BIBLE NUMERICS
The Number EIGHT
Now going from seven to Eight is not going to be very difficult--
because once we define seven, we've practically defined Eight. If
seven is the final and complete number (and there is no doubt about it
in the scripture), then Eight has to be first in a series of new
things. This would be true in the case of music or anything. The human
body itself changes all its cells once every seven years and begins
over again with a new set of cells. Eight is something brand new. We
find Eight used many times in the word of God in all kinds of cases,
and yet it plainly sets forth something that is new.
For example: the first time we read about "eight" in connection with a
bunch of people is Noah and his family. Noah was the eighth person, a
preacher of righteousness. There were eight souls in the ark in I
Peter 3:20, and these were the people who populated the new earth.
They were the new beginning all over again after a previous
civilization had been wiped clean out.
We read that eight days are accomplished when a child is born; it is
circumcised on the eighth day, Luke 2:21. Nothing could be clearer
about this business. Notice the same thing in Leviticus 12:3; 14:10;
14:23; 15:14; 15:29 and so forth and so on, and notice that
circumcision is an eight-day ritual. Anybody who studies circumcision
in the Bible knows immediately what is involved. Circumcision is a
type of a new creature. The cutting is in connection with a man's
seed. The circumcision of Christ that makes a man a new creature in
Christ is found in Colossians 2, and this circumcision in the Old
Testament took place on the eighth day. Paul says this about himself
in Philippians 3:5. Abraham, of course, was circumcised the eighth
day. Acts 7:8; and so was the Lord Jesus Christ--notice Luke 1:59.
Eight is plainly a picture of something new.
The seven sons of Jesse are one bunch and the eight, David, is
something new, a type of Christ.
Eight then in the Bible, and multiples of eight, are plainly going to
be connected with something that's brand new. It may have other
connotations, but that much is certain. That much we can rest on until
the Lord Jesus shows us something else in connection with the number.
We have other multiples of course--800 and 8000 and series of eight's
(2 times 8, 3 times 8, etc.), but Eight, basically, stands for
something new.
Index of Preacher's Help and Notes
These documents are free from BelieversCafe.com, the complete christian resource site with more than 5000 webpages.