From:
http://news.yahoo.com/666-could-mark-beast-save-euro-us-dollar-214715650.htmlStock markets crashed worldwide on Monday due to escalating debt concerns in the U.S. and across the Eurozone. The S&P 500 plummeted 79.92 points to 1,119.46. On a percentage basis, the S&P fell 6.66%. To this, I jokingly tweeted: “Is Satan sending us another buy signal?”
Many stock market watchers will remember that the S&P 500 hit an intraday low of 666.79 on March 6, 2009. Two years and two months later, the S&P 500 more than doubled to an intraday high of 1370.58. In other words, 666 marked a bottom in the stock markets.
Today, the S&P 500 rallied 53.07 points, or 4.74%, to 1,172.53. Time will tell if yesterday’s 6.66% decline really marked another bottom. But, does the number 666 have any economic significance in religious circles?
It does.
The number 666 is commonly known as the “mark of the beast.” According to Revelation 13:16-18:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive the mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
Citing the Letter of Aristeas and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes: “Those who do not bear the mark of the beast suffer economic oppression.”
It gets weirder.
I’m no expert in Futurist Christian eschatology. But here’s what Wikipedia says it their take on the mark of the beast:
Those who hold to Futurist Christian eschatology believe that the rise of a supranational currency could be a hallmark of the End Times and that the mark of the beast will be a sign on the forehead and/or upper side of the hand.
Religious difficulties with a supranational currency currently exist. According to the Futurist view, to overcome the extant difficulties the Antichrist will use forced religious syncretism (i.e. in the name of counterterrorism and world economic stability) to enable the creation of the supranational currency. Some interpret the mark as a requirement for all commerce to mean that the mark might actually be an object with the function of a credit card (e.g. implanted RFID tags).
The US dollar and the euro closest to being considered supranational currencies. Both have sunk in value globally. Perhaps redesigning the currencies to incorporate the mark of the beast is what could trigger bullish recoveries. So far, 666 has saved the S&P 500 at least once.
As a financial analyst, I do not take any of this very seriously and I do not plan to pursue this much further. But as a student of religion, I remain curious.
