FCP-17-NUMERICS.

NUMERICS. THE SEAL OF SEVEN. The Bible warns us that the visible things of creation reveal the invisible Creator and that therefore we are without excuse if we ignore the evidence of His Hand. Romans 1:19-20.

We feel sad about those who have not discerned the Hand of God in His Creation, but what of those who have not seen Him revealed in His Word? Does the Bible in fact bear any seal whereby we can identify it? Can the Bible be brought into the scope of Divine Workmanship? Can it be shown that the Author of the seals in sevens, some of which we have examined, is also the Author of the Bible?

Look first on the surface of the Scriptures.

It has long been known, and appreciated, by those who have studied the Word, how the number seven has been used to convey a certain and specific conclusion. It usually denotes God’s fullness of purpose, or completion of a specific period. The leper was told to wash seven times in the Jordan. If he had stopped at six he would not have been healed. The children of Israel were commanded to march around Jericho seven times on the seventh day, (no doubt with the inhabitants laughing at them), but at the seventh time the trumpet sounded, the earth shook, and they laughed no more.

There is NOTHING magical in the number itself. It is only the ’mark’ of God’s Hand in the particular incident. His Signature, and we find it throughout the Scriptures, this seal of seven. The Bible itself is in seven distinct divisions. Just look at the last book, Revelation, which is God’s Book of climaxes, judgments, and consummations. This is what we find.

Seven Churches.
Seven Spirits of God.
Seven candle sticks.
Seven stars.
Seven seals.
Seven angels.
Seven trumpets.
Seven thunders.
Forty two months, six sevens.
Three and a half days with two witnesses.
Seven thousand men killed by earthquake.
Seven heads.
Seven crowns.
Seven plagues.
Seven mountains.
Seven kings.
A Beast with seven heads. This is just an example of sevens on the surface, all in Revelation.

Here also in Revelation is a somewhat hidden example of sevens, that is, one could pass over them many times and perhaps not notice seven connected with them.

Revelation 5:12. Seven attributes of Christ.
Revelation 7:12. Sevenfold greeting to God by angels.
Revelation 5:14. Four beasts and four and twenty elders worship God. The term ’blessed’ is used exactly seven times, so also is the ’Book of Life’.

There are, in fact, over fifty occurrences of seven in Revelation alone.

Now. In respect to the watermark or seal beneath the surface. An absolutely staggering discovery, concerning the Hebrew and Greek texts, was made by several independent students of God’s Word, a discovery that God has permitted to be disclosed as a challenge to this unbelieving age and one which, in itself, settles for Time and Eternity. A fact the believer already knows. A fact which underlines the Divine authority of the Bible. A challenge, before which all the liberal and modernistic theories of men crumble like a sand castle does before the incoming tide of the sea. A sweeping statement but nevertheless true.

It was discovered that hidden, as it were beneath the surface of these texts, was a Seal, a Sign, God’s definite seal on His Word.

Other patterns are present also, but the seal of seven is the most prominent in these intricate patterns, and more easily discerned than those, many other, designs.

It stamps the Bible as the indisputable Word of God.

Ivan Panin, who devoted much of his life to investigating and publishing these things, publicly invited the finest brains, by means of a challenge through the press, to prove that his facts were not facts, and gave three examples of these numerics. No one was able to refute those facts.

He also challenged a Bible critic to produce a similar pattern of sevens as that found in the genealogy of Christ back to Abraham wherein the proper names investigated were named thousands of years before-hand and could not be manipulated in any way to aid the theory. Of course patterns of various kind have been found in other writings, but these are spasmodic in their occurrence, and generally require re-arrangement of the original statement, or phrase before a pattern can be discerned, and of course they are not consistent throughout the text which contains them. On the contrary the pattern and design running through the Hebrew and Greek texts are consistent, and uniform, throughout all the various books in both the Old and the New Testament, and when it is realized that the Bible is the collection of writings by some forty writers, men from all walks of life, over a long period of time, and in two different languages, the whole fitting together as harmonious whole, any honest seeker after truth must concede that a far greater Mind than man’s is here’, for who but a Supreme Being, knowing the end from the beginning, could weave such a design into the writing of men when the name of places, and persons, of genealogies and events were settled long before the men writing them were even born. The genealogy of our Lord which we will examine shortly, is a case in point.

All through the ages of course there have been those who have been aware of the use of number in Scripture and whilst we will examine that aspect later.

Just now I would like to spend some time examining these numeric designs found beneath the surface of the original texts of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.

Over and over again, vital statements are sealed by a numeric design exactly fitted within the statement itself.

Coincidence can be ruled right out, and the only logical conclusion, attested to by men of Science, and seekers after the truth, is that here indeed is the very Seal of God.

Sir Ambrose Fleming. D.Sc. F.R.S. that great scientist. The inventor of the thermionic valve which made wireless possible, once, as President of the Victoria Institute of Science, opened its session with a paper entitled, ’Number in Nature and the Bible,’ indicating a common origin in a Supreme Intelligence. His object was to show that this ’common pattern’ pervades the Bible, just as it does Creation, yet is found in no other literature in this consistent and interwoven way.

* * * * * * * * * * At this point Mr. Payne introduced Ivan Panin whose studies in the significance of Numerics structure in Scripture reveal an intricate design there which could only have put there by a supernatural hand, the Hand of God. The study can be fascinating, and, I simply ask the reader to take note of the phenomena, contemplate and enjoy the wonder of it, and, encouraged by this marvelous seal, immerse yourself in the Word of God with added enthusiasm.

