The number One: The universal meaning of One is unity. "One" excludes all difference, for there is no second with which it can either harmonize or conflict. Unity being indivisible, and not made up of other numbers, is therefore independent of all others, and is the source of all others. So it is with God. He is independent of all. All stand in need of Him and He needs no assistance from any other. One marks the beginning. We must begin with God. All our words and works must be characterized by the first words of the Bible: "In the beginning GOD." Nothing is right that does not begin with Him.
The number Two affirms that there is a difference, there is another. The second thing recorded in connection with the Creation was the introduction of a Second thing—light; and immediately there was difference and division for God divided the light from the darkness. So the Second day had division for its great characteristic (Genesis 1:6). "And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water’". Here we have division connected with the second day. This great spiritual significance is maintained throughout the Word of God.
The number Three stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire. All things that are especially complete are stamped with this number three. God's attributes are three: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. There are three great divisions completing time: past, present, and future. Thought, word, and deed, complete the sum of human capability. Three degrees of comparison complete our knowledge of qualities. Three kingdoms embrace our ideas of matter: mineral, vegetable, and animal. In the Bible this completion marks divine completeness or perfection. Three is the first of four perfect numbers: Three denotes divine perfection. Seven denotes spiritual perfection. Ten denotes ordinal perfection. Twelve denotes governmental perfection. The number three points us to what is real, essential, perfect, substantial, complete, and divine. Three is the number associated with the Godhead, for there are "Three Persons in one God." Three times the Angels sing "Holy, Holy, Holy": One for each of the Three Persons in the Trinity (Isaiah 6:3). As we have in the number One the sovereignty of the one God, and in Two the second person the Son, our redeemer, so in Three we have the third person, the Holy Spirit, marking and completing "the fullness of the Godhead."
The number Four: Three signifies divine perfection, with special reference to the Trinity. Number Four is made up of three and one (3+1=4), and it marks that which follows the revelation of God in the Trinity, namely, His creative works. He is known by the things that are seen. The written revelation commences with the words, "In the beginning God created." Creation is therefore the next thing, the fourth thing, and the number Four always has reference to all that is created. It is emphatically the number of creation and of man in his relation to the world as created, while six is the number of man in his opposition to and independence of God. It is the number of things that have a beginning, of things that are made, of material things, and matter itself. It is the number of material completeness. The number Four is the world number, and especially the "city" number. The Fourth day saw the material creation finished (for on the fifth and sixth days it was only the furnishing and peopling of the earth with living creatures). The sun, moon, and stars completed the work, and they were to give light upon the earth which had been created, and to rule over the day and over the night (Genesis 1:14-19). Four is the number of the great elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Four are the regions of the earth: north, south, east, and west. Four are the divisions of the day: morning, noon, evening, and midnight. The Fourth Commandment is the first that refers to the earth. The Fourth clause of the Lord's Prayer is the first that mentions the earth. Damascus, the oldest city in the world, is referred to as 444, the world number.
The number Five is four plus one (4+1). We have the Three Persons of the Godhead, and their manifestation in creation. Now we have a further revelation of a people called out from mankind, redeemed and saved, to walk with God from earth to heaven. Redemption follows creation. In as much as in consequence of the fall of man, creation came under the curse and was "made subject to vanity," therefore man and creation must be redeemed. Thus we have, The Father, Son, Spirit, Creation, and Redemption. These are the five great mysteries, and Five is therefore the number of GRACE. If Four is the number of the world, then it represents man's weakness, and helplessness, and vanity. But Four plus One (4+1=5) is significant of divine strength added to and made perfect in that weakness; of omnipotence combined with the impotence of earth; of divine favor uninfluenced and invincible.
