For those who have never heard of Gematria, it is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. Many historians see gematria behind the reference to the number of the name of the beast in Revelation as “666,” which corresponds to the numerical value of the Hebrew transliteration of the Greek name “Nero Caesar,” referring to the 1st century Roman emperor who persecuted early Christians.
Many have used the method in an attempt to prove certain people as being the Antichrist. Years ago, I received a letter in the mail attempting to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Antichrist was in fact the Pope. The formula the gentleman had decided on was to use the Latin name for the Pope with English letters and assigned numbers to each letter so that the total for the numbers equaled 666, proving unequivocally the Pope to be Antichrist.
Over the years, gematria has been used to identify everyone from Hitler to Castro to Bin Laden as the Antichrist. The problem is that the only way to make the numbers add up is to determine the numbers to the letters beforehand. Using that formula, anyone could potentially be the Antichrist.
At any rate, I ran across an interesting formula with numbers and letters that I thought made much better sense than trying to depict an antichrist. If you take the alphabet and assign numbers to each letter beginning with 1 to 26, you find some interesting results:
H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%
A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E 1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%
But look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D 12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%
Using the above gematria, one can conclude not only with mathematical certainty, but more so with scriptural backing the following certainties:
Hard work and knowledge may get you close, but it can never get you to God (“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves – it is a gift from God, not of works so that no one can boast”). Eph.2:8-9
The right attitude can get you there (“If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”). Rom.10:9
But only the love of God makes it possible to live beyond expectations (“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us”). 1Jn.4:12
When you total the numbers, God’s love always makes the difference!
To His Glory,
Pastor Bill