* * * * * * * * * *

Then Mr. Payne wrote. I might add that Panania’s work has been investigated by the Nobble Research Foundation of Los Angeles, U.S.A. and regarding his statement that the Bible could not possibly have been written except by inspiration of God Himself and their verdict is as follows. ’So far as our investigation has proceeded, we find the evidence overwhelmingly in favor of such a statement.’

Remember you are not reading fiction, but deep hidden truths, revealed, not to supplant our faith, but to strengthen it. Our spiritual strength and our spiritual growth, comes from understanding the finished Work of God in Christ, revealed to us in His Word. This Seal of God is only of true value when we see it as God’s signature upon the Scriptures and we LOOK TO THEM ALONE for our guidance led by the Holy Spirit of God.

Neither Mr. Payne nor I hold Numerics in ANY regard as a STUDY in itself and, certainly NOT as anything to ’lean on’ or trust for our Christian walk because they are only fallible numbers.

Mr. Payne saw the design Ivan Panin and others had discovered in Scripture, as a ’Seal’ of God’s Hand there, to encourage us to return to the Word of God with even more enthusiasm, an enthusiasm we had both found also, when the beauty and design in flowers had first drawn us beyond their beauty to see the great Architect of the Universe.

King David expressed much the same when he wrote. ’The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.’ Psalms 19:1-4.

It is the same plea Paul gives to the Christians in Rome. ’For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.’ Romans 1:20. The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Christ back to Abraham. Matthew 1:1-17.

It is interesting to note that the genealogy itself is divided into three sets of 14.

Abraham to David.
David to Babylon.
Babylon to Christ.

It has two natural sections. Matthew 1 to the captivity and from Matthew 1:12-17 to the Birth of Christ.

Both sections have numeric phenomena but I am dealing with the first section here and the examination is of the Greek text of this section in which the New Testament is written. The numerics are taken from Panin’s work. The vocabulary to the first section of this genealogy has 49 words, and 49 is made up of 7-7’s, and it has two separate numeric features, it is a multiple of 7, and the sum of its factors is 14, 2-7’s. Of these 49 words, 28 or 4-7’s, begin with a vowel, and the remaining 21, 3-7’s with a consonant.

Thus the whole of the words of the vocabulary are divided into words beginning, and ending, with a vowel, or a consonant, not at random but by seven’s exactly.

Here then we have four features of seven.

These words have 266 letters, again a multiple of 7, 38-7’s, and that is not all. The sum of the figures is 14, 2-7’s, and the sum of the factors, 2+19+7 is again a multiple of 7, namely, 28, or 4-7’s, so we have three more features of 7.

Now remember we said the 49 words of the vocabulary, are divided between vowel words and consonant words, by sevens. This is remarkable in itself but, the 266 letters follow exactly the same plan, that is, 140 of them, 20-7’s, are vowels, and 126, or 18-7’s are consonants!

There is only one chance in a million that these things could have happened accidentally, and if that were all one could say would be perhaps, ’Well a strange thing may happen once in a while, even though the chances are one in a million.’ But it so happens that of those 49 words, seven occur in more than one form.

Forty two. 6-7’s in one form only.
Fourteen. 2-7’s occur once.
Thirty five. 5-7’s more than once. Of the forty two nouns, thirty five. 5-7’s are proper names and the other seven are not, and the number of times these proper names occur is exactly 63. 9-7’s. The male names occur, in all, 56 times 8-7’s and the three female names have letters in them totaling 14. 2-7’s.

Only one city is mentioned. Babylon, and it contains seven Greek letters. This not only presents a further set of divisions of seven, but diminishes the chances of coincidence to about six hundred billions to one, according to the law of chance. This scheme alone shows that some mathematical artist was behind the wording of this genealogy, and if you give the matter careful thought you will realize that every word, even every letter, would have to be watched for this plan, or sign of seven, to appear with such marvelous persistence, to say nothing of the fact that the proper names were fixed before the genealogy were even begun and could not be altered. And this is only one aspect. Many other features of seven are hidden in this genealogy which fit together with those shown.

Having now introduced the subject let me ask you, has your mind suggested to you that this might possibly be coincidence? That was my first reaction.

However when I read more about the law of chance or averages, I at once realized the foolishness of such a suggestion and so, for the benefit of my readers, let me just give a simple illustration of the law of chance.

Suppose you have ten cents marked 1 to 10.

Place in a bag and shake them.

What now is your chance of drawing number 1? The answer is quite obvious. 1 chance in 10. In other words, over a number of repeated draws, with the drawn cent replaced each time, you would ON AVERAGE succeed once in every 10 draws.

What then is your chance of drawing 1 and 2 in that order at successive draws, with the number 1 cent replaced before the next draw?

Actually it is only 1 in 100. That is to say, from those ten cents you can achieve a 100 different combinations at two draws. That is:-- 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, to 1-10, then 2-3, 2-4, and so on. This gives 45 combinations. When this is exhausted you can have these in reverse order. 10-9, 10-8, 10-7, and so on right back to 2-1. This gives a further 45 combinations.

Also because cents have been replaced you can have 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, to 10-10, giving a further ten combinations.

Making in all a 100 different combinations.

Thus you will see, because there could be 100 different draws, the chance of achieving the combination 1-2, is 1 in 100. But what would the chance be for 1 ... 2 ... 3, in that order?

It is now reduced to 1 in 1000.

Now this is a law, and carries on in that ratio indefinitely. But if it were not for the fact that it is a law, I, for one, could never believe that to draw those ten cents in sequence from 1 to 10 your chance is reduced to the unbelievable figure of one chance in ten thousand millions! 1 in 10,000,000,000.

