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Portland, Oregon Church - Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association |
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SUBJECT: 666—Mark of the Beast and Solomon
QUESTION: Could 1 Kings 10:14 and 2 Chronicles 9:13 be referring to Solomon as a type of the Beast?
ANSWER
Thank you for your e-mailed question about other possible tie-ins with the number 666. On investigation, we do not believe it applies to King Solomon. First let us look at the verses you quoted.
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
2 Chronicles 9:13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
Here is some commentary on 2 Chronicles 9:13
2 Chronicles 9:13-14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
Six hundred and three score and six (666) talents of gold - per year. About $25,000,000. 14. Chapmen (traders). Literally, [the men of the caravans] Governors of the country. Vassal princes in neighboring lands. ~from Wycliffe Commentary
2 Chronicles 9:13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year - (see the notes
at <1 Kings 10:14-29>.) Six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold - The sum named is equal to 3,646,350 British pounds sterling; and if we take the proportion of silver <2 Chronicles 9:14>, which is not taken into consideration, at 1 to 9, there would be about 2,000,000 pounds, making a yearly supply of neatly 6,000,000 pounds, being a vast amount for an infant effort in maritime commerce (Napier's `Metal') ~from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary
Here is commentary on 1 Kings 10:14
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
Six hundred threescore and six talents of gold - About 3,646,350 of our money. Solomon's annual revenue exceeded that of Oriental empires very much greater in extent than his, and must have made him one of the richest, if not the very richest, of the monarchs of his time. ~from Barnes' Notes
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents - This would amount in our money to 4,683,675 pounds, 12 shillings, and 8 1/2d. sterling. This seems to be what he got annually of bullion; but independently of this, he had tribute of all the kings of Arabia, duties from merchantmen, and the traffic of spice merchants; see <1 Kings 10:25>. ~from Adam Clarke Commentary
None of these commentaries jumped on what looks like an obvious relationship. We too can find none.
Reasons:
1) Even if it was related, it has no relevance to the Beast Power that is yet to come. We must know who the Beast is for the end time. Further you are going to see that Solomon is not a good model for the Beast that is coming.
2) Regarding the wisdom of Solomon, it was a gift of God and if it caused the world to wonder after Solomon's wisdom and greatness it was wonder of God. If the Beast has anything and can cause the world to wonder after him then it is his own and Satan's and not God's. Notice this verse...
Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Notice the commentaries on Solomon and his wisdom...
SOLOMON SOL'OMON. Solomon's name (Heb. Shelomoh) means "peaceable." He was also called Jedidiah, meaning "beloved of Jehovah." He was a son of King David by Bathsheba <2 Samuel 12:24; 1 Chronicles 3:5>. He succeeded King David to the throne and ruled c. 965-926 B.C. ~from New Unger's Bible Dictionary
NOTE: His name means "beloved of Jehovah". Such will not be the case with the Beast.
SOLOMON Great Beginnings. One of the first things Solomon did as king was to go to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to the Lord. God appeared to the new king at night and asked him, "What shall I give thee?" Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge the people of Israel and the ability to tell good from evil. God not only granted Solomon's request, but He also promised him riches and honor if he would walk in the steps of his father, David <1 Kings 3:4-15>. ~from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary
NOTE: God gave him the wisdom AND those riches he received.
SOLOMON Wisdom. Solomon is usually remembered as a wise man. His Proverbs and his "Song of Songs" demonstrate his deep knowledge of the natural world (plants, animals, etc.). He also had a profound knowledge of human nature, as demonstrated by the two women who claimed the same child. His suggestion that the child be physically divided between the two was a masterful strategy for finding out who was the real mother <1 Kings 3:16-28>. Solomon's concern with the ethics of everyday life is evident in his Proverbs. They show that Solomon loved wisdom and was always trying to teach it to others. They also indicate he was a keen observer who could learn from the mistakes of others.
Solomon's sayings in these Proverbs are so true that they sound almost trite today. Their clarity sometimes hides their depth. During his lifetime, Solomon's fame as a man of wisdom spread to surrounding lands, and leaders came from afar to hear him speak. When the Queen of Sheba came to test his wisdom, he answered all her questions with ease. After she saw the extent of his empire and the vastness of his knowledge, she confessed that she had underestimated him <2 Chronicles 9:1-12>. ~from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary
NOTE: This does not describe the antithesis of God and Christ.
3) Regarding your statement that his method was flawed and therefore the Kingdom did not last: His kingdom did not fail because of his wisdom or his great organizational skills. It failed because of apostasy. Notice...
