The Numerical Principle

The Numerical Principle is that principle by which God places a certain definite meaning on numbers employed by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures and continues that significance with unbroken uniformity throughout the Inspired Book.

We believe that God is a God of numbers. We believe that the Word of God is perfect in holiness and righteousness, design, execution, object and end, and perfect in number.

We have two books, the Book of God's Word and the Book of God's World. Both of these are the work of God. Both of these are beyond man. Man could never make the world, and man could never write a book such as the Bible. In all of God's works and words we find the right way, the right time, the right order, and the right number.

Now, as you see a remarkable numerical structure in nature, you see the same remarkable numerical structure in the Bible, and you have proved that the Creator of the universe is the Author of the Bible. No one can honestly dispute that the numbers are there. God is perfect, and therefore, His works and His words must be perfect. When we see numbers used, (not by chance, but by design; not haphazardly, but with significance), we do not merely see so many words and works, but we see the Living God speaking and working.

That is what we have here. God has a mathematical mind. Look at Psalm 147:4; Job 14:16; 28:25; and Luke 12:7.

We want to look for a little while at the design in numbers; then later, we will look at the significance of numbers.

When we see the same design in each of the words and works of God, the same mysterious principle being carried out in each, the conviction is overwhelming that we have the same Designer, the same Author.

There is a certain numerical significance in relation to time. When God created the earth in the beginning, He declared the sun and the moon and the stars were for time. You get your time from heaven, not from the Western Union, Railroad or Television Station. You get your time in your city today from a clock in Washington that isn't on time. Time, as it is today, has been abused by man just as he abuses every gift. Today no man can tell what year we are in. The first natural division of time was stamped with number seven. On the seventh day God rested.

All recognize that rest on the seventh day will prolong life and usefulness. If we recognized a seventh day rest we would be much better off physically. A doctor declared that the pulse beats slower one day out of seven. We have in the very make-up of our being the fact of a seventh day rest. They tried to change it in France to a ten-day week, and when they found that it didn't work, they changed it back to a seven-day week. When God gave the ritual to Israel, He gave them the seventh day. The seventh day was a holy day; the seventh month was a hallowed month by its number of sacred festivals. The seventh year was the Sabbatic year- rest for the land. Seven times seven marked the Year of Jubilee. God deals with Israel in periods of 490 years (seven times seventy).

In heaven the great number is twelve. The number twelve is seen in the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The woman of Revelation 12 had on her head a crown of twelve stars. Each sign has three constellations, making thirty-six in all, which with the twelve signs, make a total of forty-eight (four times twelve). It is this division of the Zodiac which gives us the twelve months of the year. Twelve is the number of governmental perfection, and it is associated with the rule of heaven. God said the sun was given to rule the day and the moon was given to rule the night. These two rule by their passage through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which completes the great circle of the heavens of 360 degrees or divisions.

When you get into the vegetable kingdom you have a numerical arrangement. Most people have the idea that a leaf makes up its mind to come out in the Spring and comes out just any old place.

Leaves on a tree are in perfect numerical arrangement. A leaf doesn't come out where it wants to, but rather, where God tells it to come out. Every tree has a perfect structure, and every bush has a perfect structure. Here is a leaf, and it twines around the branch. In due season there will be another leaf directly above that leaf. It may be every third leaf, fourth or fifth, but it is always the same. On a raspberry you will find it is every fourth leaf. On an apple or cherry it is every fifth, and on a peach and pear every sixth; on holly every eighth-twice around; and on the cones of white pine, thirteenth. On the castor bean it is every sixth, and on the asparagus bush it is every fourth.

Every ear of Indian corn has an even number of rows on it- 8, 10, 12, or 14; never 9, 7, 11, or 13. The rows on an ear of corn will run from 8 to 24; always even. The leaf of the rambler rose is always 7-pronged.

In most cases you will find that the leaf on the tree is the shape of the tree. The shape of the tree above the earth gives you the shape of the tree below the earth. In the Encyclopedia Britannica you will find:

Botany is divided into 7 parts. There are .7 stages in the life of a fruit-bearing plant: root, stem, leaves, flower-stalk, flower, fruit, and seed. The most useful plants to man are the cereals, and there are 7: wheat, oats, barley, maize, rice, rye and millet.