Thus, at a glance, we can realize the impossibility of these designs in the Scripture being mere chance, for they are up against this same law. This brings us a little deeper by including numeric values.

It must be understood that in the Greek and Hebrew, every letter has a numeric value, so it follows that every word and sentence must also have a numeric value, being simply the sum total of each letter value.

Now I have chosen a vital portion, being the account of the birth of Jesus. Bear in mind, Jesus is the foundation of the whole Christian faith, and so I shall take, all through, examples which have a direct connection with Him beginning with the account of His birth in Matthew 1:18-25.

Here we have a perfect, double, interlocked design covering every word and letter, which must remain constant, whilst the following designs are woven into it, and not a single letter can be altered.

There are six Greek words which are found nowhere else in Matthew.

The word ’Emmanuel’ is used here but nowhere else in the N.T.

Now we have another remarkable occurrence. The angel speaks to Joseph, and although his words form another pattern of their own, they fit exactly into the whole!

This by no means exhausts the passage but enough has been shown here to show us that the design in it is not there by chance.

Surely, anyone after thought, must acknowledge that only Divine Wisdom could inspire the words of such a passage so that they would show such an interlocking system of sevens when completed. This record of the birth of Christ, in 161 Greek words, occupies about one-third of one page in the Bible and the challenge from Panin, directed to those of his day, was for them to produce a similar passage of 161 words in three years. According to the law of chances, chance in this passage which we have briefly examined stands at one in 200 or so quintillion, a number consisting of 21 Figures.

Panin stated. ’There is not a single paragraph in this Gospel that is not constructed in the same way as those already shown. It would have taken Matthew over one thousand years to have constructed the Gospel on these lines, even assuming it to have been possible for him to do so, which of course, it was not, because of the many circumstances over which he had no control.’ But is it possible that Matthew had some supernatural power?

Well, he certainly was directed by a supernatural power as is plainly stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. ’All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’

But! If we credit Matthew with this power, we must also credit Mark, Luke, John, James, Peter, Jude and Paul with the same power, for the records of each reveal the same supernatural phenomena.

Every paragraph, every sentence, can be shown definitely to be constructed in the same marvelous way, each demonstrating a work estimated to take a thousand years.

Humanly speaking this is simply impossible.

There is but one explanation, and we have read it plainly in 2 Timothy 3:16 and repeated for us in 2 Peter 1:20-21.

’No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’

Whether the closing verses of Mark, Mark 16:9-20, are genuine or not, has been much disputed by Biblical scholars over the past century, some regarding them as an interpolation, and others asserting from the evidence available that the disputed verses are abundantly entitled to their place in the Gospel.

It is interesting therefore to discover that the passage in question is literally saturated with features of seven, and it reveals another point of interest also, that is, it proves a means whereby any disputed portion of the Scriptures can be tested. In fact many such portions of the Scriptures have disclosed such a Seal, definitely settling them as authentic portions of the whole. On the other hand, no works of man, or the Apocrypha, have been found to bear a consistent design in such a way that the phenomena we have examined here does. A full examination of this passage and also of Mark 1:1-8, a portion dealing with the ministry of John the Baptist, may be found in the Appendix.

Before leaving this section I would like to take one portion from the Old Testament.

Those vital opening words of Genesis 1:1.

’In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ The very foundation of God’s Word.

If God were going to Seal any words, surely He would seal these, and seal them He has.

As we see how these seven Hebrew words were so marvelously chosen and arranged by God that the number seven is literally woven into them in every conceivable way, we are still only seeing but a glimpse of what is hidden within these words. It has been found that there are over thirty different numeric features in the verses, and calculated that the chance of co-incidence accounting for the above 15 is one in thirty three trillion or more.

Some of the world’s foremost mathematicians, after studying it, have concluded that not even the cleverest man that ever lived could have devised such a Sublime mathematical problem and hide it in such a simple statement, which declares the first stupendous miracle of God.

Hidden, within itself, is not only found the Seal of seven, but also a mathematical key to unlock every aspect of its fundamental truths, some of which were not known to man until the advent of Christ. ’By Whom also He made the worlds.’ Hebrews 1:2.

We will examine this further later.

Panin wrote. ’No mortal in a hundred years could possibly have carried out the design found in a single book of the Bible, if he devoted the entire hundred years to the task.’

It must be remembered that with each additional sentence the difficulty greatly increases and, owing to the limitations of human intellect, soon becomes hopeless. Each word is important, for instance, the word ’baptize’ forms an elaborate pattern which connects practically the whole of the New Testament and, if this word were removed even once, it would completely upset this design of some 20 features of seven’s.

Again, there are twenty six writers named in the Bible, and whilst these twenty six names are distributed from Genesis to Revelation, they not only form one perfect pattern such as the total numeric value, 7,931 ..... 1,133-7 s, but are so distributed that they form an amazing set of designs.

There are many other ways in which these numeric patterns appear also. Each of the New Testament books has a number of words not found in any other New Testament book, each includes its own design, and yet they each only form a part of the complete pattern.

It can be demonstrated that, for all the New Testament writers to have compiled their books, unaided by a Supreme Intelligence, each one would have needed to know what the others had written, in other words, each of the books would have to have been written last, a literal impossibility. No doubt God has reserved this thing as an answer to those who would challenge His Word.

’The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.’ 1 Corinthians 3:19.

