Our Wonderful Bible: It’s Numerical Design / Part 3

Series – December 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Our Wonderful Bible
Its Numerical Design – Part 3

Truths Connected With Numbers
As was mentioned in our last part while looking at the numbers one and two, Scripture places certain significance on the different numbers. The meaning is retained throughout the Bible. Such is the unity of numerical design found throughout this blessed Book.

Let’s continue our study by looking at the numbers three and four.

• Three. The third name in the Trinity (see Mt. 28:19), or as is sometimes said, “the third person in the Trinity,” is the Holy Spirit. If we consider the special work and office of the Spirit in Scripture we will get a suggestion as to the truths associated with the numeral three in God’s Word.

First Corinthians 2:10-11 (KJV) tells us that God has revealed unto us by His Spirit the things that He has prepared for them that love Him, “for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God … so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Here we see that the Spirit of God is the One who realizes all the counsels and thoughts of God and then manifests, or reveals, them to us.

Realization, manifestation and revelation, then, are some of the special thoughts connected with the Holy Spirit and the number three He bears. It is only by the Holy Spirit that salvation is actualized and realized in the soul, and Christ the Savior revealed to the believer.

The sanctuary is where God manifests Himself; it is also connected with the number three. It is striking that the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, where God dwelt, was a perfect cube having three equal dimensions. It was ten cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high. So also the Holy Place of the temple was a cube and likewise the Holy Jerusalem, the final sanctuary, is a cube. Thus the number three of the cube is connected harmoniously with the sanctuary of manifestation throughout the Word. The third book of the Bible, Leviticus, is distinctly the sanctuary book, where God is known and manifested.

A cube has three dimensions: length, breadth and height. The third dimension, which is necessary for a cube, suggests solidity and fullness, for three dimensions give us more than a mere surface or plane. With length and breadth we have only a surface without substance. A third line is needed also to enclose anything and separate it from what is outside the enclosure for any purpose. You cannot make an enclosure with straight lines with less than three lines.

Now this brings us to the thought of sanctification, the great work of the Spirit of God, who sets us apart for God and separates us from the world. This is not mere surface work but real solid work in the heart. Then, the fullness of God is enjoyed by the sanctified heart. Sanctification is also the theme of Leviticus, the third book, wherein the principle, “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (19:2) is found seven times, with varying wording.

From natural observation we also note that the third line of a triangle returns to the first, or the starting point. Here we have a suggestion of resurrection, where a person returns to life. It was the third day on which Christ arose and manifested the power of God and the great victory over sin, death and Satan.

Thus again the marvelous numerical design and harmony is seen in God’s Word in connection with the numeral three, which is definitely the Spirit’s number, as two is the Son’s and one the Father’s. Now we have God’s name plainly written upon the first three books in His precious Word, the Father, the life-giver, in Genesis; the Son, the Redeemer, in Exodus; and the Spirit, the Sanctifier, in Leviticus. Surely God claims this Book as His, and who can deny these vivid marks of divine authorship and proofs of inspiration?

We realize we have again given some heavy food and strong meat, but we would ask our readers to ponder these precious truths connected with numbers in Scripture. Let us all appreciate our Bibles more, seeing some of the wondrous beauties beneath the surface, with which unbelievers find fault. The Spirit who dwells within us searches the deep things of God and ever loves to reveal them to us for our heart’s enjoyment. Remember Paul’s words to young Timothy, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (2 Tim. 2:7).

We have pondered in detail the first three numbers – one, two and three – as they have a peculiarly important place in Scripture. They are prime numbers in arithmetic and in the Bible also. We will not need, then, to spend so much time on the numbers that follow. In fact, space forbids going into much detail.

• Four. In Daniel 7:2-3 we read: “The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” In Revelation 20:8 we are told about the “four quarters of the earth.” We see that four is the number of the earth with its four directions, and it has to do with the things of the world, such as its history. The four beasts of Daniel seen with their respective kingdoms following one another sets this forth.

Four kinds of soil are spoken of in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The fourth commandment concerns rest from all labor on earth (Ex. 20:8). The fourth clause in the so-called Lord’s prayer is, “Thy will be done in earth” (Mt. 6:10). The fourth book in the Bible, Numbers, is called in Hebrew, “In the wilderness,” and is an account of Israel’s journey through the wilderness. The four gospels set forth the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, four has to do with the things of the earth and with the man on the earth. GT

Look for Part 4 of this Series in next month’s magazine!

By R. K. Campbell

Look for part 4 of this Series Next month.

This short Series is adapted from the book, “Our Wonderful Bible.” The original articles, revised and compiled later for the book, were published in Grace & Truth Magazine between 1942 and 1949. The full book can be purchased from Believers Bookshelf USA.