THE MEANING OF BIBLICAL NUMBERS

We've seen how Scripture assigns metaphoric meaning to words for spir- itual intent. For example the word church can refer to the physical build- ing, the congregators, God's elect, the body of Christ, or the wheat and tares of Matthew 13. Words like Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Israel can also refer to the churches, as well as the elect. The beast with seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 12, 13, and 17 demonstrates how numbers also have parabolic meaning; i.e., the numbers, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 23, 37, 40, 43 as defined below.

The number 2 represents those responsible for publishing the Gospel (according to Ezekiel 37:7-9). In Revelation 11: ³And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth... ¹⁰And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

The number 3ⁿ, n = 1, 2, represents God's purpose: We have three crosses in A.D. 33; three days and three nights Jonah spent in the belly of the giant fish (Jonah 1:17), which pointed to the three days and three nights Christ was in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). We have three apostles with Christ during the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1; Luke 9:28); the three apostles Christ took with him to pray in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33); the three sons of Noah (Gen- esis 9:18-19); the three hours of darkness at the cross (Matthew 27:45). When Abram asks God how he will know of the land promised him, God answers in Genesis 15: ⁹…Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. In Genesis 18 God appears to Abram in the form of three men.

The number 4 represents the furthest extent in time or distance. Revela- tion 7:1 shows the furthest extent in distance. ¹And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Also Revelation 20: ⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. In John 11:39 the four days signifies forever, since Christ could have resurrected Lazarus no matter how long he'd been dead. ³⁹Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

The number 5 x 10ⁿ, n = 0, 1,  2… represents Christ's atonement and can refer to either salvation or damnation: we have the five wise (saved) and five foolish (unsaved) virgins of Matthew 25. In Luke 9:10-17 Christ feeds five thousand from five loaves of Bread that point to God bringing the Gospel, the bread of life, to the elect. The five sparrows of Luke 12:6 that are not forgotten before God points to those God saves. In the para- ble of Lazarus and the rich man of Luke 16:28 the latter tells Abraham, ²⁸…I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment (sorrow). In 1 Corinthians 15: ⁶…he (Christ after the crucifixion) was seen of above five hundred brethren at once…  After May 21, 2011 we have the last five months of the earth's existence, which points to the elect who are with Christ.

The number 7 or 7 x 10ⁿ, n = 1, 2, 3… represents perfection or the per- fect fulfillment or cycle of God's purpose. In Revelation 11: ¹³And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand…. In Matthew 18: ²¹Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? ²²Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven, i.e., an infinite number of times.

The number 10ⁿ, n = 1, 2, 3… represents completion. The ten virgins of Matthew 25 represent all the saved and unsaved, i.e., the whole human race. The ten horns on the beast of Revelation signifies the complete rule of Satan until the end of time. In Luke 15 the ten pieces of silver repre- sents the elect in completeness: ⁸Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

The number 11 refers to the first coming of Christ in B.C. 7, 11 thousand years after creation.

The number 12ⁿ, n = 1, 2, 3… refers to complete fullness: Revelation 7:1-8 names 12 tribes of Israel that designate completeness in all those des- tined for salvation during the church age. We have the twelve apostles. In Revelation 21: ¹⁶And the city (God's elect) lieth foursquare (to the fur- thest extent), and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. ¹⁷And he measured the wall there- of, an hundred and forty and four cubits (12 x 12), according to the meas- ure of a man…

The number 13 refers to the end of the world and the return of Christ, i.e., 13 thousand years after creation. In Ezekiel 40: ¹¹And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. Christ is the gate or door (John 10:7, 9).

The number 17 refers to salvation and heaven. Seventeen years from 1994 to 2011 point to all those saved during the great tribulation. In John 21 the 153 = 3² x 17 fish represent those saved between 1994 and 2011 (see August 13). From 1877 to 1860 Jacob lived for 17 years under the auspices of Joseph, a picture of Christ saving His elect from starvation (of God's Word). Jacob's sojourn serves as a picture of heaven and the final ingathering of the elect during the great tribulation. In Jeremiah 32:9 Jeremiah pays seventeen shekels of silver for a piece of land that pointed to God again bringing Israel into Canaan, which signifies heaven. In the 2nd month, the 17th day of the month, God shut Noah into the ark (Gene- sis 7:11). In Genesis 8: ⁴…the ark rested in the seventh month (after the perfect completeness of God's purpose), on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat (which represent the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21:1).

The number 23 x 10ⁿ, n = 0, 1, 2… refers to judgment. In Daniel 18:14 the period of judgment, May 21, 1988 until September 6, 1994, is 2300 days. ¹⁴And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. In 1 Corinthians 10: ⁸Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

The number 37 x 10ⁿ, n = 0, 1, 2, refers to God's wrath or judgment. No- ah remained in the ark for 370 days. In 2 Kings 19: ³⁵…the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: 185,000 = 5 x 37 x 10³. The 5 in this case represents the death of the unsaved; the 37 represents God's judgment on them; the 10 points to the completion of judgment; the 3 signifies God's purpose of that judgment. In Genesis Ishmael, the brother of Isaac, represents all those who never become saved. In Genesis 25: ¹⁷ …the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died.

The number 40 refers to testing. During the Noachian flood it rained forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:4). Moses remained on Mount Sinai for the same period to test the Israelites (Exodus 24:18; 34:28;); Elijah re- mained on mount Horeb for the same period (1 Kings 19:8) also Christ was in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:1, 2). Israel was condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and Deu- teronomy 8:2 defines it as a period of testing: ²And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

The number 43 x 10ⁿ, n = 0, 1, refers to God's judgment or salvation. The stay in Egypt for 430 years pointed to judgment for the Egyptians and sal- vation for the Israelites.

According to Genesis 41:32 a number given twice can mean certainty. ³²And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. So the number 3² would mean God's purpose will come to fruition with certainty.

On February 23 we show how time intervals factor into these numbers too often to be dismissed as coincidental. We then have to find an explan- ation.