In Stephen Armstrong's teaching in Revelation 13 he says Jesus the Messiah in Hebrew numerical value is 749, or 7, 7x7. Can you please explain how he arrived at that number?
Numbering a name is a unique Jewish way of turning a word into a mathematical quantity. It starts by assigning a numerical value to each letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Consequently, the Hebrew alphabet uses 22 characters but they aren’t numbered 1-22, instead, the numbering scheme begins with 1-10 and then moves to 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, then ends with 200, 300, & 400.
Therefore, by adding up the letters in a person’s Hebrew name, you can arrive at a single value which then represents a personal name. For example, if we add up the Hebrew letters associated with Jesus’ full name and title (Jesus the Messiah), we arrive at 749. This number is again calculated by adding up each Hebrew letter's numerical value. Keep in mind this system only works with Hebrew names, so the Antichrist’s name (whatever it will be) must be written in Hebrew. Once it is translated into Hebrew, then someone who knows Hebrew could calculate the number of his name and when Satan's name is calculated, John says it will add up to 666. The number 6 in Scripture is the number of fallen or sinful man. Furthermore, in Hebrew writing, to double a number means “more” and to triple a number means “most”. So 666 is the most sin or the most sinful man, and of course he is the world’s most sinful man because he is indwelled by Satan.
