Anxiety attacks of 666

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1Hope07

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Hi:

I’ve worked in a good place for 7 years and I rotate through three offices of the company. The phone number of one of the offices ends up in 666. I always thought it was a blessing that God led me to this area where I live, it’s peaceful, crime is low, good neighbors and good co workers. I have the flexibility of choosing my hours at work, which makes me happy because I can spend more time with my family and children. But I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number. The book of Revelations in the Bible says that no one will be able to buy or sell goods unless they accept the mark of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name" Will God think that Im accepting the number of the beast to work? Believe me, my work and the employees are very good people, so I dont think in any way that they are related to the devil. But it’s what that number represents in the Bible. Should I leave everything and move to another place to reject the number and honor God. Im afraid of leaving everything because my children have a good future here, but I dont want God to think that I’m accepting the number. I know it sounds silly to many people, but I have a phobia of the number and I’m debating wether I should move or not.
 
1Hope07 said:
Hi:

I’ve worked in a good place for 7 years and I rotate through three offices of the company. The phone number of one of the offices ends up in 666. I always thought it was a blessing that God led me to this area where I live, it’s peaceful, crime is low, good neighbors and good co workers. I have the flexibility of choosing my hours at work, which makes me happy because I can spend more time with my family and children. But I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number. The book of Revelations in the Bible says that no one will be able to buy or sell goods unless they accept the mark of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name" Will God think that Im accepting the number of the beast to work? Believe me, my work and the employees are very good people, so I dont think in any way that they are related to the devil. But it’s what that number represents in the Bible. Should I leave everything and move to another place to reject the number and honor God. Im afraid of leaving everything because my children have a good future here, but I dont want God to think that I’m accepting the number. I know it sounds silly to many people, but I have a phobia of the number and I’m debating wether I should move or not.
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Don’t worry…it’s just a number. Many Biblical scholars think that 666 referred to the emperor Nero. In any event, it certainly doesn’t refer to your office phone. Remember, we have to read the Scriptures in accord with the Tradition and teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. I can assure you, no Magisterial document will be saying anything about your office phone.
 
It’s just a number, but perhaps discuss this with a priest to ease your fears. He would have better advice than I ever could.

My aunt works at a Catholic cemetery and one of its numbers ended in 0666. We just found it very ironic and joked about it.
 
Be at peace! What you are quoting from the Bible has nothing at all to do with your phone number.

It would be superstitious to think that.
 
In apocalyptic literature often the writers would write in numerical code so the Christian readers would understand what is being said, but the government wouldn’t know.

The footnote on Rev 13:18 in The Ignatious Catholic Study Bible says:

“It is probably a cryptogram for Nero Ceasar, whose name written in Hebrew adds up to 666. Interestingly, when the Greek word for beast is written in Hebrew letters, it too adds up to 666.”

The number also happens to be the number of gold talents that Solomon received in one year. (1 Kings 10:14) This was the beginning of Solomon’s downfall, as he became corrupted by his wealth. Another way to look at the number is that the beast is materialism. Sort of a “stuck in the 6th day” thing, never getting to the Sabbath, as Scott Hahn once put it.

It really has nothing to due with your office phone. Putting too much emphasis on it can lead to a sort of superstition about the number, which you don’t want. The number itself can do nothing!

Besides, God wants you to be happy. And it sounds like you are happy where you are. You’re not doing anything evil by working there.
 
1Hope07 said:
Hi:

I’ve worked in a good place for 7 years and I rotate through three offices of the company. The phone number of one of the offices ends up in 666. I always thought it was a blessing that God led me to this area where I live, it’s peaceful, crime is low, good neighbors and good co workers. I have the flexibility of choosing my hours at work, which makes me happy because I can spend more time with my family and children. But I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number. The book of Revelations in the Bible says that no one will be able to buy or sell goods unless they accept the mark of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name" Will God think that Im accepting the number of the beast to work? Believe me, my work and the employees are very good people, so I dont think in any way that they are related to the devil. But it’s what that number represents in the Bible. Should I leave everything and move to another place to reject the number and honor God. Im afraid of leaving everything because my children have a good future here, but I dont want God to think that I’m accepting the number. I know it sounds silly to many people, but I have a phobia of the number and I’m debating wether I should move or not.
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If you read the full context of Revelation 13, receiving the number of the beast is connected with worshipping its image. Merely having a phone number that has 666 in it doesn’t make you unwittingly worship the beast or its image.

