousness over evil. "In this weird world of fantasy, peopled by a rich Oriental imagination with spectral shapes and uncouth figures, where angels flit, eagles and altars speak, and monsters rose from sea and land--in a world of this kind many Asiatic Christians of that age evidently were at home, and there the prophet's message had to find them." (James Moffatt) One cannot possibly approach the true interpretation of Revelation if he ignores this central characteristic.
Go to Revelation Chapters 1-5
Return to the General Commentary Page
This page is in two parts:
- An article on our general approach to the interpretation of the book of Revelation.
- The Symbolism of Numbers taken from a book Worthy is the Lamb by Ray Summers (Nashville: Broadman Press), pages 21-25 -- this complete section of Summers work is given here so that it can be quoted and copied in where appropriate throughout the commentary.
1. Basic Approach to Interpreting John's Revelation
by Dave Brown
It is important when approaching a complex part of the scriptures to have an overall idea as to what the readers' thought process will be in the interpretation. This is documented here not only to create a clarification in the mind of the writer of the commentary, but to alert the readers of the commentary as to the approach, so that appropriate skepticism can be applied. It is not at all our goal in this commentary to produce "the definitive work" or even to convince readers that this is the only thing it could possibly mean.
In fact, we should start by saying that the book of Revelation is of sufficient complexity, and there have been so many faithful Christians (to say nothing of the false teachers) that have come to different conclusions of passages within it, that we conclude that there had to be some intent on the part of the Holy Spirit to this end. Anyone who would say that his interpretation of every part of Revelation is beyond question should be summarily dismissed from providing any insight. In addition, those who would make parts of the book apply to specific days and events in our current time frame should similarly be dismissed -- the book was not written for such purposes, and any such claim is ample evidence that false teaching is in the making.
With that said, the question might arise, is it possible to get ANYTHING of current use out of a book that is obviously so obscure? Allow the first few verses of the book to answer this question -- Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand." Obviously those who believe this is the truth have to believe that something can be obtained NOW from reading or hearing the book read. It would be impossible to "keep the things that are written" if we cannot understand them. And why would we even write a commentary on our thoughts if we felt that understanding is impossible?
It is important at this point to grapple with what it is that we can and cannot understand. We can certainly see the basic principles that the book is expressing, and we can realize its basic goal and its basic theme. These will become apparent fairly quickly; but there is no reason that one should not take a look at Chapters 21 and 22 at the outset just to get a feel about its ultimate outcome. Indeed this will produce a knowledge, albeit incomplete, of the intent of the book.
A major key is given in Revelation 1:1: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, (even) the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified (it) by his angel unto his servant John ..." That key is the word "shortly." It is clear that this book was written to those who were in tribulation, as indicated in 1:9: "I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation ..." When these people read about things that would "shortly come to pass," they would certainly not understand that this meant in a few hundred or thousand years years. So a major interpretation key will be for us to look to the history of the early persecuted church to identify those things that are being described.
Does this mean that the book has no application to us today? Not at all. While we should not misuse it to try to convince people we know that certain things are going to happen involving specific current names, dates, events and places, there is no reason at all that we should not observe the principles that are being expressed by the book. Let us just suggest a sampling of them at the outset to give an idea of what we are proposing. The following are the types of principles that we can glean from the book and thus enable us to make the proper applications to our current day and age:
- The ever present and persistent nature of the desire for power of some over others;
- The formalization and use of this power in political and military ways;
- The nature of immorality and corruption;
- The use of immorality and corruption in the accumulation of power;
- God's attitude toward these corruptions to His Way;
- God's attitude toward those who would keep themselves pure in the worldly environment that we find ourselves;
- God's care of the faithful upon the earth, enabling them to withstand the persecution that naturally emanates from evil worldliness;
- The ultimate victory of those who are faithful.
This is not an exhaustive list by any means. And while the reader might go down this list and think: "Oh, I know all about that!" -- to this we respond -- don't be so sure and arrogant as to think that you cannot learn something from a detailed study of the book of Revelation. If all you needed was to read the list above, then God would not have troubled John to write the book of Revelation. If you want the blessing that comes from reading and hearing it -- you have to read and/or hear it.
In applying the types of principles listed above, we will view the details within various seals, trumpets and bowls as refer to (1) some immediate events that would occur shortly; but also to (2) recurring events, as opposed to their being isolated and interpreted in terms of just one or a very small number of comparable events and then having no further application. We believe that this is the correct approach for several reasons, but mainly that human nature has not changed since the events of the Garden of Eden. As such, while we are not able to nail down definitively what every symbol might represent in terms of history or prophecy, we can look beyond these specifics to see and apply these principles of human nature, and for that matter, the principles of the good and evil angelic forces that are reflective of a war in heaven that was comparable to that taking place on earth.
