It is a deception which restricts the understanding to only what can be seen with the naked eye.

The book of Revelation is, for most, very hard to read. It is important to remember two things. Firstly, the sequence in the book is not chronological and it sometimes rewinds. Secondly, it is highly symbolic even though it represents real things which are unseen by eye.

In this passage there is a ‘trinity of evil’. The dragon, the first beast coming out of the sea, and the second beast coming out of the earth. These spiritual forces are the enemies of God and his people. They deceive the inhabitants of the earth and persecute those who love and follow Jesus. They do not, however, succeed. God’s people will always be kept safe and the persecution they suffer only serves to purify them.

There has been much confusion over what is called ‘the number of the beast’ which is 666. This number is not something that has to be decoded. It is the number for man and has reference to the beginning of the earth. The number 6 represents failure and is one short of the number 7 which is God’s number for perfection. The ‘trinity of evil’ can never prevail against God because in both the seen and unseen worlds his purposes are always accomplished. We see this in Jesus’ death on the cross and in Jesus’ resurrection.