gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) (07/18/90)
Does anyone know what importance does the number 13 have in the Bible.
I hear that it is mentioned often along with the number 12. Six and
nine seem to be inportant. Does anyone know what significance these
particular numbers have? Are there any other significant numbers?
What is the sifgnificance of the cycles of "14" generations up to
the birth of Christ?
--
TOLBERT,JASON ALAN
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!gt5599d
ARPA: gt5599d@prism.gatech.edust0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) (07/20/90)
I know of fairly few times that the number 13 is mentioned in the Bible. The only significant thirteen I can think of would be Jesus + 12 disciples. Six was the number used to denote the imperfection of man. Daniel 3 loads the description of Nebuchadnezzar's golden images with sixes. The "Number of the Beast" is 666, a tripling of a number showing a perpetual or eternal perseverance of that quantity. I'm not aware of any significance to nine. As for 14, with 3 times 14 generations from Abraham to Christ in Matthew 1 (double-counting the people at the ends of the 14) I suspect this number was important because it was a multiple of seven. Seven is the number used to signify perfection, while eight signifies victory. If anyone has insights on 12, 40, or 5 please speak up! Steve
stevep@uunet.uu.net (Steve Peterson) (07/20/90)
In article <Jul.18.04.28.20.1990.15833@athos.rutgers.edu> gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) writes: >Does anyone know what importance does the number 13 have in the Bible. >I hear that it is mentioned often along with the number 12. Six and >nine seem to be inportant. Does anyone know what significance these >particular numbers have? Are there any other significant numbers? >What is the sifgnificance of the cycles of "14" generations up to >the birth of Christ? Since the Bible is a book of both history and prophecy, the numbers given in it may be either literal or symbolic. The context usually reveals in which sense a number is used. Certain numbers appear often in the Bible in an illustrative, figurative, or symbolic sense, and in such cases an understanding of their significance is vital to an understanding of the text. However, this Bible usage of numbers should not be confused with numberology, in which occult and mysticism is attached to figures, their combinations and numerical totals. Numberology apparently had its origin in ancient Babylon and, along with other forms of divination, comes under divine condemnation (Deut. 18:10-12) ONE --- This number, when used figuratively, conveys the thought of singleness, uniqueness, as well as unity and agreement in purpose and action. "Jehovah our God is on Jehovah," said Moses. (Deut. 6:4) He alone is Sovereign. He is unique. He does not share his glory with another. (Acts 4:24; Rev. 6:10; Isa. 42:8) There is oneness in purpose and activity between Jehovah and Jesus Christ (John 10:30) and complete unity of Christ's disciples with God and his Son and with one another. (John 17:21; Gal. 3:28) Such oneness is illustrated in the marriage arrangement.( Gen 2:24; Matt. 19:6; Eph. 5:28-32) TWO --- The number two frequently appears in a legal setting. The accounts of two witnesses agreeing add to the force of the testimony. Two witnesses, or even three, were required to establish a matter before the judges. This principle is also followed in the Christian congregation. (Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 2Cor 13:1; 1Tim 5:19; Heb 10:28) God adhered to this principle in presenting his Son to the people as mankind's Savior. Jesus said: "In your own Law it is written, 'The witness of two men is true.' I am one that bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me."(John 8:17,18) Doing something a second time, for example, repetition of a statement or vision, even in only a parallel way, firmly established the matter as sure and true(as in Pharaoh's dream of the cows and the ears of grain(Gen 41:32) Biblical Hebrew poetry is full of thought parallelism, which establishes more firmly in mind the truths stated and at the same time clarifies matters by the variety of wording in the parallelism(Psa. 2 and Psa 44). In Daniels' prophecy the beast having "two horns" symbolized duality in rulership of the Medo-Persian Empire.