God's use of numbers in the Bible

Proverbs 16:11 A just balance and scales belong to the LORD;
All the weights of the bag are His concern.

Why God wanted to use numbers in the Bible
God is the author of all absolutes - whether they be morals, measurements or constants of nature.  Biblical Numerology is the name assigned to identifying the ways certain numbers are used in the Bible.  Numbers and numerical patterns were devised by God and are used by God to govern the lives of His people, the giving of His revelation in the Old and New Testaments and to point the way to certain spiritual principles.  Although it would be going too far to say that every number has a particular significance or meaning, yet at the same time there are certain numbers in the Bible that appear repeatedly. 

Examples of certain numbers and their meaning in the Bible
In studying God's Word there is an undeniable pattern of meaning that we can assign to certain numbers.  I would encourage the reader to get a copy of H.L Wilmington's: "The Complete Book of Bible's Lists" as well as Walter Lewis Wilson's: "Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types".  Both are reliable reference works for understanding the significance of numbers in the Bible.  Below are some of the more significant numbers and their meanings that we find in the scriptures.  I hope you find them helpful and spiritually enriching:

One = The number of unity, supremacy. There is One God. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)  One mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)

Two = The number of testimony. By the mouth of two or three witnesses is a matter established. (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Hebrews 10:28)  Jesus always appealed to at least the Law and the Prophets in establishing His identity. (Luke 24:44) 

Three = The Number of Completeness. God Himself is Father, Son and Holy Spirit - The Trinity. (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:18; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Four = The Number of the Earth. There were four categories of created things in the visible creation (birds of the air, fish of the sea, beasts and crawling things).  There is North, South, East and West.

Five = The Number of Grace. Wilmington in his book (see above reference) points out five Levitical offerings in Leviticus 1-5 and five wise virgins in Jesus parable of the wise and foolish virgins of Matthew 25:2. 

Six - The Number of Man. Revelation 13:8 tells us plainly that the number "666" is man's number.  Man was created on the sixth day.  Man's number points to incompleteness, in need of God. 

Seven - The Number of God, Divine perfection.  This is perhaps the most extensively used number in God's Word.  It truly is the finger print of God.  We see for instance seven key men in Genesis; seven pieces of furniture in the Old Testament Tabernacle; seven feasts of Israel and the Spirit of God having a seven fold nature in Isaiah 11.  We see in the New Testament Jesus revealing Himself through seven "I AM sayings"; seven sayings from the cross and seven signs in the Gospel of John wherein Christ was revealing both His Divine and Human natures.  In Revelation we seven sets of seven judgments.  Jesus told Peter that He had to forgive seventy times seven.  These are but just a few examples.

Eight - The Number of Renewal.  Wilmington points out that baby boys in Israel were circumcised on the eighth day of their life and that Thomas saw Jesus eight days after His resurrection.  Further study reveals that in John's Gospel, seven signs govern the flow of the book - however Christ's resurrection itself could be counted as the eighth sign - lending to this idea of the number.

Nine - The Number of Fulness.  We see for example in Galatians 5:22ff the nine fruits of the Spirit.

Ten - The Number of the nations, Divine Government. 
We know the book of Genesis for instance is fond of using the number ten to refer to God's government of history and humanity.  For instance, between Adam and Noah are ten generations. (Genesis 5)  From the point of Noah's Son Shem to that of Abraham is another ten generations. (Genesis 11:10-32)  Then from Abraham's Son Isaac to Moses lies yet another ten generations.

The first set of counting numbers are definitely used by God to communicate truths about Himself and principles by which God's people can live by.  Tomorrow we will continue exploring some more numbers in God's Word to discover how they point us to Christ, God's purposes and spiritual realities of the Christian life.     

Picturing Christ in the Book of Numbers

1 Corinthians 10:6 "Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved."

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 represents a remarkable section of sacred scripture that outlines for us the entire book of Numbers and gives us several pictures of Jesus Christ from that book.  In today's blog we will explore 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 to see how exactly the Apostle Paul appeals to Numbers to picture Jesus Christ.

A brief word on Moses and the books of Exodus thru Deuteronomy
The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses from 1446-1406 b.c.  Moses' life can be divided into three forty year periods.  The first forty year period has him in the courts of Pharoah, growing up and being educated under the teachers of the nation.  Following an increasing burden for his fellow Israelites who were enslaved under the Egyptian regiem, Moses witnesses an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite and ends up killing the man.  This leads to Moses' fleeing for his life into the Midianite desert. 

