The Inspired Use of Numerals
The inspiration of Scripture it is not my purpose to argue here. Every Christian must in some sense admit it, and as a different thing wholly from any thing to be found in whatever product of the human mind merely. Inspiration is the result of a direct operation of the divine mind upon the human:"holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Pet. 1:21.)
How far this divine influence extends has been, and is, alas! at the present day, much in question. As with Him to whom its testimony is, its human form hides from many its true glory. The apostle's claim for himself and others, if admitted, cannot be restricted to them, and is of verbal inspiration:" Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth " (i Cor. 2:13). And in fact nothing less than this would secure the truthful presentation of the " things " themselves. Every lame imperfect word would communicate necessarily its own imperfection to the thought conveyed, and an element of possible inaccuracy,-therefore of doubt,-would pervade the whole of Scripture, to an extent quite incalculable.
But, as I have said, it is not now my purpose to argue this. That which I have before me depends upon, and if it can be shown, demonstrates the absolute perfection of the whole word of God, putting the divine seal upon the whole and every part of it; while it furnishes a most important guide to its true division, and so to its right interpretation.
The present divisions are, it is known, mainly arbitrary, and of comparatively recent date; and, while having for certain purposes an evident convenience, are often a real hindrance to a proper understanding. The arrangement of the books too is various in different collections, little importance attaching to it in the minds of most, that of the Old Testament especially among its Jewish guardians being (where not guided by the chronology) capricious and unsatisfactory. Their number was made to agree with that of the letters of the alphabet; and many have been the speculations as to lost books whose names even have been appealed to as furnished by the books which yet remain. And similar thoughts have been entertained even as to the New Testament.
The views I have been led to, (and of the truth of which my readers need have no doubt, if they will follow me patiently in the investigation of them,) attach meaning and importance to every thing,-to number, arrangement and connection with each other; while they guide also as to the internal structure of the books individually. Of course I do not pretend in the detail of this to have attained either completeness or entire accuracy, but a good beginning I do not doubt the Lord in His goodness has enabled me to make, and enough to establish without any question the accuracy of the principles.
The first of these is the significance of numbers in Scripture, and their application in this significance to every thing here-books, divisions of books, chapters, verses,-always supposing, of course, that these are something more than men's conjectures or devices for reference. But in order to show this, we must first examine this significance, and prove it; and the task is lighter, inasmuch as those up to twelve are all that seem to require it, the higher ones being characterized as compounds of these, as even some of these are of those still lower.
Their significance in general is admitted by those who have looked with any care into the typical system of the word. But those who doubt may best have their doubts dispelled by such an inquiry as we are now to make into their individual meaning. Real consistency here is no mean evidence of truth; but when there is not only this internally, but new force, fullness, and beauty are given by this consistent meaning to the Scriptures themselves, we need not hesitate to see in it the design of infinite wisdom, as well as the seal of a perfection minute enough to be readily overlooked, but when discovered, only awakening the more our wonder and delight by its minuteness.
Ought we even to allow that it is to be " readily overlooked" ? It has been and yet surely only carelessness and unbelief could overlook it. Take the structure of the alphabetic psalms, or that- less familiar to the English reader,-of the book of Lamentations:who that had any right apprehension of the word of God could escape from the conclusion that if the Spirit of God were pleased to write an acrostic, it could not be from conformity to the prettinesses of an artificial style? It is man who has adopted it rather, and made of it a mere exercise of ingenuity, and belittled a meaning deeper than he could see; whereas God would by the singularity rather attract us to search further into what must, if it be His, be worthy of Him. Why in the ninth and tenth psalms, which are together an acrostic, is this alphabetic structure invaded as it were by some conflicting element, and for the time lost, disorder conquering order, but which returns again to be undisturbed thereafter to the close? Why in the hundred and nineteenth, on the contrary, is there the most perfect symmetry throughout, and each letter heading each of eight verses to the close of the alphabet and of the psalm? Why, again, in Lamentations is it just the third section (or chapter, which in this case rightly represents the sections,) which multiplies by three the simple alphabetic structure of the first and second? Surely there is a design here into which we shall do well to look; for God has surprises of love every-where awaiting the faith that honors Him. And in all this we shall make but little way if we are not skilled in the use of numerals as Scripture employs them.
