,,,And Christ did, or God does use numerology within the Bible. If you think about it, how many tribes of Israel where there? How many disciples where there? Twelve. So there are numbers within,,, the Bible but it's not a predicting sort of thing. It's not something you're going to go, "oh by this chart",,,doesn't predict anything it just,,,it's kind of like a guide to know, just like bio-rhythms.The above statement is again taken from Kirby Robinson's pod-cast on Cyclical Numerology (7/3/13) in response to my question regarding justification for use of Cyclical Numerology (CN). [1] The issue in this case is not so much with Robinson's comparison, though it is problematic. My issue is the wordage BIBLICAL NUMEROLOGY, which for our purposes here I'm going to assume did not originate with Robinson.
Is it real or man-made?
I have already shown in my previous post, why I believe Cyclic Numerology and Bio-rhythms are divination. Just by their definitions there is no other way to look at them, whether you use the word tool or guide, it makes no difference. They chart, they show trends and they do predict. But what about Biblical Numerology?
My starting point is this definition:
Biblical numerology refers to the interpretation, by some biblical scholars, of numerical values used in the Pentateuch and, consequently, the New Testament that they believe relate to symbolism, which imply quality or attributes, of the value rather than to an actual quantity,,, [T]his article explains the interpretation of those who believe that numbers sometimes represent attributes and not the number itself. According to the theory, these numbers were purposely inserted by their authors to emphasize a particular message. Numerical symbology is most often found in Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation, but is not confined to those books. [2]Remember this part of the definition of divination,",,,or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means." Let's see what we can discover together as this is an intriguing topic and my preconceived premise is that BN is a manmade construct and NOT from God. If it is divinely inspired, we have a problem, either the Bible is contradicting itself or man's interpretation of the biblical texts is flawed.
Although I have stated my approach to reading and studying the Bible in prior postings, I'm repeating it for clarity and it is relevant to our topic:
1] I do not believe that God would imbed secret knowledge in the Bible, using obscure techniques is totally foreign to the Bible’s plain teachings and precepts. (Whether BN is an obscure technique remains to be discovered.),,,God does use numerology within the Bible,,,
Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.2] All that God wanted us to know, is recorded plainly in the Bible which is to be read and pondered, not manipulated by those claiming to possess secret knowledge.
John 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Daniel 2:27:: Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king;3] When studying scripture and one comes across an interpretive problem in the biblical text, one must allow the text to speak and must accept the testimony of the text with a presumption of accuracy.
We all know that it is obvious there are numbers in the Bible, and I'm not referring to chapter and verses. Nor am I referring to the numerological based systems used by some to interpret scripture. [3] One would have to be oblivious to miss the 3s, 7s, 12s etc throughout the text. So I have no issue with that statement, but NUMEROLOGY? From the Oxford English Dictionary, "the branch of knowledge that deals with the occult significance of numbers." [4] Houston, we have a problem!! This is why terming the biblical use of numbers as numerology may be a huge misnomer.
God in a box
Some may argue that I am trying to put God in a box, that I am placing limitation on his omniscience and omnipotence. "God can do anything and use anything; the means to gain entrance to the 'kingdom within' are not ours to discern." Yet John 10:1 clearly states: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." I'm not boxing God in, the restrictions are already there
The restrictions God places on how and by what means we may legitimately come to Him and receive spiritual truth are for our own good. The spirit world that Christian mystics want to explore is far more complex and the dangers of deception are far more real.* So no, I am not putting God in a box, God is putting those that profess to believe into a sheepfold.
*(A view even as a non-Christian I do believe, the whole good juju/bad juju dichotomy. When one delves in the paranormal unprepared or unprotected, you may be opening yourself to a whole world of hurt. Even those that are experienced and well prepared have been attacked.)