Those who have done so are faced with but two alternatives. Either they must acknowledge the truth that God alone was the Author, or else credit those writers, whom they branded as just simpletons, with wisdom far exceeding that of any man today.

However despite the wonder of this phenomenon it is only a Seal of God’s Hand there in His Word, just as in all Creation, and having discerned that it does have His Divine watermark we should now go back to the Scriptures themselves with renewed zeal to discover the many other treasures which await us there because He had a Plan for all who believe which He wanted each of us to discover for ourselves as Hebrews 11:6 tells us plainly.

’But without faith it is impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’

SECOND ASPECT. As expositors have studied the Word of God it has been observed that some numbers in the Bible have a specific significance as though they are there to direct our attention to something or someone, in particular. As a general rule these numbers are evident right through the Bible and have been followed with keen interest by students of Scripture for many years, not for any Supernatural quality that might be thought to be contained in the number itself, but because they were found to be like signposts pointing to God’s Hand in His world drawing our attention to an event or a Person or occasion and sometimes to His intervention into the affairs of men.

However just as in the Tabernacle, everything had a symbolic meaning, the gold, and the silver, and the brass, all referring to the Person of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ His Son, and students of the Scriptures have discerned that some numbers seem to have symbolic meaning directing our attention to the Word or to some event, in a similar way.

They are as follows:--

Do not confuse 5 and 6. For although man, ’6’ is under Satan, yet he is literally covered by grace ’5’ and there are a few larger numbers such as 40 probation, 37 the living Word of God, and others.

These numbers have a significance of their own but because of the discovery of numeric patterns we see that beneath the surface are deeper patterns with which they harmonize.

I emphasize again that the Scriptures were written in Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Greek in the New Testament, and that in both these languages every letter also stands for a number. Most of us are familiar with the Roman system of numbers and letters of course, where V stands for five, X for ten, and L for fifty, but as not all of us are aware of the number values of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets I have listed them in the appendix. And now. Let us examine briefly those deeper things that lie beneath the surface of some of the numbers we have just listed.

RESURRECTION. 8. The number Eight points to ’resurrection’, or a ’new beginning.’

One instance of this is found quite early in the Scripture. Genesis 7:13. ’In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japhetic, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark, ’and they went forth from the ark, and of them was the whole earth overspread.’ Genesis 9:18-19.

Eight people were saved, and there is a new beginning, a new covenant between God and man. Genesis 9:9-17. Here too, the ark can be seen as a type of Christ. And there are other significant occurrences also.

Bethlehem of Judaea, the birthplace of Christ, is listed exactly eight times in the New Testament.

We can see this even in some material things, and, the tones of music well illustrate the matter, for there are only seven whole tones in sound, the eighth is the ’oct’ but actually the new beginning. This is so with the days of the week, and particularly noticeable when we consider the Jewish method of calculating the week, that is, from the first day to the seventh, or the Sabbath.

Obviously the day after the seventh is the eighth, and this is the day on which the Christian meets in fellowship, the first day of the week, or the Lord’s Day. The Resurrection Day. The Resurrection of Christ, our Passover, can be seen as part of God’s Plan when we look into this Feast established thousands of years before His birth.

Christ died on the fourteenth day of the month and rose on the sixteenth, 2-8’s.

There were forty days to His ascension, 5-8’s. This day, (the first day of the week, or the eighth day by Jewish reckoning), is mentioned eight times in the New Testament.

Jesus said, John 11:25 ... ’I am the Resurrection and the Life’, and as eight signifies resurrection would not God, if He were expressing truth in this number, weave this number into the name of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life?

Let us see, and remember, whatever the letters of any word add up to, that is its value and no one can make it anything different.

Mr. Payne wrote.

It is here we begin to uncover the thrilling truths which God had hidden in numerics.

And, while I affirm that, I again ask the reader, to enjoy the venture into Numerics, but, do not let your interest in them draw you away from the more profitable search of the Scriptures.

I continue with Mr. Payne’s words. In the account of the birth of Christ in Matthew 1:21, the angel of the Lord said,. ... ’And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS.

It is wonderful to discover the letter values of Jesus in the Greek. It is 888, the most significant number that could be put on paper.

Firstly because 3 signifies Divine Perfection, and also, because its factors, (37x8x3), are the three most sublime numbers connected with Jesus and we will examine this further in the section, the Word of God--37. As we all know Jesus was called the ’Christ’ and the gematria of Christ is 1,480, or 185-8’s He was also the Savior which has a value of 1,408 ... (2x8x88), 176-8’s. And again He is the ’Lord’, 800, 100--8’s. And further He is the ’Messiah’, 656, 82--8’s.

Jesus usually called Himself the ’Son of man’, The word occurs 88 times and it has the value of 2,960, 370-8’s.

He also said I am the ’Truth’ which has 64, 8-8s. Here then is our first numeric value design, in itself a marvelous witness to the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is indeed, the Resurrection and the Life.

There is an even deeper significance contained in some of these names but if this we have briefly examined is not the Hand of God would someone please explain this amazing phenomena?

Before we leave this section one more evidence of design is worthy of our attention. In Revelation 14:15 the Resurrection is spoken of as ’The Harvest’, the gematria of which is 704, 8-88’s. The gematria of ’Savior’, (The Lord of the Harvest), is 1,408, 176-8’s. This is exactly double that of the harvest He reaps, and this phenomena is amplified by the fact that the words for Bridegroom and Bride, (which refer to the same two), bear the same mark in respect to the number of times they occur, that is, Bridegroom sixteen times, and Bride eight times.

