I do not recall belittling or scoffing at your interpretation. I am sorry if it seems so. I respect the time and effort you have invested to arrive at your conclusions. I am convinced the stage has been set for Jesus to return since shortly after 1844. The balance of unfulfilled prophecy would have played out rapidly. There is no indication in the following insight to suggest prophecy is waiting for a line up of individual popes and presidents to come and go before Jesus can return.

Revelation
13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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.

666 is the number of the name of the man of the beast.

Have you noticed the two "or" in verse 17.

All three (name, mark, or number) is related or identifies the beast that brings about to buy or sell.

hmmm. it seems you are departing slighly from what scripture says. see note above about v.17.

Many translation say verse 18 this way :


V.18 says the number 666
- has a meaning
- is to be solved
-is a number of a man
-is the number of the beast

Here's an interesting study of solving the number 666 and a parallele made of Rev 13:16-18 with Daniel 3 by Stephen Jones.

http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.net/d...rcomers-part-1/

"Daniel 3:1 begins,

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

The Number 666

The numeric value of Daniel 3:1 is precisely or 666 x 7. Six is the number of man, and 666 is seen also in Revelation 13:18 in connection with the second beast of the little horn whose “mark” is money in the modern financial system. The number is also associated with gold in 1 Kings 10:14,

14 Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.

Gold is not evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). We are not to make any gods out of gold or silver (Exodus 20:23), as the Babylonian king was doing. God claims all the gold by right of creation, and so He alone has the right to determine its use as well. In Joshua 6:19 God said,

19 But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.

As part of God’s treasury, the four metals mentioned above are also the four kingdoms of men revealed in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:32, 33). Even as Joshua overthrew Jericho, so also will God overthrow Babylon, for Jericho was a type of Babylon. The instruction to put all the metals of Jericho into God’s treasury indicates that Babylon’s overthrow was not designed to destroy the people, but to set them free by putting them under the authority of Christ (Joshua-Yeshua). The people are thus represented by the four metals, and their labor is to be directed toward building the Kingdom and serving the true Heir of the World.

The 666 Factor itself has to do with Christ and His treasury (Kingdom assets), whose ownership and use are contested by the kingdoms of men. Hence, in most applications of this number throughout Scripture, we see Christ’s authority being usurped by man, and so it appears in a negative context. This is seen in Psalm 118:22, where the phrase “the chief corner stone” has a numeric value of 666. It is a prophecy of the rejection of Christ, who is that chief corner stone (Ephesians 2:20), and the usurpation of His rightful position.

In the case of Solomon, whose kingdom at first prophesied of the Prince of Peace ruling in the Age of Peace in the true City of Peace, we find in his later years that he usurped the place of Christ and used God’s treasury for evil purposes. The same is seen in Revelation 13:18, where the financial beast from the earth causes men to worship the beast-system and its god—in this case, gold, or money in general.

It is interesting that the phrase used in Revelation 13:18, “his number is six hundred and sixty-six” carries the numeric value of 2368, which is the same as “Jesus Christ.” The name Jesus, or Iesous, is 888, while Christ, or Christos, is 1480. Together they add up to 2368. In other words, the true 666, i.e., the True Man, is Jesus Christ, even though imperfect men have rejected Him and have usurped the number for themselves.

Therefore, the underlying principle on which this column was constructed was the elevation of man above God through the worship of gold.

The Ceremony

Daniel 3:2, 3 continues,

2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

All government officials were required to gather around the golden image and bow before it, indicating their agreement with the king’s decree. This occurred in the time of Daniel—who was conspicuously and mysteriously absent—but it prophesied of a time yet to come, as seen in Revelation 13:11-18. In fact, it is only by connecting Daniel 3 with Revelation 13 that we are able to understand the meaning of either passage, because each gives us only half of the revelation.

Daniel 3:4-6 says,

4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, 5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”

It is interesting that six musical instruments are listed here, for this again suggests man’s carnal influence. Likewise, it prophecies that music itself was to be an important tool by which Mystery Babylon would cause men to bow down to the god of gold. A mere command may require eloquence to induce obedience, but music causes men to accept messages more easily. Music opens the doors of the heart more quickly than eloquence.

