Our Creator is a God of order, balance and beauty. He is systematic and predictable (Mal 3:6; Heb 3:8).  Balance and precision can be seen everywhere in his creation. As we know the mathematical components necessary for successful flight are rigid, precise and exact, and yet our Creator has conquered it with beauty and majesty.   Hundreds of species of birds are much more beautiful and nimble in air than man will ever be, but our Creator does it in style. Multiple types of aquatic shells follow very mathematical patterns in their formation known as the Fibonacci sequence or “Golden Ratio”.  This same ratio is found everywhere in the human body.  The ratio of and by itself provides no evolutionary advantage but is a testimony to the fact that our Creator is mathematical, systematic and orderly.

And because of this we should not be surprised that we see numerical patterns and order in scripture.   For instance not only was the creation of Genesis 1:3 completed in 7 days but we see the numerical significance of seven showing up everywhere throughout scripture.

  • God blessed the seventh day and made it holy
  • God has seven annual holy days outlining the plan of salvation (Leviticus 23)
  • Noah had seven pairs of clean animals on the arch. (Genesis 7:2, 4)
  • Every seventh year was a Sabbatical year during which the land would rest, and debts would be forgiven. (Leviticus 25:4)
  • Sevenfold blessing offered to Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3)
  • In the Book of Revelation, the number seven appears prominently including seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, and seven spirits of God.
  • Seven is used repeatedly for blessings and cursings (Lev 26, Deut 28, Gen 12)
  • The Holy Scriptures are comprised of 49 Books (7×7) with seven divisions.

No doubt certain numbers hold great significance to God and testify that He is orderly, systematic and thorough.

And because of this, specific numerical patterns are used frequently in prophecy as in the Seventy weeks prophecy given in Daniel Chapter nine.

Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again with streets and the wall, even in troublous times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off
Dan 9:25&26 AFV

History matches the prophecy.  In 457 B.C the Persian king Artaxerxes gave a decree and supplied money to rebuild the Temple AND the walls of Jerusalem.  Exactly 483 years later(7+62 weeks X 7) Christ began his ministry in 27 AD and 3 ½ years later He was cut off in the middle of the week(martyred) just as Daniel recorded.

Not only was the timing of when the Messiah was to come fit a numerical prophecy but His genealogy also fit a numerical pattern.   According to chapter one of Matthew:

So then, all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:7

But why fourteen generations?  Well as all Hebrew readers know, there are no numerical characters in ancient Hebrew.   Like Roman numerals, Hebrew letters are used to denote numbers.  Aleph א is 1. Beth בֵּ is 2 and so forth.  The word David  דָּוִד is Daleth, Vau, Daleth that has a numerical value of 4,6,4 with a total of 14.  The name David has a numerical value of 14, hence fourteen generations. The first coming of Jesus Christ was done in a predictable, orderly manner that followed a numerical pattern.

However, other numerical patterns are much more hidden and harder to decipher. For instance, in the blessings and cursings chapter of Leviticus 26, in multiple places God warns the Israelites that if they refuse to obey His commandments, He would punish them 7 times for their sins which included:

  • Those who hate you shall reign over you
  • I will scatter you among the nations
  • I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation

In Daniel 4, Dan 12:7 and Revelation 12:14 we learn that the word “times” can be interpreted as a year.  Seven years would come to 2,520 days. And from Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34 we learn that a day can prophetically represent a year.

From history we know that the independent Kingdom of Judah fell in 604 BC during the first incursion of the Babylonians. Although the Temple and the city of Jerusalem wasn’t destroyed until the second incursion, the deportation had already begun and those who remained were placed under tribute. It was at this time when Daniel and Ezekiel were taken captive. Since 604 BC the nation of Judah never regained its independence. They were always under the control of another empire: The Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.  And in 70 AD they were driven from their homeland, scattered and the Temple was destroyed as prophesied.  It wasn’t until the Balfour Declaration of 1917, exactly 2,520 years after they lost their independence to the Babylonians, that this curse was lifted and the Jews once regained their homeland and self-rule. God is orderly, timely and predictive.

The Book of Revelation, more than any other book of the Bible, stands as a testimony to the importance that God places on numerical patterns such as:

  • 7 Angels represented by 7 stars presiding over 7 churches represented by 7 lampstands with 7 letters to each Church.
  • 24 Elders on 24 Thrones.  4 Living Creatures with 6 wings = 24 wings total
  • 144,000 saints made up of 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes.
  • The New Jerusalem is 12,000 furlongs wide, long and high. A perfect Cube.
  • The walls of the New Jerusalem is 144 cubits thick with 12 foundations, 12 stones, 12 gates and 12 pearls at each gate.
  • 7 seals with 7 trumpets and 7 woes
William Miller Prediction

However, as many of us know throughout time, almost every failed prediction of the return of Christ involved numerology.  For instance, Hippolytus of Rome, an early Christian theologian, calculated that Christ would return around the year 500, based on the dimensions of Noah’s Ark. Founder of the Millerite movement, William Miller predicted Christ’s return on October 22, 1844. When it did not happen, it became known as the “Great Disappointment”. His failed prediction relied almost entirely upon numerology- specifically the 70 weeks prophecy. 

Harold Camping incorrectly calculated the return of Jesus Christ and the rapture to May 21,2011.  He believed that God had given man 7,000 years on the earth since the date of Noah’s flood which he calculated at 4990 BC.

So, although numerology and numerical patterns are used heavily in Biblical prophecy, relying too heavily on numerology to decipher end time bible prophecy is a recipe for disaster.  By far the number one method used for making failed prophetic predictions throughout time involved numerology. 

So, should we ignore numerology as a method for deciphering end time bible prophecy? Absolutely not.  There is an extremely vital key for decoding any prophetic clue that Christ gives in the parable of the fig tree.

And he spoke to them a parable; Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves that summer is now near at hand. 31 So likewise you, when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near at hand.
Luk 21:29-31 KJ2000

The point Yeshuah is making here is that if you watching to see if summer is near, you have to look at all of the trees and all of the signs – not just one! The colossal error that ALL failed predictions  made, is that they failed to look at ALL of the indicators.  They found one numerical pattern or one sign that looked alarming.  They read too much into a single prophecy and based prediction on one or two signs that many times were a stretch.  We have to look at ALL the prophetic warnings that Christ, John, Paul, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and ALL the prophets gave about the Time of the End.

However, as always, we need to remember Daniel 12:10:

Many shall be purified, and made white, and refined. But the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

The English word “wise” here is translated from the Hebrew word  sakal שׂכל which many times is translated as blessed as in 2 Kings 18:7

And the LORD was with Hezekiah. He was blessed wherever he went.

Why was Hezekiah blessed?  Why was he sakal? Scripture explains it clearly in the previous verse:

For he clung to the LORD. He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments which the LORD commanded Moses.

If we cling to the Lord, and depart not from following Him, and keep His commandments we will be blessed. We will understand. But no matter what our level of prophetic research, no matter how much time we spend looking for numerical patterns, if we do not cling to the LORD, if we depart from Him, if we are accounted with the wicked we will understand nothing. 

May the Lord God of Israel grant us wisdom and understanding in these times.