More than interesting also is to note that ’Reap’ in the same verse has a value of 444, showing that the harvest is reaped from the whole world, (4).

Two more intriguing things occur to me here. The first that David, a type of Christ, was the eighth son of Jesse, and the second, that the last book in the Bible is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and the vocabulary contains exactly 888 words!

I should explain here what ’vocabulary words’ means.

It does not mean the actual number of words used in a sentence, or a phrase, or an article used to tell the story. It means the single different times words are used. If a word is used twice it does not count again as a ’vocabulary word.’ For instance, the sentence I now type has 22 words but some are used two or three times so they are not vocabulary words. The vocabulary words number 13. The words in the sentence are.

’The man came to the door. He was a tall man. He was a thick set man. He was an old man.’ They number 22 words.

They are:-- ’the’ twice. ’man’ four times. ’came’ once. ’to’ once. ’door’ once. ’he’ three times. ’was’ three times. ’a’ twice. ’tall’ once. ’thick’ once. ’set’ once. ’an’ once ’old’ once. The words used several times are the ’vocabulary words’ and number 13.

FINALITY. 9.

How significant that this number is used to signify finality, for it is finality itself. It is the last, or final, single number and has that strange feature of finality within it. No matter by what number it is multiplied. the addition of the figures in the answer will always add up to nine, thus, 7x9=63, 6 and 3 are 9.

It cannot be dispelled, or overthrown. It is in itself FINALITY.

Now, just as the number 888 is the most significant number found in association with 8, Resurrection, so we find, (in this examination of 9, Finality), that the most significant number which could be used to signify absolute finality is 999. Our first example can be found in the four opening words of the Bible, ’In the beginning God.’ At these four words, the atheist, the modernist, and the critic, have hurled every weapon they could find, yet they will stand, though all the world crumble about them. Few have realized that God has so controlled every Hebrew word in that statement that its numeric value is exactly 999.

What a challenge!

Yet this is not all, for although the first statement in the verse. ’In the beginning,’ has been acknowledged by some, others have hesitated at the next three words in this sentence, ’created the heaven.’

However so that no doubt need remain, God has sealed this phrase also, and although superficially there seems to be no resemblance, any Hebrew scholar will confirm the fact that its gematria is exactly 999.

Surely then no one would wish to dispute that this speck, ’the earth’, is His Creation also, for these words are likewise sealed as we saw in the section, ’The Birth of Christ.’ This only touches the fringe of God’s seals on these words, but for the present I would ask every reader to grasp the significance of these words and of the seals that God has woven into them. They are both a revelation and a warning.

There is to be something else that is final.

God’s wrath is to be poured out at the end of this age and in Hebrews 3:11, where God says, ’So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest’, we find that this term, ’My Wrath’, Greek, te orge mou, has this same value 999. And the word ’amen’, usually translated ’verily’, so often used by Christ when driving home a vital truth such as ’verily, verily, I say unto you’, has the value of 99.

Surely these hidden patterns speak even louder than words. In the Scriptures we can see for ourselves how all the prophecies concerning the death of Christ were exactly fulfilled, and this work of Redemption was completed at the ninth hour. Pilate marveled that He was already dead, (not the only thing Pilate marveled at), but as for the ninth hour, it was God’s Time. At this same hour the earth did quake and, ’the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom’, Matthew 27:51, signifying the end of the Law. And our Lord’s words at this ninth hour were, ’It is finished.’ John 19:30.

Redemption is by blood alone.

It is God’s Seal from Genesis to Revelation.

I would remind my readers. Have no delusions about this.

It is absolutely final with God; blood occurs 99 times in the New Testament also.

We see the same finality pointers at judgment also. The term, bottomless pit, occurs exactly nine times and so also does ’rest’. We have our choice.

SIN. 13.

Let us now look at this strange number ... 13. This number which carries such a stigma in the world, and which has come to mean a number of ill omen for the superstitious. This controversial number is significant in Scripture also and often connects with the thought of rebellion, sin, or some kindred idea.

We can see it first in a ’surface’ appearance when we read in Genesis 14:4. ’Twelve years they served, and in the thirteenth they rebelled.’ and secondly, in Genesis 17:25 when, at the age of thirteen Ishmael, (of whom it was prophesied that ’he would be a wild man’, Genesis 16:12.), was circumcised. How truly was the prophecy borne out, and indeed is seen in his offspring the Arabs today.

Solomon was seven years building the Temple, but thirteen building his own house. The truth expressed by these two numbers was also seen in his own life and that of the nation he ruled. Of the twenty kings of Judah, (including Athaliah), seven were righteous rulers, and thirteen turned away from God.

Dr. Bullinger has shown that the names of the kings of the ten tribes of Israel who forsook God are all marked with thirteen. And other scholars have discerned that the names of the Lord’s people are multiples of eight, while the names of those who rebelled against Him are in multiples of thirteen.

These facts are almost incredible for they reveal that, not only did God know the course of each before they were born, but caused them to be so named, so that the numeric value of each would be a multiple of thirteen. The word klepto, ’steal,’ occurs exactly 13 times. And another striking example is the word zume, ’leaven,’ which represents sin. It occurs 13 times and its gematria is 455, or 35-13’s. And the words ’backsliding’ and ’hypocrite’ each occur 13 times in the Old Testament.

How wonderfully significant it is that the Spirit of God should use this particular number, in these inner designs, to represent Sin, and Rebellion. In Genesis 10:26-30 there is a remarkable instance of 13.

