MAGIC SQUARES, 666, & THE MARK OF THE BEAST

A TALE OF A TATTOOED TURTLE

In approximately 2200 BC -- around the time of Abraham -- the Chinese Emperor Yu found a tortoise on the banks of the Yellow River. The shell of the tortoise was marked with the peculiar diagram shown below. Emperor Yu discovered that if the numbers of dots are counted and arranged on a square grid (as shown below), the markings reveal a mathematical oddity: the numbers 1 through 9 appear only one time each, and the sum along each row, column, or diagonal is the same, namely 15. Numbers can be arranged in this fashion on larger square grids. For example, the numbers 1 through 16, when placed on a 4 by 4 grid as shown below, result in the sum of 34 along each row, column, or diagonal. The Chinese call these oddities Io-shu. In English they are called magic squares.

This story of Emperor Yu's tattooed tortoise is a story about a mark on a beast, but what do magic squares and this mark on a beast have to do with The Mark of The Beast? We will get to that eventually, but first let's consider some things about The Beast and The Mark.

THE BEAST

People disagree about who or what The Beast in Revelation is (or was), but no serious Bible student can escape the fact that whoever or whatever The Beast is (or was), it has some kind of connection to the Roman Empire. This fact is apparent when John's vision of The Beast is compared to the dreams and visions described in the Book of Daniel.

The first dream recorded in the Book of Daniel is Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great image with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver, belly and thighs of brass, and legs of iron. It was revealed to Daniel that these four metals represented four great empires that would arise.

"Thou art this head of gold," Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, "and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron.

We know from history that the three empires that came after Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon were Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream is in chapter two of Daniel. In chapter three Nebuchadnezzar commanded all his subjects to bow down to a great image he had made of gold. "No silver, brass, or iron in my image!" Nebuchadnezzar probably thought. "My golden kingdom will never be replaced!" Then in chapter four Nebuchadnezzar was warned in a dream (and by Daniel's interpretation of the dream) to humble himself and repent of his sins. Nebuchadnezzar ignored this warning, and a year later he suffered a temporary madness which caused him to behave like a wild beast. He dwelt with the beasts of the field, ate grass like an ox, and his hair grew like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

"Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him" was the decree of the watcher.

When people exhibit animal-like behavior, psychiatrists call this condition lycanthropy. If it happens in church at a revival meeting, some Christians call it a blessing from the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible makes it clear that in Nebuchadnezzar's case it was a delusion sent by God as a judgment for Nebuchadnezzar's sin and pride.

The story of Nebuchadnezzar shows us that without God, man is no better than a beast. If God does not put restraints on sinful men, they will behave "naturally, as brute beasts" (Jude 10; 2 Pet. 2:12). This fact is further demonstrated in the Book of Revelation, when the animal instinct in sinful man is fully unleashed on the earth in connection with The Beast.

Daniel had a vision of The Beast in Daniel chapter seven. Daniel saw four beasts emerge from the sea: a lion with eagles' wings, a bear with three ribs in its mouth, a four-headed leopard with four wings, and a fourth beast that was unlike any earthly animal. It was "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth."

It was explained to Daniel that these four beasts represented the same four kingdoms that were foretold in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Nebuchadnezzar saw the outward glitter and glamour of the world's great empires, in the form of a shining metallic man. Daniel saw the true inward nature of these worldly empires. They have the war-like nature of wild beasts of prey. And true to their nature, most great Gentile world powers use birds or beasts of prey for their national insignia: the American eagle, the Chinese dragon, the British lion, the Russian bear, the Korean tiger, etc.

It was made very clear to Daniel that the fourth "dreadful and terrible" beast was the fourth kingdom, Rome: "the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth" (Dan.7:23), and John saw this very same beast in his vision. (Compare Rev. 13:lf with Da. 7:1-7.) Therefore we must conclude that The Beast in Revelation has some connection with the Roman Empire, because Daniel was told that this beast was the fourth kingdom, which all knowledgeable Bible students and teachers agree was the Roman Empire.

THE MARK:

People receive The Mark of The Beast in their hand or in their forehead. (Rev. 13:6) There are a number of theories about exactly what The Mark is. The various opinions about The Mark fall into one of two categories: the belief that The Mark will be a physical, visible mark such as a tattoo or microchip implant, and the belief that The Mark is nota physical, visible mark but something spiritual and not visible to the human eye.

