This is complicated but shocking and deeply disturbing. Not a quick read!

Revelation 13:17-18 states "...so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666."

I believe the "or the number of its name" is similar to a parenthetical and the Apostle John is actually saying to us, "the name of the beast, which looks like a number!"

In the Textus Receptus, derived from Byzantine text-type manuscripts, the number 666 in verse 18 is represented by the final 3 letters χξϛ'.

¹⁷καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. ¹⁸Ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν· ὁ ἔχων τὸν νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου· ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστί· καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ χξϛʹ.

Later manuscripts actually write out the words as SIX HUNDRED SIXTY SIX (not realizing they are missing the true meaning of what the Apostle wrote!), but the original writing of the Apostle John was actually the numbers themselves (not the scripted words) as noted in the last three characters representing the number 666 = χξϛʹ

χ = 600

ξ = 60

ϛʹ = 6

The Apostle John sees the "name" of the "beast" and he recognizes that name as being shaped the same as the Greek number 666. He clearly says, "This calls for wisdom" and that it is the beast's name itself that actually allows one to "calculate the number of the beast".

So the Apostle sees the beast and the name of the beast and recognizes it as a NUMBER in the common language of the entire Roman empire in the year 70 A.D. That name which looks like a number is χξϛʹ (666) so what is the significance of this?

In the original Greek manuscripts, this is what the Apostle John wrote:

Here, we can see the Greek characters χξϛʹ  representing the number 666.

So, in a Divine revelation, John "sees" this "number of its name" (Rev 13:17) and it looks like χξϛʹ (666) (Rev 13:18).

Is there ANYTHING in the history of man that "looks like" the three characters that are the number 666 in ancient Greek?

Look carefully at this:

If you take the center character and rotate it left 90º and then mirror it, you have this:

Now, compare to John's Revelation...

What do you see? Remember, the Apostle says it is the beast's name and, "This calls for wisdom" and those with "insight [can] calculate the number of the beast".

Remember, the Apostle Paul said "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ... For now we see through a glass, darkly ..." -- 1 Cor 13:9-12, KJV

Think about yourself driving down the road and looking 2 miles ahead and seeing a billboard and you can barely recognize what is on the billboard and you think it looks like numbers and you think you know what those numbers are. That is what the Apostle John is describing. As he looks down the highway of time, the Apostle sees a billboard on which is the image of an evil creature and on the forehead of the creature, he sees the name of that creature and IT LOOKS LIKE NUMBERS !!!

So, through the fog of a vision of the future, the apostle sees the name of the beast and recognizes the uncanny resemblance to an actual number in his language of the day, and says, "This calls for wisdom" in regards to interpreting the vision he is seeing.

Look at this again...

         What John saw                       What John wrote

Stunning, yes? OK, so what is this thing that John saw?

Here is the critical element that calls for wisdom and insight to calculate.

It is Arabic so it is read from right to left. This is called the Bismillah with Swords and is found EVERYWHERE in the lands of today that are pervasively Islamic. Here is the translation of the Arabic writing:

[crossed swords]         Allah         In the name of...        .

The crossed swords are the symbol of Islam as seen in these examples:

Note also, the Bismillah (both with and without swords) is often worn as a forehead band as seen in these examples: 

Headband "In the name of Allah" with crossed swords

Remember that the Apostle John stated in Rev 13:16 that the people would wear the name on the right hand or on their forehead.

So, in the year 70 A.D. (almost 2,000 years ago), the Apostle John on the island of Patmos looks down the highway of future human history and sees a vision of the future, and he clearly sees the "name of the beast" and it looks like a NUMBER in John's ancient Greek language. He describes the name of the beast as a number and says, "This calls for wisdom" to comprehend it.

Look again at the writing in Greek of the Apostle John and compare what he saw to what he wrote...

         What John saw                       What John wrote

Now you know.

Jesus the Christ revealed the future to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos. In that revelation, the Apostle saw the beast, and saw the writing of OUR TIME and was amazed that it LOOKS LIKE THE NUMBER 666.

The name of the beast, which looks like the number 666 in the language of the Roman Empire in 70 A.D. is precisely this:

"In the name of... ALLAH" with Islamic swords crossed!

The 12th Imam

Many times we hear of the Muslim anticipation of the 12th Imam. What is this 12th Imam that the Muslims are so anxious to bring about?

It is the same thing as what CERN seeks in the "dark energy" pursuits to 'open' a portal to an unseen world. It is the same as the Apostle John's revelation of the 'beast', otherwise referred to as the anti-Christ.

In February of 2026, Google AI provides this summary:

This Wikipedia page provides an indication of a 'hidden' Imam whose life has been 'miraculously prolonged' by Allah and who appears in person to exceptionally pious Muslims on occasion over the last 12 centuries. Also, there is no 'agent' of that 'hidden' Imam today (think of that agent as a 'Pope' or 'Vicor' of the 12th Imam, and you can easily see how the 12th Imam is the Muslim nemesis, opposite of Jesus Christ, thus the anti-Christ).

Furthermore, the 'occultation' literature is abundant in the Hadiths of Islam, and of particular interest is the canonical Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal hadith which includes the following statement:

If the earth had only one day of existence left to it, Allah would prolong that day until a man of my posterity, whose name will be my name, and his surname my surname, manifests himself; he will fill the earth, filled till then with violence and oppression, with harmony and justice.

Additionally, this is why the Muslims are so intent on establishing a world-wide 'Caliphate' so as to usher in the 12th Imam.

So all of the horde invading Europe and the Americas for first few decades of the 21st century has been for the purpose of establishing a global presence of a violent and radical Muslim population in all countries so as to bring on an attempted global CALIPHATE in preparation for the 12th Imam, otherwise known as the Anti-Christ, or also as the great beast of the Book of Revelation written by the Apostle John 800 years before the birth of Islam.

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