Most of us have heard of the term “numerology.” Many of us think that it involves math when numerology is the analysis and the assigning of meanings to different numbers and patterns of numbers. There are many other belief systems in numerology, including in the Bible.
The Bible has multiple references to the strengths and meanings of different numbers throughout its pages. You can find their definitions in Genesis, Deuteronomy, Revelation, and many more.
Numerology is essential to the Bible because it helps give meaning to the numbers we see daily. While we can see numerology in many instances, such as finding meaning to your name and analyzing luck, numerology in the Bible can be seen as a form of guidance for practicing Christians. It is believed that the numbers within the Bible are messages from God.
What Is Numerology?
Nowadays, many people are looking into numerology to find themselves, especially meaning and destiny. Numerologists have studied the vibrations that numbers give off for centuries and believe that numbers play a role in our lives. Numerology is a way to study and figure out destiny by making associations with numbers and events.
Most people look into numerology, especially when consistently seeing numbers repeatedly. They are seeing the same numbers repeating in different places could mean that the world is trying to tell you to take a specific path. These are often called angel numbers.
There are many different schools of numerology within various cultures, such as Chinese, Chaldean, Pythagorean, and Biblical. Before modern, written history, it was believed that their gods gave people numbers to help provide meaning to events.
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What Is The Bible?
The Bible is made up of 73 books, with varying amounts between denominations. The Bible consists of The Old Testament and The New Testament.
The Bible includes many stories from the past, explaining various topics such as creation, morals, and prophecies. The writings from the bible have shaped our current culture into what it is today, good and bad.
Today, we can see how some stories tend to repeat themselves in our everyday lives, such as following rules because they are there for a reason (Adam and Eve), the importance of looking at someone’s personality rather than their appearance (David and Goliath), and saving those who need help (The Lost Sheep).
How Are Numerology and The Bible Related?
Christians didn’t always accept numerology. At first, numerology was condemned by early Church Fathers, stating that the numbers provided no evidence of communication with God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-13 discussed doing occult practices, such as divination, “is detestable by the Lord.” Leviticus 19 states the various laws that God spoke to Moses, and in Leviticus 19:31, God noted that you could not seek the help of others if they use occult practices.
After some time, there was an openness to the interpretation of using numbers found in the bible to show signs of destiny.
The Book of Revelations contains prophecies of the apocalypse and the second coming of Christ and uses numbers to help distinguish the signs. While many interpretations of The Book of Revelations indicate an actual apocalypse of our world, others believe that it represents our lifelong struggle between good and evil.
Where Can We Find Numerology Within The Bible?
While reading through the Bible, many numbers are given, most knowingly, when stating the chapters and verses. When regarding numerology, however, these numbers are not taken into account.
Instead of the verse markers, the passages’ numbers show their meanings’ significance. Many numbers may seem to have similar purposes, especially concerning the completeness, but there are deeper meanings within those numbers.
What One Can Mean
One is the first number we count. In the bible, number one is very significant. It stands for being one, showing unity and wholeness.
One is described in Genesis and Deuteronomy. The number one is unique because it is the only number divisible by itself; any other number is divisible by itself and one. The importance of only being able to be divided by itself shows the relationship with God.
Speaking of dividing the number one, Genesis 2:21 states that God used one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve to give a sense of completeness to his creation. Additionally, even though God is seen within three beings (the Holy Trinity), God is seen as one because each part of the Holy Trinity cannot exist without the other.
Where You’ll Find Two
Number two is essential in the Bible because it is the number of people required to witness an act and make a testimony credible. When people get married, they need two witnesses for the union of the two to be valid. Genesis 2:23-2 describes the unity of man and woman.
Is Three Significant?
Three is consistently seen within the bible and through prayer, referring to the “Holy Trinity,” the father, the son, and the holy spirit. The number three has formed many habits within the Christian religion, such as praying three times a day, as described in Daniel 6:10:
“When Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”
The number three also appears within Christianity for Holy Week, the most sacred of times for Christians. These days are Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, and Sunday.
While discussing his covenant with Abraham in Genesis, God asked Abraham to bring him three mammals, all three years of age. Genesis 15:9-11 states that Abraham had to sacrifice the “heifer, goat, and ram” to uphold their covenant.
The Book of Jonah tells the story of how God had asked Jonah to “preach against” Nineveh because of the “wickedness” in the city. Out of fear, Jonah tries to escape from God by sea and is punished. With his punishment he ends up punishing everyone on the boat with a storm and refuses to call to God for help.
When Jonah admitted to being the cause of the horrible storm to the others on the ship, he offered to be thrown out to sea. Once the men on the ship threw Jonah out to sea, Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a fish. While in the belly, Jonah prayed to God, admitting he did wrong, and asked for forgiveness.
Why Four is Important
Within the bible, four is seen in many circumstances. The Bible describes the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west) in Revelation 7:1 and Ezekiel 7:2. This also took on to be used in the construction of the pillars of the altar, which is still used in church services today. Exodus 27 details much of this, emphasizing the importance of the four directions.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse are described in Revelation 6 as seals. The Book of Zechariah also talks about four horses God sent down to protect Earth. The four horsemen are to judge humans for their acts. Ezekiel 14:21 also alludes to four judgments that will bring the survivors of them to Ezekiel to be saved.
Is Six a Bad Sign?
The Bible believes that the number six is affiliated with evil and imperfections. This number is associated with humankind and is first mentioned in Genesis 1, where a man was created on the sixth day.
Further on in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve ate fruit from the one tree that God forbade them from eating from. This is known as the “original sin” and explains the imperfection in God’s creation of man. Therefore the number six is affiliated with flaws and evil.
