The Number 40
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Why would it not be a literal count of 40? Numbers have spiritual significance in Scripture.
GENESIS 7
1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Now if Christians have a proper respect and appreciation for God's use of numbers, they will take all the above numbers IN THEIR PLAIN LITERAL SENSE. And we have forty days and forty nights mentioned here as the period of judgment upon the earth. God would DESTROY every living creature on the earth (other than those within the Ark) during that specific time period.
GENESIS 7
1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Now if Christians have a proper respect and appreciation for God's use of numbers, they will take all the above numbers IN THEIR PLAIN LITERAL SENSE. And we have forty days and forty nights mentioned here as the period of judgment upon the earth. God would DESTROY every living creature on the earth (other than those within the Ark) during that specific time period.
the first 40 in the Bible is God telling Noah how long it would rain. the next three are confirming that was exactly how long it did rain. i don't buy the 'it's an indeterminate number' at all, @Kavik
can the days of Christ's interaction with Satan in the wilderness, the years of the wandering in the wilderness, the days of Moses on the mountain receiving the tablets, and the days of rain when the flood came be linked through Genesis 50? are these all somehow related to mourning and embalming?
And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh
(Genesis 50:1-4)
here 40 days is described as the period of embalming and of mourning. it's also an exact number, and it sort of challenges the idea that 40 means 'judgement' or 'trial' - not wholly dissimilar, but i am not sure that 'testing' applies here?
can the days of Christ's interaction with Satan in the wilderness, the years of the wandering in the wilderness, the days of Moses on the mountain receiving the tablets, and the days of rain when the flood came be linked through Genesis 50? are these all somehow related to mourning and embalming?
The 40 days of unbelieving spying out of Canaan, received a judicial sentence of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and God's breach of promise. Num 13v17 to 14v45, simple as that!
And the 40 day temptation of the Lord Jesus in the Wilderness was the final testing by the Devil before His ministry, the Lord Jesus went into the Wilderness "being filled with the Holy Spirit," He came out of the Wilderness (after His temptation) "in the power of the Spirit." Forty days was simply the time it took for this final test of the Saviour!
(From a medical perspective) A person fasting up until 40 days the body burns fat, however, after that the body begins to burn proteins, the first proteins that the body breaks down is the eye pigments in the cones and rods (photopsins and rhodopsin), this damage to the eye is permanent.
And the 40 day temptation of the Lord Jesus in the Wilderness was the final testing by the Devil before His ministry, the Lord Jesus went into the Wilderness "being filled with the Holy Spirit," He came out of the Wilderness (after His temptation) "in the power of the Spirit." Forty days was simply the time it took for this final test of the Saviour!
(From a medical perspective) A person fasting up until 40 days the body burns fat, however, after that the body begins to burn proteins, the first proteins that the body breaks down is the eye pigments in the cones and rods (photopsins and rhodopsin), this damage to the eye is permanent.
It means what it says .It does not mean without literalizing every signified statement Jesus spoke not .
It means every time he spoke being moved by the father there was a meaning attached to it .In the last days spoken of through the Son his own life is used as daily as parable or object lesson..... the unseen father working with him .
Various statements make up parable .But not every statement is a parable. Sometime it takes serval statements to make a parable as whole string of parables with one meaning.
What ever he did he did it unto the glory of the father not seen as a parable.
Why do you think without parable Christ sop poke not?
It means every time he spoke being moved by the father there was a meaning attached to it .In the last days spoken of through the Son his own life is used as daily as parable or object lesson..... the unseen father working with him .
Various statements make up parable .But not every statement is a parable. Sometime it takes serval statements to make a parable as whole string of parables with one meaning.
What ever he did he did it unto the glory of the father not seen as a parable.
Why do you think without parable Christ sop poke not?
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The chapters in Genesis pretty much define the meaning of numbers in the Bible.
The number 8 represents new beginnings. Genesis chapter 8 Noah and his family leave the ark to start the world over again.
The number represents fruit bearing - a child is born in 9 months. Genesis chapter 9 starts out “be fruitful and multiply”.
The number 13 represents love - the love chapter of the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians 13.
There’s many many more things like this throughout the Bible. I’ve forgotten a lot of them lol.
The number 8 represents new beginnings. Genesis chapter 8 Noah and his family leave the ark to start the world over again.
The number represents fruit bearing - a child is born in 9 months. Genesis chapter 9 starts out “be fruitful and multiply”.
The number 13 represents love - the love chapter of the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians 13.
There’s many many more things like this throughout the Bible. I’ve forgotten a lot of them lol.
