ANDERSON CHURCH OF CHRIST
HOME | BIBLE CLASS | BULLETINS | MINISTER | OUR MEETINGS | PROGRAM | SERMONS
|
ANDERSON CHURCH OF CHRIST HOME | BIBLE CLASS | BULLETINS | MINISTER | OUR MEETINGS | PROGRAM | SERMONS |
|
|
What’s In A Number? By Carl McMurray One of the Bible subjects that catch our attention from time to time is the repetitive use of certain numbers. There seems little doubt that there is a meaning behind the use of many of these numbers while at the same time it becomes hard to really be dogmatic about their specific meaning. I wonder about the following... A woman will carry a child for forty weeks before bringing forth a new life. It rained on the earth for forty days in cleansing and preparation for a new world. Moses went up on Mt. Sinai for forty days while getting the law that would bring forth a new nation. The spies spent forty days spying out the new land they were being given and then the nation spent forty years in wilderness wandering before being given that new land. Elijah went forty days in his travels to Mt. Horeb before God shared with him the knowledge of a new king for Israel, and a replacement for himself in Elisha. Jonah gave Ninevah forty days before their great change, either to be saved or destroyed. Jesus was fasting and being tempted in the wilderness for forty days before beginning His ministry of a new kingdom to be established. After His resurrection Jesus spent forty days with His apostles speaking about the new kingdom before ascending into heaven. From the natural birth of a child to the birth of a nation to the birth of God’s kingdom here on earth, the number forty seemed to play a part. It appears to be linked to the bringing forth of some new thing, a new change, a new moment in history. What does this mean to you and I? Maybe not much. But perhaps it’s just another commonality that demonstrates that a grand intelligence is behind our existence and is in control, demonstrating that control in obvious (revelation) as well as more subtle ways. From the bringing forth of a child to the bring forth of a new nation there is a tie that binds. It is a tie that run through the hands of the Great I AM, and He almost teases us with these demonstrations that He is behind it all. Are we paying attention? Or are we caught up in our own small circles of earthly interest so that we think this is all there is? We would do well to lift up our eyes and pay attention. |