(Dan 8:20,21; Rev 13:11) THREE ----- While two witnesses testifying to the same matter established proof sufficient for legal action, three made the testimony even stronger. The number three, therefore, is used at times to represent intensity, emphasis or added strength. "A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two." (Eccl. 4:12) Emphasis was achieved in Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter after Peter's three denials of Jesus. (Matt. 26:34, 75; John 21:15-17) The vision telling Peter to eat of all kinds of animals, including those unclean according to the Law, was intensified by being given to him three times. This doubtless made it easier for Peter to understand, when Cornelius and his household accepted the good news, that God was now turning his attention to uncircumcised people of the nations, considered unclean by the Jews (Acts 10:1-16, 28-35, 47, 48) The intensity of Jehovah's holiness and cleanness is emphasized by the declaration of heavenly creatures: "Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah." (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8) Before taking the last earthly king of the line of David off the throne, Jehovah said: "A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I shall make it. As for this also, it will certainly become no one's until he comes who has the legal right, and I must give it to him." Here he emphatically showed there would be no Davidic kings sitting upon the throne at Jerusalem in his name-the throne would be absolutely vacant-until God's time to establish his Messian in kingdom power. (Eze. 21:27) The intensity of woes to come to those dwelling on earth is forecast by the triple repetition of the declaration "woe." (Rev 8:13) Four ---- Four is a number sometimes expressing universalness or foursquareness in symmetry and form. It is found three times at Revelation 7:1. Here the "four angels" (all those in charge of the "four winds," ready for complete destruction) stood on earth's "four corners" (they could let loose the winds obliquely or diagonally, and no quarter of the earth would be spared). (Compare Dan 8:8; Isa 11:12; Jer 49:36; Zech 2:6; Matt 24:31.) The New Jerusalem is "foursquare," equal in every dimension, being in fact cubical in shape. (Rev 21:16) Other figurative expressions using the number four are found at Zech 1:18-21; 6:1-3; Rev. 9:14,15. SIX --- This number at times represents imperfection. The number of the "wild beast" is 666, and is called a "man's number," indicating that it has to do with imperfect, fallen man, and seems to symbolize the imperfection of that which is represented by the "wild beast." The number six being raised to the third degree (the six appearing in the position of units, tens, and hundreds) therefore emphasize the imperfection and deficiency of that which the beast represents or pictures (Rev 13:18) SEVEN ----- Seven is used frequently in the Scriptures to signify completeness. At times it has reference to bringing a work toward completion. Or it can refer to the complete cycle of things as established or allowed by God. By completing his work toward the earth in six creative days and resting on the seventh day, Jehovah set the pattern for the whole sabbath arrangement, from the seven-times- seven-year cycle. (Ex 20:10; Lev 25:2, 6, 8) The festival of unleavened bread and the festival of booths were each seven days long. (Ex 34:18; Lev 23:34) Seven appears often in connection with the Levitical rules for offerings (Lev 4:6; 16:14, 19; Num. 28:11) and for cleansings. (Lev. 14:7, 8, 16, 27, 51; 2Kins 5:10) The seven congregations of Revelation, with their characteristics, give a complete picture of all the congregations of God on earth. (Rev 1:20-3:22) The seven heads of the wild beast (Rev. 13:1) show the limit to which the beast would be allowed to develop, no more, no less. True, the scarlet-colored wild beast is called an eighth king; nonetheless, it springs from the seven and does not exist apart from the seven-headed wild beast (Rev 17:3, 9-11), as is true also of the image of the wild beast. (Rev 13:14) Similarly, the two-horned wild beast is actually coexistent with the original wild beast whose mark it tries to put on all persons (Rev 13:11, 16, 17) Jehovah was long suffering with Israel, but warned them that if, despite his