beast; saying to them that should make an image to the dwell on the earth, that they beast, which had the wound by of the beast mentioned in the verse we have before us, who represented the wonder-working power of the pagan priests. But we shall speak further on these subjects under the next verse. 14. By the means of those miracles. We are told, that the frogs which came out of the mouth of the false prophet, "are the spirits of devils [adversaries] working miracles;" xvi. 13, 14; and it is also said: "The beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him;" xix. 20. It is said of the second beast that "he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men; and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." Do not these passages, when compared, justify the conclusion that by the second beast was intended those false prophets, or teachers of the pagan religion, who falsely pretended to perform miracles, and who were so skilled in wicked works of art and legerdemain, that they actually deceived the people in regard to those things? It surely is not intended that they actually performed these miracles; for false prophets, as we have shown under the preceding verse, cannot really perform miracles; and, moreover, had they really performed miracles, they would not have been represented as deceiving the people, which all along the second beast, or false prophet, is represented as having done. It is well to bear in mind, that the second beast existed simultaneously with the first, otherwise he could not have performed his alleged miracles in his sight. False prophets, in all ages of the world, have pretended to perform miracles; and have sometimes carried on their deceptions with so much adroitness as to give them greatly the appearance of reality. Such was the case with the Egyptian sorcerers and magicians in Pharaoh's court, Exod. vii. 11, as we have before noticed. Jesus foretold, that at the second advent "many false prophets should arise;" Matt. xxiv. 11; and again, that there should arise "false Christs, [anti-Christs,] and false prophets, who should show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect;" verse 24; and all the rest of the world they did deceive. See Mark xiii. 22. Paul described the false prophet to the church at Thessalonica. He calls him the "man of sin," "the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God ;' 2. Thess. ii. 4; [hence, his blasphemy.] And again he says: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ;" verses 8-10. The phrase, "spirit of his mouth," will be explained by the following passages. Jesus said, Rev. ii. 16: "I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth;" i. e., the piercing power of his word. Hence it is said, (i. 16,) "Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword;" and Paul said: "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," &c.; Heb. iv. 12; and in Ephesians he tells us, that "the sword of the spirit" is "the word of God;" vi. 17. The consuming with the spirit of his mouth, or fighting with the sword of his mouth, refers to the power of his a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause word. The false prophet would be slain with the power of the divine word, at the coming of Christ, or the full establishment of Christianity. that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, beast, perhaps, or some significant appellation showing that they acknowledged the beast's authority. In their right hand, or in their fore15. Give life unto the image of the heads. The false prophet had a wide beast. It is no more meant here that influence in the empire. He caused the false prophet could give life to all, of every degree, to be most pubthe image of the beast, than it was licly known as the adherents of the intended in the preceding verse that beast, to wear his brand, or mark, he could actually perform miracles. in their right hand, to denote that all He merely had the power to make their power was given to him, or in the image of the beast appear as if it their forehead, as the most public were alive. Reference seems to be avowal of their adherence. They had here to some idol, or oracle, were not permitted to remain neutral. highly respected in the empire, per- In the most public manner they must haps made in the image of some of avow, and with their strongest enerthe great men deceased, or perhaps gies they must defend, the interests of the reigning emperor; and the of the beast. Those who received false prophet made the oracle appear the mark of the beast, or in other to speak, as it was once generally words acknowledged his authority, thought the oracle did; and the ora- were made to suffer all the punishcle announced "that as many as ments that fell upon the enemies of the would not worship the image of the Lord Jesus. See xiv. 9-11, where beast," or the oracle, one of the will be found a more full explanation essential props of the pagan religion of this subject. See, also, xvi. 2;, xix. of antiquity, "should be killed," 20. But those who got the victory which the secular power would of over the beast and over his "mark,' course see fit to have done. These were the friends of God. They worwere terrific times to the poor Chris- shipped God, and sang the song of tians. Here we see the deception Moses and the Lamb, xv, 2, and they that was carried on by this false lived and reigned with Christ, upon prophet, and also the cruelty that the earth; xx. 4. They had the reigned