It is also worth noting that some early manuscripts of Revelation have the number of the beast as 616 rather than 666. So you could argue there is some uncertainty about which is more correct.

Also, most Bibles have a page 666. You’re not going to rip that out, are you? I thought not. 😉

In summary: listen to the other posters, and don’t worry about it.
 
MrZoom said:
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Also, most Bibles have a page 666. You’re not going to rip that out, are you? I thought not. 😉
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Excellent point! 👍 In fact, page 666 in my Bible (NAB-RE) is from the book of Tobit, and ripping that out would make me, well, a Protestant… 😉

To the OP, fear not!

It’s just a number. When Revelation was written, active persecution of Christians was a reality, and hence the author prudently used a cryptogram so that “those in the know” would understand, but others would just be puzzled. (There’s an OT precedent for this - in the book of Jeremiah, reference is made to the “King of Sheshach” - Sheshach being a substitution cipher for “Babylon”, the oppressors of the Israelites at that time.) St. John was probably referring either to Nero (whose persecution was the type of those to come), or to the Roman Empire in general (“Caesar-God” in Greek also adds up to 666 - New Jerusalem Bible footnotes.)

For a benign “counter-example” - the number 888 has been associated with Our Lord Jesus Christ, but I know several non-Christians who have 888 in their phone numbers. Doesn’t make them the Second Coming! 😛
 
Some manuscripts have 616 instead of 666…so you see, it could get carried away in a totally different direction.🙂
 
You shouldn’t worry about it. But you could always just ask to switch phones or something.
 
One day Padre Pio was asked by one of her spiritual daughters, the Servant of God Cleonice Morcaldi, why did the Revelation mention “living beings with many eyes”. Padre Pio simply replied: “it’s symbolic.”

It is my understanding that the same can be said of the notorious number. As a matter of fact, any number is very good in itself, like everything that our Lord has created. It would be superstitious to attribute special “powers” to a number.

In that context, it may represent something, but it’s not a “bad” number or anything. In fact, from a mathematical standpoint it is a rather beautiful number 😉 It is a perfect square, a triangular number, and an abundant number. If we consider it as degrees, take its sine, and multiply it times -2, we obtain the golden ratio.

So don’t worry about it! This reminds me of the Cross of St. Peter, which is actually a Catholic symbol of the Holy Father and yet scarcely anyone would see it as a nice Christian symbol 😉

Interestingly enough, the fear of “that” number has been given a name: Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia :sad_yes:
 
OP - I agree that the prophecy of Revelation has nothing to do with your phone number and second everyone else’s advice here. But surely your phone number has more than just those digits, no? The prophecy isn’t 201-555-4666, for example.
 
With respect, the answer to your question is actually in your post, right here:
1Hope07 said:
I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number.
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Your condition causes you unreasonable anxieties. This is one of them.

In addition to all of the usual therapies (physical exercise, CBT, medication), when your condition does turn itself towards your faith and you start getting stressed, remember that this is a God who loved you enough to suffer and die for you: focus on the Incarnation, and the Crucifixion, and the enormous lengths to which God went just for you; trust God to cope with you in all your weakness.

After all, He apparently puts up with me!
 
1Hope07 said:
Hi:

I’ve worked in a good place for 7 years and I rotate through three offices of the company. The phone number of one of the offices ends up in 666. I always thought it was a blessing that God led me to this area where I live, it’s peaceful, crime is low, good neighbors and good co workers. I have the flexibility of choosing my hours at work, which makes me happy because I can spend more time with my family and children. But I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number. The book of Revelations in the Bible says that no one will be able to buy or sell goods unless they accept the mark of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name" Will God think that Im accepting the number of the beast to work? Believe me, my work and the employees are very good people, so I dont think in any way that they are related to the devil. But it’s what that number represents in the Bible. Should I leave everything and move to another place to reject the number and honor God. Im afraid of leaving everything because my children have a good future here, but I dont want God to think that I’m accepting the number. I know it sounds silly to many people, but I have a phobia of the number and I’m debating wether I should move or not.
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I suggest that you pickup a good Catholic commentary book on the Book of Revelation. I just started one that is very good so far. It is written for the average person, it is called ‘Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and applying its lessons today’, by Michael Barber. I think this book (or on kindle) would ease your thoughts about some of the symbols and prophecies that are misused from the Book of Revelation!
 