We find the numbers four and seven in nature about us. Mr. Malcolm White says, "When we look forth on the rainbow, that worldwide sign of God's covenant of grace, we discern there are seven colors, and when we listen to the human voice, we catch the same strange number of seven."

When you reach the eighth note, you are on the beginning of a new one. There are seven colors in the sunlight, and there are seven notes in music. A musician divides the compass of the human voice into seven ranges: bass baritone, tenor, counter-tenor or alto, contralto, mezzo-soprano, and soprano. You will find something else in music. All the terms used to denote the volume of sound are seven: ff, f, mf, m, mp, p, pp.

When you look at yourself you don't know how wonderful you are. The Lord built you with a lot of sevens in you. You are composed of brain, nerve, muscle, blood, hair, bone, and flesh. To enable these seven parts to perform, you have seen other parts: four limbs, heads, neck and trunk. There isn't much outwardly to remind you of seven, but there are a lot of sevens. You have seven holes in your head:

2 ears, 2 eyes, 2 nostrils and a mouth. You have fourteen bones in your face (two sevens). You have seven real ribs on each side; the others are ten in number (three false, and two floating on each side). There are seven bones in your ankle. That is interesting, isn't it? Do you know how many accessory muscles you have in your tongue? ... Seven. There are seven muscles of the eye and seven bones in the socket of the eye. The colors of the eye may be divided into seven classes. The fibers of the heart are arranged in sevens. Your throat has seven openings. You have seven bones in your neck. A child gets teeth when it is seven months old, and gets its permanent teeth when it is seven years old; and when you are twenty-eight, you have your permanent teeth. The Psalmist tells us there are seven mountains, or swellings, on the hand, and the days of man's years are seven times ten. According to Carpenter, there are seven ages of man: infancy, childhood, youth, adolescence, man- hood, decline, and senility.

A man can have seven relations, or classes of relations of the first degree: father, mother, brother, sister, wife, son and daughter. All the circumstances that govern the actions of man are seven in number: who, what, where, with what assistance, why, how, and when. Many of the diseases common to man run in seven days, fourteen days, and twenty-one days.

The fact has been mentioned before of a seven-day pulse beat. Dr. Stratton is the authority for that. The pulse beats on a seven- day principle. He says that for six days out of seven the pulse beats faster in the morning and slower in the evening. On the seventh day it beats slower in the morning. Man cannot violate that law. He needs rest; he must abide by that law or suffer the consequences.

Seven isn't the only number with which you are marked. You have some fives in you: five fingers and five toes. Why not four on one hand and five on the other? God is a God of symmetry. Whatever He makes will be symmetric. We find the same thing in nature. Nature is never overbalanced. You have five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling. You have five bones in your instep.

One of the most interesting things in connection with man and animals is to note how number seven enters into the various periods of time it takes to produce the young. There is nothing more remarkable in nature than the way in which seven enters into the period of gestation. There are some common examples in incubation. How long does a hen brood over eggs? ... Three times seven. A duck broods over eggs twenty-eight days (four times seven), while the ostrich and swan brood forty-two days. The majority of insects take from fourteen to forty-two days to reproduce. With animals the period of gestation differs. In the mouse it is twenty-one days; the rabbit and squirrel take twenty-eight days; the cat fifty-six days. The lion takes ninety-eight days; the sheep, 147 days, hedge-hog, 49 days. The weasel takes 35 days; the pig, 119 days; the cow, 280 days. The elephant takes 630 days. In the human species it takes 280 days, or 40 times 7. Make a study of the common bee. Its number is three.

When you come to the Word of God you have the same thing. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This is composed of seven Hebrew words ... 28 Greek letters. It has to do with the creation of that nature about which we have been talking (7 and 4). The first object (the heavens) has 7 letters; the second (the earth) has 7 letters.