Those who argue for a physical mark point out that in Revelation 13 the Greek word for "mark" is charagma (caragma), which means a scratch, an etching, a stamp or a badge.' I do not pretend to know with 100% certainty exactly what The Mark of The Beast is, but I am more inclined to believe that it is not meant to be understood in a literal-physical sense. Some things in Revelation can and should be understood in a literal-physical sense, but some things in Revelation can and should be understood in a figurative, symbolic sense. I will change my mind if our government ever orders citizens to get microchips implanted in their foreheads. Unless that happens, I believe The Mark of The Beast can and should be understood in a figurative, symbolic sense for a number of reasons.

One reason that I have a hard time believing that The Mark is a physical mark is because something physical and visible would be far too obvious. Satan is a master deceiver, and we are warned of his false prophets, that "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Mt. 24:24). The fact that even the elect of God are in danger of being deceived suggests that the deception is far more subtle than something as obvious as a tattoo or microchip implant.

Another reason to believe that The Mark is probably something other than a physical tattoo or microchip is because of the style in which Revelation is written. Revelation is an esoteric, cryptic, apocalyptic book, filled with symbolic imagery. It is true that charagma, the Greek word for "mark," normally refers to a literal, physical mark. However, the Greek word for "sword" normally refers to a literal, physical sword, yet in Revelation 1:16 John said that a sharp two-edged sword went out of the mouth of Yeshua. Does this mean that Yeshua now has a literal, physical sword in His mouth? The Greek words for lion, lamb, star, and the letters alpha and omega are normally used in a literal, physical sense, yet when these words are used to refer to Yeshua, they are meant to be taken in a figurative, symbolic sense. Even the Greek word for "beast" normally refers to a literal animal, yet we know that The Beast seen by Daniel and by John is not a literal animal, because Daniel was told that "the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom." If The Beast is not a literal, physical animal, why should we assume that his Mark is a literal, physical mark? If "The Beast" is meant to be understood in a figurative, symbolic sense, why should not his "Mark" also be understood in a figurative, symbolic sense?

Another reason The Mark is more likely meant to be understood in a figurative, symbolic sense is because of other references in the Bible that talk about marks on the hand or forehead. In Ezekiel 9:4 a mark was placed on the foreheads of the righteous in Jerusalem before God's judgment fell on the city. In Revelation 7:3 the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads before the seventh seal is broken. No one that I know of supposes that these verses refer to literal, physical marks that are visible to the human eye.2

The Bible also mentions the phylacteries functioning as a mark or sign on the hand and forehead. Therefore the phylacteries deserve our close attention.

Phylacteries are mentioned in Matthew 23:5. Phylacteries (called Teflon in Hebrew) are small leather boxes containing certain Bible verses on small rolls of parchment. Orthodox Jews strap phylacteries on the hand and forehead during times of prayer. The source of this custom is first mentioned in Exodus 13:9:

"And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that Yahweh's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath Yahweh brought thee out of Egypt."

What do phylacteries have to do with The Mark of The Beast? Perhaps nothing. However, it should be noted that The Mark of The Beast is a sign on the hand and forehead, and the Bible passages about the phylacteries are the only other places in Scripture where anything else is ever spoken of as a sign or mark on both the hand and forehead. The only two things in the Bible that are described as a sign or mark on both the hand and forehead are the phylacteries and The Mark of The Beast. At the very least, this should tell us that there is a very strong likelihood of some kind of connection between the phylacteries and The Mark of The Beast. If we can understand the deeper meaning of the phylacteries as the mark of God, then we should be able to understand The Mark of The Beast as Satan's counterfeit of whatever the phylacteries represent.

What do the phylacteries represent? First, it should be pointed out that there is absolutely no mention made of making leather boxes in connection with this commandment. It is not wrong to fulfill this commandment in a literal, physical way by making physical Teflon of leather. However, since there are no actual instructions to make leather boxes, it is highly doubtful that this commandment really means "Thou shalt make for thyself little leather boxes to strap upon thy hand and thy head when thou prayest." Both the Karaite Jews and Rashbam (Rabbi Samuel Ben Meir, 12th Century) rejected this literal-physical interpretation, and said that the commandment was meant to be understood in a figurative way, just as Proverbs 1:9 and 3:22 are understood in a figurative way. (In Proverbs 1:9 the instruction of one's father and the law of one's mother are called "an ornament of grace unto thy head, and ornaments about thy neck." In Proverbs 3:22 wisdom's ways are called "adornment to thy neck.")

