666

A lot of people speculate on the meaning of the 666 in Revelation.  Research turned up some interesting information that is too much of a coincidence so I wanted to pass it on.

The Rosary

Different forms of the rosary are prayed in Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam along with other denominations.  In each of these religions, the rosary is a string of beads on a string or knotted cord. Prayers are repeated as the beads are counted.

It says in the Bible that the only true way to God is by having a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ death on the cross for our sins.  However, many  religions in the world today tell people that if they say certain prayers over and over they can get God to hear them.  This type of worship is false and is blasphemy to God.  God doesn’t want us to repeat empty prayers over and over to Him.

The Bible says in Matthew 6:7:  “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking”.

God wants to have a personal relationship with you.  When you pray just tell Him what your needs are, thank Him for His blessings, ask forgiveness when you do wrong and basically just have a chat with Him about things going on in your life.

Ok so now the 666 part:

Revelation 17:3 says:  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, FULL OF NAMES OF BLASPHEMY, having seven heads and ten horns.

This beast in Revelation 17 represents a religious and government organization that evolves and merges together as one during the tribulation.

The seven heads are interpreted in Revelation 17:9 as seven hills and represent Rome.  The ten horns are government leaders, probably the UN Security Council, because it already has ten ambassadors that represent the whole world right now.

The names of blasphemies on the beast represent the different false religions in the world.  The color scarlet represents sin and means this beast organization is covered completely in sin and is totally against God,- both the government and the religious sections.

In doing research on the world religions today I found a strange common denominator with these prayer beads.

I  found that each of the main religions, besides the Jews, in the world have prayer beads.  Below is a description of prayer beads from Wikipedia.  Notice the description says the beads are used to “count” prayers.

“Prayer beads are traditionally used to keep count of the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions by adherents of religion. Since the beads can be fingered in an automatic manner, they allow one to keep track of how many prayers have been said with a minimal amount of conscious effort…”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_beads

Below I’ve included a list of all the major world religions and the number of their prayer beads.

Bahá’í Faith (95 counts) Bahá’ís recite the phrase “Alláhu Abhá”, a form of the Greatest Name, 95 times per day…There are two main types of Baha’i prayer beads. One consists of 95 beads… The other main type has 19 beads strung with the addition of five beads below. This counts Alláhu Abhá 95 times (19*5).

Buddhism (108-111 counts) Prayer beads, or Japa Malas, are also used in many forms of Mahayana Buddhism, often with a lesser number of beads (usually a divisor of 108).Malas are also used in many forms of Mahayana Buddhism, often with a lesser number of beads (usually a divisor of 108). In Pure Land Buddhism, for instance, 27 bead malas are common. In China such malas are named “Shu-Zhu” (数珠); in Japan, “Juzu”. These shorter malas are sometimes called ‘prostration rosaries’, because they are easier to hold when enumerating repeated prostrations. In Tibetan Buddhism malas are also 108 beads: one mala counts as 100 mantras, and the 8 extra are meant to be dedicated to all sentient beings (the practice as a whole is dedicated at its end as well). because they are . In Tibetan Buddhism, often larger malas are used of for example 111 beads: when counting, they calculate one mala as 100 mantras, and the 11 additional beads are taken as extra to compensate for errors.

Catholic (59-60 counts) The Rosary is an important and traditional devotion of the Roman Catholic Church, combining prayer and meditation in sequences of reciting prayers of an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and a Glory Be to the Father, as well as a number of other prayers (such as the Apostle’s Creed and the Hail Holy Queen) at the beginning and end.

Anglican Rosary (33 counts) In the mid-1980s the Anglican Rosary or “Christian prayer beads” was developed in the Episcopal Church. They have since been adopted by some Protestants. The set consists of 33 beads (representing the 33 years of the life of Christ) arranged in four groupings of symbolic significance.

Pearls of Life (18 counts) The contemporary Pearls of Life, Lutheran Church, is a set of 18 beads, some round and some elongated, arranged in an irregular pattern.

Hinduism (108 counts) The earliest use of prayer beads can be traced to Hinduism, where they are called Japa Mala. Japa Mala is the repeating of the name of a deity.  Japa mala are used for repetition of a deity, for other forms of spiritual exercise, and as an aid to meditation. The most common Japa mala have 108 beads.

Islam (99 counts) In Islam, prayer beads are referred to as Misbaha or Tasbih, and contain 99 beads, corresponding to the 99 Names of Allah. Sometimes only 33 beads are used, in which case one would cycle through them 3 times to equal 99. Use of the Misbaha to count prayers and recitations is an evolution of Muhammad’s practice of using the fingers of his right hand to keep track.  They are most commonly made of wooden beads, but also of olive seeds, ivory, amber, pearls or plastic.

Sikhism (108 counts) Sikhs use …108 beads.

I’ve even read on the internet where Baptist have started using prayer beads to stay focus.

Non-denominational (28 counts) Non-denominational prayer beads borrow from many traditions without adhering solely to any one religion or creed. They are neutral in nature so that, as a spiritual practice, they can fit into an already existing belief set as easily as they can stand on their own. Non-denominational prayer beads can act as a focusing tool in prayer or meditation.

Here’s the verse in Revelation 13:18

“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

If you total up the prayer beads from the major world religions you get approx.  660.  If you total up the prayer beads from all religions except Christian (the Catholic rosary) then you come up with approx. 600.  The Catholic rosary makes up 59-60 beads.

My theory is the Vatican Catholic church plays a big part in combining the religions together to make up the beast talked about in Revelation 17, so the number 60 may be important when you reference the way the verse in Revelation states the number.  Revelation 13:18 says the number is 600 – 60 – 6.

But the number we are looking for is 666.  So where does the other 6 come in?  I don’t know right now but It’s possible that there are 6 groups of 100 then 3 groups of 20 then 6.

Note: I don’t predict a date for the rapture, only God the Father knows the day and hour.  But there are TOO many things going on right now that validate Christ’s SOON return and Christ’s Word tells us that we as His children are NOT in darkness that that day should overtake us like a thief. (1 Thess 5:4)

He tells us in Matthew 24:44 to watch and be ready.  He also tells us over and over that we will not know the day or the hour of Christ’s return but it doesn’t say we won’t know the season, month or even the week.  Matt 24:36, Matt 24:42, Matt 24,44, Matt 24:50, Matt 25:13, 1 Thess 5:2, 1 Thess 5:4, 2 Peter 3:10, Rev. 3:3, Rev. 16:15

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