Very Superstitious?

Last evening I was shown a copy of a small article by Chuck Shepherd. It appeared in the Mankato Free Press last Sunday. I also found the article on the Minneapolis StarTribune page. In it the author notes that there is new research that shows that the number of the Anti-Christ, 666, may be 616. Well, this discussion is not particularly new. And, the actual number is not particularly important for the purpose of this post.

What is interesting follows. "A Church of Satan official in New York had no comment except to say that's church will use whatever number Christians fear." I am not concerned that the author quoted a "Church of Satan official." Mr. Shepherd writes for sites that lampoon Christianity regularly. What I found interesting was the officials comment about "whatever number Christians fear." I can remember times when the number "666" was supposed to have been on billing records (evidence that the company had been taken over by forces of the AntiChrist), and was even being considered (unsubstantiated) by our government as a prefix to some kind of universal ID system.

All of this seems to flow from a basic superstitiousness on the part of some believers. I have known of music leaders who shied away from "hymn number 666" for fear of even mentioning the number. Are we truly fearful of a number? The scriptures tell us of an end-time person who, in some way, will be recognized by a numerical understanding. However, that recognition will take place during that time of great distress called the Tribulation. What significance does it have now? Notice the many attempts to find contemporary meaning in the number and one is left with the conclusion that, try as we might, there is no real significance, right now. The number 666 is simply one more than 665, and one less that 667. Can the inclusion of "the number" in an official document mean something prophetically? I don't know. Nor do I think we can "know." It may simply be the next in the series, or a computer shorthand.

The bottom line? Believers can surely get caught up in superstitious things: numbers, symbols on commercially available products. This is not what our God has called us to. He has not given us His Spirit to inspire fear - even of the last days. Confidence in Him - Always Forward!