discipline, they ignored him, be would then chastise them seven times thoroughly, for their sins (Lev 26:18, 21, 28) In historical sections of the Scriptures seven frequently occurs to denote completeness, or doing a work completely. The Israelites exercised full faith and obedience by marching for seven days around Jericho, encompassing it seven times on the seventh day, after which the city wall collapsed. (Josh. 6:2-4, 15) Elijah showed full faith in the efficacy of his prayer to God by commanding his servant up on Mount Carmel to go looking at the sky seven times before a rain cloud appeared. (1Kings 18:42-44) Naaman the leper had to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. He, as a mighty Syrian general, had to display considerable humility to carry out this procedure recommended by the prophet Elisha, but for his obediently doing it Jehovah cleansed him. (2Ki 5:10, 12) The purity, completeness, perfection and fineness of Jehovah's sayings are likened with poetic force and intensity to silver refined in a smelting furnace, clarified seven times. (Ps. 12:6) Jehovah's mercy is magnified by the statement at Prov. 24:16 His deserving all praise is declared by the psalmist: "Seven times in the day I have praised you" (Psa. 119:164) The book of revelation abounds with symbolic use of the number seven in connection with the things of God and his congregation, and also the things of God's adversary Satan the Devil in his all out fight to oppose God and his people (Rev 1:4, 12, 16; 5:1, 6; 8:2; 10:3; 12:3; 13:1; 15:1, 7; 17:3, 10) Multiples of seven are used in a similar sense of completeness. Seventy(ten times seven) is employed prophetically in the seventy weeks of Daniel's prophecy, dealing with Messiah's coming. (Dan. 9:24-27) Jerusalem and Judah lay desolate seventy years, because of disobedience to God, until the land had paid off completely its sabbaths. (2Chron. 36:21; Jer. 25:11; 29:10; Dan 9:2; Zech 1:12; 7:5) Seventy-seven, a repetition of seven in a number, was equivalent to saying indefinitely or without limit as Jesus counsels Christians to forgive their brothers. (Matt. 18:21, 22) Since God had ruled that anyone killing Cain, the murderer, must suffer vengeance seven times, Lamech, who apparently killed a man in self defense, said "If seven times Cain is to be avenged, then Lamech seventy times and seven." (Gen 4:14, 23, 24). EIGHT ---- The number eight was also used to add emphasis to the completeness of something (one more that seven, the number generally used for completeness), thus sometimes representing abundance. Jehovah reassured his people of deliverance from the threat of Assyria, saying that there should be raised up against the Assyrian "seven shephards, yes, eight dukes of mankind." (Mic. 5:5) As a fitting climax to the final festival of the sacred year, the festival of booths, the eighth day was to be on of holy convention, solemn assembly, a day of complete rest. (Lev 23:36, 39; Num. 29:35) TEN --- Ten is a number denoting fullness, entirety, the aggregate, the sum of all that exist of something. It may be noted also that, where the numbers seven and ten are used together, the seven represents that which is higher or superior and ten represents something of a subordinate nature. The ten plagues poured upon Egypt fully expressed God's judgments upon Egypt and were all that were needed to humiliate fully the false gods of Egypt and to break the hold of Egypt upon God's people Israel. The Ten commandments formed the basic laws of the Law covenant, the approximately 600 other laws merely enlarging on these, elucidating them and explaining their application (Ex. 20:3-17; 34:28) Jesus used the number ten in several of his illustrations to denote entirety or full number of something. (Matt. 25:1; Luke 15:8; 19:13, 16, 17) One of the beasts of Daniel's vision and certain beasts described in Revelation had ten horns. These evidently represented all the powers or kings of earth making up the beastly arrangement. (Dan 7:7, 20, 24; Rev. 