W.E. Filmer has written a wonderful little booklet called "God Counts". I thought it would be nice to get a little different view of Bible numerics from that of Ivan Panin. There's also a Number Table below listing many numbers and their Biblical meanings. I have many more numbers to add to the list, but that'll happen later.
For now, I want to introduce you to Filmer and God. There is much more than just counting the numbers of letters or vowels and consonants in any certain passage. Not many factors appear that way. "A more profound examination of the text of Scripture shows that there is a regular orchestral accompaniment of numerics playing in tune with the subject under discussion. As each idea is introduced the associated number echoes throughout all manner of divisions and classifications in a way which cannot be put down to mere chance.
"Let us take an example from the Old Testament and make a concentrated study of the first verse of Genesis which reads, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' In the Hebrew it looks like this:
"The numbers written above the letters are their numeric values. Hebrew reads from right to left, so that the first word is the one on the right and the last one is that on the left.
"The first thing to notice about this sentence is that it covers a complete act of creation, and that the universe, fresh from the hand of the Almighty was perfect. Everything leads us to expect that seven would be the most suitable number to accompany this thought. Now notice the following simple facts about the Hebrew sentence:
- 1. It contains 7 words.
- 2. The total number of letters is 28, or 7 x 4
- 3. The sentence divides into two equal parts: the first three words, 'In-the-beginning God created,' contain 14 letters, and the remaining four words contain 14 letters.
- 4. The second half of the sentence divides again into two equal parts: The two words for 'the heavens' contain 7 letters, and the two words for 'and-the earth' contain 7 letters.
- 5.The three nouns, God, heavens and earth have together 14 letters.
- 6. The numeric value of these three nouns is 777, or 7 x 111.
- 7. The numeric value of the verb, created, is 203, or 7 X 29.
- 8. The middle word (2 letters) and the one before it (5 letters) have together 7 letters.
- 9. The middle word and the one after it have together 7 letters.
"Even more remarkable are the numerics which fix the individual letters so that they cannot be changed. Hebrew is what is called a synthetic language, that is, the meaning to be expressed is indicated largely by the use of prefixes and suffixes. In some instances the changing of a prefix might completely reverse the meaning of the whole sentence. It is therefore most important that the first and last letters of the words should be protected against alteration. Now see how the numeric structure accomplishes this:
- 10. We saw just now that the sentence could be divided into equal parts having fourteen letters in each half. The numeric value of the first and last letters of the first half is 42, or 7 x 6.
- 11. The numeric value of the first and last letters of the second half is 91, or 7 x 13.
- 12. If the first and last letters of all the words are taken together, their numeric value is 1,292, or 7 x 199.
- 13. The numeric value of the first and last letters of the first and last words only is 497, or 7 x 71.
- 14. This number is so divided that if only the first letters are taken of the first and last words, these two letters have together a numeric value of 7. Similarly, the last letters of these two words have together a numeric value of 490, or 7 x 7 x 10.
- 15. Taking the first and last letters of the first word but one, and the last word but one, then their numeric values add up to 896, or 7 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
- 16. This number is peculiar in that it is seven multiplied by two seven times, and furthermore the sum of its factors is 21
"It is clear from these extraordinary phenomena that the prefixes and suffixes in this sentence could not possibly be altered without throwing the whole design into confusion. Not only this, but I defy anyone to construct another sentence which incorporates such an amazing set of numerics. I should never have believed that such a sentence could exist if it were not for the fact that it is there. The reader can verify for himself that the facts are exactly as I have stated them."
I told you Filmer was wonderful. The complete Creation of the universe accompanied by sixteen features of the number which symbolizes completeness. Supernatural.
What follows is that incomplete table of numbers and their Biblical meanings. I must disclaim, however, that these are the only meanings. I have come against some contradictions when looking up the meanings of some numbers. Don't take any of these numbers to the bank unless you've confirmed it with at least the "Adequate Witness" number, two.