I shall give now the meanings of these, as I have more than once given them, only desiring to insist that these must be definitely ascertained, or there will be no definite result in using them. Of some, there are very different meanings current, upon which I shall not enter however, nor need to enter as I think; it being enough to establish clearly that which I believe to be the true one, and which all subsequent use will tend to confirm.
The number one will be seen without much difficulty to stand for unity and supremacy. It is the number of God; not in His fullness, but as Sovereign Master of the whole scene of His creation. The first elementary truth is that God must be God. The first book, Genesis, thus represents Him as the Almighty-El Shaddai, the All-sufficient; sovereign in counsel, almighty in execution.
Two speaks primarily of not-oneness, which may develop into contradiction, enmity, but also on the other hand into fellowship, essential agreement and mutual confirmation. Hence it is the number of competent testimony, as Deuteronomy 19:15 ; " The testimony of two men is true," says our Lord. There are " two tables of the testimony " for Israel; two testaments into which the word of God is divided; "two witnesses" to Israel in the last days in the book of Revelation. The second Person of the Trinity is the "true Witness" and the "Word of God;" the second book of Scripture, Exodus, is the book of redemption, the great subject of testimony among men. But the thought of enmity, of the enemy, will often be found under this number, by no means necessarily displacing the other thought. Where Christ is, the opposite of Satan will be, and redemption is from his power.
Three is the number of Persons in the Godhead; therefore of divine fullness and completeness, as well as manifestation; for the One God (unknown in His proper character when known only as that) is unvailed to us in these three Persons:Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Thus the third Person is also the Revealer, the Teacher of all things. And the third book of Scripture, Leviticus, leads us into the sanctuary as priests, to learn there what suits His presence. So too, because God manifests Himself in resurrection from the dead, coming in where all hope from man is absolutely gone, the third day is the day of Christ's resurrection, and the number is very frequently connected with this forth-putting of divine power, whether in physical or spiritual resurrection. And thus it is that "witness," overabundant, more than competent and in fact divine, is also found in this number (i Jno. 5:6-9).
Four is the number of the "four corners of the earth " or the " four winds of heaven." It is the is the world -number, looking at the world as a scene of those various and conflicting influences which make it the place of trial and probation for man exposed to these. He is taken on every side, surveyed and exposed-looked at from every point of view. The four gospels, I doubt not, give in this way the Lord so tried, but for Him making manifest His perfection only. And it is evident how the fourth book of Scripture, Numbers,-Israel's probation in the wilderness,-gives just this side of things.
Five is the human number, the stamp of man as a "living soul," connected by his five senses with the scene around. The books which are distinctly man's utterance in the Old Testament are five in number, from Job to Solomon's Songs, while the book of Psalms is in the Hebrew divided again into five books. These give us the full tale of human exercises, experience, and emotion, as the prophets speak on the other hand from God to man. The fifth book of Scripture, Deuteronomy, is as distinctly the people's book as Numbers is that of the Levites and Leviticus the priests. The thought of responsibility which some would press in connection with this number, and that of weakness, as others, have both their place in this larger definition, but incidently only, while the number ten, which is a multiple of five, is that which gives responsibility properly.
Six is the number of man's work-day week, without a Sabbath; and, as this, may be of good or evil significance, although inclining much more, alas! to the latter. The number of the beast, 666, six in continually higher powers, man's vain effort to reach the divine, stamps him with utter profanity.
The number seven adds the Sabbath to the week, and this is the stamp of perfection put upon it, as God rested the seventh day, His week being now accomplished and pronounced very good. These first seven days are thus the key-note to the use of the number; and as the week itself figures a spiritual week in individuals, and also in the earth dispensationally, there seems a corresponding largeness of application here. It is even used with reference to evil as complete and ripe for judgment, its eternal doom. The number of the day of God's rest applied in this way to good and evil alike is unspeakably solemn. And akin to this seems its division often into 4 and 3, the world-number and that of divine manifestation side by side-the evil and the good going on side by side; evil not hindering the good, nor itself changed from what it ever is, yet God manifesting Himself in all, and therefore glorifying Himself in all. (To be continued.)