For the second period of forty years Moses learns how to shepherd sheep and live in obscurity.  At the end of that time God meets him in the burning bush, calling him to go back and redeem the people of God.  Exodus records those events, wherein Moses leads the people out of of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and by God's power brings them to the base of Mt. Sinai. (Exodus 1-24)  While at the Mountain Moses and the people are shown the vision of the Tabernacle. (Exodus 25-40)  It is quite likely that Moses composed the book of Genesis while being on top of Mount Sinai in Exodus 33.  By the end of Exodus, we have seen the people one year removed from their deliverance from Egypt.  The Book of Leviticus records their first 50 days in the second year, preparing for when they would leave for the promised land. 

It is in the Book of Numbers that we come to the third forty year period of Moses' life.  Picking up where Leviticus leaves off, the people of God are depicted as journeying from Mount Sinai, complaining and rebelling against God.  Eventually God consigns them to forty years of wandering.  By the time we reach the end of Numbers, Moses is nearly 120 years old.  The Book of Deuteronomy records the final year or so of Moses' life as a whole new generation of Israelites are camped on the plains of Moab, ready to enter into the promised land. 

Seeing Christ in the Book of Numbers
That brief summary was to show you where the book of Numbers fits into God's overall work in the lives of His people.  Their lack of faith and unbelief provided lessons that Paul reminded the Corinthian church not to repeat.  In 1 Corinthians 10:6 and 11, Paul reminds us as well that if we do not heed the lessons of Numbers, we too will end up in major trouble.  How can we avoid that - by fixing our eyes on Christ.

1. Christ the Protective Shepherd. 1 Corinthians 10:1-6
Paul first of all hearkens the reader back to those opening chapters in Numbers 1-21.  He reminds the reader of the rock that gave water to a grumbling people.  In Numbers 20:8-13, Moses struck that rock in anger and it resulted in him not being able to go into the promised land.  Paul reminds us that we must ever be careful how we regard Christ our protective shepherd.  Despite what can be our rebellion at times, Christ is ever faithful and desires us to love Him as much as He loves us. 

2. Christ the Perfect Savior. 1 Corinthians 10:7-13
In this tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul lays out for us a Divine commentary on Numbers - pointing us to Jesus Christ.  He points us to Christ the Protective Shepherd in 1 Corinthians 10:1-6.  Various events are recalled from Numbers 1-21.  Then Paul takes the remainder of 1 Corinthians 10:7-13 and shows us Christ the Perfect Savior.

In 1 Corinthians 10:7-10 he hearkens us back to Numbers 22-25, during those days when the Israelites compromised with the false prophet Balaam.  Paul warns us not to crave evil things as they craved, including idolatry (10:7); immorality (10:8) and testing of God's character (10:9).  In 1 Corinthians 10:10 he warns his readers and us not to complain nor grumble - a sin which they repeatedly did throughout Numbers (Numbers 11,12,13-14, 16 and 20 and 21)

Then In 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 he hearkens us back to Numbers 26-36, driving home the point of our need to focus on Jesus Christ - the Perfect Savior.  

Concluding Thoughts
In summary, Paul takes 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 and points us to Christ the Protective Shepherd and Perfect Savior by outlining for us the entire Book of Numbers:

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 = Numbers 1-21
1 Corinthians 10:7-10 = Numbers 22-25
1 Corinthians 10:11-13 = Numbers 26-36

May you and I ever keep Christ before us. 

Worship is Pleasureable Enjoyment of God

Jude 25 - "to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Excitement and joy over God

This focus on the Living Word, in the written Word, has caused Jude to break out in what theologians call – “a doxology”.  The word "doxology" is composed by two Greek words: "doxa" meaning "to think, to deem" and "logos" meaning "a word, matter or thing".  Thus in a "doxology" my praise of God flows from the highest thoughts of Him in my mind and the sweetest desire for Him in my heart.   It is when after writing about God that the author suddenly erupts in praise.  He cannot contain himself.  This future activity of God has broken into the present.  The Kingdom that is coming is also the Kingdom here.  It is now invisible, but will soon be made visible. 

All theology must lead to worship, or doxology

All theology, all doctrine, must lead to worship.  Think of this in terms of an ever-increasing cycle: theology leads to doxology which produces theology leading to even more doxology.  The pleasure of my joy derives from who God is, and is expressed in the three-fold description of God given in this text:

a. Before all time – My Creator

b. and now – My Redeemer
c. and Forever – My Soon coming King.

The Living Word Jesus Christ is revealed in this same fashion in Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The Written Word, the Bible, can be summed up as being Beginning, creation – Genesis 1-2; Middle – all about redemption from sin – Genesis 3-Jude; and end – Revelation. 

The focus upon the Living Word causes great worship in Heaven both now (Isaiah 6) and forever (Revelation 4-5; 21-22).  The fulfillment of the written word cause joyful worship (Revelation 5).  Is it no wonder that Jude writes these words.  Even in his book, after writing about the grief caused by so many walking away from the faith, we see that for those who persevere and who plug into the Living Word through the Written Word, there will be ceaseless joy before His throne. 