Man pats himself on the back and says he is a good sort of fellow. Read what this Book says about man----Seven all the way through; we never see them, but we trample them under foot just as the shepherd did the heather. Deuteronomy 4:34, Revelation 5:12 and 7:12 reveal this. We have 7 walks in Ephesians, 7 comings in Thessalonians; and 7 precious things in Peter. "Mine hour" is found seven times in John. There are 7 Beatitudes, or, "blesseds" of Revelation. In Daniel 7 there are 7 decrees.

Covenant is found 7 times in Genesis 9 and 14 times in Genesis 15 and 17. "Preacher" is found 7 times in Ecclesiastes. "Manna" is in the Old Testament 14 times. Satan is mentioned 14 times in Job. The same is true of the New Testament. In the Old Testament the expression "Jealous God" is found 7 times. "Daughter of Jerusalem" is found 7 times in the singular and 7 times in the plural. There are 7 promises to Jacob, 7 kinds of false gods . . seven all the way through.

Seven things were done by the good Samaritan. In Romans 12:6-8, there are 7 gifts. There are 7 things desired by Paul as a Christian in Philippians 3:8-11. There are sevens where you wouldn't expect them. There are seven lists of furniture in the tabernacle, seven miracles of Elijah, fourteen miracles of Elisha, seven miracles by Christ on the Sabbath Day (7th Day), and so on. Seven is stamped on this Book.

NUMBER ONE:

There is no question as to the meaning of number one. In all languages it means the same-unity. As a cardinal number, it means unity; but as an ordinal number, it means primacy, or first. It is indivisible. It is made up of no other numbers. It is the source of all other numbers and independent of all others.

ONE is a symbol in all languages of unity. ONE is God's number. ONE is ONE; there are no other numbers that make up ONE. Two is 2 ones. Three is 3 ones, or one 2 and one 1. ONE is independent of all other numbers. God is independent. ONE is the source of all other numbers. Same as God; He is the Source of all things. There is no conflict with ONE. ONE excludes all differences.DEUTERONOMY 6:4-The Lord is ONE; there is no other Lord. This does not do away with the doctrine of the Trinity. ONE marks the beginning; anything must begin with God. We cannot do glory to God without helping man. If we glorify God we'll help man. The trouble with man is that he glorifies himself and leaves God out; therefore, he is bound to be a failure as far as helping man is concerned.

God says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom." Man says, "Look out for number ONE (himself), not God." He LEAVES GOD OUT.

Isa 44:6 -"I am the first"

Isa 48:12, 13 -"I am the first and last"

Isa 43: 10, 11 -"I am the first"

Rev 1:1 1-"Alpha and Omega"

Rev 1 :17-"First and the Last"

Rev 2:8 -"First and the Last"

Oh, if man could only see and learn that there cannot be two FIRSTS!

Chin (China was named for him), the builder of the Great Wall of China, destroyed all previous histories so that the history of China might start with him. Chin also said that he was the only first.

The First Book is a Book on the Sovereignty of God, the One Book, the foundation of forgiveness of sins by blood sacrifice, and not by works.DEUTERONOMY 6:4; ZECHARIAH 14:9-"ONE Lord, His name will be ONE"-speaks of the Millennial rule.

More than ONE will is the secret of all confusion, trouble and no peace. The secret of heart unrest now is because of more than ONE will. As long as there are two wills in your life you will have no peace. If you do not have the Will of God, you do not have the Peace of God.

Have you noticed the rest of our Lord in the midst of all the hatred, wrath, persecution and rejection that surrounded Him? In Matthew 11 His own fore-runner was disturbed about Him, and he sent the disciples to see if He was really the Son of God. Matthew 11 also records the rejection of Him by His Own people. The very cities in which He did His greatest works were stout-hearted in their unbelief; and then we read, "At that time Jesus answered and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me." In the midst of the rejection He had perfect peace. "Thy will be done." He turned to His Disciples and said, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." Where did the Lord find rest? He found rest in the will of His Father. Rest is only to be found in subjection to the Father's will.