If we are to understand the "phylacteries" of Exodus 13:9 in a figurative rather than a literal sense, what does the verse mean? If the "sign" or "memorial" of Exodus 13:9 is not a pair of little leather boxes, what is it? "And it shall be for a sign unto thee..." What is "it"? A basic rule of language tells us that a pronoun like "it" must have an antecedent, i.e., a noun that precedes it and identifies it. If we look at the antecedent in the previous verses of Exodus 13, we discover that the pronoun "it" is actually referring to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the holidays that mark the beginning of God's Sacred calendar. Notice how this is the idea expressed in several English translations:

"This observance will be a reminder like something tied on your hand or on your forehead; it will remind you to continue to recite and study the Law of the LORD, because the LORD brought you out of Egypt by his great power." (TEV)

"This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand." (NIV)

"This will serve ~ a sign on your hand would serve, or a reminder on your forehead, and in that way the law of Yahweh will be ever on your lips: for with a mighty hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt." (New Jerusalem Bible)

"This annual memorial week will brand you as his own unique people, just as though he had branded his mark of ownership upon your hands or your forehead." (Living Bible)

GOD'S CALENDAR
AND SATAN'S COUNTERFEIT

In Exodus 13:9 the "sign" or "mark" of God's people is clearly related to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which introduce the Sacred Calendar that God ordained for His people to follow. If the figurative "mark" on the hand and forehead of God's people is the observance of God's calendar, then Satan's counterfeit, The Mark of The Beast, would most likely be the observance of a counterfeit calendar, complete with a counterfeit Sabbath and substitute holidays.

In addition to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the weekly 7th-day Sabbath is also called a "sign" between God and His people, in Exodus 31:1 6f and Ezekiel 20:12. The Hebrew word used in these passages to describe the Sabbath as a "sign" is the very same Hebrew word that is used to describe the "phylacteries" as a "sign" in Exodus 13:9. This is why Jews do not wear teffihin on the Sabbath &emdash; a person keeping the Sabbath is regarded as already bearing God's "sign"; therefore the wearing of the phylacteries as a "sign" is superfluous on the Sabbath.

But what does the observance of the Sabbath have to do with the hand and forehead? The hand speaks of work. Throughout the Scriptures there are references to "the work of his [or her or theirJ hands." Keeping the Sabbath means that our hands must cease from their work on the 7th day. The forehead is regarded in Judaism as "the mind, whose seat is in the brain, together with all senses and faculties."3 Keeping the Sabbath requires that our mind and senses be focused on the Lord of the Sabbath on this day.

It was prophesied that Daniel's fourth beast, Rome, would "think to change times and laws," and the Hebrew word means "appointed times." (The Smith-Goodspeed and Moffatt translations say the fourth beast "would attempt to change sacred seasons and the law"; the Knox transla-tion says "calendar and ordinance.") Whose appointed times/sacred seasons/calendar would the enemy want to change but God's? The Roman Catholic Church boasts of her changing of the Sabbath to Sunday, and even claims this act as the sign (or "mark") of her authority to change times and laws.4 Many Christians think that Rome's changing of the Sabbath to Sunday does not matter. Does it matter? Let me answer that question with a question:

Why would the spirit behind Rome want to change the Sabbath if it does not matter?

WHAT ABOUT SUNDAY-KEEPING CHRISTIANS?

Does this imply that all Christians who worship on Sunday have taken The Mark of The Beast and are doomed? Not at all. Contrary to what some people think, even SDAs (Seventh Day Adventists) do not teach this idea. Ellen G. White, the prophetess of the SDA Church, did not teach that all Sunday Christians are lost. On the contrary, in The Great Contra versy she wrote this:

"But Christians of past generations observed the Sun-day, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying hom-age to Rome and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshipping the beast and his image."5

I have never been a SDA and I have no intention of ever becoming one, and I do not know how accurate the SDAs' understanding of The Mark of The Beast is. However, I do believe that whatever The Mark of The Beast is (or will be), it has some kind of connection to Rome and the Sabbath versus Sunday controversy.

In addition to all the Scriptural evidence, there is another reason to suspect that there is some kind of connection between Sunday and The Mark of The Beast, and that reason is the use of magic squares in occult magic.

