It  occurred to me after posting the first article on numbers that I had not mentioned one of the activities I find enlightening when I come upon any list of things in Scripture.  For example, look at 1 John 1:1 and count how many things are stated concerning the Word of Life; 1. That which was from beginning, 2. which we have heard, 3. Which we have seen with our eyes, 4. Which we have looked upon, and 5. our hands have handled–five things.  Isn’t John speaking here of the undeserved favor that we call grace?  In 1 John 1:5 there are two witnesses to the truth, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, God and John.  I’ll point out some other examples in the numbers we study today.

SIX – Fallen Unregenerate Human Beings – Beast – Satan

The number six has to do with people without God.  Rev. 13:18 confirms the meaning,  “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666” — fully fallen, man as beast, Satanic. Only six generations are given for Cain, who refused to do things God’s way (Gen. 4:17-22). In Revelation the sixth seal is the judgement of unregenerate people (Rev 6:12-17), at the sixth trumpet one-third of unbelievers are killed (Rev. 9:13-21), and the sixth vial is the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16).  Jesus bore God’s wrath for six hours to redeem us (Mark 15:25-33).

SEVEN – Completeness — Spiritual Perfection

While six is negative, there is hope in seven which is God’s number of spiritual perfection and completion.  On the sixth day a human was created and became a living being [1] when God breathed in the breath of life.  This God life was lost in Genesis 3 and the fallen nature took over.  Thereafter we begin to see God’s plan for redemption unfold as six moves on to seven (Gen. 1:27).  Six days were given for labor before getting to God’s day of rest [2] (Ex. 3:12);   Hebrew slaves were to serve six years and then be freed (Ex. 21:2); Moses waited six days on the mountain before God revealed Himself (Ex. 24:16);  the children of Israel marched around Jericho for six days, then on the seventh day trumpets sound and the walls fall (Josh 6:4).

Seven marks completion in the days of the week, notes of the scale, colors in the spectrum.  Spiritually we find seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle, seven covenants,[3] seven saying of Christ from the cross, the book of Revelation is filled with sevens; churches, seals judgements, trumpets, thunders , plagues, vials and on and on…[4]

EIGHT – New Life —  New Beginning, Jesus

Eight represents new beginnings.  A new week begins on the eighth day, and a new scale on the eighth note.  In the Bible, eight people are resurrected from the dead excluding Jesus and those who rose with Him.[5] Jesus rose on the end of the seventh and beginning of the first, or eighth day [6] (Matt. 28:1). Eight came through the flood to begin again (1 Peter 3:20). The eighth day will bring a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:8).  Letters in Hebrew have numerical value and the numerical value of the name Jesus (Yeshua) is 888.

 NINE – Fullness – Finality — Holy Spirit

 Nine is the last of the digits and three times three (the number of the Godhead).  It takes nine months for human gestation. There are nine Beatitudes. Jesus was crucified from the third hour to the ninth hour when He died [7] with the last words, “It is finished”  (Mark 15:25, 33-34).  The Holy Spirit is clearly seen in the nine gifts and the nine fruits (Gifts, Cor. 12:1-12 and Fruits, Gal. 5:22).

TEN – Completeness in Divine Order — Human Failure — Testing

 With the number ten the pattern for all numbers is completed.  The Law was given in ten commandments, the flood judged the earth after ten generations, ten plagues caused Pharaoh to release Israel, the destruction of kingdoms, represented by the ten toes and ten horns of Daniel 2 and 7, ends ungodly rule (see Revelation 13 and 17). There were ten spies sent into the Promised Land who brought back a bad report (Num. 13:32), the ten northern tribes were judged and the people dispersed.  The Passover lamb was taken on the tenth day (Ex. 12-3),  Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem was also on the 10th day—our Passover Lamb.

ELEVEN – Judgement — Disorder

 Eleven symbolizes what happens when we add to God’s Divine Order or subtract from God’s Government.

TWELVE – Divine Government

Twelve is the number of Divine Government. The twelve tribes of Israel came from the twelve sons of Jacob, twelve stones were on the breastplate of the High Priest, there are twelve signs of the Zodiac which give us the Gospel in the Stars[8],  twelve judges are listed in the Book of Judges.  In Revelation we see the woman wearing a crown of twelve stars (Rev 12:1). The New Jerusalem, where there is no darkness, is marked with the number twelve (Rev. 21 & 22); there is nothing in God’s City that is not perfectly governed.

THIRTEEN – Depravity – Rebellion

 If you count the things Jesus listed as being in the depraved heart of human beings it comes to thirteen (Mark 7:21-22).  The word Dragon, symbolic for the devil, is found thirteen times [9] in the Book of Revelation.   In Esther 3:8-13 Haman instigated a plot to kill the Jews.  It was signed on the thirteenth day of the first month to be carried out on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.  There are actually thirteen tribes because Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were adopted by Jacob and replaced Joseph in the lineage.  A study of Israel’s rebelling is fascinating and laced with the number thirteen.

FORTY – Trial – Testing

 Forty is an important  number.  Moses spent forty years in Egypt, then forty more in Midian (Acts 7:23,30), then forty years in the wilderness when they did not trust God to take them into the Promised Land–including two forty day stints on the mountain receiving the Law,  once before the golden calf and once after.  Jesus was tempted forty days and nights, was on earth forty days after the resurrection, and it was forty years from the crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem—to list only a few of a multitude of examples.

There is some disagreement over the exact meaning of numbers, but these have stood the test of time for me.  It is my hope that you will be more aware of numbers and continue to explore[10]  as this is only a bare introduction.

Footnotes

[1] Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead.”  Without being born from above we are spiritually dead.

[2] One day of rest—the number one is associated with God

[3] Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Levidic, Davidic, Messianic,

[4] Look up seven and seventh in the Blue Letter Bible—just the reference list fills pages.

[5] 1 Kings 17:17-22, 2 Kings 4:30-37,& 13:21, John 11:38-44, Luke 7:11-17, Mk 5:35-43 Acts 20:7-12, Acts 9:36-42  www.pathlightspress.com/resurrection.html

[6] The wave offering of a sheaf of first fruit on the day after the Sabbath was a symbol or type predicting the resurrection, Lev. 23:10-11.  I’d read this  whole chapter on the feasts.

[7] 360 minutes, there are 360 degrees in a full circle, 360 divided by 9 is 40 – the number of testing – amazing!

[8] There are two great books, one by Bullinger and the other by Seiss on the fact that the Gospel was originally written in the stars.  Satan changed God’s truth to astrology—avoid it.

[9] Count in Revelation chapters 12, 13, 16 and 20.

[10] It is important to keep the original numbers found in the Bible and not change them.  Putting size or weight into modern terms destroys the truth held in the original measurements.