Studying God's Use of Numbers in the Bible

Why does God tell us that David picked up five stones when he went to fight Goliath? Why doesn't the Bible simply say David picked up "some" stones? Every word in the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible was carefully selected by God so there must be a reason for God to include these numerical details.

As we study the Bible more and more we begin to realize that God doesn't include irrelevant details just to spice up a story. Even if we can't readily see it, there must always be a reason.

We might argue that the above reference doesn't actually teach us that numbers convey anything more than just a historical fact. However, we must also consider God's use of numbers in verses such as these:
"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21-22)
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousand of thousands " (Revelation 5:11)
Verses like these teach us that God does apply some kind of spiritual meaning to numbers. Otherwise, they would be entirely meaningless in these passages. When God says, “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousand of thousands,” that statement has meaning. We do the same thing in everyday speech. We’ll say, “I’ve told him a thousand times.” In that sentence, “thousand” can be defined as “a lot.” Sometimes we may want to express our heightened frustration by saying, “I’ve told him a bazillion times!” When we do this we are using a number in place of a non-numeric word or phrase.  

Even before we recognize that numbers in the Bible hold spiritual significance we notice that God focuses on using specific numbers such as the numbers three and seven. Almost anyone who frequently reads the Bible senses that God intentionally uses these numbers more often than others.

Admittedly, the first few times we look for the spiritual meaning of numbers in the Bible it is easy to write it off as mere coincidence. It is only as we look at more and more passages that we start to sense that these apparent coincidences must not be by accident. Couple that with the realization that these numbers must be included in the Bible for a reason and we begin to feel more confident that we can define these numbers like we could define any other word.

A Note about Numerology

In the broadest sense, numerology is typically defined as the application of meaning to numbers. However, there is a difference between traditional numerology and studying God's use of numbers in His Word. Traditional numerology applies meaning to numbers for many different reasons. Sometimes the application of meaning is based on what is witnessed in the world in the form of patterns. Sometimes the meanings are just more-or-less randomly assigned, not based on previously observed patterns. Another form of traditional numerology called digit summing assigns numerical values to the letters of the alphabet (i.e. A=1, B=2, etc) and then looks for meaning in the sum of the values in a name or word.

When we study numbers in the Bible we aren't looking for meaning in natural occurrences of numbers. For example, the fact that a four-leaf clover has four leaves doesn’t hold any spiritual significance. It doesn’t have any application to our Bible study. The fact that a word has six letters doesn't mean anything insofar as spiritual significance is concerned. We have to be careful not to let a meaningless practice such as traditional numerology scare us away from discovering real truth in the Bible through the study of numbers.

Glossary of Numbers

When we conduct a study on various numbers in the Bible we arrive at the following spiritual definitions:

Numbers as Factors

We find that God uses numerical factors in illustrating spiritual truth:
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Is Jesus teaching that Peter needs to forgive his brother 490 times and then he can stop? No, of course not. He is multiplying significant numbers together to illustrate spiritual truth. If we were to spend some time on this we would discover that this number is illustrating perfect completeness.

John chapter 21 tells us of the disciples casting out a net and catching 153 fish. We know that fish represent believers:
"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)
Interestingly, the number 153 breaks downs to 3 x 3 x 17. The number 3 signifies God's plan and the number 17 signifies God's Kingdom. It is God's salvation plan that brings people to Heaven and that fact fits very well with the context of this verse.

We also find the number 666 in the Bible used in connection with the unsaved:
“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.” (Revelation 13:18)
The number 666 breaks down into 37 x 6 x 3. Based on what we’ve learned, in these numbers we find judgment, work, and God’s plan. Most people who are not saved think they can get to Heaven through their good works or some other thing they can do to get themselves saved. However, these people will not find salvation, but instead will find God’s judgment.

If there remains any doubt that God permits the use of math in search of spiritual truth we can look at the following verse:
“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.” (Leviticus 25:8)
God is clearly doing some arithmetic here. The equation 7 x 7 = 49 is plainly spelled out.

Numbers in Time

Consider the following five significant dates in the history of national Israel:

(see Study on Earth's Timeline for an explanation on how we know these dates are accurate)

The total number of years from 2092 BC to 587 BC is 1,505 years. We’ve already seen the Bible instructs us we can break numbers down to find significance. The number 1,505 breaks down into the following three prime numbers: 43 x 7 x 5. It is interesting that 1,505 breaks down evenly into all spiritually significant numbers. We might say, “Well, that could just be coincidence.” Perhaps it is. However, when we plot these five dates on a timeline and examine the time relationships between them we arrive at the following:

Could all of that really just be coincidence?

Moreover, when we add up all of the total kings that ruled over national Israel we discover that there were 43. Saul, David, and Solomon reigned and then the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms in 931 BC. The northern ten tribes of Israel had 20 kings rule over them between 931 BC and their destruction in 709 BC. The southern two tribes also had 20 rulers over them between 931 BC and their destruction in 587 BC. The 20 kings in each kingdom added to the first three kings before the division and we arrive at the number 43.

Veiled Numbers

Sometimes numerical ties can be veiled in the Bible. For example, when we read through Luke 3:23-38 we find the blood line of Christ. The passage details His blood line all the way back to Adam, even back to God:
“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:38)
If we count the names listed from God to Christ, we discover that Christ is the 77th name.

We know that the number seven is the number of perfection or perfect completeness, so it should come as no surprise that the number is being used in connection with Christ. Christ is obviously connected with perfection. Christ is connected with completeness in that many of the ceremonial laws (i.e. Passover, circumcision, burnt offerings) were completed in Christ.

The number five is also strongly connected to Christ. The number five can signify both salvation and judgment. Again, we can quickly see Christ’s connection with salvation. However, Christ’s work is also connected with judgment. Christ made salvation possible by enduring the judgment of God in place of those who become saved. Also, Christ’s work brings judgment:
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31)

So what? Well, let’s get one more number involved. If we go from Christ’s birth on October 2 in 7 BC to His resurrection on April 3 in 33 AD we discover that those dates are separated by exactly 38.5 years to the very day. (see Study on Christ for explanation on how we arrive at these dates)

Consider the relationship of these numbers: 77 x 0.5 = 38.5.

Perhaps this is just coincidence, but these numbers did come from the Bible and so it is possible that these numbers do not just relate by chance.