Barbelith Underground > Temple

To begin with, I'm not sure how valid it is to use gematria with any of the numerical references in Revelation, as it was written in Greek (most scholars refer to it as "barbaric Greek," even). There are a number of inherent dangers in a poor translation from any language into Hebrew (and vice versa), and while whoever wrote the book (opinions vary) may have Hebrew numerology as a starting point, I'm not sure how far we can map everything across between the two languages. But as I'm not sure that this thread is entirely an attempt to do that, here's a couple of interesting sites I found on the subject...

A few bits from a site focusing on gematria:

Meaning of Sav = sign, line, feature or note...

The Sav is a directional letter moving from the left to the right. The direction begins with man represented by the letter Vav and moves towards truth and perfection which represent Hashem {see Gematria discussion for the letter Vav}.

The Gematria construction of the Sav is a Vav = 6 plus a Vav = 6 plus a Vav = 6 for a total of 18, {see first blue box at top of page}. The Gematria of Chai, meaning "life / living" is 18, {see first yellow box at top of page}. Every life and the substance for every life is based upon Hashem's truth. All Creation is sustained and maintained by Hashem's truth. The first letter for the Hebrew word Torah begins with the letter Sav. The last letter for Emes, meaning truth, concludes with the letter Sav. The letter Sav is Hashem's seal. The Sav is Hashem's absolute guarantee that His agreement will be carried out to completion.

When Kayin murdered his brother Hevel, the Torah records that Hashem placed an Ohs, meaning sign, on Kayin's forehead. This Ohs, according to Nachlas Benjamin, was the letter Sav. The letter Sav {from right to left} Vav - Yod - Sav comes from the root Hey - Vav - Sav, meaning to place a mark or sign. It is the Sav that represents Hashem's sign or mark!

The basis for this comes from the following: "The sign {Sav} as a Divine judicial pronouncement was used when G-d decreed the destruction of Jerusalem and ordered the angel Gabriel - as seen in the vision by the Prophet Ezekiel (Ch. 9) - to put a {Sav} on the foreheads of the citizens of Jerusalem. {The Sav was used} to differentiate the righteous ones destined for life in the World to Come from the wicked who were doomed to perish in This World and in the next, ink and blood were used respectively. A {Sav} in ink was placed on the forehead of the righteous, denoting {the word [from right to left] Hey - Yod - Chess - Sav, 'Teech Yeh' meaning} you shall live; {see second blue box at top of page} and in blood {on the forehead} for the wicked, denoting {the word [from right to left] Sav - Vav - Mem - Sav, 'Taw Moos' meaning} you shall die" {see second yellow box at top of page} (Shabbos 55 a).

Hashem's seal has been understood in Judaism for thousands of years and since Creation as the Hebrew letter Sav. In Judaism we regard the Sav which is the Gematria total of Vav {6} plus Vav {6} plus Vav {6} equaling 18 to mean "LIFE". Christians / Messianics regard Hashem's seal with its Gematria construction of Vav {6} plus Vav {6} plus Vav {6} to be "666" which they claim to be "the mark of the Beast."

Now, in fact, the letter Sav does NOT represent the mark of the beast. The Sav represents the seal of Hashem the Creator. Hashem's seal is placed upon the forehead of the righteous IN INK representing "life in the World to Come" and Hashem's seal is placed upon the forehead of the wicked IN BLOOD meaning "you shall die in this life and in the next world." The righteous are sealed to life IN INK and the wicked are sealed to death IN BLOOD. The same seal is used.

Have a look at this site, which makes the point that the Pope is the antichrist(there's too much there to reprint on the Lith).