The Mark of the Beast is a major event in the end times. We are told: “And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666“ (Revelation 13:17-18) What I wonder is if one recieves the mark spiritually if they so the following: “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.” (John 6:66) For Jesus says elsewhere: “Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18) I noticed John 6:66 is lukewarm disciples leave Jesus, and the Mark of the Beast is 666. I am aware chapters weren't used in Bibles until 1227 A.D. thanks to Archbishop Stephen Langton, and chapters and verses weren’t used in New Testament tell 1555 A.D. thanks to Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus. However, I believe God had the chapter and verses chosen specifically. If you look up most 3:16 verses in NT, they are important: 2 Timothy 3:16 is “All Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness,” and “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16). Any thoughts?
I don't see a lot of evidence behind this, precisely because of what you say in your post: "chapters weren't used in Bibles until 1227 A.D" and "chapters and verses weren’t used in New Testament tell 1555 A.D." Unless you would want to argue that the chapter/verse divisions are infallible or Holy-Ghost infused, there should not be much attention given to these divisions, or what they mean... For instance in your connection, the mark of the beast is being lukewarm towards God, whereas we know that Satan and the Antichrist will be marked by angelic beauty and pride...
Well my larger point is “does Scripture indicate the Mark has a spiritual componet as seen in John 6:66?” Meaning is Jn 6:66 a proto mark or precursor to the actual physical Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:17-18)? Some hold the view that when the Man of Lawlessness (Antichrist) enters the temple (2 Thessalonians 2:4-5) its not the third temple Jews are preparing to erect architecturally but is the temple of people’s bodies as proven elsewhere in Scripture: “But when Jesus said "this temple," he meant his own body.” (John 2:21) “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) “If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:17) “What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people." (2 Corinthians 6:16) This raises another question, if Christisns are temples of God, is the Mark of the Beast John 6;66 (Hebrews 6:4-6, and Matthew 24:10-11); is the Mark falling away from the faith, the Great Apostasy Paul mentions, “Let noone in anyway deceive you, for it will not come unless* the apostasy (falling away from the faith) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” (2 Thessalonains 2:3) Another question then is does doing John 6:66 (Hebrews 6:4-6, John 3:18) make the Angichrist enter a person and reside in their temple (body)? The Apostle Paul does make a point in Ephensians: “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.“ (Ephensians 2:2 NLT) Which goes well with the activity of Satan: “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonains 2:9-10) which goes nicely with John 6:66, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”.
If you want to play number games with the Bible, then as anglican74 said, forget about chapter and verse numbers; they're practical modern inventions Instead, look to the Old Testament. Where does the number 666 show up? 1 Kings 10:14 and 2 Chron. 9:13 - in both cases the annual income of King Solomon in silver. The mark of the beast, therefore, if you go purely on "biblical numbers" is a sign of tyranny. No need to dredge up elaborate end-times theories. Keep in mind that our 39 Articles of Religion very nearly included a refutation against what has become the popular millenialism of contemporary evangelicalism and fundamentalism...
The signs of the times matter: “In the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:3) We are suppose to know the signs of the end times which began when Jesus died and dose from the dead: “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.“ (Hebrews 9:24-26 ESV) “But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:2) “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.” (1 Peter 4:7) We are in the end of days since 33 A.D. The only delay in Christ’s Reutn is explained by St. Peter: “3Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” 5They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. 8But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.” (2 Peter 3:3-10 NLT).
******* I too saw that in John 6:66 years ago and found it fascinating. Thanks for all the scriptures you have supplied, for further study. I think it's both spiritual and physical. Wonderful revelation!
Since chapter/verse delineations were not a part of John's Gospel or of any other NT writings (the numbers were added much later as an aid to reference and study), it seems highly unlikely that the mark of the beast was intended to refer to John 6:66.
You've probably heard of things like the bible code, etc. Well, I wouldn't exactly write off the possibility of ALL oracles of this kind. Remember that the Hebrew Tanakh, as it is ordered by the Jews (and not by the Septuagint) equates to 22 books, which corresponds to the exact number of letters as the hebrew alphabet. It's seen as spiritually significant since it indicates a kind of prophetic completion prior to the coming of the messiah (and a case against the inclusion of the apocrypha). Now listen: Although the first guy to form the bible into the chapters we use today was Stephen Langston (a Roman Catholic, this was for the vulgate), the first person to create the verse system for both the Latin Vulgate and Greek NT (later to be used by the Geneva Bible) was Robert Estienne, and this was after he had left the Roman Church for the Reformed movement. This would mean God granted an oracle to the Protestants, since the Romans accept this numbering in their bibles, including Douay (which was based on the vulgate). Therefore, they couldn't say as easily that the Protestant bibles of that time were as bad as some make them out to be.