Broadly speaking, music, art, and philosophy not only reflect the culture and worship of a society, but these may also be manipulated and used to direct culture toward a desired end or goal. In these last days of Mystery Babylon, the modern kings of Babylon have done this by glorifying despair as “realism,” presenting crud as art, and saturating the airwaves with the music of rebellion, drugs, and self-centered base instincts.

The result has been a complete change from God-centered culture to one that glorifies self, and most people do not even realize what is being done to them. The worship of man leads inevitably to the worship of elite men, who then are empowered by such worship to enslave humanity, even while proclaiming man’s freedom from godly constraints.

The penalty for not worshiping the image of the beast is that he “shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire” (Dan. 3:6). This is the tribulation fire that is an ever-present threat during the long “seven times” captivity to the kingdoms of men, beginning with the “head of gold.”

The furnace of fire is a metaphor for tribulation and captivity. It was thus used by Moses in Deut. 4:20,

20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.

Although the “furnace” was metaphorical, it was a very real metaphor, because their bondage in Egypt was like being smelted in an Egyptian furnace to purify the Israelites like iron ore. The purpose of smelting, of course, was to make the metal useful.

The purpose of tribulation, insofar as God is concerned, is to baptize the overcomers in the fire of the Holy Spirit and the character of God Himself—who appeared later only as Fire. However, on the surface, the threat of the Babylonian king was to punish and torture all who refused to acknowledge the king’s decrees as taking precedence over God’s law. The Babylonian purpose was not to create something useful by fire, but to cause pain in order to induce subservience.

This threat is one more counterfeit, for in God’s Kingdom the believers are offered the “baptism of fire,” that is, the Holy Spirit’s baptism. Whereas Babylon’s fire pictures persecution and tribulation, the Divine Fire is given to purify the believers from the ungodly idolatry of Mystery Babylon.

The Response of the Officials

Daniel 3:7 continues,

7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

The New Testament counterpart to this is found in Revelation 13:16, 17,

16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

The command, prophetically speaking, is that men should worship money, because the “mark of the beast” is the counterfeit of the divine law commanding us to write the law upon our hand and upon our forehead. Deuteronomy 11:18 says,

18 You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

When applied to the story in Daniel 3, we see that Daniel’s three friends refused to worship the beast and so were cast into the fires of tribulation. They stand as examples of the overcomers living in this time of tribulation. They chose the mark of God, which was to write the law in their hands (labor) and in their foreheads (way of thinking), which, taken together, describes their worship of God rather than man.
"

MM. Your unchanging skepticism speaks volumes in what you did say: "I truly believe you will adjust your interpretation if it doesn't play out accordingly..."

That's what Bible students do. They study to understand to the best of their knowledge and when things come to pass or fail to come to pass, they update their understanding accordingly by comparing their understanding of the prophecy to its fulfillment and re-examining the Scriptures.

[In 1843 Jesus did not come. Revision (adjustment of their interpretation): Jesus will come in 1844. He did not come in 1844. Revision (adjustment of their interpretation): He was not supposed to come He was supposed to begin the Investigative Judgment in Heaven.] But some folks forget how God led in the past 1843-1844 and expect Him to lead some other way now.

But please forgive me if I ever gave the impression that you actively belittled or scoffed at my interpretation. My concern is that you did not understand it and therefore you placed no value in it. It was not valuable enough to merit diligent consideration. Thus it was ignored by many who could have united with it to accomplish what God would have had us to do in times of relative peace.

And when my 1843-1844 experience gave way to correctly understanding that Benedict would not be pope in 2013, did you take the time to give it another look? No, you confirmed your unbelief by writing: "I truly believe you will adjust your interpretation if it doesn't play out accordingly..."

You do not understand how indifference to my studies has set the cause of God back or that I've given my best years and sacrificed more than anyone here will ever know: only to be attacked by Satan almost to the point of despair.

But enough wallowing in self-pity. Jesus never promised no trials, He promised victories and if we fall short, we have an Advocate with the Father.

His Child, I have no doubt your interpretation will not be fulfilled in the way you envision. I am certain Jesus will not return within your time frame (within a year after President Obama leaves office). But please do not mistake my observations for belligerence. I respect you as a Christian and as a student of the Bible. Just because I disagree with your interpretation of prophecy it does not mean I dislike you. You disagree with my interpretation of prophecy and I'm not at all offended. As I see it, the 7/8 kingdoms are:

1) Babylon
2) Medo-Persia
3) Grecia
4) Rome
5) Catholic Europe
6) Communist Europe
7) Apostate Protestant America
8) Catholic Europe Restored

I believe we are in the transition period between the 6th and 7th kingdoms.

