Revelation 13:18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man (Literal: it is man’s number); and his number is Six hundred threescore and six

This is a number that is of great concern to all those in the charismatic movement. They are in great fear for everything that resembles the number 666.

In Ecclesiastes 7:27 the preacher gets busy counting to find the account of his sins.

Ecclesiastes 7:27
Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account (= the reckoning)

Ecclesiastes 7:28
Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: One man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Only One man among a thousand has he found for the reckoning which his soul seeks.

What does His soul seek?

The forgiveness of sins is the obvious answer.

Who is this one man?

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who enters the reckoning which his soul seeks. And He is one man among a thousand. 999 are remaining.

In Job 33 Elihu is speaking to Job about how man can be righteous before God. Elihu is not one of the three unfriendly friends of Job. Elihu is much more on the side of Job.

Job 33:23
If there be a Messenger with him, an interpreter, One among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness (if there is any):

Job 33:24
Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Who is this Messenger, One among a thousand, who can show unto man his uprightness, if there is any?

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who can show us our uprightness, or the absence of it. All those who are upright in the sight of God are those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the ransom, so that we do not have to go down to the Pit. And Christ is one among a thousand. There are 999 remaining.

Now let’s finally turn to the prophecy of Zechariah, Zechariah 13:8. The context in this passage of Zechariah is the binding of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the crucifixion that followed. God says here in:

Zechariah 13:8
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Remember the 999 remaining symbolically represent the entire human race, Christ excluded.

One third of them will call on Christ’s Name, and Christ will say, “It is My people”. But two thirds shall be cut off and die. Two thirds of 999 is 666. This number 666 is symbolically the number of men belonging to the beast, for they represent all the non-elect.

Revelation 13:18 begins with “Here is wisdom”.

Let us not become wise in our own deceits, but let us realize what God shows us here. We must be grateful to God for showing us these, for it is only by grace that we can obtain wisdom.
AMEN.

By Alfred Chompff