One-a-Day...for the Heart: Wrong Number
Dialing a wrong number can result in an embarrassingly uncomfortable conversation with a stranger. Usually, people are understanding, but occasionally the wrong number recipient can be irritable, even harsh in their response to being inconvenienced. Both parties are caught off-guard in an awkward moment.
Numbers are important, and they are very significant in the Bible, too, where they take on spiritual meaning. Even though many writers author the Bible, God consistently brings the same meaning and harmony in numbers, regardless of different periods and cultures.
Bible numerics is a fascinating subject. I am certainly not an expert on it, but I recognize that as students of the Bible, we must be careful to distinguish between Bible numerics and numerology, which is the worship and idolatrous use of numbers. In interpreting the meaning of numbers in the Bible, it is imperative to stay within the boundaries of Scripture and understand the spiritual significance of numbers as they appear in the Word.
Just because you find three brown shoelaces in your drawer, then sit down to breakfast, and three Cheerios fall out of your cereal bowl, while three cardinals land on your birdfeeder as you’re eating breakfast, does not mean 333 would be God’s winning number for the lottery. NEWSFLASH: God doesn’t need the lottery, and neither do you! Much more exciting and profitable is to know the Biblical value of numbers, not the worldly significance.
The Lord loves order. He is not the author of confusion; Satan is. God is not a God of disorder, but of peace, we are told in 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NLT). Numbering speaks of organization, as evidenced in these verses:
Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days…
Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars…
Daniel 5:26 (Daniel said this to King Belshazzar) God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are numbered…
Although the following is not a comprehensive list, several numbers with significant Biblical meanings include:
1—the number of God; beginning
3—the number of the Godhead; number of completeness
6—number of man, beast, Satan
7—number of perfection and completeness
8—number of new beginning and resurrection
12—number of Divine Government
70—a combination of two perfect numbers: 7—perfection, and 10--representing completeness and God's law. As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order carried out with all power.
No doubt, the most infamous number of all is 666, which is the number of Antichrist, Satan, the mark of the damned, and the mark of the man called The Beast. The Beast of the Earth referred to in Revelation 13 will perform miracles and deceive the unsaved people in the world. Those are unbelievers left behind to suffer in the Tribulation after Christians have exited the world in the Rapture, described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.
Revelation 13:16-18 tells us that, He (the Beast of the Earth) required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.
If you are in Christ, saved by His blood and forgiven of your sins, you will never tangle with the number 666 or the Beast. You will never dial that wrong number or be stamped with it! Rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and learn what HIS numbers are all about!
(Kevin J. Conner’s book entitled, Interpreting the Symbols and Types, chapter 5, was helpful in writing this One-a-Day.)
© 2022, Chris Werre