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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