“The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.” I Kings 10:14-15 NKJV
a. Six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: This was a vast amount of gold, which came to Solomon yearly. One commentator estimated the value of the 666 talents of gold at $281,318,400. According to the value of gold in 2015, it would be just under $1 billion dollars. This speaks not only to the great wealth of Solomon, but it also makes him the only other person in the Bible associated with the number 666.
i. The other Biblical connection to 666 is the end-times world dictator and opponent of God and His people often known as the Antichrist (Revelation 13:18). In fact, the Revelation passage specifically says that the number 666 is the number of a man, and the man may be Solomon.
ii. This isn’t to say that Solomon was the Antichrist or that the coming Antichrist will be some strange reincarnation of Solomon. But it may indicate that the Antichrist may not be someone purely evil from the very beginning. Instead, he may be like Solomon – a good man corrupted. (Guzik)
The Number 666
“Solomon received yearly six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold. Perhaps this suggests that the Antichrist, like Solomon, is a good man who becomes corrupted.” (Guzik)
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
Revelation 13:18 NKJV
e. His number is 666: Christians need not fear the number 666 in a superstitious way; but it is interesting to see the way the world has an attachment to this number - even with things like “666” brand cough syrup.
5. The two beasts are Satanic imitations. We are presented with a false “Christ” and a false “John the Baptist” who promote the false god. Satan can’t create, but he can effectively deceive with imitation.
a. “Imitations have ever formed the gravest perils in the history of the Church and the world, and the devil’s final attempt to gain the government of the race will thus be an appalling attempt to imitate.” (Morgan)
b. Imitations work precisely because they are similar; if they were so obviously different, it would be easy to tell the difference. We should be aware of the imitation and familiar with the genuine.
c. Instead of obsessing with fear and interest about the imitation - the Antichrist - how much more appropriate is it for Christians to be interested in the genuine: Jesus Christ. (Guzik)
I’m interested in the genuine Jesus, are you?
Blessings
professor-scholar-and-author-paul-l-maier-dies-at-94
No comments:
Post a Comment