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NUMBERS IN THE BIBLE
Remember to use these keys when dealing whith Bible Prophecy only
Many of the numbers in the Bible have deeper prophetic or spiritual significance. Both in the Old and New Testaments, numbers reveal hidden concepts and meanings that commonly escape the casual reader. And throughout history, men with great minds, like Augustine, Isaac Newton, and Leonardo Di Vinci, showed more than just a passing curiosity regarding the importance of biblical numbers. Once more, Jesus said, “The very hairs of your head are numbered” (Matthew 10:30). So obviously, Bible numbers should be carefully considered.
At least 12 numbers in the Bible stand out in this regard: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 40, 50, and 70. In order to express this truth, one or two biblical examples have been given below. However, much more can be said on this subject, so these examples serve merely as an introduction and are not exhaustive by any means.
1 – represents absolute singleness and unity (Ephesians 4:4–6; John 17:21, 22.) (We presume readers need no more than these two citations, as most of the biblical information regarding unity and singleness is common knowledge.)
2 – represents the truth of God’s Word; for example, the law and prophets (John 1:45), two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1), and a sword with two edges (Hebrews 4:12). See Mark 6:7 and Revelation 11:3. It is also used 21 times in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
3 – represents the Godhead / Trinity. The angels cry “Holy” three times to the triune God (Isaiah 6:3). See also Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7, 8.
4 – represents universal truth, as in the four directions (north, south, east, west) and the four winds (Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:1; Revelation 20:8). In acts 10:11, a sheet with four corners symbolizes the gospel going to all the gentiles.
5 – represents teaching. First, there are the five books of Moses. Second, Jesus taught about the five wise virgins and used five barley loaves used to feed the 5,000.
6 – represents the worship of man, and is the number of man, signifying his rebellion, imperfection, works, and disobedience. It is used 273 times in the Bible, including its derivatives (e.g, sixth) and another 91 times as “threescore” or “60.” Man was created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26, 31). See also Exodus 31:15 and Daniel 3:1.
The number is especially significant in the book Revelation, as “666” identifies the beast. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:18).
7 – represents perfection, and is the sign of God, divine worship, completions, obedience, and rest. The “prince” of Bible numbers, it is used 562 times, including its derivatives (e.g., seventh, sevens). (See Genesis 2:1–4, Psalm 119:164, and Exodus 20:8–11 for just a few of the examples.)
The number seven is also the most common in biblical prophecy, occurring 42 times in Daniel and Revelation alone. In Revelation there are seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven thousand slain in a great earthquake, seven heads, seven crowns, seven last plagues, seven golden vials, seven mountains, and seven kings.
10 – represents law and restoration. Of course, this includes the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. See also Matthew 25:1 (ten virgins); Luke 17:17 (ten lepers); Luke 15:8 (healing, ten silver coins).
12 – represents the church and God’s authority. Jesus had 12 disciples, and there were 12 tribes of Israel. In Revelation 12:1, the 24 elders and 144,000 are multiples of 12. The New Jerusalem city has12 foundations, 12 gates 12 thousand furlongs, a tree with 12 kinds of fruit 12 times a year eaten by 12 times 12,000 or the 144,000. (See Revelation 21.)
40 – represents a generation and times of testing. It rained for 40 days during the flood. Moses spent 40 years in the desert, as did the children of Israel. Jesus fasted for 40 days.
50 – represents power and celebration. The Jubilee came after the 49th year (Leviticus 25:10), and Pentecost occurred 50 days after Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2).
70 – represents human leadership and judgment. Moses appointed 70 elders (Exodus 24:1); The Sanhedrin was made up of 70 men. Jesus chose 70 disciples (Luke 10:1). Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 times 7.
Barbara Brown Taylor – being exhausted
I do not mean to make an idol of health, but it does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least. When we lie down to sleep at night, we offer our full appointment calendars to God in lieu of prayer, believing that God—who is as busy as we are—will surely understand.
Barbara Brown Taylor, explaining why she is taking a year of Jubilee in 2000, not accepting any out-of-town speaking engagements, and working only 40 hours a week in ministry. From "Divine Subtraction,” The Christian Century (11-3-99)
In the Prison Fellowship newsletter, Jubilee, Charles Colson told of a young boy who became excessively fearful during the great New York blackout of 1977. When his parents questioned their son, he confessed that at the exact moment the lights went out, he had kicked a power line pole. As darkness engulfed the city, he thought he was to blame and would be punished.
HE WAS HEALED
Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing.
That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer." Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, "He died." Compolo felt terrible.
But she continued, "Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence.
But the lady told Compolo, "After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the be...
The message of Jubilee was that when you live with God your failures couldn’t ruin you for good. A fresh start was always coming. God is a god who flips things around to remake them.
Isaiah even points at it with a word play. Verse 3: a crown (phe-er) instead of ashes (epher, ). Ashes were the sign of mourning. A crown/turban was the sign of festivity.
Jesus came to flip things around. To make it possible to change, and become new!
Jesus did as much when he gave his first sermon in Luke 4. Jesus was asked to read the scripture in the synagogue and give some teaching. He read from Isaiah about freeing the captives, healing the sick, making the blind see, and enacting the Kingdom Day of Jubilee. He said today it is fulfilled in your midst. People were amazed. They loved what he said but wondered how he could offer this declaration since they all knew him since he was child. He was Joseph’s son, a carpenter not a Rabbi.
They like what he said at first but Jesus continued on. He told them that they would not honor him or his words. He told them that they would miss out on God’s blessing just like in the days of Elijah during the great drought lasting three and half years. During that time, nobody in Israel received God’s blessing. The only two were an unclean widow not from Israel and Naamon. This of course infuriated the crowd and they went to tear Jesus to pieces. They turned on him because of the truth and insight (sacred truth) that he had offered.