That is the secret of present-day rest in the soul of man. "Thy will be done." That is the secret of Millennial peace. It is so simple, and yet, how strange it is to us. How restless we are. The Lord's servants are running around to find rest. We had better rush to the Father and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done. Even so, for it is good in Thy sight." If we were only occupied with the Blesser, instead of always seeking a blessing, how different it would be. Man in search of rest and peace begins with self, but he must begin with HIM.

Another way to study ONE: Look up the words that occur only ONCE in the Scriptures. Look at Hebrews 4:12-"discerner" means "critic". II Timothy 3:16, 17-"inspiration" means "God-breathed".

NUMBER TWO:

Number TWO is the number of division. One excludes a difference. Two recognizes another. Difference may be good or evil.

Gen 1: 2-Darkness, then Light-a vast difference-division.

Gen 1:6-on the SECOND day the Lord divided. God made TWO great lights.

Gen 4:19-Man had TWO wives. God never intended for man to have more than one wife.

GENESIS 3-there is the devil and the woman-opposite. The woman's seed and the serpent's seed. LEVITICUS 10:10; 20:24; II CORINTHIANS 6:14.

Eve was the SECOND human being. It was the SECOND person that brought about the fall. She (EVE) saw the First Spirit in God (walking through the Garden of Eden) and SECOND Spirit of Satan.

NEW TESTAMENT-The SECOND Epistles are against the works of Satan and warn the saint of Satan's deception:

II Timothy

II Peter

II John

The Church in its ruin

The Apostasy

The Anti-Christ

Cain and Abel-division is found here as it was with Abraham and Lot; Isaac and Ishmael; Jacob and Esau (Here's the Election Principle).

JEREMIAH 18-we find the TWO Potter's vessels.

How can TWO walk together except they be agreed?

The SECOND Person of the Trinity became the one of TWO natures-perfect God and perfect man.

NUMBER THREE:

Number THREE is the number of Divine Holiness. Three speaks of Coordination (a Trinity; Resurrection). THREE is the number of the Godhead ... Divine fullness, and Divine perfection. Three stands for substantial completeness.

THREE dimensions -width, length and height.

THREE tenses -past, present, and future.

THREE parts of the universe-earth, sky and sea.

THREE degrees -positive, comparative and superlative.

The number THREE is stamped upon God and God's work. God is Light, God is Love, and God is Spirit; again we find THREE.

THREE times it is recorded that the Lord Jesus was in the wilderness. He retorted to Satan THREE times with, "It is written." THREE times the Father spoke from Heaven approving His Son, as we find in Mark 1:11; Matthew 17:5; and John 12:28.

There are recorded THREE people whom the Lord Jesus raised from the dead, showing His completeness in being able to raise anybody: a child, a youth, and an adult.

The Lord Jesus is THREE: Prophet, Priest, and King. He has appeared; He now appears; He shall appear-HEBREWS 9:28.

Jordan was divided THREE times-JOSHUA 4; II KINGS. Spies brought THREE things back: grapes, pomegranates and figs. Christ was crucified the THIRD hour, and He was on the cross six hours (two times three equals six).

NUMBER FOUR:

Number FOUR is the number of Creation. On the FOURTH day (Genesis 1:19), God finished the creation of material.

FOUR directions-North, South, East and West.

FOUR seasons -Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring.

FOUR elements -Earth, Water, Fire and Air.

FOUR kings -Lion, king of wild beasts; Ox, king of the beasts of burden; Eagle, king of the birds; Man, king (headship) over all.

FOUR men were in the furnace.

NUMBER FIVE:

Number FIVE is the number of Grace-"unmerited favor"-favor to the unworthy.

Rom 3:24-Grace is found here. Fulfilled in the Abrahamic Covenant sacrifice of Genesis 15:9, with the slaying of FIVE animals and birds. The Lord filled the multitude with FIVE small fishes. David carried FIVE stones; one was enough, but he carried the Grace of God with him. Grace of God can be seen in Christ's FIVE wounds. Children of Israel came out of Egypt defenseless-Five in a rank (Exodus 13:18). God said, "FIVE of you shall chase a thousand." Again we have God's grace!