1Hope07 said:
Hi:

I’ve worked in a good place for 7 years and I rotate through three offices of the company. The phone number of one of the offices ends up in 666. I always thought it was a blessing that God led me to this area where I live, it’s peaceful, crime is low, good neighbors and good co workers. I have the flexibility of choosing my hours at work, which makes me happy because I can spend more time with my family and children. But I do suffer from OCD and irrational fears and lately I’ve been tormented by the phone number. The book of Revelations in the Bible says that no one will be able to buy or sell goods unless they accept the mark of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name" Will God think that Im accepting the number of the beast to work? Believe me, my work and the employees are very good people, so I dont think in any way that they are related to the devil. But it’s what that number represents in the Bible. Should I leave everything and move to another place to reject the number and honor God. Im afraid of leaving everything because my children have a good future here, but I dont want God to think that I’m accepting the number. I know it sounds silly to many people, but I have a phobia of the number and I’m debating wether I should move or not.
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…it’s just a number!

…consider the fact that someone in the US (world) would inevitably end up with such a number… at present, in your business, it happens to be you… do you Believe in God? …do you Believe in Satan? …if you do not worship Satan, there’s nothing that that number can do to you–you can, as a matter of course, not give out that particular number as reference (unless that is the only extension in your section) and if you ever have to pick up that particular line… just say to yourself: “Jesus is Lord!” as often as you can without losing track of the conversation!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
First, this number is beyond your control and you did not choose it. Consider using the number as a reminder to say a quick prayer. When saying the number, maybe break it up: “555-06-66” At least you are not tying the three 6s together.
 
It’s just a number. Numbers can’t hurt you. Are you afraid of numbers? Does 123 scare you? Or what about 767?

In the bible numbers can be symbolic of something. The number 7 for instance can represent completeness. However, 7 is just a number. It cant make you complete. It cant do anything to you. It is a quantity of something. The number 7 does not actually exist. I can have 7 of something, but I do not have a number, I have something that totals in quantity of 7.

The number 666 was used in the bible as a hidden code. The Emporer would have anyone killed who was seen as a threat. Thus the Christians used a code for the name of the Emporer known as Nero. By adding the Hebrew letters in his name you get the number 666. If his name was Nera the number would have been something else. Thus the number is arbitrary and determined by Nero’s name. The number itself is not evil. Nor should anyone fear the number.

I see this number in a number of places on my job. I can see it in serial numbers, pho ne numbers and even highway names. It doesnt mean anything bad. It is just another number that is necessary to have in our 10 base number system.

Some people think the number 13 is unlucky. But how can a number bring good luck or bad luck? Numbers don’t even exist. They are a concept, a representation of a quantity of something. Its just like praying to a statue. A statue was made by man and can not do anything for man. Thus it is foolish to pray to a statue. It is also foolish to attribute luck to a number which is merely a concept of man.
 
Thanks everyone for listening and trying to help. My mind tries to make sense of your advice but its always hard. I’m really not afraid that the number is going to bring me bad luck in life, I’m afraid of my eternal salvation because of what the Bible says, that anybody that accepts that number will be in hell forever. I know its probably how my mind is interpreting it, many people interpret it differently and that’s why I ask for your opinions. I know somebody suggested me that I can always ask my boss to change the number. However, when my boss bought the practice from a previous owner, that was already the phone number and my boss didnt want to change it because patients have been going to that practice for many years and he didnt want the people to loose contact. I know that’s understandable, but like I said, I suffer from OCD and many times I suffer from religious fears of things that are really not sins to other people. It’s hard living like that, because I was happy for most of my life but the disease has gotten stronger the past five years. Sometimes I ask myself, if I’m afraid of that number, why does God put me in these situations? What are the odds of having to work in a place that has a phone number like that? I know its just one of the offices, because he has other offices and each one has their own phone number, but once a fear starts, it becomes compulsive. The worst part is that I’m pregnant right now with my second child, so I cannot take any medications and I live in constant panic attacks because I think I wont be going to heaven if I dont reject the number. But to reject the number will be having to move and leave all the good things that I thought were blessings from God (security, calm, peaceful place to live with good friends and future for my children). I just ask for your prayers because I believe in the power of it, so I could experience some peace to my anxiety.Like I said before, we do a good service at our work, and I work with very good people. Its just that I wish I didnt have to be related at all to that number.
 
1Hope07 said:
Sometimes I ask myself, if I’m afraid of that number, why does God put me in these situations? What are the odds of having to work in a place that has a phone number like that?
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God tries us by fire, like gold, because we are worthy in His eyes. Trust in Him.

Also, God did not put you in that situation, He allowed you to be there. And we know that He wants only the best for us.