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 7, 12) The fullness of the test or period of test that God determines for his servants or allows them to undergo is expressed at Rev. 2:10 as "Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison that you may be *fully* put to the test, and that you may have tribulation *ten* days (Rev 2:10) TWELVE ------ The patriarch Jacob had twelve sons, who became the foundations of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their offspring were organized by God under the Law covenant as God's nation. Twelve therefore seems to represent a complete, balanced, divinely constituted arrangement. (Gen. 35:22; 49:28) Jesus chose twelve apostles, who formed the secondary foundation of the New Jerusalem, built upon himself. (Mat. 10:2-4; Rev 21:14) There are twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, each tribe consisting of 12,000 members Multiples of twelve are also sometimes significant. David established twenty-four divisions of the priesthood to serve by turn in the temple later built by Solomon. (1Chron. 24:1-18) This may assist in identifying the twenty-four older persons seated round about God's throne in white outer garments, and who were wearing crowns. (Rev 4:4) The footstep followers of Jesus Christ, his spiritual brothers are promised kingship and priesthood with him in the heavens. These older persons could not be only the apostles, who numbered just twelve. They may therefore represent the entire body of the royal priesthood , the 144,000 (as represented in the twenty-four priestly divisions serving at the temple) in their positions in the heavens, as crowned kings and priests. (1Pet. 2:9; Rev 7:4-8; 20:6) FORTY ----- Periods of judgment or punishment seem to be associated with the number forty, in a few instances. (Gen 7:4; Ezek. 29:11,12) Nineveh was given forty days to repent. (Jonah 3:4) Another use of the number forty points out a parallel in the life of Jesus Christ with that of Moses, who typified Christ. Both of these men experienced forty-day periods of fasting. (Ex. 24:18; 34:28; Deut. 9:9, 11; Matt. 4:1,2) As for some of the other numbers(9,13, and 14), I will write up some more on them when I find a little more time. As for the number 13, are you interested in this because of its supertitious usage? Why has your attention been turned towards the number 9? -- Best Regards...... ---- stevep@cadence.com or ...!{sun,apollo,ucbcad,uunet}!cadence!stevep
hall@vice.ico.tek.com (Hal Lillywhite) (07/24/90)
In article <Jul.20.02.23.51.1990.16952@athos.rutgers.edu> st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) writes: >... As for 14, with 3 times 14 >generations from Abraham to Christ in Matthew 1 (double-counting the people >at the ends of the 14) I suspect this number was important because it >was a multiple of seven. Seven is the number used to signify perfection, >while eight signifies victory. I believe Matthew's emphasis on 14 generations has to to with the Hebrew language. It was written without vowels and letters were used to express numbers. Thus David, the Jewish arch-hero is written "DVD" (actually of course the Hebrew equivalent). The number 14 can be expressed as 4 + 6 + 4. The letter equivalents are 4=D and 6=V, thus 14 represents David = DVD. Matthew was emphasizing the Davidic descent of Jesus and that he would sit upon the throne of His father David.
sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Mark T. Sandrock) (07/24/90)
Much can be said on the subject of "numbers". Earlier this century, a German man, Lucien Siefried, was permitted to grasp the "Law of Numbers", the key to which happens to be contained in the German language itself. So too, the long- mysterious number "666" can be explained by means of this new knowledge, but that is a whole topic in itself: the true meaning of the Revelation of John. The meaning of the numbers 1 - 9 is as follows: 1 = Kraft = Strength 2 = Schoepfung = Creation 3 = Licht = Light (as in "All good things are three!") 4 = Natur = Nature 5 = Liebe = Love (at the center of all happenings in Creation) 6 = Macht = Might (666 would be "tripled might", whether good or bad) 7 = Will = Will (as in the Will of GOD) 8 = Geist = Spirit 9 = Glaube = Belief (the right belief which brings "completion") Best regards, Mark Sandrock BITNET: sandrock@uiucscs Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Internet: sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu Chemical Sciences Computing Services Voice: 217-244-0561 505 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
george@watcgl.waterloo.edu (George Reimer) (07/24/90)