When a man went inside the Tabernacle wall he was surrounded by FIVE cubits of height; the posts were FIVE cubits apart ... FIVE, FIVE, FIVE... GRACE OF GOD. The altar was 5 x 5-Romans 8:28-30-FIVE... GRACE OF GOD!!

NUMBER SIX:

Number SIX is the number of man, the number of human incompleteness. Man was created on the SIXTH day. "SIX days thou shalt labor." Connect everything of man with everything of evil and the number will be SIX. Man is just marked by the number SIX. Goliath, the giant, was SIX cubits high; his armor was in SIX pieces, whose spearhead weighed SIX hundred shekels.

Nebuchadnezzar's image was SIXTY cubits high, SIX cubits wide, and the signal to worship was to be sounded by SIX instruments. SIX times was our Lord accused by man of having a demon. There are SIX words in the Bible translated "man", 4 in the Old Testament, and 2 in the New Testament (four in the Hebrew, and two in the Greek).REVELATION 13:18-SIX, SIX, SIX-the number of a man. Number SIX is the number of a man, but not of a beast; not God, but MAN.

NUMBER SEVEN:

Number SEVEN is the number of completeness. The Divine number is SEVEN.

Gen 2:2, 3-God rested on the SEVENTH day; He rested after a perfect creation.

Gen 1:1 is composed of SEVEN words, the perfect number. His works are perfect.

REVELATION is built upon the number SEVEN.

REVELATION is made up of SEVEN visions, and it is two-fold:

1. Look to heaven; 2. Look to earth. SEVEN beatitudes of Christ. SEVEN authors of the Psalms. SEVEN quotations of Psalm 69 in the New Testament. "Go and wash SEVEN times in the River Jordan."

NUMBER EIGHT:

Number EIGHT is the number of Resurrection-a new beginning. Number of Circumcision...the EIGHTH day the babies were circumcised. EIGHT people came out of Noah's Ark after the flood. The Ark was shaped like a coffin (300 x 50 x 30 cubits), like coming from the grave. Jesse had EIGHT sons: the EIGHTH son was a new beginning- David. Numerical number of Jesus is EIGHT, EIGHT, EIGHT.

It took seven days to consecrate a priest, and on the EIGHTH day he entered into his work. The transfiguration took place on the EIGHTH day, making a new beginning. There are EIGHT miracles in John.

There are EIGHT quotations from the Old Testament in the first chapter of Revelation:

A. Verse 5-Isaiah 55:4

B. Verse 7-Daniel 7:13
    C. Verse 7-Zechariah 12:10
      D. Verse 8-Isaiah 44:6
      D. Verse 11-Isaiah 44:6
    C. Verse 12-Zechariah 4:2
B. Verses 13 & 15-Daniel 7:9, 13, 22; 10:5, 6

A. Verse 16-Isaiah 49:2

NUMBER NINE:

Number NINE is the number of Judgment. Christ took our judgment; judgment started on the NINTH hour and lasted six hours, the number of man.

There are NINE recorded stonings in the Word of God.

There are NINE instances of people afflicted with blindness.

There are NINE instances of leprosy.

NUMBER TEN:

Number TEN is the number of Divine completeness, ordinal perfection; human responsibility.

Five fingers on each hand equals TEN; five toes on each foot equals TEN.

The Christian is to work while walking in the Spirit.

Redemption's number is TEN.

Man is to set aside one-TENTH to the Lord.

There were TEN plagues upon Egypt.

In Daniel the Beast had TEN horns; the image had TEN toes, etc.

There are TEN commandments.

Numbers 12:22-the completeness of Israel's rebellion. Read it.

TEN virgins represented whole Israel.

Genesis 15:18-21-TEN nations were given to Abraham. Romans 8:38, 39-There are TEN things mentioned. Thus, the deliverance of the Lord is complete.

NUMBER ELEVEN:

Number ELEVEN is the number of Incompleteness. It is beyond the perfect number TEN, and short of number TWELVE, (another perfect number), ELEVEN is not found frequently, but when it is found it is a number of disorder and imperfections. Kadesh-barnea to Sinai was ELEVEN days journey. Just one more day's journey would have put them in Canaan. Jacob had twelve sons; they sold one of them, and he was gone for years, and that left ELEVEN Sons in the household of Jacob. Those ELEVEN Sons speak of disorder and disintegration.

