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Lesson One NUMEROLOGYThe NUMBER ONEThis ten-week study will be different than previous studies. It will not be an exposition like our study of Daniel, nor will it be a summary of history like “Between the Testaments.” I want you to have some fun!Numbers are prevalent in Scripture. They are factual (Israel’s 12 sons) but are often allegorical as well. The LORD says, “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).We will see in our study that 1,000 represents “complete” or “total.” All the cattle are Mine, says God. Understanding the spiritual meaning of biblical numbers helps with interpretation (ex. the millennium). Can the LORD arrange the universe in such a way that both the historical and the spiritual are both real? It is said that Napoleon, on his way by ship to Egypt, overheard scholars discussing the existence of God. They demonstrated with satisfaction to themselves that God didn’t exist. Napoleon listened in silence, then he pointed to the stars and asked the scholars: "All very well, gentlemen, but who made these?" The stars. There are about 10 billion galaxies in the observable universe! The number of stars in a galaxy varies, but assuming an average of?100 billion stars?(on average) per galaxy, that means there are about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe. Scientists estimate that there are between 50 and 100 billion trillion. That is an estimate and incomprehensible.“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psalm 147:4).“Look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power not one of them is missing” (Isaiah 40:26).God is Creator. He not only creates things, He numbers them. Therefore, numbers are not an accident. 1,2,3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 20, 24, 36, 40, 70, 100, 120, 153, 400, 1000 will be our focus of study.You can remember numbers in sequence by knowing the biblical meaning of numbers.You can better appreciate God’s sovereignty and control by knowing the meaning of numbers.You can find significance in years, dates, and important occasions by transplanting meaning. Nature is formed by the Golden Ratio – also called the golden mean or golden number – 1.61803 – Phi. Not Pi which is 3.14159. The beauty of nature is seen in the numbers Pi and Phi. Our focus is Scripture. That given by God to Israel was based upon the numeral seven. On the seventh day they rested, in the seventh month were special feasts, in the seventh year the land lay fallow, while the forty-ninth (seven times seven) was the glorious emancipation year, the year of Jubilee. Numbers in the Scriptures not only bear their usual arithmetical value but harmonize with God’s plan to convey a spiritual meaning as well.Since the number “one” is not composed of other numbers, but is independent of all others, it excludes all difference. Moreover, it is the source of all others, and so marks the beginning. As excluding difference, it denotes Divine unity, supremacy, and independency, speaking of a “sufficiency which needs no other, and an independency which admits no other.” Being the source, it denotes origin.ONE – SOVEREIGN UNITYPrimacy (God). Unity (God) – “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one” (Deut. 6:4) – God is the SOURCE. In God there’s a sufficiency which has no need of another. There’s independence which admits no other. Man’s ways are the opposite of God’s ways. “Seek first,” He says; but man says, “Take care of #1 (me).”Man’s sin is independence from the Source of life. Every time you see the number ONE, think of God. “Thus says the?Lord, the?King of Israel and his?Redeemer, the?Lord?of hosts:‘I am the?first and I am the last, and there is no God?besides Me’” (Isaiah 44:6).I. The Number ONE represents the ONE true GOD, in whom creation is UNITED. In 1 Kings 6, a description is given of Solomon's wonderful temple, with its two cherubim “within the oracle.” In verse 25 this is stated: “Both the cherubim were of one measure and one size,” speaking of the Sovereign unity of Jehovah’s governance. In 2 Chronicles is recorded the defiance by King Hezekiah of Sennacherib of Assyria. Coming to the throne when the land was given over to idolatry, Hezekiah removed the groves, and cast down the idols, so that Sennacherib could say of him: "Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places, and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘Ye shall worship before one altar and burn incense upon it’” (32:12). Here again the numeral “one” is emphatic, declaring the Sovereign and absolute supremacy of God, who is all in all. Again, Paul, in that masterly oration to the philosophizing Greeks on Mars Hill (Acts 17), gives another example of the significance of this number. In verse 26, he leads his hearers to the thought that, far from being an image produced by man, God was the Creator of man, and in this sense, man is His offspring: “[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men” (Acts 17:26). One here marks the unity of the race. (Robert D. Johnston. Numbers in the Bible: God's Unique Design in Biblical Numbers (Kindle Locations 300-307). II. The Law of FIRST Mention – when something is mentioned FIRST in Scripture, God’s meaning is seen. I will use seven examples: 1. The first and greatest commandment (see Matthew 22:37-38). 2. The first recorded words of Jesus (see Luke 2:49). 3. The first ministry words of Jesus (see Matthew 3:13-17). 4. The first Word of God (see Genesis 1:3). 5. The first mention of sacrifice (see Genesis 3:1). 6. The first song mentioned in Scripture (see Exodus 15:1-20). 7. The first occurrence of words (ex. holy, Ex. 3:5). III. Words that occur only ONCE in the Scriptures demand special attention. There are three such words, worthy of our interest because these words refer to the Scriptures themselves. The first word is found in Hebrews 4:12, where we are told that the Word of God is “a discerner [or critic] of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Man criticizes the WORD, but God’s WORD is critical of man’s heart. The second word occurs in 2 Corinthians 2:17, where the Apostle writes: “We are not as many, which corrupt the Word of God.” The word used here is derived from another, meaning “to eat quickly.” This meaning easily became changed to “the place where eating is done,” that is, a tavern. In course of time, it came to mean “the keeper of a tavern,” and “to water down” or “to adulterate.” Paul chastises the practice of some to corrupt, “to water down,” the Word of God. The third word is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2: “Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully.” This word, to “handle deceitfully,” comes from a word meaning “a slave.” Later, it came to mean “to make a slave of anyone.” This was done by trickery, by some ruse. Hence the word became more debased in meaning and signified any cunning method of catching by deceit. Thus, with three words occurring once only, God warn against mishandling Scripture. (Ibid, Johnston. Numbers in the Bible (Kindle Locations 320-331). Summary: See Isaiah 45:7. ................
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