Numbers in scripture

I taught sunday school this week. It was on Elisha getting the mantle from Elijah. I don't think I knew this before, but the mantle was an actual piece of clothing worn by the prophet. So when Elijah was taken up by God and the mantle fell to Elisha, it actually fell. The cloth that Elijah wore as a mantle fell to Elisha, who became the next prophet.

Anyways, onto numbers. In the story of Elisha, he offers to heal a leper named Naaman. He tells Naaman to bath 7 times in the river Jordan. If he does, he will be healed. I got thinking. This kind of a request is all over the scriptures. Children of Israel marched around the city of Jericho 7 days and 7 times on the last day, God created the Earth in 7 days. Why 7? What is so significant about 7?

I'm not really going to talk about the number 7 in this post, but I wanted to plant the idea in your minds of the importance of numbers in the scriptures.

The bible is an interesting book. It is debated daily all over the globe. What do we take literal and what is figurative?  When we consider what we are reading in the bible, we need to consider the author.

I mentioned this is my first post about symbols. "If I understand it correctly, the easterners, those who wrote the bible, wrote more in a painting style. The details aren't important as long as the message gets across. We westerners, write more in a architectural style, where all the details have to be perfect. So, we "architects" are reading a book written by "painters" expecting every detail to be perfect and literal. We are looking at a painting and expecting it to be a blue print. Seeing it as such is a very big mistake. Now don't get me wrong, I believe the bible is an inspired work. I believe it is the word of God. But the authors wrote in a way as to paint a picture in our minds, not give us a blue print. Hence the dilemma in the world of whose interpretation is correct? A lot of what was written is symbolic, and I love searching it out and finding the true meaning behind it."

The same can be considered about numbers in the versus. There are meanings behind those numbers. 

1 is unity(be one with God). 
2 often represents opposites(good vs evil). 
3 can mean divine involvement(Father Son and Holy Ghost). 
4 is a number to impress geographical completeness (four corners of the earth). 
5 can have significance to Gods grace, or mans fallen state. 
6 is the number for mortality. 
7 means perfect or complete. 
8 is the number for Christ, resurrection, new beginnings, rebirth and baptism. 
9 is often the number for judgement, finality or completion, 
10 means all of a part. (10 commandments did not comprise all of Gods commandments). 

There are more numbers mentioned but I wont go any further then the 10 examples above. So when Elisha tells Naaman to bathe 7 times in the river Jordan, he may well be suggesting that Naaman have a perfect or complete cleansing. Whether or not Elisha actually told Naaman to wash him self 7 times is not important. The use of the number 7 is. Either the author is telling us that Elisha told Naaman to have a perfect or complete cleansing, or, if Elisha actually did tell him to bathe 7 times, Naaman would have been well aware of the significance of the number. It would not have been odd for him to have to bathe that many times. 

One things to note about leprosy. It was often used to symbol for sin. To rid ourselves of sin(leprosy) we must complete perfect(7) repentance(washing). 

I really hope I am making sense. You can see why I can't include more about the numbers in the this post. It will go on for ever. I find this stuff quite interesting, which I'm sure you can see. I hope I am creating a small spark of interest in some of you which will cause you to pick up the dusty book and begin studying it again, looking for these small hidden treasures. More to come on this subject.