Joktan was the ancestor of a sinful and rebellious race of people. He was the thirteenth in the order of the children of Shem, and he had thirteen sons. The gematria of his name is 169, 13x13, and the gematria of that of his thirteen sons is 2,756, 212-13’s. This really amounts to a numerical prophecy of a rebellious race.

All through the Scriptures we see these pointers of sin, the most significant being those where the author of sin, Satan, is branded by God with this, his own trademark.

Look at some of his titles.

And the most significant of them all, that phrase used by the Holy Spirit in Revelation 12:9 ... ’The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan.’ This phrase bears the amazing gematria of 2,197 or 13x13x13. Who could see these astounding facts and not acknowledge the Hand of God behind them?

Let me conclude this study of thirteen with one of the most striking proofs that the Spirit of God designed these numerics.

Most people the time where God commanded Moses to, make a brazen serpent and hang it on a pole that all who would come and look upon it would live. But why, of all things, did God choose a serpent, the very symbol of sin?

How many Christians have puzzled over this?

Investigation reveals the significant truth.

God was making a picture, or type, of a stupendous event that was to take place hundreds of years later.

Come right on now to this appointed time and hear Christ Jesus Himself say, ’As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.’ John 3:14. But do you still inquire, why a serpent? Open your Bible at 2 Corinthians 5:21, and you will see, ’For He, (God), hath made Him to be sin for us (He) who knew no sin, that we might be made righteousness of God in Him.’

So. When Jesus hung upon the cross He was made the extreme representation of sin. This of course is why God withdrew His Presence. Mark 15:34.

Now, keeping this in mind, let us come to another scene. Pilate and the trial of Jesus. Who can read the account and fail to see God convicting Pilate, who tried his hardest to persuade the Jews to release Jesus? Even his wife came and warned him and yet he finally yielded to Satan and washed his hands before them.

However water cannot wash away sin.

Pilate’s conscience still carried conviction, and God move Pilate to write an inscription and place it upon the cross. John 19:19. ’Jesus of Nazareth.’ The significance of the whole thing almost takes one’s breath away when we discover that the gematria of this title, which was placed upon the very cross when Jesus was made sin for us, is exactly 2,197 or 13x13x13. The whole thing is so astounding that it needs no comment.

It seems that God, knowing the hardness of men’s hearts in these closing days has reserved these marvelous numerics so that the fundamental truths of the written Word may be set forth in this supernatural way, as a final warning before the closing of the day of Grace, and the Coming of the Lord. THE WORD OF GOD. 37.

We now come to the most sublime number of all, 37, but as this number verifies fundamental truths concerning the. Godhead, a brief exploration of what the Bible teaches about God is essential for the help of those who have no knowledge of this vital subject.

Firstly remember, God is Spirit. John 4:24. The New Testament clearly teaches that the Godhead consists of the LORD God, the Almighty, His only begotten Son, (John 3:16. Colossians 1:15), and the Spirit of God.

Now, in due time, the Son of God, The Word, (Greek LOGOS), John 1:1, came to this word, was clothed in human flesh, and suffered and died in the flesh. His blood shed as the price of our Redemption, 1 Peter 1:18-19. ’Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. His soul delivered from hell, Acts 2:31, and His resurrection the surety of our own, Romans 6:4-5 and 1 Peter 1:3-4, which is ’An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.’

Anyone who denies the Deity of Christ has never even begun to realize the sacrifice of the Savior, and can have no understanding of John 3:16-17. As briefly recorded before the number 3 signifies Divine Perfection, or Godhead, and 7 His Seal, and the combination of the two is, that most sublime of numbers 37.

It signifies THE WORD OF GOD sealing vital truths of the written Word, and revealing Him who is the LIVING WORD.

You will have noticed how God, when expressing key truths, carries the number to the third place, such as 888, 666, and 999. This number 37 itself has a deep significance in that it unifies the product when multiplied by three, or a multiple of three. Thus 37x3 is 111, 37x6 is 222, 37x9 is 333. This is the only number which so unifies the product, a perfect pointer to Christ, the Son of God who alone can unify men of every nation and tongue, and thus bring peace on earth, and goodwill among men. In John 1:1 we read, ’In the beginning was the Word.’ And here we have the KEY to this sublime combination of the three and the seven, and in this word LOGOS we have the numbers expressed in their highest form 373 as follows, L=30, O=70, G=3, O=70, S=200. A further verification of this clue to the Godhead number of Christ is found in Colossians 1:15.

He is expressed as the ’Image of God’.

Now the Greek here for IMAGE and GOD, has the numerical value of 1,369 or 37x37.

We read in John 1:1-3. ’And the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God, All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.’ And in Colossians 2:9. ’For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.’, and Colossians 1:16, following the verse above, ’For by Him were all things created.’

Let someone explain how this fact was numerically sealed in Genesis 1 some thousands of years before ’the WORD was made flesh’ John 1:14, by marvelously weaving His Godhead number 37 into the very words of the Hebrew text, ’In the beginning God’.

We saw the hidden significance of that text whose Gematria was 999, but now hidden within the number itself we find the first verification of the truth of John 1:3. ’All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made,’ because 999 is 3x9x37, or 27x37. The whole thing is significant whichever factors you look at.

If you add the three nines you get 27 again, and 27 is the cube of three, or three taken to its highest place. And so the WORD 37, is revealed, in the highest place, 27, 3x3x3, as stated in John.

Now take 777, the gematria of the three nouns of Genesis 1:1, ’God’, ’Heaven’, and ’Earth’. What does this further reveal?

Why, The WORD in the midst of the creative acts, again verifying John 1:3, for 777 is 37x3x7.

