“...for it is a number that stands for a certain man. The man's number is six hundred sixty-six.” --Revelations 13:18. How did the Bible come up with a number to represent the name of The Beast? In the same chapter the Apostle John tells us that anyone with a little intelligence can figure it out. Yet in our time the number remains a mystery. People who claim they know who the Beast is are going about their conclusions the wrong way. For example, when Ronald Reagan was elected President, some people put six and six together, as it were. “Ronald—six letters. Wilson—six letters. Reagan—six letters! It's 666—Reagan is the Antichrist!” That's not how it's done. In ancient Rome certain letters had a certain numerical value. Orthodox Jews should be familiar with this technique, because it is the same with the Hebrew aleph-bet. Different letters have different numerical values, so that a series of letters, such as a person's name, can have a total numerical value by adding up the value of each letter. The Romans knew this technique too. For instance, Emperor Nero's name had a certain numerical value. And it was a well-known fact, even at the time, that Nero had his own mother assassinated. The citizens of Rome, who did not like Nero very much, took great delight in calculating the numerical value of Nero's name, which by either coincidence or design had the same value as the sentence “He murdered his mother.” Saint John was familiar with this technique as well, because he said that anyone could figure out the name of the Beast as his name had the same numerical value as the total sum of six hundred and sixty-six. So as it was with Hebrew, it was the same in the Greek alphabet, which John used in writing Revelations, or the Roman block-letter alphabet. Because modern Westerners don't really know how this little “game” was played by the ancients (The Hebrew value was not the same as the Roman value) we can only speculate. And as in the case of the three names of Ronald Wilson Reagan, some people get the technique all wrong anyway. But for those who are curious, the name of the Beast was Nero Caesar. If the name were written in the Hebrew alphabet, the numerical values of each letter do indeed add up to 666. And there is little argument that Nero was, let us say, not the best friend Christianity ever had.
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I think that most overlook the obvious, the mark of the beast is obviously referring to rome, and the fact that you had to have the approval of rome to conduct business in the roman empire. But I have not figured out why people forget to look at the roman treasury. The DCLXVI that was clearyly marked on the façade, and was synonymous with roman money
