“Doubling anything makes it stronger, and three is even more powerful than that. Remember, [in God/Jehovah] we’re dealing with a mathematician of the highest order.” ~ Bernie (a Jehovah’s Witness who used to visit with me regularly back in the early 90’s)

 

Ahhh, yes – dealing with “a mathematician of the highest order”, indeed we are.  And we are also dealing with ancient manuscripts from the Bible whose authors happened to attach profound meaning to the numbers they used in their writings.  As such, whenever reading Scripture, it is wise to consult the meaning of the numbers found in the verses, as well as look to the preceding verses that used similar numerological values as well …

 

As far as the number 3 goes (seeing as how that is the number mentioned here by my Jehovah’s Witness comrade), consider that it represented “spiritual perfection” & “completeness” to most of the Bible’s authors – with it probably being no accident that there are 27 accepted books in the New Testament canon (3x3x3), that Jesus was tempted three times by Satan in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1-11), that Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest there (see Matthew 26:36-46), that Jesus was crucified on the third hour (see Mark 15:25), that three hours of darkness covered the land while Jesus on the cross (see Matthew 27:45), and that Jesus planned to be presumed dead for three days before his arranged “resurrection” thereafter (see Matthew 12:40 et al).

 

“The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’  But Jesus had been speaking of the temple of his body.” ~ Jesus (John 2:20-21)

 

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt