Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
When I was in confirmation there was a moment where the pastor asked us questions as we sat in front of the whole congregation. I had a rather large confirmation class so we luckily didn’t have to answer too many questions in front of all those people. My pastor gave some advice. He said that if you get a number question the answer is usually 3, 7, or 40. I would have preferred there to just be one answer so I wouldn’t mess up (e.g. you are always correct in Sunday school if you say Jesus!), but I figured I could weave through those three numbers. A robot’s life can be broken down in to 1’s and 0’s. Many would say that our own lives could be broken down the same way like Neo in the Matrix. Numbers do have an importance when we think about how the world works. Calculus was invented to be the language for physicists trying to explain the world and to make high schoolers wet themselves when trying to figure out relative rates (the second part may be an exaggeration). Many people have a favorite number. That number usually has meaning. For me, my favorite number is 1. No, it is not because I think that highly of myself. It is not because I believe in the one God. It wasn’t even a number I ever wore in sports. The truth is I almost died when I was one. I had a tear where my stomach and small intestine met and if it weren’t for quick thinking doctors I’d be with God rather than rambling away with this blog. So my favorite number is one because every birthday I have is an anniversary of life from when I was born and when I almost died. The number one reminds me of the miracle of modern medicine and how I need to appreciate life. So what is so important about the numbers 3, 7, and 40? Let’s dive in and do some biblical numerology (yes that is a thing). 3
What are the implications of this? Three can stand for completeness. Perhaps that is why many baroque composers wrote their music in ¾ time? 7
It seems again, that there is a form of fulfillment period. Did God really create the world in 7 days or could the author of Genesis 1 be trying to tell a story in which God works for a period of time, 24 hours, 6 times and then rests on the seventh day to show that the Lord’s creation had been fulfilled? 40
The number forty seems to reference a time of trial. The flood was the trial of keeping faith that water would subside. Jesus’ temptation is self-explanatory. The Israelites had turned away from the Promised Land, so God made them wander as the cursed generation died off. 40 days of being told to turn away from their sins seemed to do the trick for those in Nineveh. I hope if you didn’t find this fun (numbers are fun!) you at least found it interesting. It brings up the question…what is your favorite number? Why? Is it because it seems complete? Because it is a fulfilled number? Does it have to do with trials? Do they match any of these “holy numbers”? Please leave a comment! I want to hear about your favorite number! [i] http://www.turnbacktogod.com/biblical-numbers-1-10/ [ii] Ibid. [iii] http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/40.html
1 Comment
Sally Rehn
10/9/2018 05:37:29 pm
I LOVE your numbers blog this week--how interesting, all the uses of them in the Bible. My favorite number is 7 but not for any of the above reasons. I was taught to make it the German way with a cross line across the middle and I just like the way it looked. There were a few grade school teachers who frowned but I would say "my Grandma taught me to make it that way" and carry on!
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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