SOLOMON Apostasy and Death. By intermarriage with many foreign women, Solomon courted spiritual declension and gross idolatry. Of the numerous deities to which his foreign wives turned his heart, perhaps the best known in the ancient world was Ashtoreth, called "the goddess of the Sidonians" <1 Kings 11:5, 33>, since her cult was early established among the Phoenicians. This fertility goddess, known as Astarte among the Greeks and as Ishtar in Babylonia, was the protagonist of sexual love and war in Babylonia and Assyria. Her degraded moral character is revealed by the Ugaritic literature from Ras Shamra. She is pictured on a seal found at Bethel where her name is given in hieroglyphic characters. Solomon thus courted disaster. He died disillusioned and spiritually insensible. The breakup of the monarchy was soon to follow as a result of the folly of his son Rehoboam. (m.f.u.) ~from New Unger's Bible Dictionary
NOTE: His kingdom failed when idolatry entered his mind. It replaced the wisdom God had given him. This very thing has happened in God's church. Even Paul knew it would happen...
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Jude 1:3-4 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
1 Corinthians 11:19
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. 2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Note: These verses should make it clear that kingdoms and churches fail if apostasy and heresy enter. Clearly this would not happen if Godly wisdom prevailed.
4) The Beast will be thrown into the lake of fire. No reference is made to the fact that the same fate awaits Solomon.
5) Solomon was king of Israel. The Beast will rule a country other than Israel.
6) People will be made to worship the image of the Beast. No one was made to worship the image of the king or Solomon, himself.
7) Solomon never compelled anyone to have a mark of any kind. He never compelled them to keep Sunday as the day of worship of God (which is the real mark of the Beast).
8) In Mr. Armstrong's booklet, "Mark of the Beast, What Is It?” he never makes any reference to Solomon. The booklet is located at our site at: http://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/pubs/markof.htm
9) In the prophecy of the Beast we read of 10 kings giving their power to the Beast. We seen no correlation with Solomon.
10) Solomon does not fit into the Beast mentioned in Daniel. Notice from the above mentioned booklet...Who, What, is the BEAST?
Obviously, before one can understand what is the Mark of the Beast, one must understand who or what is the beast!
Bible scholars are virtually one hundred percent agreed that the symbolism of the great image seen by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2) represents the four world-ruling empires from the time of ancient Babylon to Persia, Greco/Macedonia, and finally Rome.
Most biblical commentaries expound this view; even a well-known layman's Bible handbook, Halley's, reconfirms it (see Halley's Bible Handbook, p. 342). The head of gold represented ancient Babylon. The breast and arms of silver represented Persia, and the belly and thighs of brass represented Alexander's Greco/Macedonian kingdom. The legs of iron and feet and toes "part of iron and part of miry clay" represented the Roman Empire throughout it's duration, including a yet future, end-time 10-nation combine which will coalesce in the same region, and which will fight Christ at His coming (Revelation 17:12-14).
Notice especially verse 44: "And in the days of these kings [the kings represented by the ten toes] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).
In the vision, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone seemingly dislodged miraculously, without the intervention of workman's tools, or human hands. Like a plunging meteorite, it seemed to hurtle down from heaven and smash the towering image of gold, silver, brass, iron and miry clay on the feet! In the dream, the entire image toppled to the ground, and seemed to become "like the chaff of the summer threshing floor; and the wind carried them away..." (Daniel 2:35).
Then, the stone which had smote the image on the ten toes, (representing the end-time ten governments which are to arise within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire) seemed to become a great mountain which filled the whole earth!
Thus, in this one brief chapter, we see a prophecy which predicts the entire span of human history from Nebuchadnezzar until the Second Coming of Christ!
The Bible uses the expression "beast" advisedly, since the Gentile leaders of the world-ruling governments were possessed of minds like wild, predatory animals. Nebudchadnezzar's seven years of insanity (Daniel 4) is symbolic of the insane bestiality of such human leaders as those of the four successive world-ruling kingdoms, and, in our time, such men as Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and others.
It is very clear that the first beast of Revelation 13 is the same kingdom as the fourth beast of Daniel 7. Notice it: "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Revelation 13:1, 2).
That the beast was "like unto a leopard," meaning that the main part of its body appeared to be like a leopard, is symbolic of the empire of Alexander the Great, as proved by the historical fulfillment of both the second and the seventh chapters of Daniel, which detail the four successive world-ruling empires of history. The feet, "as of a bear," indicate the ancient Persian Empire under Cyrus.
The mouth, "as the mouth of a lion," indicates the ancient Roman Empire. The "dragon" is obvious reference to Satan the devil. Notice: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world..." (Revelation 12:9).
Therefore, this end-time BEAST POWER is the final, end-time resurrection of the same old system which was to reemerge many times down through history, until its final emergence just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord, and the Second Coming of Christ.
NOTE: Clearly Solomon does not fit into any of this description of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and Daniel's explanation.
11) Solomon promoted the worship of God. He made a temple dedicated to that purpose. God sent word that the temple was accepted (see verse below). The Beast power will do no such thing. In fact he will cause desolation there. Read the booklet: "Abomination of Desolation". Located at the web site at: http://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/pubs/abominat.htm
1 King 9:1-3 1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, 2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
12) Solomon never made war with the Lamb either symbolically or otherwise. Notice another excerpt from the booklet:
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Portland, Oregon Church - Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association |