Remember I said there were exactly seven Hebrew words in the whole verse Genesis 1:1 and the astounding fact is revealed that God has sealed it with over 30 combinations of 7’s and 37’s. And that is not all, for if we add the gematria of those seven words, they total exactly 2,701, which is 73x37, the significant result being that they can be turned upside down, as it were, and still present the same truth.

Note also that the gematria of LOGOS, 373, has exactly the same and however we twist them the figures 37 confront us. It seems the Holy Spirit is impressing in these numerics the fact that ’THE WORD’ is the very centre of the whole plan of God. Colossians 1:16. ’All things were made BY HIM, and FOR HIM.’ Now for the benefit of those who will not acknowledge the fact that Jesus Christ is the very Word, (LOGOS), and so the actual Creator as clearly stated in Colossians 1:15-16, let us see further what the Spirit has hidden in His Name. In Matthew 1:21, the passage we examined in the section The Birth of Christ, we noted how the angel declared His name was to be Jesus, and in the section Resurrection, we have seen how the gematria of that name Jesus, 888, seals Him as the Resurrection and the Life, but He was more than this as the Scriptures very plainly, and definitely teach.

Now see how God has marvelously placed these vital truths within the very numbers of His name. Not only are the facts here in figures, but only a miracle on the part of God could put them there.

Remember, 888 is 24x37.

Take first the 24. In the opening words of the New Testament we see that Jesus was called the Son of David, as prophecy had declared He would be and incredible though it may seem, 24 is one Hebrew value of David, (spelt two ways).

’The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ John 1:14. He became the man Christ Jesus in the world, this is also contained in the 24 as 6 and 4, six representing man, and four the world. And the stupendous truth is that man could have no part in this incarnation for He was still the very WORD of GOD, clothed in human flesh, as shown in the name Jesus which still retains His Godhead number 37.

Further, what of the second Name given to our Lord, that of Christ, meaning Anointed?

We saw, in that chapter Resurrection, how the gematria of Christ was 1,480 and that it contained The Resurrection number 8, but as we examine it further we see that it also has 37 revealing Him as The WORD, and the number 5 representing Grace, the free gift of God, 1,480, is 8x37x5.

Now combine these two precious names.

First Jesus Christ. The gematria is 2,368 or 37x8x8 and these figures have further wonder for us. 37 the Word. 8 The Resurrection, and 8 The Life.

Second, His own special Title the Son of Man whose gematria is 2,960 or 37x2x5x8, and shows Him as The Word 37, the Witness 2, of the Grace of God 5, by the Resurrection 8.

Marvelous beyond words is this revelation, as it were, of the Holy Spirit. In Colossians 2:9 we read these stupendous words, ’For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.’ This word, ’Theotes’, Godhead does not occur in any other place in the Bible. The reason for the Holy Spirit using it is obvious. for its gematria is 592 or 37x2x8. The WORD was God 37, ’the faithful Witness’ 2, and ’the first begotten from the dead’ 8. Revelation 1:5, ’from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten from the dead.’

What I am especially emphasizing is the fact that the retention of this 37 with the number 8 amounts to a miracle as I shall show later when we examine some figures which have both these factors. And I want the person who wants facts, (and facts which amount to a miracle), to carefully grasp what I am showing. The fact that these numbers are there in the titles of our Lord. On the surface this may not strike the reader as anything wonderful, but if we had no other evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, and that these names were God-breathed, as are all the Scriptures, we have it here. The Word of God says, Luke 16:31. ’If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’ How true this is. Is it true of you?

If you want evidence. If you must have proof, that Christ was the Son of God, that He is the Resurrection and the Life, here is proof. In John 11:25 Jesus declares, ’I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.’

If Jesus then is the Resurrection, here is His guarantee that you also will be raised to life eternal if you simply believe and accept Him as your Savior, who died in your stead.

Let me now show how what we have seen concealed in the titles of our Lord constitute a miracle. Remember no one can alter the numeric value of a name, or word, that is, every letter in the Greek has its fixed value. Let me further elaborate by listing the values in the name of Jesus in Greek, they are I-10, E-8, S-200, 0-70, U-400, S-200, Total 888 or 37x8x3.

I think I have given ample evidence that 8 is the Resurrection number, and that 37 is the Godhead number of Jesus, but here is where the miraculous begins.

Only ONE number in 296 can have both factors of 8 and 37. In other words the first number that will divide equally by 8 and 37 is 296, and before you would find another number that would equally divide you would have to carry on for another 296 numbers, and so on.

So, that to find a name of which the numeric value would be such as to divide by 8 and 37 equally, you would have only one chance in 296. But to find one person, with two names that would divide thus, would be very, very rare indeed. Actually the chances are 1 in 87,616, according to the Law of chance, or averages.

Now then. Here is a Person not only with seven names or titles all bearing the factor of 8, (1 in 2,970,152), but also with at least four titles, (not including the twin title of Jesus Christ), which have the two factors of 8 and 37, (1 in 7,656,563,456)!

Further the chances of one Person bearing four titles with factors of 8 and 37, and also of having three titles bearing factors of 8 is, 1 in 1,498,400,489,472!

Someone will say I do not understand all these numbers!

Well, you do not need to understand, just look at the immensity of it all and grasp that It is a MIRACLE!

Let me give you a brief illustration.

If the earth’s population were about two billion one would need to have about 750 earths each with that number of people on it, to have a reasonable chance of finding even ONE SINGLE PERSON whose names would reveal what I have demonstrated are present in the names and titles of our Lord, assuming of course that each had a similar number of titles! This is but ONE of the numerous designs found in the Bible and any one can check these figures, and if one has a little knowledge of Greek, the title values, but God does not leave it just there either, for like many of the designs in seven’s, there are again patterns within the pattern.

