Donna,

 

While I admire your tenacity and searching spirit, I think we must always use caution when dealing with extra-Biblical sources. Strong's is a great resource for the student of the Bible, but it is not scripture--it's about scripture. I certainly acknowledge the sovereignty of our God and King over the heavens and the earth, but James Strong's numbering system is just a numbering system--reading more into it than that can easily get us off the true path of the Word. Scripture should be our sole source for matters of faith. Rev. 13: 18 tells us explicitly that the number of the beast "is the number of a man." There is no relation here to Strong's 666th Hebrew definition.

 

Daniel 9:26 gives us a scriptural clue to the identity of the person who makes the abomination of desolation spoken of by Jesus (Matt. 24:15)--the man we call the Beast:

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. . . ."

 

We all know that Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple destroyed in 70 A. D. by the Roman general Titus--who, incidentally, became emperor soon thereafter.

 

The "prince that shall come" will arise from the Roman population, ie. the Western World, because any student of World History can tell you that Western Civilization rests upon a foundation built by the Greeks and their Roman successors.

 

I am convinced in myself that, after all is said and done, the Moslem Revolution started by Mohamed will be nothing but a flash in the pan in terms of real importance to the world.

 

God Bless you as you continue to study His Word,

Matt in Hayward, CA