In article <Jul.20.02.23.51.1990.16952@athos.rutgers.edu> st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) writes: >I know of fairly few times that the number 13 is mentioned in the Bible. ..... >If anyone has insights on 12, 40, or 5 please speak up! I recently bought a book called "Numbers in Scripture". I don't offhand remember who wrote it. It deals with most any number you'll run across in the Bible. It is an *excellent* book when dealing with this subject. It really lends support to the idea that it was God who originally designed language. If anyone is interested, I'll forward the author, publisher and an example or two. -- "I almost think that in certain cases yes, and in others, no....." George egroeG Reimer remieR
madderomj@ncar.ucar.edu (Jonathon Madderom) (07/24/90)
In article <Jul.18.04.28.20.1990.15833@athos.rutgers.edu>, gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) writes: > Does anyone know what importance does the number 13 have in the Bible. > I hear that it is mentioned often along with the number 12. Six and > nine seem to be inportant. Does anyone know what significance these > particular numbers have? Are there any other significant numbers? > What is the sifgnificance of the cycles of "14" generations up to > the birth of Christ? > -- The only inportance that I have heard for the number 13, the 13 apostles, the original 12 plus Paul. The number 7 is important because it is known as the number of perfection. If you read Revelation you will find it mentioned many times (7 bowls, 7 trumpants, etc). The number 6's importance would come from 666 the number of the devil. It has been said that this number comes from the fact the every digit is one short of 7 the perfect number. The number 40 seems pretty important. It rained 40 days and nights. Their were 40 days between the resurrection of Christ and the assention. And I think 40 days between the Assention and Pentecost. The number 12, twelve tribes and Jesus picked 12 diciples during his life on earth. I haven't heard anything about 9 or 14. --Jon Jonathon Madderom AG Communication Systems, Phoenix, AZ UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!madderomj internet: gtephx!madderomj@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) (07/26/90)
Didn't Jesus's spirit leave his body in the ninth hour. Also, didn't
the bible say something about the sixth hour after Jesus was nailed to the
cross. What is the explanation of the importance of these particular
hours?
--
TOLBERT,JASON ALAN
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!gt5599d
ARPA: gt5599d@prism.gatech.edualharv@garnet.berkeley.edu (07/26/90)
I am somewhat disturbed by the amount of numerology I have seen in this group in the last few days. I hate to be a flamer, but this is one of those things that to me falls in the category of "With so much *important* stuff to do in terms of being better disciples of Christ, why do Christians waste so much time on peripheral nonsense like X." (The X's that normally get me ticked off are Creationism and the Shroud of Turin. But I digress.) Anyway, I believe God's word to be for the most part straightforward. Playing wierd games with numbers is at best a waste of time and at worst diverts attention from the task of following Christ. Not to mention the Biblical injunctions about things like sorcery - to me an obsession with secret meanings in numbers smacks too much of the occult to be pleasing to God. One can of course point to extremes to show how such things can be harmful (The 2 examples that come to my mind are the preachers who claim to have the exact date of the rapture "figured out" and Gene Scott's obsession with the numbers corresponding to the physical dimensions of the Temple (or was it the Great Pyramid?)) But even without going to those extremes, I think "Biblical numerology" gets far more attention than it deserves. As I descend from my soapbox and read what I have written, I realize I may have come down a little too hard (at least by implication) on previous posters. So I should say that I do understand how such things can be interesting. When I was in high school I developed quite an interest in the very same things. But as I have matured as a Christian (a process which has a very long way to go), I think God has taught me that such diversion and speculation can lead one into spiritual left field, and that I need to be concerned with following the clear instruction of His Word rather than looking for hidden meanings that probably are not even there. In Christ, Allan H. Harvey BITNET: HARVAL@NISTCS2 Internet: harval@gnos.nist.gov
