Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Well, buckle your seatbelts and prepare for a potentially controversial episode as we follow the Thread of Numerology! 👀

I’m a little nervous to put this idea “out there.” This is a concept that I have been wrestling with for the past two years, and I’m still working through some of the questions surrounding it. But isn’t that what Inquisitive Disciples is all about? Going beyond the easy answers, asking the hard questions, and being willing to dig a little deeper—even when it makes us uncomfortable.

After I finished editing, I wanted to make one important distinction. I explain mystical numerology in the first half of the video and reference biblical numerology toward the end. These are TWO separate concepts, and I don’t want that distinction to get lost! I am in no way endorsing or saying we should apply mystical numerology to Scripture. Rather, I want us to consider how the Bible itself uses numbers to indicate something significant.

My goal isn’t to tell you what to think, but to invite you to explore these ideas with me. As always, I encourage you to do your own research, ask questions, and wrestle with the topic for yourself!

Now, with that clarification, let’s dig into the Thread of Numerology in Scripture! 🔎

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDY

The Bible Project Podcast Episode: The Significance of Seven​

"The number seven is a big deal in the Bible. Why? It’s a symbolic representation of key concepts in the Bible. Tim outlines the symbolic usage of seven and sheds new light on how a person’s practice of Sabbath or resting every seventh day is woven into the fabric of the universe."

The Bible Project Podcast Episode: Setting in Biblical Narrative​

"In part 4 (27:33-end), the guys briefly discuss the usage of days, times, and years. For example, the number “40” is associated with a period of waiting. 40 days, 40 years, etc...40 is associated with “expected waiting.” Israel was waiting to go into the promised land for 40 years. Jacob was embalmed for 40 days."

What is Biblical Numerology? Got Questions Article. ​

What is the biblical significance of the number seven/7? Got Questions Article & Video.​

What is the significance of 40 days in the Bible? Got Questions Article & Video ​

North American Mission Board Article: Numbers in the Bible​

How The Bible Challenged Everything I Thought I Knew Series

Last year, I read the Bible cover to cover for the first time, which challenged me to learn HOW to read Scripture. That journey inspired my series, How the Bible Challenged Everything I Thought I Knew. If you want to learn how to approach Scripture in its original context, check out my Hermeneutics 101 series!​
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THE NUMBERS 7 & 40

Genesis 2:2-3 | ² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

³⁰ Exodus 22:30 | Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Genesis 7:2-3 | Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.

⁴ Joshua 6:4 | Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.

· The Flood was 40 days and 40 nights | Genesis 7:12

· After Moses killed the Egyptian, he spent 40 years in the desert | Acts 7:30

· Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights | (Exodus 24:18).

· Jesus was also fasting in the wilderness for 40 Days and Nights | Matthew 4:1-11

· The Law specified a maximum number of lashes a man could receive for a crime, setting the limit at 40 (Deuteronomy 25:3).

· The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan (Numbers 13:25).

· Goliath taunted Saul’s army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him (1 Samuel 17:16).

· The Israelites wandered for 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).

Jacob’s seven years of service for Rachel; the sevenfold curse of Cain; praising God seven times a day as in Ps 119:164.

Reflection Questions

• When you consider that Yahweh is sovereign over all creation, from the smallest details of our lives to the depths of the sea, how does this encourage you when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or uncertain about the future? (Psalm 135:5–6).
  
• The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, learning to depend on Yahweh daily for their needs. How does their story encourage you in your own seasons of difficulty? What might Yahweh be teaching you about your heart and your dependence on Him during the trials you face today? (Deuteronomy 8:2–5)

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