THE MYSTERY OF 666.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 181, 9 June 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE MYSTERY OF 666.

"REVELATIONS" AND THE KAISER.

By HORATIO BOTTOMLEY,

Versatile as .Air. Bottomley's pen has proved to be, nothing mere fascinating, says the Editor of the "Sunday Pictorial," has yet been witten by that truly remarkable man than this week's article. It will undoubtedly be the one theme of d isoussion in all the churches to-day, and will set our most erudite nib lical scholars and students thinking. ' In Germany, too, and the countries of our Allies, the article will l>e read with deep interest —if with widely different appreciation.

Snowed up in the Midlands, and cut off from telephone and post, on Wednesday and Thursday last-, I fell with a most interesting acquaintance, at the hotel—a man well known in both Financial (capital F, please, >lr. Printer) and political (small p. tins time) circles —one of keen intellect and brilliant parts—as the stately 'old writers used to put it —and of bold originality of thought. \\ e soon fouiid ourselves boxing the compass of contemporary events; and naturally, up came the Kaiser. "Do you know, said my friend, " I really believe he is the Beast of Revelation/' and then lie proceeded to bombard me with all kinds of quotations from that wonderful book ot the wonderful old Bible. Now the last time I considered the identity of the fearful monster revealed to St. John the Divine was during the period of Lloyd George the Demagogue —Destrover of Dukes Grabber of Ground * Rents—Purveyor of Iresh Fruit for the Parched Lips of the People. In those days maty a correspondent indicted the Littfe Man from Wales—most lovable and' narmless or men—as the veritable incarnation ot Mr "666." But the chain of evidence was hopelessly faulty, and my verdict was Not Guilty. This time, however, the idea fascinated me and, startling the waiter with a request for the Testament. I shut myself up to have a good think about it all.

the •' King" ? Chapter xvii says: " And there were seven kings; FIVE ARE FALLEN .... and the Beast, even he is the eighth." Let us try to solve that parable. It is a most interesting study. First, take the kingdoms engaged—omitting Germany—the Beast, who is the Eighth King. We have England, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Servia, Austria and Bulgaria—that makes seven (France is a Republic; so is Proutgal; Montenegro, a principality; Japan cannot be 6aid to have really come into the war, and Turkey is outside the pale of Chrstendom). And. thus, at this very moment, you get the "Seven Kings"! But what about the five that "are fallen"? Let us see —Belgium and Servia have gone; and that is as far as I can get at present —although I believe that Bulgaria is about to be smashed up. That would make three —leaving two more to be accounted for.

But what is this? "Five are fallen. AND ONE IS AND THE OTHER IS NOT YET COME; and when he cometh he must continue a short space." What can those words mean? May not it be that they relate to the late advent of Rumania and Greece upon the scene, replacing Bulgaria and Austria, and still leaving the Seven Kings —Greece being the one which "must continue a short time" —till the Allies place her 011 a new footing amongst the reorganised Balkan States? Think that over.

. And now I am going to indulge in all kinds of fantastic speculation about one of those " things which .must shortly come to pass," as seen by John on the Island of Patmos. lon will find it in Chapter xiii.—ominous omen for the Kaiser if 111 v view is correct ! And this is what the good Saint saw : 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 horn* tei crowns, and upon his heads the name of Blasphemy, ihat will do to start with. No, we rust go a bit fiuther —because at the end of the vision, there are these remarkable and crvptic words: " 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 three score and six. ' Now we will get on .

And now a word about the Eighth King's ally, Austria. John says, 1 beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and HE HAD TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB." There, clearly, is the dual, lamblike kingdom of Austria-Hungary. It is all very remarkable. And here is a strange thing : " I saw one of his heads (those of the Beast) as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the Beast." You remember that throat trouble —said to be cancer —and the recent operation? And what about Zepps and bembs? "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketli fire come down from Heaven oa the earth in the sight of men." There you have it. And, again, read this: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial UPON THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES. . . . . and I saw three unclean spirits

You will observe that the proper words iu the description of the vision are —Beast, Seven Heads, Tu.i Horns, Ten Crowns, and blasphemy, Bear those words in mind, and now skip co Chapter xvii—where you will find that the Boast is the "Eighth King.'' ana assuming the Kaiser to be the man, we naturally take his dynasty Rohenzollern. And now tor the key: lake the alphabet, aad give each letter in each of those words its number. Thus —" Beat-st"; Bis the second letter; e the fifth; a, the first,; s, the nineteenth, t, tho twentieth. Add those figures together—2, 5, 1, 19 20—and you get ... 4/ "Sea," treated in the same way,

.... <ome out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the raouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the FALSE PROPHET. ' We have already seen that the Beast and the Dragon are Germany and Austria, and who but Turkey can the "false prophet - ' be? Is not the Sultan called the Proohet ?