Mixing of east and west
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21 KJV)A favorite verse of those that believe that the kingdom of God is within. That by taking a journey inward, by combining Eastern techniques (meditation, deep breathing, use of mantra for example) with westernized religion, we can meet God. The mistake of citing this verse, Jesus was not telling the Pharisees, that the kingdom was within them, but that it was among them in the person of Jesus Christ.
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, "Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:20-21 NASB)
There is a distinction that needs to be made here as some do interpret this passage to mean Jesus was emphasizing an internal and spiritual kingdom as opposed to an external and material one.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. [5]Although there is an element of truth in the above interpretations of Luke as meaning a -journey inwards to gain entrance to the "kingdom within." I do NOT believe that the understanding of theses early commentators included what we now call New Age or Metaphysical Spirituality, this mystical Christianity. There is nothing in this passage that would suggest that the Pharisees took an inward journey using meditative techniques. It's a view supported by Norval Geldenhuys:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: within you—is of an internal and spiritual character (as contrasted with their outside views of it). But it has its external side too. [6]
The contention of some critics that the Saviour by these words taught that the kingdom of God is merely an inner, spiritual condition in the human heart, must very definitely be rejected. Such a condition may qualify for entrance into the kingdom, but it is not itself the kingdom ... It is not ... a state of mind ... nor a disposition of men. The kingdom of God is a fact of history, not psychology ... Jesus speaks everywhere of men entering the kingdom, not of the kingdom entering men! [7]As well as John Gill [8]:
the kingdom of God is among you; and the meaning be, that the king Messiah was already come, and was among them, and his kingdom was already set up, of which the miracles of Christ were a full proof; and if they could not discern these signs of the times, and evident appearances of the kingdom of God among them, they would never be able to make any observation of it, hereafter, or elsewhere.It is for this reason that many believe if we journey into the world of the spirits by means other that what God has ordained, we will be deceived. In other words, using divination only causes chaos and confusion as we shall see.
A closer look at the MAN MADE construct of numerology
"Numerology is any study of the purported divine, mystical or other special relationship between a number and some coinciding observed (or perceived) events." Numerological ideas, have a long history but the actual word "numerology" is not recorded in English before c.1907. [9] Following are two modern views of what numerology is, you can see the morphing from a more technical approach into what many consider numerology to be now.
Historically, all of the Western systems directed their efforts towards uncovering the big answers. Numerology took the same principles and applied them at the personal level: effectively redirecting the focus of Numerical Science away from understanding creation and turning it towards understanding ourselves.And view #2:
In this sense, Numerology has much more in common with Astrology than anything that Pythagoras may have been involved in. Clearly, the twelve key numbers (1-9 plus the 3 master numbers) may be considered in sympathy, if not entirely in harmony, with the twelve signs of the Zodiac: a science always directed toward self analysis and growth, rather than the rather tawdry ‘fortune telling’ device that it has become considered by the uninitiated.
[,,,]
This in itself offers a clue to the real value of Numerology. Numerology does not tell us how to live our lives. Nor does it tell us our fortune. It cannot reveal lucky numbers. Nor can it indicate our perfect partners. As such, it offers much more than the ‘New Age’ allows it to.
Numerology is nothing less than a tool which aids us towards psychological self awareness.[10]
Numerology is a divination method using numbers that are symbols of varying vibrational patterns that form the human experience. The Chaldeans of ancient times believed all things were made of energy vibrating at varying states and modern science is just learning the concept. Numerology offers a system which allows one to understand the universal as well as personal qualities of vibrational patterns working together to represent one's life. It is also possible to calculate relationship changes as time passes.I don't think this is what God had in mind when implanting numbers in the biblical texts. I would hazard a guess that Kabbalah or Gematria may be a better fit:
[,,,]
Today, the practice of Numerology can be broken into two major schools, the Chaldean system and the Modern system. The modern school makes a claim of a lineage from Pythagoras; however, the new number system story traces to Philolaus, born some 25 years after the death of Pythagoras as well as after the original school of mystery burned. On the other hand, the Chaldean system verifies its antiquity through the cuneiform tablets, which date thousands of years before Pythagoras' birth.
