God Given Power and the Numbers Six Six Six

Well friends, this week is my spring break and I am excited to spend my free time digging into Revelation and Discipleship on the Edge. I hope you all are ready for my posts from earlier weeks as I catch up on readings and just throw my thoughts out here in this blog. Hope you all are able to enjoy the blessing of warmer (and dryer) weather this week! Thoughts on chapter 12 of Revelation: Who gives the dragon power and authority? GOD! There is not authority that is not given by God. SO....then why does God give the beast authority? To test people. To confirm his people with the question of who each persons allegiance and loyalty is held in. "There is no authority not given by God." Period. That's it my friends. No mas! No authority in the whole earth that is not God given. Man that is nice to hear, tough to wrap my teenie tiny brain around but OH so nice! Anno Domini. Thoughts on chapter 13 of Revelation: I find myself (12 weeks in) attempting to attach a physical and tangible representation in my imagination to the imagery within the book of Revelation. I keep struggling to create a mental image to the scenarios illustrated by John. So...666=Beast. With the marks on the beast worshipers to prove it. But NO! NOT the physical numbers, that is not the purpose of them. The numbers are the character representation. Ah! The people worshiping the beast represents the character of the beast which represents the character of the dragon which represents the devil. "The purpose of the number is not to identify the beast but to 'characterize' the beast." (250) Six is one less than the complete number of 7. Therefore John is stating that the beast is incomplete, almost but not quite there. Never will the beast be able to get to a position of completeness. Darrel says it best, "The best the beast can [possibly] do is six." But Jesus..."never fails, never fails, never fails."