A fascinating theme, isn't it? Upon my word, the more you study the Book, the more remarkable the vision becomes. I confess it Haunts me. If these words do not describe the condition of the people of Germany before the war, they are without meaning: And they worshipped the dragon (Austria) that gave power unto the beast (Germany): and they worshipped the beast, saving, 'Who is like unto the beast —'WHO IS ABLE TO MAKE WAR WITH HIM?' " And what else but a reference to Germany*6 commercial policy can this mean: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, fro.' and bond, to receive a mark in thoir right hand, or m their foreheads; and that no man might Ouy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." I won't be tempted to dwell upon tlie "mark"- but I not? its presence all the same.

gives you M " Seven heads —ten horns —ten "crowns," similarly treated, gives 3H " Blasphemy ' toAnd " Hohenzollern' A ad thus ybu get the "number of the man" . 666 And take the word Kaiser by itself. It consists of six letters; add the ligure 6 to the alphehetical number of each of the letters, and you get this result: K is number 11; a is No. 1; j is No. 9; s is Xo. 19; e is No. 5; r is No, 18. And so you get this little sum : 11.6; IS.G; o.ti;" I*.<s equals 666. Funny, isn't it? It is becoming interesting. Let us have another look. "Seven heads, ten horns and ten crowJS' make twentyseven emblems of the distinguishing features - AND GERMANY CONSISTS OF TWENTY - SEVEN STATES ! The Blasphemy of the Kaiser requires no elaboration. He is bathed in Blasphemy. And here is another interesting little table: Take the words —\\ ilhelm; Germany: Hohcnzoliern : Seven heads —Seven heads —Ten hoi as—Ten crowns; give them nlphebetical numbers, and you get 82, H:j, 152. 341 equals 658; add 8. for the "eighth king," and again you get G66. It is becoming uncanny you say? Weil come with me a little further. * * * Here is a truly remarkable coincidence. The war began in July 28, 191-4—when Austria declared war on Serbia —and on July, 27, 1914, the Kaiser had liv°d 666 mouths! That deservas a paragraph a'l to itself. * * * But- there is a lot more. What about

And what is the ultimate fate of the Beast? Listen: "God hath put )u their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and give their kingdom u.ito the beast. UNTIL THE WORDS OF GOD

SHALL BE FULFILLED.*; And then? "The beast goetli into perdition." And "the merchants . . . shall weep and mourn . . .for no man buyetli their merchandise any more." I have omitted certain words which appear to disguise the obvious meaning of the prophecy—and which is emphasized by a. later verse : " For i.i one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company m ships, nnd sailors, and as many as trade by mm. stood afar off." And 1 like this best of all : " Reward her oven as she rewarded vou, AND DOUBLE UNTO HFR DOUBLE ACCORDING TO HER WORKS; IN THE CUP WHICH SHE HATH FILLED, FILL HER TO THE DOUBLE." They knew the meaning of the word reprisals in those days! Phew ! 1 must never get snowed up again! -HORATIO BOTTOMLEY.

Jinks i.- an as-i~tant in a largo draper v omnoriuni, rnd, being somewhat of n wit. propounded to his friend Binks. who is i.i th«"* grocery lino, a conundrum. "Hero, Uin'cs!" h° said. Tf England is the Motherland. Hermany is the Fatherland, what is Holland?" TJinks eonfes.-ed lus inabili'v to answer the filiation. whereupon Jinks ft i.i, "I'Tl'tol! vou: it's -i x-t •: -f-\ itlia vr.-d !"

An oid gentleman of eight\-Tour having taken to the altar a .young dani.se! of about liftceu, the clergyman said to 11j 111 : - "The foul :> at !lie other end of the ehureh." " What do I want uiS.li tli• • :'->ni/" said the old gentleman. ''Oli. I beg your nardon aid th" l e'eric. " [ thought you had brought tiiis child to be chri-t. nod."

" Wei!, if that V'. nt-'in i-n'i th most rrnceited. self-- .tisfiod. .self "Ye?. I've 1.0.a"d too snv Something , - '.-Ind b> fore. Whin' • started - iff i ■ '■ !'■ ;e s '' M. ■ • - -nf n i 'legrn,-, of w, . his mother." F b.,' :is birthdav."

"What do you think of tl;<> thing?' 1 a>ked a country innkeeper who h.iQ been running a gramophone for the amusement of I'w customers. " Why." an-w, red one of the aunieti' e, ::ft<-1- n moment's hesitation, ''it's like tlii-. f never eared mueh about them tinned ni'ents, but I'm ble>sed if thorn tinned tunes are hot- i b t of all right!"