in his heart. Mark the lan-name of God and of the New Jerusaguage: "The image of the beast lem written upon them, the Father's should both speak and cause that as name being in their foreheads. "Him many as would not worship the image that overcometh will I make a pillar of the beast should be killed." Is it in the temple of my God, and he shall not true then, as stated in the 11th go no more out; and I will write verse, that "he spake as a dragon?" upon him the name of my God, and He was auxiliary to the dragon; he the name of the city of my God, moved at his bidding; he deceived which is new Jerusalem, which comthe people, and used all his arts and eth_down out of heaven from my intrigue to subserve the cause of the God; and I will write upon him my dragon and the seven-headed beast. new name;" Rev. iii. 12. See also xiv. 1: "And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four 16. Receive a mark; -i. e., as a sign of their allegiance to the beast. It was the name, or number of the free and bond, to receive a mark | buy or sell, save he that had in their right hand, or in their the mark, or the name of the foreheads; beast, or the number of his 17 And that no man might name. thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." The false prophet also sought to regulate trade and commerce among men, and turn even those things to the advantage of the beast. See the remarks under the next verse. those who were with them; they have been aided in their secular employments; their places of sale have been largely patronized. But on the other hand, opposite means have been used. The opponent of the dominant power, however pure, however honest he may have been, has been put down. The strong arm has crushed him. His business has been undermined; and every means have been adopted to bring on his ruin. Let all who have ever followed practices of this kind see that they have been apt learners in the school of the false prophet of the Apocalypse. 17. No man might buy or sell.. After having compelled men, by the fear of losing their lives, to avow their allegiance to the beast in the most public manner, and to consecrate their strongest and most active powers to his service, he procured it to be established that no other man should buy or sell. If there were any backwardness which brought suspi- 18. Here is wisdom. - The subject cion upon a man that he was not a of this verse was probably regarded friend of the beast, if the proof were as important, and perhaps was easily not strong enough to convict him, understood at the time the book was and thus produce his death, then his written. At this day it is much more business should be entirely broken difficult to give it a construction. up. All means of livelihood were "Here is wisdom," or here wisdom is thus to be taken away from those required. As if he had said, this can who would not give their influence be understood only by the wise, or the to the pagan religion. They were initiated. To those who could undercrippled in every manner possible; stand the matter, this was probably they were continually harassed; all the most definite description of the means, however unjust, that would power intended by the beast, that is have an effect to coerce the people contained in the whole allegory. The into the service of the beast, were Apocalypse was probably written in resorted to. We have seen how will- the allegorical style, that while it ing, how active, how efficient an benefitted the Christians, who would auxiliary was this second beast, or understand it, it would not so greatly false prophet, the lamb-like in appear-provoke their enemies, who would ance, the dragon-like in nature, the not so readily comprehend it, as if pagan priests and sorcerers. There written in a more direct and plain was none other power in the empire that at all came up to the description of the revelator, except the power we have now described. It has been one of the most common means employed by false religionists in all ages of the world, to compel men to adopt their views and subserve their interests, by interfering with their worldly business. Every advantage has been thrown by them into the hands of manner. The metaphors, therefore, are such as were drawn principally from the sacred Jewish books, which the Christians would readily comprehend, but their heathen enemies would not. In this way the revelator sought to instruct his brethren, without unnecessarily exciting the vengeance of their enemies. Having set forth the persecuting power under the figure of the beast, he comes at last 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding to show more definitely what power he meant, by a process which would furnish positive information to those who could understand. But peculiar wisdom was required; none but him who had understanding could "count the number." Count the number. What number? Ans. "The number of his name;" ver. 17. See also chap. xv. 2, where we find proof that the beast referred to was not the twohorned beast, but the principal, the one with ten horns, whose image the people worshipped. And what was meant by "the number of his name?" Everybody knows, that previously to the invention of figures, in the tenth century, the letters of the alphabet had been used as numerals. It was so among the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, and we suppose many other nations. Proofs of this are abundant. Let the common reader look at the 119th Psalm, and he