Concluding thoughts

Thus we have considered Jude 24-25, considering how we as Christians can increase our joy from consideration of prophetic scripture.  We have note the following thoughts from Jude 24-25:

1. Power Source of your joy – The Word Jude 24a

2. Perseverance unto joy – The Word Jude 24b
2. Pleasure of joy: Worship – because of the Word. Jude 25

To God be the Glory both now and forever.  Amen!

The Joy of Christian Perseverance

Jude 24 -  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

For the past few days we have been discovering the link between Christian joy and Biblical Eschatology (that is - the study of last things or prophecy).  Yesterday we looked at how God's purposes for the future in Christ's return provides the power source for Christian joy.  Today we want to notice how Christian faith, focused upon the Word and the WORD, results in perseverance unto joy.

 

The Joy a Christian has in knowing that they will make it.

Does the Christian have certainty in this life that they are going to make it?  When we come to the written Word – we find a resounding yes.  In the book of 1 John we discover dozens of declarations related to the area of salvation's assurance. 

The significance of what it means to stand confidently before God on the day of judgment

We must remember that to stand confidently before Christ on the day of judgment is no small thing.  Throughout the Old Testament the prophets wrote about the astonishing inability of human beings to stand on their own before God in any sort of judgment:

A. 1 Samuel 6:20 The men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?"

B.  Psalm 76:7 "You, even You, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?"

C.  Indeed Hebrews 10:31 tells us - "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

The joy a Christian has in knowing that in Christ they have the confidence to stand before God on the day of judgment

So with that knowledge, what then of the Christian?  What do we discover about our future before a Holy and Just God as we focus upon the Living Word Jesus Christ? Consider these texts:

A. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ"

B. The Apostle Peter draws the link between the Divinely-given ability to persevere to the end and the Christian's present joy in 1 Peter 1:5-6a – “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice….”

Perseverance isn't just our duty, it is our delight, since in Christ every Christian will prevail to the end

When we center upon the written and Living Word in the current age, we gain joy to persevere into the age to come.  Romans 15:4 reveals - "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."  1 John 3:2-3 states: "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (3) And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

So by centering on the Word and the WORD I can increase my future joy because of Christ, my Power source for joy, who enables me to persevere unto joy

The Powerful Joyful Future is found in God

Jude 24-25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Enjoying the already and the not yet

Joy occurs when we have confidently apprehended what we have hoped for.  Now when it comes to the events of the age to come, we understand from the scripture that even though Christ’s return and His coming kingdom have not yet taken place, yet at the same time we are getting the foretaste of those realities right now. 

"Right now" is spoken of in that first part of Jude 24, wherein we see the first reason why we can increase our joy over prophetic events by centering on the Word, namely because of…

THE POWER SOURCE OF YOUR JOY.

Now who is the power source of your joy?  Clearly God Himself is the one spoken of here, and more particularly God that is existing through the interacting relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In the September 5, 2005 edition of the Boston Globe, the question was asked: "how much energy does the sun put out in one second?"  The answer is astonishing: Enough energy to sustain our planet’s civilization for 500,000 years!  Now the Sun is huge, but it is of no comparison to the infinite power source we find from God communicating His unending power in union with the Living Word Jesus Christ.  Notice what Jude communicates about the believer’s unending power source for joy:

1. God’s Omnipotence – “To Him Who is Able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy”

2. God’s Omniscience – “to the only (wise) God”

3. God’s Omni benevolence (All goodness) – “be glory, majesty, dominion and authority”

4. God’s Omnipresence – before all time and now and forever. Amen”

This power source of your joy is experienced in and through the Living Word, for the text says about God’s unlimited power as being “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  When we center ourselves upon the Living Word in terms of His soon return, our joy is truly fulfilled.  1 Peter 1:7-8 states -  “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

God the Father, through His co-equality with God the Son, as shared by the Holy Spirit, gives us the power source for our joy as we look forward to what is revealed in prophetic scripture.

The Link between Bible prophecy and joy

Jude 24-25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25to the only wise God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Defining the meaning and significance of eschatology

Bible teachers calls the study of prophecy “eschatology” or the study of last things (from "eschatos" = "last things" and "ology" = study of).  To center upon a subject of which ¼ of scripture is devoted to should cause great joy – since 224 predictions are made of Christ’s soon return.  Yet how often  have you heard a sermon or a read a book on Bible prophecy where the end result is fear and dread rather than hope and joy?  Repeatedly scripture connects the Christian's current joy with the soon return of Jesus Christ. 

