Wild guesses have been made as to the significance and meaning of the "mark of the beast." Not the least of the wild guesses is one offered by the famous millennialist, Hal Lindsey. He suggests that the number 666, the number of the name of the beast (Rev. 13:17) is understood by making it a triad number. By this he means that there are three sixes in the number six-hundred-sixty-six. He thinks "six is the number of man in Scripture and a triad or three is the number for God. Consequently, when you triple `six' it is the symbol of man making himself God" (Late Great Planet Earth, p. 101).

Aside from the obvious fact that Lindsey admits the symbolism, he is wrong in reference to this number. It is not a triad of sixes. It is a whole number of six-hundred sixty-six. The Greek original bears this out. The Greek text has it, hexakosioi (six-hundred), hexakonta (sixty) and hex (six). The whole number is not made up of three sixes, but rather of six hundred (one number) plus sixty (another number) and six (the third number). No matter what the number symbolizes, Lindsey is wrong in saying that it is a triad of sixes. Since he is wrong on that, it is obvious how much in error he is on his other miscalculations, it is not?

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 11, p. 347
June 2, 1983