Q&A: 666 and the mark of the beast — why any name can be made to equal 666 using flexible math; and why barcodes and microchips are not the mark

Mike demonstrated to youth that his own full name, using a simple alphabet-to-number formula with one multiplication factor (×2 because he is 'a second'), equals 666. The same exercise works with Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Pope Francis, Caesar Nero, your third-grade teacher, etc. Without strict rules, flexible numerical formulas can produce 666 from anyone. Regarding the mark of the beast: Mike holds a futurist interpretation — when the mark is actually being implemented, the generation experiencing it will recognize it clearly ('let him who reads understand' — a call to discernment in context). It will involve: (1) the 666 number, (2) inability to buy or sell without it, AND (3) worship of the image of the beast. A workplace microchip fails conditions 2 and 3. Old warnings about barcodes (two long guard bars on each end and in the middle = three 6s) are embarrassing category errors.