The number Six is either 4 plus 2, or man's world (4) with man's enmity to God (2) brought in: or it is 5 plus 1, the grace of God made of none effect by man's addition to it, or perversion, or corruption of it: or it is 7 minus 1, or man's coming short of spiritual perfection. In any case, therefore, it has to do with Man; it is the number of imperfection; the human number; the number of man as destitute of God, without God, without Christ. At any rate it is certain that man was created on the Sixth day, and therefore he has the number Six impressed upon him. Moreover, Six days were appointed to him for his labor; while One day is associated in sovereignty with the Lord God, as His rest. Six, therefore, is the number of labor also, of man's labor as apart and distinct from God's rest. True, it marks the completion of creation as God's work, and therefore the number is significant of Secular Completeness. The serpent also was created on the Sixth day. The Sixth Commandment relates to the worst sin: murder. The Sixth clause of the Lord's Prayer treats of sin. Six is the number stamped on all that is connected with human labor. We see it stamped upon his measures which he uses in his labor, and on the time during which he labors. And we see this from the very beginning. On account of the curse (Genesis 3), the number Six tells not only of labor, but of "labor and sorrow," and it specially marks all that is "under the sun," all that is "not of God." The true Sabbath-keeping, now, is in reserve; for there is no rest apart from "peace with God"; the rest which God gives and which we find (Matthew 11:28).Cain's descendants are given only as far as the Sixth generation. The number Six is further associated with Christ as the Son of Man, in that His birth was announced in the sixth month (Luke 1:26): and the Sixth hour is specially marked at His crucifixion (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44).
The numbers Six and Seven together as combining and contrasting what is human and what is spiritual.
The number Seven: We come now to the great number of spiritual perfection. A number which occupies so large a place in the works, and especially in the Word of God as being inspired by the Holy Spirit. As a number the actual word and number "Seven" is used as no other number is. Seven and its compounds occur in multiples of Seven in the Old Testament. On the Seventh day God rested from the work of creation. It was full and complete, and good and perfect. Nothing could be added to it or taken from it without marring it. It is Seven, therefore, that stamps with perfection and completeness that in connection with which it is used. Of time, it tells of the Sabbath, and marks off the week of seven days. It tells of that eternal Sabbath-keeping which remains for the people of God in all its everlasting perfection. In the creative works of God, Seven completes the colors of the spectrum and rainbow, and satisfies in music the notes of the scale.
The number Eight: As Seven is referred to as perfect and complete number because the Seventh day was the day of completion and rest, so Eight, as the Eighth day, was over and above this perfect completion, and was indeed the first of a new series, as well as the Eighth day. Eight is the number specially associated with resurrection and regeneration, and the beginning of a new era or order. When the whole earth was covered with the flood, it was Noah "the Eighth person" (2 Peter 2:5) who stepped out on to a new earth to commence a new order of things. "Eight souls" (1 Peter 3:20) passed through it with him to the new or regenerated world. Circumcision was to be performed on the Eighth day (Genesis 17:12), because it was the foreshadowing of the true circumcision of the heart, that which was to be "made without hands," even "the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11). This is connected with the new creation.
The number Nine is a most remarkable number in any respects. It is held in great reverence by all who study the occult sciences. In mathematical science, it possesses properties and powers which are found in no other number. It is the last of the digits, and thus marks the end and is significant of the conclusion of a matter. It is akin to the number Six, Six being the sum of its factors (3x3=9, and 3+3=6), and is thus significant of the end of man, and the summation of all man's works. Nine is, therefore, the number of Finality or Judgment. The number of finality or judgment is omitted unto Jesus as "the Son of man" (John 5:27; Acts 17:31). It marks the completeness, the end and issue of all things as to man—the judgment of man and all his works.
The number Ten is one of the perfect numbers, and signifies the perfection of divine order, commencing as it does, an altogether new series of numbers. The first decade is the representative of the whole numeral system, and originates the system of calculation called "decimals," because the whole system of numeration consists of so many Tens, of which the first is a type of the whole, completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything. It is therefore, the ever-present signification of the number Ten. It implies that nothing is wanting, that the number and order are perfect, and that the whole cycle is complete. Noah completed the antediluvian age (the age before the flood) in the Tenth generation from God. The Ten Commandments contain all that is necessary, and no more than is necessary, both as to their number and their order, while the Lord's prayer is complete in Ten clauses: The First, God's sovereignty. The Second, Jehovah's manifested Name. The Third, the realization of God's kingdom. The Fourth first mentions the earth. The Fifth, the gift of grace supplying our need. The Sixth treats of man's sin. The Seventh pleads for spiritual guidance. The Eighth pleads for final deliverance from all evil. The Ninth sums up the divine glory while the Tenth completes the eternal cycles.