MAGIC SQUARES

People involved in the occult believe that numbers, letters, and colors all have inherent powers, and that the right combination of these elements can magically produce the desired results. There is no real power or magic in the magic squares mentioned at the beginning of this article, of course -- magic squares of any size can be created by using the formula MS&emdash;[n(n2 + 1)1 -~- 2.6 Nonetheless, the making of magic charms and talismans employs the use of magic squares.

To the occult magician, the sum of the rows, columns, and diagonals in a magic square is very significant. For example, Jewish practitioners of Kabbalah are especially intrigued by the 3 by 3 magic square because the sum of each row, column, and diagonal is 15, the same as the numerical value of ~fl [Y-HI, the first two letters of God's name YHWH. (Kabbalah is euphemistically described as 'Jewish mysticism," but it is tainted with a lot of occultic beliefs and rituals. Just because it's Jewish doesn't mean it's kosher, It's not!)

The sum of the rows, columns, and diagonals is not the only sum that is important to the occult practitioner. The total of all the numbers in the square grid is considered very important, and this is where we will see a connection between magic squares, Sunday, and The Mark of The Beast. Makers of magic charms and talismans use a different magic square to represent each heavenly body and each day of the week. Monday's magic square is a 9 by 9 grid which represents the moon; Tuesday's is a 5 by 5 representing Mars; Wednesday's is an 8 by 8 representing Mercury; Thursday's is a 4 by 4 representing Jupiter; Friday's is a 7 by 7 representing Venus; Saturday's is a 3 by 3 representing Saturn. A 6 by 6 magic square is used to represent the sun and Sunday:

If the numbers 1 through 36 shown in this square are added up, the total is 666, the number of The Beast. in Kabbalah, each magic square and the total of all its numbers represents the spirit and demon of each heavenly body. According to Jewish Kabbalah, this magic square and the total of its numbers, 666, represents Sorath, the demon of the sun.7

The Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the Unknown says this about the 6 by 6 magic square:

"The square of the sun has 6 rows of 6 figures, each row adding to 111, and the total of all the numbers used in the square is 666, the celebrated 'number of the Beast.' The deduction which can be drawn from this is that the Beast of Revelation is an aspect of the sun or life-force, the fierce drive that impels living creatures to survive and procreate." 8

If occultic superstitions about magic squares were the only thing to suggest that The Mark of The Beast has some connection to Sunday, the idea could be dismissed. How-ever, there is a great deal of Scriptural evidence which points to some kind of connection, and we should heed that evidence and trust God to clarify the details of prophecy as it comes to pass. In the meantime, if we want to be a part of 'them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over his name," we had better start keeping the Sabbath on the right day. )

1 For this view, see a recent article 'What is the Mark of the Beast?" on TNN Online, www.tribnews.net

2 Whether or not the mark put upon cain was literal or figurative is open to debate. Judaism teaches that it was the letter tav (11) on the forehead. (See Michael L Munk, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet (Brookl yn:

Mesorah PubI., 1983), page 219.] However, the Bible does not state what the mark of cain was, where it was placed, or whether it was visible to human eyes.

3 The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, 2nd edition, ed. J.H. Hertz (London:

Soncino Press, 1988), 261.

4 See, e.g., quotes in 'Roman Catholic and Protestant confessions About Sunday," a pamphlet available from Gates of Eden.

5 Ellen G. White, Cosmic Conflict (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1971), 395f.

6 Charies D. Miller et. al., Mathematical Ideas, 8th ed. (Reading. MA:

Addison-Wesley, 1997), 246.

7 The Latin words on the Pope's mitre, VICARIVS FILII DEl, also add up to 666 when the letters with a numerical value are added up. See Ralph Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion, (Riverside, CA: Woodrow Evangelis-tic Association, 1966), 95.

8 Man, Myth and Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown, ed. Richard Cavendish (New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1985), 'Magic Squares," 1691ff.

Home            Statement Of Beliefs           History Of The Messianic Logo

Our Pastor, Dr. Daniel Botkin            Where We Meet           

Teachings            Our Affiliation

Receive a FREE issue of the Botkin BiMonthly

Questions? Comments? Contact us at: Gates of Eden, P.O. Box 2257, East Peoria, IL 61611-0257

or call our resource center at: (309) 497-0149