Zechariah 13:8-9: And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we may see verses in the Bible that mentioned “the third part” (or one third). From the above verses, it may not difficult to see that God use “the third” to symbolize the portion He planned to save in His salvation plan. Let's examine few other verses to validate our understanding:

2Kings 1:9-15: Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. .... And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. .... And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

There were 153 soldiers went up to see Elijah, only “the third part” 51 soldiers were not consumed by fire (were not judged): “one third” are saved!

Mathew 7:13-14: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Amen, “for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (two third), “ narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (one third). Bible declared that “many” go in to destruction, only “few” find life. The “one third” and “two third” plan declared in Zechariah 13:8-9 is consistent with this Mat 7:13-14 “few” versus “many” preaching.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, with His wisdom, now we may understand why the “number of the beast” is “666”. (If 1,000 symbolized the whole part in all the land, what would be the number of two third then?)

This is why even when our Lord Jesus Christ preached the Kingdom of Heaven in parables in front of multitudes (representing the whole part of all the land) and when his disciples came and asked why, this is what Jesus said: “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” (Mathew 13:11)

John 17:5-12: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them,] and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we [are.] While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.