In Acts 4 we have ELEVEN apostles ... incomplete. In the study of the tabernacle, we see that there were ELEVEN curtains of goat's hair.

NUMBER TWELVE:

Number TWELVE is the number of Governmental perfection, rule, service,

power, and system of government.

There were TWELVE tribes of Israel.

There were TWELVE apostles in the New Testament.

When the new Jerusalem comes down, you will find that it is marked through and through with the number TWELVE.

- 124 -

God's power to rule is seen in Revelation 7-"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." It is stamped with the number TWELVE. God seals 144,000-TWELVE times TWELVE THOUSAND.

The LORD was TWELVE years old when He said, "I must be about my Father's business."

The LORD could have called TWELVE legions of angels to defend Him if He had so desired.

NUMBER THIRTEEN:

Number THIRTEEN is the "unlucky number." The Dutch won't sit down to a table with 13 people at it. The night in which the Lord was betrayed there were 13 seated at the table. Twelve were together in heart, but the THIRTEENTH (Judas) was the betrayer.

The first mention of the number THIRTEEN is in Genesis 14:4. The second mention of the number THIRTEEN is in Genesis 17:25.

There were twelve tribes, but there became THIRTEEN; the THIRTEENTH became the apostasy. Only twelve tribes are ever mentioned.MARK 7:21, 22-We find the picture of an apostate heart- THIRTEEN sins out of the heart.

Unclean things to eat-Deuteronomy 14:7-19 (TWENTY-SIX = 2 x 13). In Revelation Satan is pictured as a dragon THIRTEEN times. Solomon's apostasy is found in the fact that he was seven years in building the house of the Lord and THIRTEEN years in building his own. Leaven is found in the New Testament THIRTEEN times. Paul received 39 stripes (13 x 3). NUMBER SEVENTEEN:

This number is made up of two perfect numbers, 7 and 10. SEVENTEEN is called a prime number because it cannot be divided. It is the seventh in the list of prime numbers, which are 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, etc. It speaks of ordinal perfection, spiritual perfection, or it might mean the perfection of spiritual perfection. Romans 8:35-39-Here we find seven in the question and ten in the answer-a total of SEVENTEEN.

See if you can note the number SEVENTEEN in Hebrews 12:18-25, which contrasts Old and New Dispensations. PSALM 83:6-11-We find we have a confederation of enemies for the purpose of making Israel extinct and "to cut them off from being a nation". In verses 10-12 we have an enumeration of seven enemies in the past who have been destroyed by God. The prayer is that He shall do with the seven what He has done with the ten, totaling 17.

NUMBER FORTY:

Number FORTY is the number of probation, testing, trial.

David reigned FORTY years. Solomon reigned FORTY years.

FORTY days and nights it rained on the earth.

FORTY days Moses was in the mount to receive the law.

FORTY days Moses was in the mount after the sin of the people in the worship of the golden calf.

FORTY days the spies spent in the land.

FORTY days was the Lord in the wilderness, tempted of Satan, etc.

FORTY days and Ninevah was to be overthrown.

FORTY days the Lord spent with the Disciples after His resurrection.

FORTY years after the crucifixion Jerusalem was destroyed.

NUMBER FIFTY:

Number FIFTY is the number of SALVATION!

EVERY FIFTIETH year was a year of Jubilee. All property went back to the original owner. The ark, FIFTY cubits wide, the SAVIOUR of the Day.Genesis 18-prayer of Abram, "If FIFTY righteous people-you want to destroy." FIFTY less five; it didn't say forty-five, but FIFTY, less five. He pled salvation plus grace numbers.

In the book of Esther we find that Haman determined to destroy all Israel, but the Lord had Haman hanged on his own construction gallows (FIFTY cubits high).

Pentecoast came FIFTY days after the Firstfruits and brought 3,000 souls to death at the first Pentecost; the last, recorded in a significant way FIFTY days after the resurrection, brought 3,000 souls to salvation.

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