NUMERICAL MIRACLES

Unlike any other book, the Bible is entwined with numerical phenomena beyond human capability to produce, and must therefore be termed supernatural or miraculous.

To grasp the significance of this fourth piece of evidence, the reader must understand that both the Hebrew and Greek languages do not have a number system as we have. (The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek.) In other words they do not have our 1, 2, 3, 4 method of counting. They do it different. They use the letters of their alphabet to represent numbers.

Can the reader see that if every letter has a number value, then every word must also have a number value? Stay with me as I try to explain.

Suppose we used our alphabet to represent number values: Let’s say that a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4, g=7,.i=9, 0=15, etc. Every word would have a number value.. Let’s take the word ‘big’. b=2, i=9, g=7. The word big has the number value 18 (2 + 9 + 7 = 18).

Likewise every phrase, sentence, paragraph, etc. also must have a number value. Let’s look at the phrase ‘a big dog.’ The word a = 1, the word big (as we have seen) = 18; and the word dog = 26 (d = 4, o = 15, g = 7). Therefore the number value of the phrase ‘a big dog’ equals 1 + 18 + 26 = 45. In our language we do not use the alphabet to represent numbers, but if we did every letter, every word, every sentence and paragraph would have a number value.

But in the Hebrew and Greek languages (because every letter of their alphabet does have a number value), every word and phrase and sentence, etc. has a numerical value. It has been discovered that the Bible was written in what could be called numerical rhythms. There are patterns intertwined throughout Scripture beyond man’s intelligence to produce. Let’s examine just a few of these patterns:

1.) A good place to start is the first sentence of the Old Testament, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). In the English language this sentence contains 10 words, but in the Hebrew language it is 7 words. So what? Well, 7 is a special number to God. It means complete or whole, and is therefore the number best describing God. It is very fitting the first sentence of the Bible contains 7 words. Coincidence? Okay, let’s say it is. Interestingly, the seven words have a sum of 28 letters. Now 28 happens to be the multiple of 7 (4 x 7 = 28). Not the multiple of 5 or 6 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13, etc.; but 7. Another coincidence? Maybe. But there’s more.

2.) The number value of the three nouns (God, heavens and earth) is 777 (111 x 7). The one verb is 203 (29 x 7). The number value of the first and last letters of all seven words is 1393 (199 x 7), the value of the first and last letters of the first and last words is 497 (71 x 7), the value of the first and last letters of every word in between is 896 (128 x 7). Coincidence? No, we have left the possibility of coincidence and have entered the supernatural!

3.) Altogether, in this short verse alone, there are thirty different features of the number 7. The chances of that occurring accidentally is one chance in 33,000,000,000,000.

4.) Now we are just talking about one verse! Amazing numerical patterns of the number 7 (as well as other numbers) can be found throughout the whole Bible. And the patterns themselves form ‘larger’ patterns. And then the whole Bible becomes a pattern. Keep in mind that God did not create special languages to accomplish this brilliant feat, but used languages already long in use!

5.) Let us now jump to the beginning of the New Testament. In the first eleven verses Matthew is recording the generations from Abraham (the father of the Israelite nation) to the time when the Jews were captured and forced to live in Babylon. The number of generations is 28 (4 x 7). There are 49 (7 x 7) different words used in these eleven verses, 28 (4 x 7) begin with a vowel, 21 (3 x 7) begin with a consonant, 7 end with a vowel, 42 (6 x 7) end with a consonant. The 49 words have 266 (38 x 7) letters of which 140 (20 x 7) are vowels and 126 (18 x 7) are consonants. 14 (2 x 7) of the 49 words are mentioned once, 35 (5 x 7) more than once, 42 (6 x 7) are nouns, 7 are not. Male names occur 56 (8 x 7) times. The Greek letters of the three women’s names add up to 14 (2 x 7).

6.) God sealed His Word with His own number. It is like He signed His name all over His Word to authorize it (confer authority upon it). Let’s look again at this number seven. The word seven is written in the Bible a total of 287 (41 x 7) times, the word seventh 98 (14 x 7) times and sevenfold 7 times. The word seventy occurs 56 (8 x 7) times. Seven in combination with other numbers (fifty and seven, a hundred and seven, etc.) occurs a total of 112 (16 x 7) times, whereas seventy in combination with other numbers occurs 35 (5 x 7) times. God’s number (seven) is used as no other number. God blessed Abraham with seven blessings. There are seven miracles recorded in the gospel of John. There are seven appearances of angels to Jesus. There are seven parables in the 13th chapter of Matthew. The book of Romans mentions seven gifts, the book of James mentions seven characteristics of wisdom, Hebrews s tells of seven titles of Christ, the gospels quote Jesus speaking seven times while on the cross. It goes on and on.

7.) The hand of God can be seen in other numbers as well. Let’s just look at one more – the number 40. It is no coincidence so many events in Scripture lasted either 40 days or 40 years. After Noah built the ark it rained 40 days and 40 nights. Moses was 40 years old when he killed an Egyptian and was forced to flee from Pharaoh. 40 years later an angel appeared to him in a burning bush. After leading the Israelites out of Egypt Moses sent out spies to determine the strength of the land that God promised to give to them, and the spies returned with their evil reports 40 days later. The people were fearful and rebelled against Moses, and God punished them by sending them in the wilderness for 40 years. There was a time when God summoned Moses up Mount Sinai, and Moses returned 40 days later with the ten commandments only to find his people worshiping a golden image. After slaying the guilty, Moses returned to the mountain to ask God’s forgiveness for the people and returned 40 days later. At another time Elijah, a prophet of God, is fleeing from wicked Jezebel and spends 40 days and nights on mount Horeb. Eli, another prophet, died after ruling God’s people for 40 years. God sent Jonah to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh and Jonah warned wicked Nineveh that if there was no repentance the city would be overthrown in 40 days. The Israelites cried out to God for a king so that they could be like other nations. God appointed Saul as king and he ruled 40 years before he died. Next David ruled 40 years before his death, and then Solomon ruled 40 years. And into the New Testament the number 40 crops up again. Jesus fasted in the wilderness 40 days and appeared to many people during a 40 day period after His resurrection. The number 40 reveals a DESIGN, both in the history of God’s chosen people and in the Bible. Design is proof of a designer. Who is that Designer?

The Bible: just another book? What is your verdict?