Bible Gem 2347 – Solving the Problem Based on John’s Symbolism (Revelation 17:7-14)

⁷“Why are you so amazed?” the angel asked. “I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits.”

⁸The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died. ⁹“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings. ¹⁰Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief. ¹¹“The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction. ¹²The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. ¹³They will all agree to give him their power and authority. ¹⁴Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because He is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”

Revelation 17:8-14

Do you notice the similarity between Revelation 13:18 and Revelation 17:9?

Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast.

Revelation 13:18

This calls for a mind with understanding.  

Revelation 17:9

These two introductory statements in Revelation 13:18 and 17:9 are similar and have the same force. They are translated in similar ways:

This calls for a mind of wisdom / understanding to calculate or work out what is being said here. It is like John has flagged these two statements in the same way. The word that is used in the first of these paired verses in Revelation 13:18 is [ψηφισάτω] psēphidzatō from the verbal root [ψηφίζω] psē-phidzo which means to ‘compute’, ‘reckon’, or ‘calculate’ or more literally ‘to reckon by means of counting pebbles’, ‘compute by counting letter values or gematria‘.

The use of this word psēphidzatō in Rev 13:18 is a very technical term which invites the reader to calculate the value of the word by means of Gematria. Gematria is the system which assigns numeric value to every letter in the alphabet of an alpha-numeric language, which then creates a mathematical value for each word and sentence in the language.

Now let’s turn to John’s gospel where there is a fascinating number, 153, recorded in John 21:11. (See the Gem series 153 Fish. Click the hot link. Make sure you read through all seven Gems.

When you look at the detail of the Gems in the 153 Fish series you will see it all depends on which M is used in the text.

But the truth is:

The value of normal mem [מ] is 40

The value of final mem [ם] (mem-sophit) is 600

[bənê hāʼĕlōhîm] is Hebrew for the Sons (and daughters of God) i.e. the children of God.

But there is a difference in value between word final Mem (Mem Sofit) and M intermedial looks like this – מ. Word final Mem-Sofit looks like this ם. Thus normal Mem yields a value for the phrase The Children of God of 153. But purists say that is incorrect. It should be a final Mem-Sofit which yields a total of 713.

ב  נ   י      ה  א  ל  ה   י      ם

600 10 5 30 1 5     10 50 2 = 713

So is that allowable or not? Following this read Rick Renner’s article on Hupomimnesko.

https://www.bereaninsights.org/nugget/hupomimnesko/

I had been asking the LORD for confirmation as to whether what I thought about the substitution of mem-sofit was kosher or not. I woke in the wee small hours of June 13th 2019 with the word isopsethia going around in my head. It was not a word I knew but I figured it was Greek and fitted in with the series of technical terms beginning with iso- in Greek. Isotherm, Isobar, Isohyet and Isocline. I searched for its meaning and found it refers to the match between the gematria and meaning of the word; when the gematria and the meaning of the word match. I had my confirmation out of the blue from the LORD.

I am therefore wondering if John is not hinting to us with this double entendre to look at the numbers that are in the text in Chapter 17 of Revelation in much the same way as in Revelation 13:18. Oh, not in terms of gematria but more symbolically. Compare Revelation 17:7-14 with the frequency of the use of the numbers seven and ten. Remember the fact that John issues warnings to repent nine times in Revelation (See Gem 2333). Would it interest you to know that he uses seven 53 times in Revelation according to numerous commentators who like to highlight these things? Do you find that interesting? I certainly do. According to the Gematria system nine symbolises judgement and finality.

Well look at that 17 (10+7) x 9 = 153

I honestly believe John is playing gematria games with his readers in order to alert them to a deeper significance behind his use of numbers in the text of Revelation 13 and 17. Oh that is the case with the number of the beast in 13:18. Therefore he makes it clear to his readers to work out (calculate) [ψηφισάτω] the number of the beast. He introduces the concept with the words

Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast.

Revelation 13:18

Again in 17:9, he uses virtually the same Greek phrase to say

This calls for a mind with understanding.

Revelation 17:9

John is wanting us to be alert to something. Ah but what is it? I will tell you what I think he is doing in the next Gem.

You have to admit this Gem has already become long enough before I highlight the next feature.

If the final judgement is true, bow down. If it isn’t, bow out. Anything else in between is dishonest.  

Ian

Spiritual Maturity Is Not The Ability To Hear God’s Voice, But The Discipline To Execute His Intentions.

Robb Thompson

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.

Socrates

There is a code written in the Bible to remind you that God is watching all you do and think. [Ask me to tell you where it is!]

Ian