The Great Mathematician

The Lord is the origin of all things in the universe and in our world. He sang the first song, He planted the first tree, and He released the first fish into the ocean. However, there is an element of the universe that we rarely consider. God also created the number system that sustains all things. Mathematicians have a long marveled at a creation that is perfect in its numerical structure. God is the great Mathematician, and so, in the study of Scripture, it comes as no surprise that numbers have profound significance. For instance, the number seven represents divine completion and perfection. God finished His creation and rested on the seventh day. Man was created on the sixth day meaning he is not complete without the one true God. The number four is the number for the earth as there are four seasons and four different directions one may travel on the planet. Five displays the grace of God toward mankind. The number two is God’s requirement for the giving of testimony in a court of law. In the tribulation period there will be two witnesses preaching on the streets of Jerusalem. Twelve is Heaven’s rule upon the earth. There were twelve patriarchs in the Old Testament and twelve apostles in the New Testament.

Interestingly, the Bible has also assigned a number for man, which is six. Created on the sixth day, Adam and Eve were given dominance over God’s created order. There is nothing inherently wrong with the number six until it is tripled. When the Antichrist appears in the book of Revelation, he embraces the number 666. This number is an attempt to duplicate, and in effect, eliminate the trinitarian God. It propagates the lie that Satan is god and must be worshipped. It is the unholy trinity. In the tribulation mankind will willingly submits himself to be stamped in his forehead or hand with the mark of 666. Those who take that mark are doomed for all eternity in a lake of fire. They have chosen their god.

To this world system and the prince of darkness we are nothing but a number. At our birth we were assigned a social security number. Call your local electric company and they will ask you for your customer number. At the driver’s license bureau, we are told to sit and wait until our number is called. We understand this to be necessary and have accepted it without question, however, consider how this dehumanizes mankind. To be given a number rather than being recognized by our name degrades us. To this world we are nothing more than characters on a spreadsheet. We stamp cattle and sheep with numbers, but when imprinted on men and women they degrade the dignity and value of human life.

In contrast, when we get to Heaven, God will write His name on our forehead. To our heavenly Father we are more than a number, we are a person of eternal value. We are so loved and precious in His sight, that he writes His own name on a part of our body that is seen by all, our face. Furthermore, Jesus promises to give us a new name. (Revelation 2:17) I look forward to the day I see Him, and He calls me by my new name.

To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Revelation 2:17