Your faith is commendable: but remember that there can be no sin without deliberate consent. Even if - and we know that it is not the case - it was sinful to have that phone number with those digits (again, it’s not sinful), since you receive it by obedience but are not willfully accepting it as that symbol (as, for instance, would someone who willfully receives a tattoo of those three digits) then there is no deliberate consent. It is just a cross, and we know that we should carry our crosses, not give them up. Only then we will resemble Christ, who, worthy of all joy, willfully embraced all sorrows.
1Hope07 said:
I’m pregnant right now with my second child, so I cannot take any medications and I live in constant panic attacks because I think I wont be going to heaven if I dont reject the number.
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Congratulations, may the Lord bless you, your little one, and your family. Remember this one thing: in order for you not to go to heaven, you have to reject God. If you love God with all your heart and you show it by loving your neighbor like yourself, then salvation is at your door, and Christ by your side. As for the number, your words speak for themselves: you have already rejected it in your heart. I pray that the saints of the last days would have the same faith when it comes down to rejecting the real antichirst.
1Hope07 said:
to reject the number will be having to move and leave all the good things that I thought were blessings from God (security, calm, peaceful place to live with good friends and future for my children).
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But you cannot reject that phone number, it is assigned to an office which in turn is assigned to a company. I could understand if it were, say, your extension. But it’s an office number. God is way too good and wise to punish all the employees of that office simply because out of randomness the office was assigned a 10-digit number ending with those three digits. God forgave those who were nailing Him to a cross, how could He not embrace you and the others who simply happen to work in this place?

I understand that yours is a heavy cross, no matter how small it may seem to us. But you may have to carry it for the sake of your loved ones. You are not alone, though. God is by your side. And we join you in prayer.
 
1Hope07 said:
Thanks everyone for listening and trying to help. My mind tries to make sense of your advice but its always hard. I’m really not afraid that the number is going to bring me bad luck in life, I’m afraid of my eternal salvation because of what the Bible says, that anybody that accepts that number will be in hell forever. I know its probably how my mind is interpreting it, many people interpret it differently and that’s why I ask for your opinions. I know somebody suggested me that I can always ask my boss to change the number. However, when my boss bought the practice from a previous owner, that was already the phone number and my boss didnt want to change it because patients have been going to that practice for many years and he didnt want the people to loose contact. I know that’s understandable, but like I said, I suffer from OCD and many times I suffer from religious fears of things that are really not sins to other people. It’s hard living like that, because I was happy for most of my life but the disease has gotten stronger the past five years. Sometimes I ask myself, if I’m afraid of that number, why does God put me in these situations? What are the odds of having to work in a place that has a phone number like that? I know its just one of the offices, because he has other offices and each one has their own phone number, but once a fear starts, it becomes compulsive. The worst part is that I’m pregnant right now with my second child, so I cannot take any medications and I live in constant panic attacks because I think I wont be going to heaven if I dont reject the number. But to reject the number will be having to move and leave all the good things that I thought were blessings from God (security, calm, peaceful place to live with good friends and future for my children). I just ask for your prayers because I believe in the power of it, so I could experience some peace to my anxiety.Like I said before, we do a good service at our work, and I work with very good people. Its just that I wish I didnt have to be related at all to that number.
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…please understand that in no way am I making any light of your situation… but I think it is not only about your condition but about your understanding… God does not places into “test” scenarios to demonstrate His Authority or to have us prove our Faith… so you got a not so choice number… have you considered how it is that there are Scriptures that speak of people being possessed by demons/uncleaned spirits and they not only cohabitate with those not possessed but they even frequent the places of worship? …or the parable of the enemy that plants the bad seed among the good and both are allow to grow together till the time of gathering? …or how the Heavenly Father allows the sun and rain to fall among the good and bad? …and what about Jesus’ Revelation that Satan is the prince of *this *world?

…as long as your allegiance is with Yahweh God nothing on this temporal existence can steal away your peace… remember, when we get closer to God not only does God get closer to us but the devil is forced to flee!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
buc_fan33 said:
Don’t worry…it’s just a number. Many Biblical scholars think that 666 referred to the emperor Nero. In any event, it certainly doesn’t refer to your office phone. Remember, we have to read the Scriptures in accord with the Tradition and teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. I can assure you, no Magisterial document will be saying anything about your office phone.
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I wish that Catholic hymnals did not number any hymns 666 (just go from 665 to 667) much like many high-rise hotels skip listing a 13th floor.
 
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