do515127@longs.lance.colostate.edu (07/26/90)
There is an excellent book concerning numbers in Scripture called "Theomatics" by Jerry Lucas and Del Washburn, Scarbourough House/ Publishers. In it he reveals the structure given by God to his Word. The entire Greek alphabet also had numerical equivalents as they had no "Arabic numerals" and thus wrote numbers with their alphabet. Alpha is 1, Beta 2, and so on to iota 10, kappa 20 and rho 100, sigma 200 etc. When the words and phrases in both the New and Old testaments (Hebrew having a similar structure) are added amazing numbers reveal themselves. As an example, Jesus, or transliterated, "Ihsous" gives (iota=10 + eta=8 + sigma=200 + omicron=7 + nu=400 + sigma=200 = 888. In general any reference to Jesus involves 888, or at least 111 and multiples thereof. For example, Mt 1:23, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they will call the name of Him Emmanuel, which is being interpreted -- with us God" adds up to in the Greek to be 111 * 80 (888) or, "When the time had come, God sent forth His Son born of a woman" adds ups to 111*64 (888*8) The lowest factor is 37 an likewise "The Messiah" (Jn 1:41), Jesus (ihsous), Christ (xristos) and Jesus Christ (ihsous xristos) are all multiples of 37. It is interesting to note that all of the following involve 111: Jesus (ihsous=111*8=888), Christ (Xriston=111*12), God (ton teon=111*5), Lord (kurion=111*9). "The Son of God" Mk 15:39 (te uion ton theon=111*22), "Name of the only begotten Son of God" Jn 3:18 (onoma uonogenous uion teon=111*23) "The name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene Acts 4:10 = 111*56 (888) Likewise names referring to the son of David based on 37, "Of the seed of David" Jn 7:42, (oti ek ton spermatos David=37 * 70) of "Son of David" Mt 21:15 (uiO David=37*44) Likewise the Old Testament "Jehovah God" in Gen 3:9 adds up to 111 or in Gen 14:22 "I have sworn by Jehovah God most high, possessor of heaven and earth adds up to 111*16 (888). 153 is also a prominent number as in the story of the miracle of 153 fishes in John 21:11 "Fishes" (ixtues=153*8) and "Fishers of men (aleeis antropon=153*14) "way, truth, life (odos aleteia zon=153*8) "The door" Lk 13:25 (ton turan=153*6) or "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in" Rev 3:20 = 153*39 References to light, power, and darkness involve 100 as "Was the light of men" in Jn 1:4 = 100*46, or "He came for a witness of the light" in Jn 1:7 =5000 of "The true light" in Jn 1:9 (pOs to aletinion=100*21) "Out of the power of darkness" in 1 Pet 2:9 = 1500*2, "The darkness walks" in 1 Jn 2:11 =1500, "Exposed by the light in Eph 5:132l =4000 An interesting progression is "Lord" Lk 5:17 =1000, "Lord of glory" 1 Cor 2:8 =1500, "Name of the Lord" 1 Cor 2:8=2000, "Name of Lord Jesus" 1 Cor 5:4=3000, "And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified" Acs 19:17 = 4000, "To Him be the glory for ever and ever, amen" Rom 16:27 =5000, "And He shall regn for ever and ever" Rev 11:15 = 6000. 276 refers to Satan and his kingdom (satana=276*2) or "The evil one" 1 Jn 5:19 (tO ponerO=276*8) and "the dragon" Rev 13:4 (tO drakonti=276*6) Also, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh" Jn 3:6 =276*10 and "In sin you were born in Jn 9:34 = 276*6. It is interesting to note "Man" in Mt 26:24 (o antrOpos) is 276*5, as in Gen 5:2 (Hebrew here) "Their name man" = 276*3. Now "Adam" in Gen 5:2 adds up to 46, as does Adam Rom 5:14 (Adam=46) also in the Greek, and what is 276 but 46*6, 6 being the number of man. Which brings us to the infamous number 666, so let us take the familiar verse of Rev 13:18 "The one therefore having wisdom, let him calculate the number of the beast: for it is the number of man, and it is 666" (exOn oun PepisatO aritmon ton terion aritmos gar antrOpon estin estin de Xxs) adds up exactly to 666*15. Likewise, 2 Thess 2:3-4 "The man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, showing himself as being God" adds up exactly to 666*22. Or in 2 Thess 2:9 "According to the operation of Satan with all power and sign and wonders" = 666*6. Or "The one who has the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of its name" Rev 13:17 666 *11 and "Those who worship the beast and its image" Rev 14:11 = 666*6, and from the same verse "Whoever receives the mark of its name " = 666*6. 