The number Eleven: If Ten is the number which marks the perfection of divine order, then Eleven is an addition to it, subversive of and undoing that order. If Twelve is the number which marks the perfection of divine government, then Eleven falls short of it. So that whether we regard it as being 10 + 1, or 12 - 1, it is the number which marks, disorder, disorganization, imperfection, and disintegration. The Eleven Apostles witness of disintegration even amongst the Twelve (Acts 2:14, etc.). The Eleventh hour (Matthew 20:6, 9) is proverbial as being contrary alike both to what is right in order and arrangement. Joseph was Eleven years in Potiphar's house.
The number Twelve is the number which marks the perfection of divine government. There were Twelve Judges. The temple of Solomon has the number Twelve as the predominating factor, in contrast with the Tabernacle, which had the number Five. This agrees with the grace which shines in the Tabernacle, and with the glory of the kingdom which is displayed in the Temple. When we come to the New Testament we find the same great principle pervading the Apostolic government as we see in the Patriarchal and National we have: Today we see Twelve Jurors in a courtroom. There were Twelve Apostles, Twelve foundations in the heavenly Jerusalem, Twelve gates, Twelve pearls, and Twelve angels. The number Thirteen: This number has been considered in connection with the number Eight. The number Fourteen being a multiple of Seven, partakes of its significance; and, being double that number, implies a double measure of spiritual perfection. The number Two with which it is combined (2x7) may, however, bring its own significance into its meaning, as in Matthew 1, where the genealogy of Jesus Christ is divided up and given in sets of 14 (2x7) generations, two being the number associated with incarnation. The number Nineteen is a number combination of 10 and 9, and would denote the perfection of divine order connected with judgment. The number Twenty is the double of Ten, and may in some cases signify its concentrated meaning. But its significance seems rather to be connected with the fact that it is one short of Twenty-One, 21 - 1 = 20; that is to say, if 21 is the three-fold 7, and signifies divine (3) completion as regards spiritual perfection (7), then Twenty, being one short of 21, it would signify expectancy, and certainly we are not without illustrations in support of it: Twenty years Jacob waited to get possession of his wives and property, Genesis 21:38,41. Twenty years Israel waited for a deliverer from Jabin's oppression, Judges 4:3. Twenty years Israel waited for deliverance through Samson, Judges 15:20, 16:31. But his work was never much more than "begun," Judges 13:25. Twenty years the Ark of the Covenant waited at Kirjath-jearim, 1Samuel 7:2. Twenty years Solomon was waiting for the completion of the two houses, 1 Kings 9:10; 2Chronicles 8:1. Twenty years Jerusalem waited between its capture and destruction; and Twenty years Jeremiah prophesied concerning it. The number Thirty, being 3 x 10, denotes in a higher degree the perfection of Divine order, as marking the right moment. CHRIST was Thirty years of age at the beginning of His ministry, Luke 3:23. Joesph was the same age, Genesis 41:46. David also, when he began to reign, 2 Samuel 5:4. The number Forty has long been universally recognized as a significant number on account of the frequency of its occurrence, and the uniformity of its association with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement (not judgment, like the number 9, which stands in connection with the punishment of enemies, but the chastisement of sons, and of a covenant people). It is the product of 5 and 8, and points to the action of grace (5), leading to and ending in revival and renewal (8). This is certainly the case where Forty relates to a period of evident probation. But where it relates to enlarged dominion, or to renewed or extended rule, then it does so in virtue of its factors 4 and 10, and in harmony with their signification. The number Fifty is the number of Jubilee or deliverance. The number Seventy is another combination of two of the perfect numbers, Seven and Ten. As compared with the sum of two numbers, the product exhibits the significance of each in an intensified form. Hence 7 x 10 signifies perfect spiritual order carried out with all spiritual power and significance. Both spirit and order are greatly emphasized. The Seventy nations which peopled the earth are set forth with a particularity which shows the importance of the fact (see Genesis 10). The Seventy souls of Genesis 46 are marked not only by the perfection of spiritual truth,as seen by the multiple of 7, but by the perfection of divine order, as seen in the multiple of 10, seventy being 7 x 10. This number is made up in a remarkable manner, distinguishing the descendants of Leah and her maid from Rachel and her maid, the latter being a more marked multiple of 7:these seventy built up the nation of Israel. See Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5 and Ruth 4:11. Seventy elders furnished Israel's great Tribunal, Exodus 24:1; Numbers 11:16 afterwards called the Sanhedrim (Sanhedrin). Seventy disciples sent out by the Lord prefigure the mighty host which followed them (Luke 10:1, 17) in spirit and in power. It is the number specially connected with Jerusalem.
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