will find the sections of it numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., by the use of the Hebrew letters Aleph, (A, or 1,) Beth, (B, or 2,) Gimel, (3,) Daleth, (4,) &c. A similar system of numeration has just been introduced into the army of the United States; and instead of marking the companies of a regiment 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., they are called company A, company B, &c. We will suppose then, for the sake of an illustration, that all the letters of our alphabet have a numerical value, thus, A 1 G 7 M 40 S 100 B 2 H 8 N 50 T 200 Y 700 Z 800 666. The Christian fathers began right early to find out the secret of the revelator (for they sought to be very precise) by "counting the number of the beast.' They forgot the premonition "Here is wisdom;" and "let him [only] that hath understanding count the number of the beast." They brought it out in the following manner. We give the Roman instead of the Greek letters, and use the letters according to the system which then prevailed. E (the Greek article) THE LATIN KINGDOM. 8 ELALINE BASILETA 200 that the letters in the words E Latiné When the discovery was made, Basileia, made up the number six hundred and sixty-six, there remained for some time no doubt that The Latin Kingdom [in Greek E Latine Basileia] was the beast. If the reader will look into Adam Clarke's Commentary, he will find that writer was carried utterly away with this idea. But the whole is a fallacy, for this one plain reason, that the same let ters, in a different arrangement, would spell different words, and yet would have just the same numeral result. It makes no difference into how many different arrangements you put the letters; they always amount to 666. This mode of calculation, therefore, has fallen into discredit, from the fact, count the number of the beast: | for it is the number of a man; resulting from experience, that there is no end to the multitude of names which may be composed by such fabrications; and that not only the antichristian chiefs, but the most eminent of our reformers may be, and have been thus designated by their adversaries. The Hebrew words for Luther amount to 666, a circumstance which has caused the Catholics to offset against the Protestants the attempts to show that the apocalyptical beast had some connection with the papal church. It is also a remarkable fact, that the Hebrew words for "The Most High, the Lord, the Holy God," amount to precisely 666. See Calmet's Dictionary, under the word Anti-Christ, where he gives a tabular view of words, or names, the numeral force of which is that number. We are then thrown back upon our inquiry, what is meant by "the number of his name?" Shall we attempt to answer? The very language forbids; "Here is wisdom;" here lies the secret, which none but those who had an understanding of the revelator's enigma can explain. It is "the number of a man," although it is called "the number of the beast." The number is 666. Whether the revelator used the Hebrew or Greek letters for numerals, those who were instructed in the matter knew. They explained it to others. The number was the key to denote the power referred to. We content ourself with knowing that the Roman Empire in general was intended by the beast with seven heads and ten horns. The name of some eminent opposer of the church, perhaps one of the emperors, was intended by "the number of the beast." But this is conjecture. The Christians at the time knew. We are checked by the admonition, "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast." We have not that understanding. Cruden explains the matter very wisely, and we shall leave it where he does: "The number of the beast, or the number of the name of the beast, stands for the numerical value of the letters that compose his name." Having offered our own opinion, we add to the above, the conjecture of Prof. Stuart, since, if he be correct, it agrees with what we have stated. He says: "Quite recently, however, Prof. Benary, of Berlin, has proposed a more ingenious, and to my mind more satisfactory, explanation of the nodus in question, than any with which I have before met. He regards it as nearly certain, that the letters indicative of the number in question, must be Hebrew letters, although he does not seem to have given a satisfactory reason. The very design however, of partial concealment, seems to be, as I have already hinted, a good reason for the adoption of this method by John. A heathen Greek or Roman would not be likely to divine the writer's meaning, in case the latter designed to make the appeal to Hebrew letters or words; while there were everywhere Jewish Christians in the churches, who could easily unravel it. Benary remarks, that in the Talmud and other Rabbinical writings, the name of Nero [in the Hebrew form] often occurs. This amounts numerically to the number of the beast; for the force of the Hebrew letters added together is 666. Nor is this all. There was another method of writing and pronouncing the name of Nero, approaching nearer to the Roman method. This was the Hebrew letters for Nero Cæsar, which amount numerically to just 616, and thus gives a good ground for the diverse reading which Irenæus found in some codices. This is surely a remarkable coincidence. The same name, pronounced after the Greek and Hebrew analogy, equals numerically the sum of 666, but spoken in the Latin way it amounts to 616, which is the rival reading. Nothing can be more |
