Revelation 13
v.1
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
The beast that comes from the sea represent the kingdoms of the world which encourages society to compromise with truth and opposition with the justice and mercy of God. Behind this is Satan. It reveals a condition of empire—both cosmic and earthly—that repeats itself again and again in times and in other situations… Don’t compromise!
v.4
Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”
That is, he is to be regarded as unequalled and as supreme. This was, in fact, ascribing honors to him which belonged only to God; and this was the manner in which that civil and secular power was regarded in the period here supposed to be referred to.
v.7
He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
v.16-17
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
This is a parody because it’s similar to the imprinted seal on the saints’ forehead… This is a counterfeit faithfulness, commitment, and practical outcome… The mark is a spiritual commitment to the kingdom of this world—the beast’s kingdom. The way you got there was the religious system that empowered this beast’s kingdom, following anti-God sentiments.
v.18
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.
The number three in the Bible signifies completeness as, for example, is expressed by the completeness of the Godhead in 1:4-5 ,which is parodied by the dragon, beast, and false prophet here in ch. 13 and in 16:13. Therefore, 666, the repetition of six three times, indicates what might be called the “completeness of sinful incompleteness” found in the beast. The beast epitomizes imperfection, while appearing to achieve divine perfection. Three sixes are a parody of the divine Trinity of three sevens… Humanity was created on the sixth day, but without the seventh day of God’s own rest, which Adam and Eve were designed to fulfill, they would have been imperfect and incomplete. The triple six emphasizes that the beast and his followers fall short of God’s creative purposes for humanity.