Clearly the opening chapter establishes that these things “are shortly coming to pass,” and no doubt some of them may have been in process at the time that John received the vision. To apply the satanic figures to Rome and the apostate church is a natural initial interpretation, and one that we would expect the early Christians in the first and second centuries to make. However, we know things that would prevent this from being totally restrictive:
- Some things have not yet come to pass, e.g., the judgment and final glorification of the saints shown in Chapters 20-22;
- All readers of the book for all times are promised to be blessed in reading and hearing the book read;
- The nature of mankind, his thirst for power and desire to rule like God, has not changed, nor has the nature of God’s people as pilgrims in this world; and
- The nature or the ruler of this world, Satan, including his ability to deceive the vast majority of humankind that is currently alive on this earth.
In not limiting the application to first and second century Rome, we also sound the alarm against those who would misuse the book to state that certain passages are referring only to particular contemporary events.
Can we see events that are very much like those described in the book of Revelation unfolding around us? Absolutely. Can we say that any particular verse is being fulfilled by any of these events to the exclusion of others? If/when we do so we violate Revelations 22:18-19, and the very possibility of that is something that should strike fear into all of our hearts.
2. THE SYMBOLISM OF NUMBERS
Source: Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press), pp. 21-25
The inner significance of numbers was a kind of device which always had fascination for the Oriental mind. In that early day, when language was primitive and the vocabulary meager, one Hebrew word sometimes was compelled to do duty for a score of diverse meanings. Under such conditions men came naturally to use numbers as we use words. They were the symbols of moral or spiritual truth. A certain number would suggest a definite concept. The conceptions arose quite naturally through certain primitive associations- Just as the sound of a given word by long habit calls up the corresponding idea, so a certain number, by acquired association, called up a definite concept. Such numbers become symbols and cannot be read with the literal exactness that we employ when interpreting mathematical formulae.
The Number "1" After this fashion men saw a single object and came to associate with the number "1" the idea of unity or independent existence. It stood for that which was unique and alone. This word does not appear symbolically in the book of Revelation. It is, of course, at the base of other numbers that do appear--some frequently.
The Number "2" Amid the dangers of primitive life, with a fear of wild beasts, or of hostile attack by his enemies constantly before him, man gained courage in companionship. Two were far stronger and more effective than one. Thus the number "2" came to stand for strengthening, for confirmation, for redoubled courage and energy. There was a symbolic significance in the fact that Jesus sent his disciples forth two by two. Two witnesses confirmed the truth, and their testimony which otherwise would have been weak was made strong. Always this number meant augmented strength, redoubled energy, confirmed power. So in the book of Revelation the truth of God is confirmed by two witnesses who are slain and rise again and ascend to heaven. This symbolizes a strong witness which prospers then seems to be beaten to earth only to rise again to heavenly triumph. Likewise there are two wild beasts mutually confirming and supporting each other as they wage war against the cause of righteousness. They present a formidable foe. But over against them God has a "twofold" instrument of warfare--the conquering Christ and the sickle of judgment. These prove to be too great for the two beasts to defeat. Thus, symbolically, we see the cause of righteousness triumph over evil.
The Number "3" Wishart suggests that man found in his primitive home the divinest thing that life had of offer him—father love, mother love, filial love. He found God reflected in the interplay of love and kindness and affection in his own household and began to think of the number "3" as a symbol of the divine. In his more thoughtful moments he carried that idea back into his conception of God, For this reason, doubtless, there appear glimmerings of a Trinity not only in the theology of the Hebrews but in the dreams of the Greeks. The divinest thing in life was "3" and the divine origin of life was "3." Here in the ultimate world ground were father love, mother love, and child love. Here, too, were the glimpses of the great mysteries which we express in the terms "Father," "Son," and "Holy Ghost". Three came to carry the thought of the divine.
The Number "4" When man went outside his home and looked about him, he had no conception of the modern world as we know it. No Copernicus had ever opened his eyes to the vast significance of the universe. To him the world was a great flat surface with four boundaries, east and west and north and south. There were four winds from the four sides of the earth. There were four angels, he thought, to govern the four winds. In the town he placed himself within the limit of four walls. Thus when he thought of the world he thought in terms of four. Four became the cosmic number. In Revelation there appear four living creatures symbolical of the four divisions of animal life of the world. There are four horsemen symbolical of the destructive powers of the world at war. The world in which men lived and worked and died was conveniently symbolized by "4".