The primary difference is found in the way the Chaldean system is based on the vibrations represented by vibrations and the Pythagorean system uses the alphabet in a more strict and linear sequence.
A second difference between the two systems is that the old system places greater emphasis on a name, while the newer one places a greater emphasis on permutations of the individual's own birth date. [11]
In these systems, the central hypothesis is that words, or phrases, which have identical numerical value, bear some relation to each other. Several systems have developed through the ages, but the purest form relies on the summation of the absolute numerical values represented by the letters (common symbol) which make up the word or phrase. [12]One of the difficulties with accepting numerology as being ordained by God is that there are many numerological systems and each system has an individual set of definitions for the meaning of specific digits; interpretations of the meaning of digits and their orders vary throughout different cultures and schools of numerology. Also one would need to account for the diversification of languages, alphabets, and calendars. Although Robert Carroll was specifically referring to modern day numerology, the follow is applicable to numerology as a whole: [13]
It is unreasonable enough to think the universe is arranged according to numerical transcriptions of names, but to think that there are several equivalent transcriptions to accommodate cultural differences stretches the limits of credibility almost to infinity. Even if the universe were so unreasonably designed, how would we ever know which "reading" of a person's numbers is the "correct" one? Does the concept of "correct reading" even have meaning in this so-called discipline?
[,,,]
It is a long, long way from Plato's admonition to those entering his Academy that they should know geometry, or from Galileo's assertion that Nature is written in the language of mathematics, to the notion that numbers related to my name are a key to who I am pre-destined to be.
As we delve deeper into our topic at hand, we can see that the "simple" definition of biblical numerology as stated above may not be enough to determine a] whether it is a man-made construct and b] whether it is divination. Right now it is not looking so good.
Scratch that,,,
Why don't I like the above definition of BN, what is missing??
1] I Don't like the word "numerology" I think it is misleading. Why? It is plainly obvious that numbers are used in Scripture, that there is a literal and symbolic meaning. And by symbolic I'm not talking occultic per se, but obvious significance although some meanings are open to interpretation. Consider the following two examples, which for the sake of clarity I chose at random:
EXAMPLE 1: [14]I think my dis-comfort with the word "numerology stems from the fact that the validity of the interpretation of the biblical numerology codes and numbers is still debated in many circles. BUT, the Bible definitely appears to use some numbers in patterns. However, what is plainly obvious in the eyes of this secular thinker, some people put too much significance on the numbers in the Bible, for trying to find a special meaning behind every single number doesn't likely make sense. Often, a number in the Bible can simply be: only a number. God doesn't call us to search for secret meanings, hidden messages, and codes in the Bible.
1 singularity; God in monotheism (Deut 6:4); unity for humans (John 10:16; Eph 4:4)EXAMPLE 2: [15]
2 duality: contrary (light/dark, good/evil) or complimentary (material/spiritual; human/divine)
3 God's actions: 3 "visitors" (Gen 18:2); "third day" (Exod 19:11); later "Trinity" (Matt 28:19)
3½ half of seven; thus things in process, still incomplete
4 earth, directions, winds, empires; later the four Gospels or four Evangelists
One - Denotes absolute singleness.
Two - Symbolizes witness and support.
- Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (ESV)
Three - Signifies completion or perfection, and unity. Three is the number of Persons in the Trinity.
- There were two great lights of creation (Genesis 1:16).
- Two cherubim guarded the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:22).
- Two witnesses establish truth (Matthew 26:60).
- The disciples were sent two by two (Luke 10:1).
- Ecclesiastes 4:9 (ESV) Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
- Many significant events in the Bible happened "on the third day" (Hosea 6:2).
- Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish (Matthew 12:40).
- Jesus' earthly ministry lasted three years (Luke 13:7).