Some examples from The Companion Bible:
FOUR - Denotes creative works, and always has reference to the material creation, as pertaining to the earth, and things "under the sun", and things terrestrial.
SEVEN - Denotes spiritual perfection. It is the hall-mark of the Holy Spirit's work. He is the Author of God's Word, and seven is stamped on it as the water mark is seen in the manufacture of paper. He is the Author and Giver of life; and seven is the number which regulates every period of Incubation and Gestation, in insects, birds, animals, and man.
EIGHT - Denotes resurrection, regeneration; a new beginning or commencement. The eighth is a new first. Hence the octave in music, color, days of the week. It is the number which has to do with the Lord, Who rose on the eighth, or new "first-day". This is, therefore, the Dominical number. By Gematria (the addition of the numerical value of the letters together) the Greek letters for Jesus makes the numbers 888. It, or its multiple is impressed on all that has to do with the Lord's Names, the Lord's People, and the Lord's works.
| No. | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Unity; New beginnings |
| 2 | Union; Division; Witnessing |
| 3 | Divine completeness and perfection |
| 4 | Creation; The world; Creative works |
| 5 | Grace; God's goodness; Pentateuch (first five books) |
| 6 | Weakness of man; Manifestation of sin ; Evils of Satan |
| 7 | Resurrection; Spiritual completeness; Fathers perfection |
| 8 | New birth; New beginnings |
| 9 | Fruit of the spirit; Divine completeness from the Father |
| 10 | Testimony; Law and responsibility |
| 11 | Disorder and judgement |
| 12 | Governmental perfection |
| 13 | Apostasy; depravity and rebellion |
| 14 | Deliverance; Salvation |
| 15 | Rest |
| 16 | Love |
| 17 | Victory |
| 18 | Bondage |
| 19 | Faith |
| 20 | Redemption |
| 21 | Exceeding sinfulness of sin |
| 22 | Light |
| 23 | Death |
| 24 | The Priesthood |
| 25 | Repentance; The forgiveness of sins |
| 26 | The Gospel of Christ |
| 27 | Preaching of the Gospel |
| 28 | Eternal life |
| 29 | Departure |
| 30 | Blood of Christ; Dedication |
| 31 | Offspring |
| 32 | Covenant |
| 33 | Promise |
| 34 | Naming of a son |
| 35 | Hope |
| 36 | Enemy |
| 37 | The word of our Father |
| 38 | Slavery |
| 39 | Disease |
| 40 | Trials; Probation; Testings |
| 42 | Israel's oppression; First advent |
| 44 | Judgement of the World |
| 45 | Preservation |
| 50 | Holy Spirit; Pentecost |
| 60 | Pride |
| 66 | Idol worship |
| 70 | Punishment and restoration of Israel; Universality |
| 100 | Election; Children of the promise |
| 119 | Spiritual perfection and victory 7*17=119 |
| 120 | Divine period of probation |
| 144 | The Spirit guided life |
| 200 | Insufficiency |
| 600 | Warfare |
| 666 | Antichrist |
| 777 | Christ |
| 888 | Holy Spirit; The sum of Tree of Life |
| 1000 | Divine completeness and Fathers glory |
| 4000 | Salvation of the world through the blood of the Lamb ( Those who chose between Christ and Antichrist) |
| 6000 | Deception of Antichrist; Second advent |
| 7000 | Final judgement; Zadok |
| 144,000 | Those numbered of Israel |
For further numeric study, I invite you to get any book by Bonnie Gaunt. Her work with Gematria is excellent. My favorite is "Beginnings".
For a different type of numeric study of the Bible, Ivan Panin is unsurpassed in discovering the numeric schemes of the Bible. This study has nothing to do with the letter values, like gematria, but demonstrates clearly God's hand in the writing of the Bible. Bible Numerics is a good place to start.
E. W. Bullinger has done some work with the numbers of the Bible; I only have his book "The Gospel in the Stars", so can't recommend him from personal experience. Sorry.
http://asis.com/users/stag/godcount.html
I love mail.
Come Home
No comments:
Post a Comment