6 also relates to things of this world, "World" (kosmos=600), "Earth" (gen=60) "In the world" Jn 1:9 (eis kosmon=666) "Ruler of this world" Jn 12:31 = 666*7. In this manner, 6 is seen as the number of man, 7 the number of God, and 8 the number of Christ. Likewise "Wrath of God" Col 3:6 (arge teon=666) "Love of God" Rom 8:39 (agapes teon=777) "Resurrection, life" Jn 11:25 (anastasis zOe=111*16 (888)) 144 is also prominent such as "Purchases firstfruits" Rev 14:4=144*10, "The great multitude which to number it no one was able, from every nation" Rev 7:9=144*42. Priests of God Rev 20:6=144*11, "Saints" Rev 8:3 (agiOn=144*6) "The city of My God" Rev 3:12 =144*24 , "Jerusalem Rev 3:12 (ieronsagem=144*6) or "New Jerusalem" Rev 3:12 (kaiues Ieronsalem=144*8) or in Mt 4:25 Jerusalem (IerosolemOn=888*2) The number of 144 is also prominent in references to the Passover - "Eat the Passover" Jn 18:28 (PagOsin pasxa=144*17) -, the "kingdom of God" Mt 21:31 (ten basileian theon=144*8) -- the "Gospel" Gal 2:2 (enaggelion=144*4)-- the "Lamb's Book of life" Rev 21:27 = 144*25, or "Names written in heaven" in Lk 10:20 = 144*20, -- "The elect" in Rom 11:7 (h eklogh=144) -- "believers" 1 Tim 4:12 (piston=144*10) -- "The seed in good soil" Lk 8:15 (en th kalh gh=144*3) -- "Body of Christ" 1 Cor 12:12 (sOma o Xristos=144*18, "Is not one member, but many" 1 Cor 12:14 = 144*12, -- "The flock" Acts 20:28 (tO poimniO= 144*15) -- "House of Isreal" Acts 2:36 (oikos Isreal=144*5), "The lost sheep of the house of Isreal" Mt 10:6 =144*24 , likewise the true Isreal by spirit, "He is a Jew who is one inwardly, Rom 2:28 = 144*18, or "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it" Mt 21:43 = 144*61, "Not only of the Jews" Rom 9:24 (on monon eC IoudaiOn = 144*14) , "Also of the Gentiles" Rom 9:24 (kai eC etnon=144*7) Thus it is seem in numerous cases that the actual Greek and Hebrew alphabets portray the design placed there by God in numbers. 37 and 111 = the God head 666 Man, this world 777 God, perfection 888 Jesus, life 276 Satan 100 Light, power, darkness 144 the elect, ture Isreal Isn't God's word incredible? -- DAvid Olson | "I have come that they might have life, and have it to INET: do515127@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu | the full." -- Jesus, John 10:10b UUCP: boulder!ccncsu!longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu!do515127
johnw@sag4.ssl.berkeley.edu (John Warren) (07/30/90)
In article <Jul.18.04.28.20.1990.15833@athos.rutgers.edu> gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) writes: >Does anyone know what importance does the number 13 have in the Bible. >I hear that it is mentioned often along with the number 12. Six and >nine seem to be inportant. Does anyone know what significance these >particular numbers have? Are there any other significant numbers? >What is the sifgnificance of the cycles of "14" generations up to >the birth of Christ? >-- >TOLBERT,JASON ALAN 6 is the number used in the old testament (particularly in the Torah where God describes how the Tabernacle should be built) to represent man. 3 is the number of divine manifestation; thus 666 stands for man making himself out to be God. 12 stands for perfect government, since there are twelve tribes (13 if you count Ephraim and Manasseh separately; maybe herein lies some subtle connection between 12 and 13, but I don't care) of Israel (which itself means 'God-governed', or 'a prince who has power with God'), and Jesus chose 12 apostles to be judge over the 12 tribes. As for 14, Matthew got it wrong. He left out Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah and father of Jeconiah. Maybe Matthew was so entranced with the number 14 that he bent history to suit this interpretation. 7 is the number of perfection, completion. 7 days to create the earth, the 7 churches of Revelation, and there are other references. I have no idea what the significance of 13 is. Disclaimer: my faith neither falls nor stands on numerology. I am not a student of it, but it seems to me to be, rightly understood, simply a confirmation of the truth of God's word, and nothing magical. Numbers are symbols of a greater reality, just like the sacraments.
