666 - The Number of Man, Borrowed Power, and
Measured Time
“This calls for wisdom: let the one who has
understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man,
and his number is 666.”
— Revelation 13:18
The Bible does not present 666 as a puzzle for speculation,
but as a truth to be understood. Scripture itself defines the framework.
This number is not mystical, technological, or random — it is theological.
It is the number of a man.
God Said — and It Was
Before we can understand counterfeit power, we must begin with
true authority.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there
was light.”
— Genesis 1:3
God speaks, and reality responds.
He does not borrow power.
He does not imitate.
He does not demand allegiance.
He commands creation into existence by His word
alone.
Time itself begins the same way:
“And God said… let them be for signs and for
seasons, and for days and years.”
— Genesis 1:14
Time belongs to God because He created it.
Every authority that follows operates within the bounds of what God has
already spoken.
Why Six Is the Number of Man
Man was created on the sixth day.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image…’”
— Genesis 1:26
Six represents humanity:
- Created
- Finite
- Dependent
- Always
one short of divine completion
Seven is God’s number — rest, fullness, completion.
Six never reaches seven independently; only God completes man.
Why 666 Is Not Accidental
666 is not merely repetition — it is intensification.
It is man:
- Exalting
himself
- Centralising
authority
- Replacing
God
- Demanding
worship
It is humanism fully enthroned.
Man at his highest possible expression — still fallen,
still incomplete, still dependent.
Man multiplied is not God.
Why Some Prophecies Name People — and This One Does
Not
A fair
question arises: If prophecy sometimes names individuals, why is this man
not named?
Scripture
names people when the goal is recognition, not discernment. Cyrus,
Josiah, and ultimately Jesus are named so faith would know who to
follow and what God is doing in history.
When
Scripture warns of deception, it deliberately withholds a name.
Daniel
gives no name.
Paul gives no name.
John gives no name.
Instead,
they give descriptions, patterns, limits, and a number.
God names
what we are meant to trust.
God describes what we are meant to test.
A name
would narrow the warning.
666 broadens it.
It does not
tell us who the man is —
It tells us what he is: man exalted without God, operating with borrowed
authority, demanding worship he does not own.
“This calls for wisdom…”
— Revelation 13:18
The danger
is not missing the man.
The danger is embracing the mindset.
Permission vs Approval — A Lesson from the Ten
Commandments
Even in God’s law, the distinction between permission and
approval is clear. The Ten Commandments reveal the boundaries God sets —
and show that rebellion against those boundaries does not negate His authority.
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image… You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain.”
— Exodus 20:3–7
God permits mankind to act within free will. He
allows choices, even those that break His law. But permission does not equal
endorsement.
- A
man may act, speak, or even “rule” temporarily.
- That
action may be allowed, but it is never approved.
- Ownership
or authority over what God commands is never theirs to claim.
The beast in Daniel and Revelation illustrates the same
principle on a cosmic scale: he exercises borrowed authority, behaves as
though it is his own, but God alone holds true approval and sovereignty.
Permission must never be confused with approval.
Allowance must never be mistaken for ownership.
This is the eternal lesson of 666: supernatural
power, without God’s commissioning, is always temporary, deceptive, and doomed.
Why Scripture Refuses to Name the Man
A common
question arises whenever 666 is discussed: Do we know who this man is?
Scripture’s answer is deliberate — no name is given.
This is not
an omission. It is a safeguard.
Revelation
does not invite the Church to hunt for a personality, but to discern a
pattern. The warning is not about identifying a face, but about recognising
a spirit, a system, and a posture of man exalted without God.
“Even now many antichrists have come.”
— 1 John 2:18
The Bible
speaks in the plural because the pattern precedes the person.
Why Naming a Man Too Early Is a
Mistake
History
confirms this restraint. Every generation has attempted to attach 666 to a
ruler, pope, emperor, or modern leader — and every attempt has failed. Not
because prophecy was unclear, but because prophecy was never meant to
function that way.
If God had
given a name, the Church would watch the man.
By withholding the name,
God forces us to watch the spirit.
What Is
on the Radar
Scripture
places unmistakable markers before us:
- Man exalting himself
above God
- Authority centralised
in human hands
- Worship redirected from
Creator to creation
- Supernatural power that
is real, yet permitted
- Law and time treated as
malleable
- Rule confined to a
God-assigned window
These
traits can be seen long before the final expression appears. They
surface in ideologies, systems, and leaders that normalise human sovereignty
without divine submission.
The Point
Scripture Presses Home
The danger
is not missing the man.
The danger is embracing the mindset.
666 is not
merely a future headline — it is a theological warning. It exposes what happens
when humanity crowns itself supreme while borrowing power it does not own.
Permission
must never be confused with approval.
Allowance must never be mistaken for ownership.
Final Press
Scripture
does not ask, “Can you name him?”
It asks, “Can you discern him?”
Because
when the final man appears, he will not introduce himself as evil — he will
arrive as the solution.
And only
those anchored in God’s Word will recognise that six, no matter how
multiplied, never becomes seven without God.
The Fatal Confusion: Permission vs Ownership
Satan and the man he empowers mistake allowance for
entitlement.
Daniel exposes this arrogance:
“He shall think to change the times
and the law…”
— Daniel 7:25
He thinks he can control time — because he has
power.
But time belongs to God alone:
“He changes times and seasons; He
removes kings and sets up kings.”
— Daniel 2:21
This is why the beast does not seize time — it is assigned:
“…for a time, times, and half a
time.”
Three and a half years.
Measured. Limited. Temporary.
Why God Allows the Window
This limited authority serves God’s purposes:
- To
judge rejected truth
- To
expose false worship
- To
refine the saints
- To
reveal the emptiness of power without righteousness
“Many shall be purified, made white,
and refined…”
— Daniel 12:10
What appears to be triumph is actually a
countdown.
The Final Contrast
Scripture places two voices before us:
God said — and it was.
The beast speaks — and demands.
God creates by command. The beast rules by coercion.
God defines time. The beast is trapped inside it.
“Authority was given to him to continue for
forty-two months.”
— Revelation 13:5
Given. Limited. Removed.
The End Was Written Before the Rise
Daniel leaves no ambiguity:
“But the court shall sit in judgment, and his
dominion shall be taken away.”
— Daniel 7:26
The same God who said, ‘Let there be light’ will say, ‘Enough.’
And when He speaks, power will not argue.
Final Anchor
666 is man exalted without God.
Supernatural — yet dependent.
Powerful — yet temporary.
Worshipped — yet doomed.
Man at his best without God remains six, never seven.
Borrowed power always shouts. True authority speaks.
God said — and it was.
To God be the glory now and forever more, Hallowed be your
name!
Signing off
Tyrone