The following are just some thoughts I had on the 666 of Revelation:

Why three sixes? If six is the number of man, Adam and Eve being created on the sixth day, could three sixes signify three distinct satanically inspired, man made systems: the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet? Each a separate 6, yet united as 666,
a counterfeit of God:

Dragon (father of lies)= The Father,

Beast (vicar of Christ)= Jesus,

False Prophet ("He will teach you all things")= The Holy Spirit.

As with God, three distinct persons/systems united in purpose but with three unique roles:

The Dragon providing authority/ "the Father is above all";

The Beast providing a body (Catholicism being the largest "christian" denomination)/ "the Word was made flesh"

The False Prophet providing validation/ "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"


"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."
Revelation 16:13

The same message being delivered by three different systems. Perhaps tailored to different worldviews, in order to unite the planet beneath Satan's banner?


As has been pointed out, Revelation 13:17 says: "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Since the main characteristic of Babylon is confusion, it would seem logical that different modes of communication or spiritual languages would be necessary to deceive the whole world, a kind of divide and conquer strategy.

Could the Mark, or Name, or Number represent the same 666/Sun Worship enforcement accomplished by a method to which each group is most vulnerable?
For instance, the Dragon, being pagan, may deny the jurisdiction of God outright, simply refusing to acknowledge His existence; therefore keeping "the venerable day of the Sun" is no sin, merely common sense.
The Beast might employ "traditions of men" via priestly authority to "make vain the commandment of God".
The False Prophet might manifest a counterfeit "untested Spirit" through the channel of the charismatic movement. "the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit."
John 6:63, a false Holy Spirit leading to a false Commandment.

Each method of deception designed to ensnare a different class of soul, yet with the same goal: Mark, or Name, or Number though different are in complete unity.

13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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.

THE MARK
sign of allegiance to Roman church hierarchy (the papal Sabbath)

HAVING THE NAME OF THE BEAST
being one of the "privileged" or aristocratic members of the hierarchy

THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME
being one of the servants or vassals of the hierarchy.


It has been said that economic crises is engineered and used to an end.
That end is to strip the middle class of their assets, re-establish an aristocratic class that basically controls the lower class.

Solomon's beginning was glorious -- on that point we agree.

But what follows is the pattern of deception in the last days.

Solomon tied himself with all nations "by marriage"(symbolic)of UNHOLY UNION with the world.

I Kings 11:2-6 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love....and his wives turned away his heart. ...For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD,

Oh, he did not abandon the form of worship in God's temple, but he ALSO built temples for all these heathen gods in and around Jerusalem. -- Just like the Roman Christian church -- they did not abandon the form of Christianity, but ALSO incorporated all manner of heathen worship practices.

Money, fancy buildings, a grand court, and luxuries became Solomon's god; and, as a result, the people were sorely oppressed. The extravagance practiced in selfish indulgence necessitated a grinding taxation upon the poor. He put a grievous yoke upon the people.
He built whole cities just to house all his horses and chariots and the servants that took care of them. (See 1 Kings 9:19)

There was a distinct "aristocratic" class developed, which the people had to serve and support.

This is NOT the path to the eternal kingdom.

Nor does Isaiah 2 predict this:

In the last day a DECEPTIVE kingdom will be set up that will attempt to rule over the whole world. But read the end.

2:3 And many people shall go and say, (notice WHO IS SPEAKING -- it is many people) Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
(That's what the people said -- they thought they were establishing an earthly kingdom of peace) 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
2:7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither [is there any] end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither [is there any] end of their chariots:
2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

(God wasn't at all pleased.
Why? Just like Solomon, they are more interested in silver and gold, their horses and chariots, and their of idols.

That is NOT the kingdom of peace.
That is the deception that will have the Mark, the name, the number that end in destruction.

"Six hundred threescore and six". Isn't it 666 ones (1 X 666)? Not sure it means 3 separate 6's. I like your counterfeit Godhead idea. I read about that 30 years ago.