The Numbers "5" and "10" Next, man turned from the study of his home and the world about him to study himself. Perhaps our decimal system arose from the intensive study by a man of his own fingers and toes. That was a crude and cruel age where many were maimed and crippled through disease, accident, or warfare. A perfect, full-rounded man was one who had all his members intact. So the number "5" doubled to "10" came to stand for human completeness. The whole duty of man was summed up in "10" commandments. The picture of complete power in government was that of a beast with ten horns. In Revelation the dragon, the first beast, and the scarlet beast have ten horns each, and in the case of this last beast the ten horns are called ten kings — complete world power as it appeared to belong to Rome with her provincial system. As a multiple, "10" occurs also in many of the higher numbers of Revelation; "70" = a very sacred number, "1000" = ultimate completeness—completeness raised to the nth degree, etc.
The Number "7" When man began to analyze and combine numbers, he developed other interesting symbols. He took the perfect world number "4" and added to it the perfect divine number "3" and got "7," the most sacred number to the Hebrews. It was earth crowned with heaven--the four-square earth plus the divine completeness of God. So we have "7" expressing completeness through union of earth with heaven. This number runs throughout the book of Revelation, There are seven Spirits, seven churches, seven golden candlesticks, seven stars, seven sections to the book, each, save the last, divided into seven parts. The sacred number, multiplied by the compete number "10," resulted in the very-sacred "70." There were seventy member of the Jewish high court, Jesus sent out seventy prepared workers. In a sweeping figure he presented the idea of an unlimited Christian forgiveness when he told a disciple to forgive his brother seventy times seven.
The Number "12" In the field of multiplication, "4" was multiplied by "3," and the resultant "12" became a well-known symbol. In Hebrew religious thought it was the symbol of organized religion in the world. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve gates to the Holy City in Revelation. This number was reduplicated to 144,000 when the writer of our Apocalypse wanted to picture the security of a perfect number sealed from the wrath of God visited upon the world.
The Number "3 and 1/2" In the realm of division the perfect number "7" was cut in half. The resulting "3 and 1/2" came to express the incomplete, that which was imperfect. It symbolized restless longings not yet fulfilled, aspirations unrealized. When the writer of apocalyptic wished to describe that condition, when he found it necessary to picture the world waiting for something which had not arrived, when he saw men in despair and confusion seeking for peace and light, he used "3 and 1/2." This takes several forms: "3 and 1/2," "a time, times, and a half time," "forty-two months," "1,260 days,"--all have the same meaning. In Revelation two witnesses preached "3 and 1/2" years--an indefinite time; the court of the Temple was trampled by the ungodly "3 and 1/2" years; the saints were persecuted "forty-two months;" the church was in the wilderness "1,260 days." Always "3 and 1/2" or its equivalent stood for the indefinite, the incomplete, the dissatisfied; but in it all were the hope and patient waiting for a better day when truth would be delivered from the scaffold and placed on the throne usurped by wrong.
The Number "6" One last number must be treated in this study of symbolism. To the Jew the number "6" had a sinister meaning. As "7" was the sacred, "6" fell short of it and failed. "Six" was the charge that met defeat, with success just in its grasp. It had within it the stroke of doom. It had the ability to be great but failed to measure up. It was for the Jew what "13" is for many today—an evil number. Some building skip from floor twelve to fourteen because thirteen is a bad rental proposition. Many hotels have rooms 12, 12A, and 14, but no 13, because no one wants to sleep in that room. It is possible that the dread of this number goes back to a night when thirteen man broke bread at the same table. From that room went one to commit the blackest betrayal in history and one to make the supreme sacrifice of history. Thus "6" was an evil number for the Jews. It is important to keep this in mind when we come to the number "666" in Revelation.
Conclusion From this observation of the symbolic use of numbers, it follows that the numbers which occur in the book of Revelation cannot be understood with real numerical value, nor even as round numbers. They are purely symbolic, and we must discard our mathematical ideas and seek to discover their symbolic significance. A large part of the unscriptural dispensationalism of the past and present is based upon a false view of the value of the numbers employed by the writer.
Apart from this symbolism of numbers in Revelation, there is an abundance of other figurative language. Many objects are used symbolically. Birds, beasts, persons, cities, elements of nature, weapons, qualities (1ight, darkness, etc.), precious stones--all these and many others are made to serve the writer's purpose as he gives to us his picture book of the triumph of righteousness over evil. "In this weird world of fantasy, peopled by a rich Oriental imagination with spectral shapes and uncouth figures, where angels flit, eagles and altars speak, and monsters rose from sea and land--in a world of this kind many Asiatic Christians of that age evidently were at home, and there the prophet's message had to find them." (James Moffatt) One cannot possibly approach the true interpretation of Revelation if he ignores this central characteristic.
Go to Revelation Chapters 1-5
Return to the General Commentary Page