Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, August 30, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
This beast isn’t as obvious. There’s been lots of speculation and kicking around of possibilities. The most accepted theory is that this number, 666, represents Emperor Nero. (Metzger p. 76-77) It’s numerology, in which each letter of a person’s name is assigned a numerical value in according to the particular alphabet and it’s added up. So my name: Rebekah Marie Fergus would add up to 172 using a simple number-for-letter order value. The numeric values of the Hebrew alphabet were very different from just counting them in order, hence the much higher number for Nero..
The point is, of course, that the number 666 has no inherent satanic meaning, despite the attempts of countless heavy metal bands from the 70s and 80s trying to convince us otherwise! And say what you like about him, 45/47’s number (including his title) would only be 295, so Revelation wasn’t predicting his reign. Nero was the bad guy at the time of this writing, so John subtly worked him in. Was there a concrete reason? Did Revelation have to be cryptic in order to protect the Christians reading it? Or was it cryptic just because it was apocalyptic literature in the vein of Daniel and Ezekiel? Either way, it sure gives us fun stuff to speculate about today. And, you know, lots of heavy metal music, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Where have I seen imagery from Revelation in pop culture? What are my feelings about it?
—————————————-
Metzger, Bruce M. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993.
