BIBLE NUMERICS
Introduction
Numbers are strange things in that they have something to do with the
function of the universe. That is, mathematics is an exact science.
Numbers, like colors, have universal significance attached to them. No
one can deny this, even though any attention to it may be labeled as
"superstition."
There are certain things in life that one gets to see and gets
acquainted with after awhile, that confirm certain facts to him that
don't need additional proof. Take the color red, for example. What
does the color red mean? What does it stand for? Well, anybody knows
what it stands for. It doesn't stand for anything different in China
than it does in Africa, Japan, Cuba, or Nebraska.
A man said one time "Music is the universal language." That's true.
Glenn Miller's In the Mood says the same thing to a Russian as it does
to a New Yorker.
There are certain things that have universal significance that are
fixed. And when we talk about numbers in the Bible, we simply mean
this: that the Bible, if God wrote it--and there is no doubt in my
mind when I say it--the Bible, if God wrote it, has to fix the
universal symbols and define them. That is, the Author of truth has to
reveal truth in line with truth, as that is essential to His own being
and His nature. The harmonies and the laws that God has established
and fixed in the universe must be relative to His own divine person
and expression of Himself. I remember a man one time who put out a
very good book on this called The Answer to Just About Everything. It
was a book about the Trinity to try to prove that since the Trinity
was the basic nature of God and His essence, the Trinity, the "tri-
formula" of three was found in everything in the universe including
time and space. And he proved it; yes, he proved it.
When we deal with numbers, then, we are dealing with something basic.
The number One has certain things connected with it in the mind of
anybody, anytime, any place, anywhere, in any condition, regardless of
education. That is, One basically is the same to a Bushman in Africa
as it is to a Wall Street broker.
Now men may disagree as to how they use the number, or how they apply
the number; but any man who has enough sense to scratch for grub ants
and insects in the hills of the backwoods of Australia knows the
difference between one and two. Of course, if you didn't, you couldn't
survive. You know perfectly well that there are certain things you
lift with two hands you cannot life with one. That's a fact. There
isn't the simplest man anywhere who doesn't know that it is better to
have two eyes than one eye, and when one eye gets put out, he knows
it's gone.
So, numbers are something fundamental. And when I say fundamental, I'm
going to turn to the Bible, and I'm going to show, from the Bible,
that the author of absolute truth has a purpose or plan or pattern in
His revelation of the scriptures in line with this fundamental thing
of the universe--numbers. Now I'm not trying to say here that this
system is infallible, or that these numbers can always reckon the same
thing or mean the same thing to everybody that they should every time,
every way. When I say the number Thirteen is an unlucky number, I'm
stating something that generally is just as true as any other law of
mathematics. Now you say, "Well the laws of mathematics are not
generally true, they're fixed." No, the higher mathematics that
they're getting into these days are not fixed at all. Einstein's
theory of relativity is hardly a fixed thing. And when I'm talking
about these things here, I'm not going to say that these numbers have
this meaning every time and every place; because that would violate
God's nature.
For example: If the number Thirteen was a bad number, then if it
showed up in a Christian's life, it would be bad, right? No, it
wouldn't. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together
for good...." Thirteen? Including thirteen. So I say these things
aren't fixed absolutely, mathematically, exactly, every time. But
there is enough information in the Bible on them so that you know that
the Designer who designed this Bible is the Author of creation and the
Revealer of truth. There is enough of that. And with that we'll get
into the numbers.
Index of Preacher's Help and Notes
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