Shane Claiborne tells about how his little community of faith received some money. First, they won a lawsuit against the police of New York for misconduct. Shane with several hundred people had protested the arresting of people for sleeiping outside by sleeping outside. They were arrested, charged, found not guilty, and eventually won a lawsuit against the police. They were awarded $10,000. Then an anonymous person gave them another $20,000.
So what did they do with the money? They decided to have a Jubilee celebration. First they sent $100 to a hundred different communities. Each $100 bill had the word “love” written on it. Then they invited everyone to Wall Street for a Jubilee celebration. Forty or so people brought all the change they could carry – over 30,000 coins in bags, coffee mugs, backpacks and briefcases. A dozen or so people hid hundreds of two-dollar bills all over lower Manhatten. At 8:15 many more trickled into the front of the main entrance to the New York Stock Exchange dressed in a variety ways – homeless, tourists, business folks. At 8:20 Sister Margaret (the nun quoted above) stepped forward to proclaim the Jubilee.
“Some of us have worked on Wall Street, and some of have slept on Wall Street. We are a community of struggle. Some of us are rich people trying to escape our loneliness. Some of us are poor folks trying to escape the cold. Some of us are addicted to drugs, and others are addicted to money. We are a broken people who need each other and God, for we have come to recognize the mess that we have created of our world and how deeply we suffer from that mess. Another world is possible. Another world is necessary. Another world is already here.”
Then Sister Margaret blew the ram’s horn and said, “Let the celebration begin!” People in the balconies threw hundreds of dollars in paper money filling the air. Banners were dropped that read, “Stop terrorism,” “Share,” “Love,” and “There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed—Gandhi.”
And the streets turned silver as the folks in disguise poured out their change. The sidewalks were decorated with chalk and the air was filled with bubbles. Someone started passing out bagels. Others started sharing their winter clothes. Another guy hugged someone and said, “Now I can get my prescription filled.” God faced down Mammon and darkness was overcome with light. Hope was proclaimed.
[Healed from Anger, Citation: Tony Campolo, "Year of Jubilee," Preaching Today #212]
In Preaching Today, author and speaker Tony Campolo tells this story:
I was in a church in Oregon not too long ago, and I prayed for a man who had cancer. In the middle of the week, I got a telephone call from his wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer." I said, "Had?" Whoa, I thought, it’s happened.
She said, "He died." I felt terrible.
She continued, "Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come ...
In an article in Time Magazine on global poverty, specifically on the efforts of rock star Bono of the group U2, March 4, 2002:
The model for a new approach is Jubilee 2000, which campaigned with great success to reduce developing world debt. Jubilee 2000 was based in Europe, not the U.S., and its foot soldiers were not liberal activists but churchgoers. I remember covering a huge demonstration at the G-8 summit in Cologne, Germany, that was led not by black-clad anarchists but by nuns singing hymns. Bono’s support for the campaign was critical; he gave a patina of glamour to a people who would otherwise have been dismissed as nice but deeply unfashionable…
…issues of global health care, education and poverty are being discussed – at church coffees and student discussion groups – with a new urgency… the battle for development is going to be won at the backyard barbeque, not at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“Healed But Not Cured!” Hebrews 12: 5-12: Key verse(s): 6 “...because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Sickness! There isn’t a life that hasn’t been touched by it. And, when we count our blessings at the end of the day, we aren’t likely to include sickness as one of them. Being sick, whether that be the flu or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is never fun. Anyone who can link fun and feeling bad together would certainly have to be a bit of an illusionist. But, I have always been struck by a story that in many ways sheds a different light on what we normally ascribe to be bad fortune as illness and disease creep into our lives.
Many years ago down in Alabama the locals were looking forward to their annual cotton harvest. Cotton had been king in the south for decades and this year as in countless years past all hopes for profit and the good life were banking on cotton. Unfortunately, a little bug called a boll weevil had different plans. Migrating into an Alabama port from Mexico, the little black bug took aim on the thousands and thousands of acres of fields of cotton just coming into bloom. In the space of just a few months it had eaten its way across one county and started into another. It wasn’t long before pretty much most of Alabama was feeling the pinch. In the space of just a few years, 60% of the cotton harvest in the state was ruined. The cotton industry was sick unto death in Alabama and because in those days there was little in the way of pesticides to control the pest, many farmers just gave up farming altogether. Until one innovative farmer down in the southwest corner of the state where the weevil first attacked came up with a bold idea. What about peanuts? And, sure enough, within a decade a good deal of the prime cotton land was planted with peanuts. It wasn’t long before Alabama, especially the southwestern corner of the state, became prosperous again. In fact farmers soon found out that it was less expensive to plant, grow, maintain and harvest peanuts than it was cotton. Many marginal farming efforts were suddenly becoming quite profitable. A sickness that threatened to wipe out prosperity in Alabama suddenly became the catalyst for agricultural growth and unprecedented prosperity. The people of Alabama who at first greeted the boll weevil with dread and great despair were so overjoyed that they put up a monument to the little bug thanking it; for it had as an instrument of suffering become the means of great blessings.
Can sickness, even sickness unto death, be such a blessing for a Christian? On the surface it would seem not. How can a Christian do God’s will if he is lying in bed, flat on his back? How can pain, discomfort, medical treatment and surgery as well as the compounding effects of medication be in any way a blessed state? Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing. That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, “You prayed for my husband. He had cancer.” Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, “He died.” Campolo felt terrible. But she continued, “Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody a...
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