Demonstrating the link between prophecy and joy

Jude in his short little book states his purpose in verse 3: “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”  How can you and I as Christians contend for the faith in this present time if we do not have a joyful expectation of Christ's return?  Centering upon the Word written and the Living WORD produces joy not only for the current age, but the age to come.  Scriptures bear out this important link between prophecy and joy:

1. Notice what Israel will experience at Christ’s return in Isaiah 51:11 So the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

2. When Christ returns, we know that there will be a judgment of believers, as recorded in Matthew 25:21 - “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

3. Peter reveals that for the saints of God, joy will characterized their state of existence at Christ’s coming in 1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

4. In one of the final visions of our activity in Eternity, we see these words in Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Overwhelmingly the core theme of Bible prophecy is the joy we have in the Living Word, Jesus Christ and the certainty of what is said about Him in the written Word. 

Provisions for Christian Victory over temptation

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Introduction: Christ was also tempted
Yesterday we noted some thoughts on how it is that Christians can have victory over temptation.  In the Bible, Christ's temptation in the wilderness stands as the epicenter on all scriptures dealing with the subject of temptation.  Christ's earthly ministry was characterized as being under constant barrage of various trials and temptations. (Luke 22:28)  Thankfully Christ never gave into such temptations despite being tempted at all points like we are. (Hebrews 4:15).

So why was Christ tempted?  What does His temptation have to do with Christian living? In today's blog, I want to list for you five provisions Christ gained for every believer as a result of His defeat of satan in temptations such as He endured in Matthew 4:1-11.  We will then close with two verses that explain why Christ had to undergo temptation.

5 provisions for victory over temptation gained by Christ for every Christian as taken from Matthew 4:1-11 and other verses:

1. God’s Holy Spirit.  Mt 4:1; Lk 4:1; Gal 5:16

The Holy Spirit was the One who led Christ into the wilderness.  It was a place full of wild beasts. (Mark 1:12-13)  The Holy Spirit's leading of Christ into the wilderness was for the purpose of victory, not failure.  Every child of God who is led by the Holy Spirit will be able to overcome whatever temptation may come.  At every point in our own humanity, we have to make a choice whether we will be self-led or Spirit-led.  Thankfully, Christ at every point in His humanity chose to be led by the Holy Spirit.

2. God’s Word. Mt 4:4; Ps 119:11

The counsel of the scriptures cannot be over estimated.  Whenever I as a Christian choose to subject myself to the word of God, I am indicating that I am also choosing to be led by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18; Colossians 3:16)  As much as Jesus Christ was God in human flesh, He nonetheless chose to forego accessing His Divine attributes in preference to drawing from the scriptures. 

3. God’s character. Mt 4:5-6; 1 Cor 10:13

In every temptation, God's character is posed as a question in the believer's mind.  If we conclude that God is not trustworthy, we will fail.  However if we conclude that God is trustworthy, then we will prevail.  This is what Christ did consistently in His rejection of Satan's words.  The Character of God, standing as the backdrop of revealed scripture, guided Christ in His humanity, since in His Deity he shared in such character.  As fully God, He could not sin and as sinless man he would not sin.

4. God’s Glory. Mt 4:7-10; Ps 121:1-12

Though in the stark Judean Wilderness in Matthew 4;1-11, the glory of God functioned for Jesus like a morning dawn on the horizon of His life.  He never lost hope, He never let discouragement get the best of Him.  God's glory far outshown the glories of the kingdoms shown to him by the Devil.  Anyone who has ever seen a sunset or sunrise over a city skyline knows that the city lights pale in comparison to the light-show God can put on display. 

5. God’s Angelic Hosts. Mt 4:11; Heb 1:14; Acts 27:23,24

The Bible tells us that after Satan left, angels came to minister to Him.  Angels are ministering spirits who to this day minister to God's people. (Hebrews 1:14)  Our invisible Angelic friends were made possible through what Christ accomplished.  They are servants of the most high God.  We know Peter had such assistance (Acts 12:7-10) and Paul had such assistance (Acts 27:23,24).  Furthermore we as Christians today, in ways we cannot even begin to understand, have angels dispatched by the authority of Christ to protect every believer. (Hebrews 1:14, 13:2)

Why Christ had to undergo temptations for every believer: empathy with believers and enablement of believers
Whatever Christ experienced in the course of His humanity during the days of His time here on earth, we as believer's have access to the provisions he won for us.  Hebrews 2:18 states - "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."  That verse tells us that Christ can enable every Christian, who so avail themselves of Christ provision, to overcome temptation.  Then Hebrews 4:15 explains even more: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."  Thankfully our High Priest understands what we are undergoing.  Just to know that He knows means that there is no better One to flee to in times of trouble than Jesus Christ.