kutz@cis.ohio-state.edu (Kenneth J. Kutz) (07/30/90)
In article <Jul.26.01.45.56.1990.26461@athos.rutgers.edu>, gt5599d@prism.gatech.edu (gt5599d TOLBERT,JASON ALAN) writes: > Didn't Jesus's spirit leave his body in the ninth hour. Also, didn't > the bible say something about the sixth hour after Jesus was nailed to the > cross. What is the explanation of the importance of these particular > hours? It is commonly accepted that Jesus died on Friday, the day before the Sabbath (called the day of Preparation). We know that on Thursday night, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, and it was this Passover supper that we entered a new age. The Passover became obsolete and the Lord's supper was instituted. Let me see if I can get this right. For those who lived outside Jerusalem, their day officially began at midnight. For those who live inside Jerusalem, their day officially began at 6am. Therefore the "ninth hour" was different depending on where you lived. This allowed Jesus to celebrate the Passover with his disciples on Thursday night, yet die on Friday at the exact same time the Passover lambs were being slain for the second group (they were to be slain within a two hour period, between 3-5pm according to the OT). The Passover celebrated the deliverance of the Jews out of Egypt. The Lord's table celebrates our deliverance from sin. The Passover remembers the time the blood of the lamb was put on the wooden door post so the angel of death would "pass over". The Lord's table reminds us of the time the blood of the Lamb was spilled on a wooden cross so we may "pass over" from death to life. The God who writes history and wrote "the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world" prearranged the time of Jesus death to coincide with the death of the type which he represented. -- Kenneth J. Kutz Internet kutz@andy.bgsu.edu Systems Programmer BITNET KUTZ@ANDY University Computer Services UUCP ...!osu-cis!bgsuvax!kutz Bowling Green State Univ. US Mail 238 Math Science, BG OH 43403
johnw@sag4.ssl.berkeley.edu (John Warren) (07/30/90)
In article <Jul.26.01.46.12.1990.26472@athos.rutgers.edu> alharv@garnet.berkeley.edu writes: > I am somewhat disturbed by the amount of numerology I have seen >in this group in the last few days. . . . - to me >an obsession with secret meanings in numbers smacks too much of the >occult to be pleasing to God. One can of course point to extremes to >show how such things can be harmful Let me just say that an obsession to one man is to another man an awesome confirmation of God's faithfulness, and it is NOT up to you to judge someone else as an obsessive fanatic just because you can't see the value in the details that God has provided. Some people find this not only interesting, but inspiring. Please don't kill this sense of wonder with your cynicism. >When I was in high school I developed quite an >interest in the very same things. But as I have matured as a Christian >(a process which has a very long way to go), I think God has taught me >that such diversion and speculation can lead one into spiritual left >field, Yes diversion and speculation can lead one into spiritual left field, but it doesn't have to. Where would the church be today if it weren't for Paul's "speculations" about the ways Christ fulfilled the Old Testament? These truths were not easy to mine from scripture.