Now let me give you those figures between 1 and 3,000 which have those factors of 8 and 37. There are only TEN of them.

Five of these are actually the numeric value of His titles and the numbers which apply to Him are worthy of note. Again the casual reading of this may not reveal anything unusual, yet here is seen the finger of God, not only in design, but verifying vital truths.

This last number 5,920 being the exact total of the phrase in Matthew 25:13, ’Behold THE BRIDEGROOM cometh go Ye out to meet HIM.

Surely any one must acknowledge that not only is this the ’finger of God’ but that this reveals indeed the very SON OF GOD, and of Him the Word declares, Acts 4:12, ’There is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’, and neither is there any other Name under heaven that could reveal such staggering evidence of Divine origin. Can you begin to see the Mind of God behind all this? Do you see that ’CHRIST’ is the addition of God and man, and thus becomes our Passover? 1 Corinthians 5:7, ’For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.’ Can you see the vital truth expressed here?

God alone could not be our Passover, for blood had to be shed.

Mere man could not provide the efficacious sacrifice. But Godhead, 592, clothed upon by flesh and blood, 888, could, and did, provide the perfect sacrifice, 1480. And then note that the title the ’SON OF MAN’ is the exact total of the three previous titles.

Why did Christ continually use this title?

I believe that in that title, as the numerics show, is revealed GOD, MAN, and REDEMPTION complete.

Then what a marvelous climax, 5920, the sum total of it all.

Redemption is complete, we are invited to be ready, the bride is called out, the Bridegroom, (Christ), comes for His Church, Bride), and we go out to meet Him.

We began this exposition with the words from Luke wherein he records, ’neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead’.

Well if the Word of God has not convinced you that Jesus Christ our Lord is both the Resurrection and the Life, neither will these amazing facts, but if they do not cause you to search the Scriptures, (as those of Berea did), then I despair of your choice. Acts 17:11-12, says of them. ’They searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed.’

Two or three more instances of these designs will close this section and this interesting verification of how the Word was the active agent in Creation through the Holy Spirit as stated in Hebrews 1:1-2; Hebrews 1:10 is the first. I quote, in part. ’God ... hath spoken by His Son ... by whom He made the worlds ... laid the foundation of the earth ... and the heavens the work of His hands.’ The Genesis reference is Genesis 1:2. ’And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,’ and its total value is 1,369, or 37x37.

Thus in a most striking manner is the Deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ verified by this concealed design. And in a different way a marvelous truth is presented in Exodus 12 where God institutes a very significant type of Christ in the Passover Lamb. The Hebrew word is pesach and its number is 148, or 37x4. The figures of 148 equal 13 Sin. 37 the Word foreshadowed in the lamb. 4, the world which in itself is remarkable, but it is only the shadow of what is beneath the surface. The command in Exodus 12 is that the lamb had to be taken on the tenth day. Why the tenth?

Let us see. The word Passover equals 148. We have seen the picture of the Lamb of God in this but it was only the earthly picture. God had a definite purpose in stating the tenth day, 10 represents perfect order.

Now. If we take 148 and multiply it by 10 the amazing result is the perfect Passover 1480, Christ as we have seen in the table just listed.

It is also significant that the figures of 1,480 still total 13, and we see again within the very fabric of that word Passover the Lamb of God as sin offering for a lost world. And for those who enjoy having their thoughts stimulated there is a choice little pattern found in John 21:11. ’Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.’

Why one hundred and fifty three? In this number 153 (17x9), we see a picture of the completed Church, Christ’s Elect. Seventeen stands for the perfection of spiritual order (the church). Nine for finality.

Compare the fact that every fish was brought safely to shore with the promise Christ made that none should be lost. John 17:12.

Here is a remarkable example of how God had planned all things, even the exact number of fish that were encircled in the net, a picture of the Gospel Net. The Greek word for fishes is ichthues, value 1,224, 153-8’s and shows the completed Church, 153, in the Resurrection, 8. To amplify the picture, the net, Greek to diktuon, has a value exactly identical, 1224 or 153-8’s.

Now note what took place when the fishes were safely drawn in. Jesus said to His disciples, John 21:12. ’Come and dine.’

Picturing what is to follow, the marriage Supper of the Lamb. Who would dare to suggest that all this was coincidence?

Remember if one fish had been lost from the net the whole picture would have been spoiled. It had to be 153!

Another wonderful thing in connection with the picture also is as follows.

Seventeen is the Church number and if we put down all the numbers from 1-17 and add them up we get 153 as our total, and 153 vocabulary words are used in telling the story.

How marvelous is the Finger of God behind the Written Word, and what treasures are hidden for all who will search, for the examples which I have given here only touch the fringe of Bible numerics.

Some of the designs, especially in the seven’s, are so far removed from co-incidence that the chances of non-design calculated by the law of chance, are from millions to one, to hundreds of 127 billion to one!

Finally, it must be remembered that all gematria values are of the original Hebrew, or Greek, words which of course excludes any possibility of a word being altered, in translation, to fit any feature.

Surely this confirms in a most marvelous way, the fact that all Scripture is Inspired, God-Breathed. No human mind that ever lived could devise, and effect, such a means of sealing, or stamping with seals, as it were, the whole Written Word. Only the willfully blind can fail to recognize that the whole Bible is the Work of a Supreme Master Mind.