BIBLE NUMERICS
The Number NINE
We now come to the number Nine. The number Nine is going to be a little bit
tougher to get into and work out. You may find books of numerology which
profess to have run down this number Nine, but I must confess that in all my
dealings with the number, I can't find anything absolutely conclusive. I'll
tell you what I have found and give you the findings, and you can run them
down. Nine seems to be connected with fruitfulness and evidently has some
connection with covenants, although I don't fully understand everything
about it. Nine is one short of the Gentile number, which can be proved very
quickly. It is one number beyond the new man, the new creation, which is
eight. It is also what is kept for self when you give God a tenth. Now this
may give some hint as to how the number works out as Abraham is ninety-nine
years old when God makes a covenant with him--ninety-nine. He is said to be
dead in Romans 4 and yet bearing fruit. And Christ said, "Except a corn of
wheat fall in the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit."
Nine seems to be connected with fruitfulness. I'll tell you why I say that,
because there are nine fruits of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22-23.
(5:22? 5 plus 2 plus 2 equals nine!) Three are inward; three are outward;
and three are Godward. Notice too that there are nine gifts of the Holy
Spirit in I Corinthians 12 for power and for character in Galatians. There
are nine in each one of these cases that have to deal with the fruit of the
Holy Spirit, and nine is the number that follows eight which is the new
line.
In Genesis 9:9 we clearly have a covenant--"I establish my covenant with
you, and with your seed after you." I take this to be of some significance
as it seems like the numbers in Genesis (the first book) seem to settle the
meaning thereafter. Abraham is ninety-nine years old when that covenant is
made with him; but as I said before, there is not a great deal that's
conclusive on this thing. In Genesis 17:1 (one plus seven plus one) the
covenant with Abraham is made when he is ninety-nine, and of course here he
is said to be "dead."
There are other nines in the Bible which don't seem to fall in line with
this. We read of the 900 chariots of iron in Judges 4:3, and we read some
connection of this iron with giants in other places in the word of God. The
bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan (Deut. 3:11) was "nine cubits in the
length thereof." The number nine is very prominent in the age of the
Patriarchs in Genesis 5, where we read 900, 900, 900, 900, 900, seven or
eight times in one chapter. So I say this thing here is not too clear. When
we studied the number five I mentioned the Mayday--the fifth month; I
mentioned the #5 breakdown in water of a ship in dry dock; I mentioned the
distress frequency of 500 kilocycles for an SOS--the international distress
frequency, and some other things which may not seem very related to Bible
truth. But in all heresies there is some truth, and every superstition has a
background in absolute truth as God is the author of all truth. Therefore He
is the one who sets up the absolute standard from which all the imitations
and counterfeits have to be made. I say that because of the peculiar
expression used universally--"Cloud Nine." I don't fully understand it, but
it is an expression meaning joyfulness or happiness. They say, "That fellow
is on Cloud Nine," meaning he is in a happy, joyful condition.
Other famous nines are the ninety-nine good sheep and the one that got lost.
Jerusalem was destroyed in the ninth month in Jeremiah 52:4-6. The Bible was
cut up in Jeremiah 36:23 in the ninth month. Nine is the period of
gestation--nine months--for women in producing fruit. Peter's vision is
around the ninth hour; Ezekiel 24 speaks of the ninth year, and there are a
few other places. None of these of course give us conclusive evidence as to
what the number means. It probably has a good meaning as it is plainly three
times three. That much is clear. You can also make up combinations. For
example:
1. Six and three--Six is the number of man and three is the Trinity. This
would say plainly, "Bring forth fruit."
2. Eight and one--Eight is the new creature and one is unity. This would
bring forth fruit.
3. Seven and two--Seven is the number of completion and two is the number of
divisions. This is a very odd combination which doesn't yield anything
numerically.
4. Five and four--Five, as it stands, is death and four, as it stands of
course, has no absolute meaning fixed that we've been able to locate. Now if
it is the earth, it is the earth plus death, which gives a bad connotation
to nine.
Strangely enough, most of the connections of Nine in the Bible are good
connotations. They indicate the longest lives that men have ever lived. If
they indicate giants, at least they indicate the biggest men who ever lived.
Its peculiar connection with the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians, and the
gifts of the Spirit in I Corinthians, plainly indicate some kind of a
spiritual thing that has to do with bearing fruit. Abraham's case has
already been cited. He doesn't bear fruit until he is ninety-nine, and the
fact that it is a gestation period for women is highly significant--nine
months. But I wouldn't make a final statement on it because all the evidence
has not been accumulated, and it may have more than one meaning. It seems to
have that primary meaning.
Index of Preacher's Help and Notes
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