Six is also known in the bible as representing something counterfeit because it is almost the following number, seven, representing perfection.
What Does 666 Mean?
Many of us have heard the number “666” referring to “the number of the beast,” whether it was in a film like “The Omen” or the Iron Maiden song, and with accurate reason. The Beast of Revelation is described in Revelation 13:18:
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
While there have been different interpretations of 666, there has been a consensus that these numbers are associated with the antichrist and foreshadow evil. Many people have changed their house numerology, including Ronald Reagan, from 666 to something else.
Why Seven is so Lucky
Seven is seen as a lucky number for many people. In the bible, the number seven represents perfection and being complete. Seven is seen throughout the bible to show the completeness of different events. After all, God created the Earth in seven days.
Seven also shows up in the bible when telling the story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. He was crucified on the sixth day; he spent the seventh day in the tomb.
Different denominations of Christianity have seven sacraments (baptism, eucharist, confirmation, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders) that show the gifts that God can give us.
Even though it is considered evil, there are seven deadly sins (lust, greed, pride, sloth, wrath, envy, and gluttony). There are, however, seven virtues one can use to counter the acts of the seven deadly sins (hope, faith, prudence, justice, temperance, charity, and courage).
Revelation 5:1-8:1 describes what happens if each of the seven seals of a scroll is opened in a prophecy.
The first four seals are the four horsemen (6:1-8), and the fifth is “those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained” will come until the same amount of them had been killed (6:9-11). The sixth seal (6:12-14) shows natural phenomena such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and meteor showers.
What happens when the seventh seal is opened doesn’t show up until Revelation 8. Revelation 8 states that seven angels with seven trumpets come from Heaven to Earth when the seventh seal is opened. Revelation 8-10 describes more cataclysmic events when each angel blows their horn.
What Eight Represents
The number eight signifies new beginnings in Bible. Jesus Christ was resurrected on the eighth day and was seen by Mary Magdalene.
Eight people were allowed on Noah’s Ark. Genesis 6-9 discusses how God regretted creating humans because of how violent and corrupt they had become. God allowed only Noah’s family on the ark to continue humanity.
According to Genesis 17, circumcision shows an agreement between Abraham and God. The circumcision is to occur on the eighth day of the life of every male for the covenant to remain intact. If a male is not circumcised on the eighth day, he must be “cut off from his people.”
Ten Means Totality
We have ten fingers and ten toes, and the importance of the number ten in the Bible, like many other numbers mentioned before, is totality. It represents the rules and trials that we can have in our lifetime.
Exodus 20 describes the Ten Commandments that Christians must follow to prevent sinning. The Ten Commandments are rules for respecting God, such as not saying His name in vain, not worshipping false gods and treating other humans, such as not stealing, murdering, or committing adultery.
Multiples of Ten
Seeing ten in multiples, such as forty, have an emphasized meaning towards earlier numbers mentioned. While forty doesn’t have a true significance, the number forty recurs in the Bible in multiple books. It can be said that the number forty is affiliated with tests of one’s devotion to God.
Forty
The number forty shows up in the Bible in Noah’s Ark because he made it rain for forty days and forty nights for God to cleanse the world. It can be said that God judged the humans and only found the eight people in Noah’s family pure enough to continue humanity. Forty is divisible by eight; as mentioned earlier, eight shows new beginnings.
Forty is also seen in “The People Rebel” in telling the story of Moses. Numbers 14:33-34 states that the children of sinners and the sinners themselves will suffer for forty years to “know what it is like to have [God] against you.”
In Matthew 4, Jesus had fasted for forty days and nights and was tempted by Satan to show that he was God’s true son.
Seventy
The number 70 is a multiple of ten and seven. Seven is associated with perfection, and ten is judgment, rules, and trials. In Numbers 11, God told Moses to bring “seventy elders” to help Moses share the “burden” of getting meat with the followers. In Ezekiel 8, seventy elders in the temple witnessed “detestable” acts.
One Thousand
One thousand is a multiple of ten. Revelation 20 describes one thousand as the number of years that Satan will be locked away. During Jesus’s second resurrection, he is said to rule the Earth for one thousand years.
The Power Twelve Holds
Twelve is a significant number in our lives, even outside Bible. There are twelve months and twelve lunar cycles within the year. Twelve is seen as several God’s governance and power.
Twelve apostles are mentioned in The Old Testament, Simon, Andrew, James (son of Zebedee), John, Bartholomew, Phillip, Thomas, James, Matthew, Thaddeus, Peter, and Judas.
Revelation 21:9-21 describes the New Jerusalem Temple stating that there were
“…twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The city wall had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
Later in the passage, it is stated that twelve pearls individually made up the twelve gates at the New Jerusalem Temple.
The twelve tribes of Israel are described in Deuteronomy 12. The twelve tribes were created and held by Jacob and his wives and concubine’s twelve children. Revelation 7 also mentions these twelve tribes. While saying these tribes, it also states that 12,000 people from each tribe will be saved.
Final Thoughts
We see numbers in our everyday lives, from the purchases we make at stores to the current time and date. When we see those numbers, many look into their meaning, such as questioning why we see so many threes in one day.
Numerology is the study of the significance of numbers. Numerologists, such as Pythagoras, also studied math and philosophy. He was successful in many theories and how numerology is viewed today.
When analyzed, the Bible has many numbers recurring throughout that can show meaning, specifically messages from God.
At first, numerology was considered an occult form of divination because only prophets can speak God’s words; however, the study of numerology and using the numbers mentioned within the pages of The Old and New Testaments has become accepted.