- John 2:19 (ESV) Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
2] There is an implication that BN is a man-made construct without consideration of the development of the written Hebrew and Greek languages. Just as spoken language has evolved, so to has the written language. Neither Hebrew or Greek contain numbers, therefore, each letter has a numeric equivalent creating a numeric total for a word. It's called gematria. In essence, this "numerology" is a natural progression with both languages; it is built right into their written language. And yes, languages do evolve, all one needs to do is
compare a 2013 dictionary to one “written” in late 1990s. [16]
A side note to consider. Now here comes a bit of a kicker to this whole mess. Depending on your world view, this built in numerology, this gematria, COULD be divinely ordained. What comes to mind when you ponder languages and confusion like we have here? Think hard, I have touched upon it briefly in other postings concerning the Nephilim,,,Digging into Gematria
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:6-9 KJV)Ponder this for a moment. Those that hold to the Bible, that believe it has authority in their life, could claim that biblical numerology is divinely ordained and therefore not divination. Gematria could have been implanted by God during the confusion of languages that occurred at Babel. It is a view I have yet to see put forth, and I think I may know why. This "confounding" of language, the confusion of tongues opens up whole new rabbit holes, Divine Language and Adamic Language.
(For the sake of brevity yet again, I will leave it to just a mention as I will be delving into that rabbit hole sometime in the future in regards to the Nephilim.)
,,,[T]his "numerology" is a natural progression with both languages; it is built right into their written language. Or is it?
The more I attempt to gain understanding in regards to gematria, the more I have realized it is not quite that simple. In its simple form, gematria is a natural outgrowth of both the written languages of Hebrew and Greek, but what I have discovered is that man has taken it one step further.
Gematria or gimatria,,, is a traditional Jewish system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like,,, [a]lthough ostensibly derived from Greek, it is largely used in Jewish texts, notably in those associated with the Kabbalah,,,[a] Mishnaic textual source makes clear that the use of gematria is dated to at least the Tannaic period.Just as we saw in standard numerology, gematria has numerous methods,
[,,,]
The most common form of gematria is used in the Talmud and Midrash, and elaborately by many post-Talmudic commentators. It involves reading words and sentences as numbers, assigning numerical instead of phonetic value to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. When read as numbers, they can be compared and contrasted with other words or phrases,,,[17]
At an early time in the history of man certain numbers were regarded as having a sacred significance or were used with symbolical force, the origin of their symbolism lying in their connection with primitive ideas about nature and God. Such a use of numbers is found also in the Bible, although the Biblical authors were hardly conscious of their origin. In later Jewish literature, however, with Pythagorean doctrines was introduced the use of numbers as symbols, based on their mathematical qualities. [18]
There are several methods used to calculate the numerical value for the individual words, phrases or whole sentences. More advanced methods are usually used for the most significant Biblical verses, prayers, names of God and angels etc.,,[w]ithin the wider topic of Gematria are included the various alphabet transformations where one letter is substituted by another based on a logical scheme:So my only conclusion, gematria though a natural progression of written language, has elements of man-made constructs, as it is
1] a hermeneutical method used within Rabbinic literature and it has attributes of “revelation.” To borrow from Thomas Paine in his book Age of Reason, revelation causes its own issues:
Every national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals. The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their apostles and saints; and the Turks their Mahomet, as if the way to God was not open to every man alike.2] there is a mystical element, when used in regards to Kabbalah. Again it is a way of showing how two ideas are related on a conceptual level using numerological methods as a basis to confirm a connection. (A point for clarity, within Kabbalah it is a confirmation of a connection, NOT a creation of one.)
Each of those churches show certain books, which they call revelation, or the word of God. The Jews say, that their word of God was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say, that their word of God came by divine inspiration: and the Turks say, that their word of God (the Koran) was brought by an angel from Heaven. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all.
As it is necessary to affix right ideas to words, I will, before I proceed further into the subject, offer some other observations on the word revelation. Revelation, when applied to religion, means something communicated immediately from God to man.
No one will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty to make such a communication, if he pleases. But admitting, for the sake of a case, that something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any other person, it is revelation to that person only. When he tells it to a second person, a second to a third, a third to a fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons. It is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other, and consequently they are not obliged to believe it.
It is a contradiction in terms and ideas, to call anything a revelation that comes to us at second-hand, either verbally or in writing. Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication- after this, it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it cannot be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner; for it was not a revelation made to me, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him. [20]
You may be wondering, why I took this detour in gematria. It may look as if all I managed to do is confuse the issue even more. I beg to differ as it shows that all that God wanted us to know, is recorded plainly in the Bible which is to be read and pondered, not manipulated by those claiming to possess secret knowledge. Nowhere within the Catholic canon nor the Protestant Bible is there a single scriptural command or encouragement to practice biblical numerology.
Conclusion
Biblical numerology is divination, there is no Divine mandate specifically written in the Bible for it use. No matter how you slice it or dice it, whether a natural progression or not, MAN has manipulated it for their own purposes. There is no consensus on what the numbers really mean beyond the obvious, it is all conjecture based on personal bias of those reading the text. In other words, one should not need a PhD in numbers theory or linguistic analysis to understand what is plainly written in the text. As evidenced above in the two short examples, there is significance to the numbers, but it is NOT a hidden significance. If one carefully considers what is being read, instead of trying to find that secret code for added illumination, the simple message of the Bible may become apparent.
What one needs to keep in mind with any so-called Bible-code, perception is in the eye of the beholder. As Dave Thomas, writing for "The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry," puts it:
Some believe that these “messages” in the Hebrew Bible are not just coincidence — they were put there deliberately by God. But if someone finds a hidden message in a book, a song played backwards, funny-looking Martian mesas, or some other object or thing, does that prove someone else put the message there intentionally? Or might the message exist only in the eyes of the beholder (and in those of his or her followers)? Does perception of meaning prove the message was deliberately created? [21]We will leave biblical numerology on this note, “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. (Deuteronomy 30:11 KJV)
__________
[1]http://www.blogtalkradio.com/god-discussion/2013/07/04/a-christian-lesson-in-cyclical-numerology
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_numerology
[3] This is a brief essay concerning the use of chapter and verse numbers to interpret the Bible, a code so to speak. The flaw in this system, verses are not original to the text of the OT or NT. Versification is artificial, man made so ANY numerical truth alleged from counting them is, well, garbage.
Chapter divisions were added in the 13th century (cf. Stephen Langton ca. 1227 and Cardinal Hugo de Sancta Cara ca. 1244-1248.) The NT was divided into sections ca. the Council of Nicea, and before that the Hebrew Masoretes divided their canonical texts into section, paragraph, and phrasal divisions using accenting traditions. These divisions do not coincide with the KJV divisions or those used by other modern English translations. It is not known exactly when versification was added, but the oldest scheme, though not popular, seems to be Italian Dominican biblical scholar Santi Pagnini (1470–1541) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible#Christian_versions]
[4] http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/numerology?q=numerology
[5] http://mhc.biblecommenter.com/luke/17.htm
[6] http://jfb.biblecommenter.com/luke/17.htm
[7] Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 431.
[8] http://gill.biblecommenter.com/luke/17.htm
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerology
[10] A very nice posting that digs into the history and development: http://www.symbolicliving.com/a-history-of-numerology/
[11] http://numerologycalculator.org/what-is-numerology.html
[12] ibid
[13] http://www.skepdic.com/numology.html
[14] http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Numbers.htm
[15] http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/qt/Bible-Numerology.htm
[16] This not the most “scholarly” of examples, but is does illustrates my point, http://www.cracked.com/article_17408_15-words-you-wont-believe-they-added-to-dictionary.html
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria
[18] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11619-numbers-and-numerals
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria
[20] http://www.deism.com/images/theageofreason1794.pdf, 4
[21] http://www.csicop.org/si/show/hidden_messages_and_the_bible_code
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