THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN – Pt 4
The number seven recurs throughout Scripture. Whilst we avoid numerology (the study of numbers and math in the belief that they reveal esoteric messages) we must acknowledge that certain numbers are repeated throughout Scripture. Peter Sammons concludes his investigation.
Final examples of the number seven in Scripture
The word FINISHED is connected in the Bible with the number SEVEN. In Revelation 10:7 we read, “In the days of the voice of the SEVENTH angel, when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be FINISHED, as he has declared” (KJV).
“It is DONE” is another expression found in connection with the number Seven: “And the SEVENTH angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne saying, It is DONE.” (Revelation 16:17).
Noah took the clean beasts into the ark by SEVENS (Genesis 7:2) SEVEN days after Noah went into the ark the flood came (Genesis 7:10). Peter tells about the long-suffering of God waiting in the days of Noah (1 Peter 3:21). Those SEVEN days COMPLETED God’s time of waiting.
Before Aaron and his sons entered their priestly work they were consecrated during a period of SEVEN days (Leviticus 8:31-36). Here we see a picture of a life COMPLETELY or WHOLLY consecrated or dedicated to the Lord for service.
On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood upon the mercy seat SEVEN times (Leviticus 16:14). This again is a picture of the COMPLETENESS of the redemptive work of Messiah Jesus. “By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:12). When Messiah Jesus offered Himself that act FINISHED or concluded the sacrificial offerings and its sacrificial system. They were ended. No longer must we place sacrifices upon an altar.
There were SEVEN branches on the CANDLESTICK in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle. This illustrates the COMPLETE light of God for the souls of human beings.
Solomon was SEVEN years building the Temple and kept the Feast for SEVEN days. Job had SEVEN sons. When his friends came to visit him they sat SEVEN days and SEVEN nights in silence, and afterward were required to offer a Burnt Offering of SEVEN bullocks and SEVEN rams. Naaman washed SEVEN times in the Jordan. The Lord Jesus spoke SEVEN words from the Cross. SEVEN men of honest report were chosen to administer the alms of the church in Acts 6:1-7. There were SEVEN years of plenty and SEVEN years of famine in Egypt during the days of Joseph.
SEVEN times in the Book of Revelation blessings of the Lord are promised to His people. These have been dubbed the “Beatitudes of Revelation”. They are found in 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 22:14.
As we have already seen the Book of Revelation is a Book of SEVENS. It highlights SEVEN churches (surely representative of all types of church and their weaknesses, as well as their strengths), SEVEN seals, SEVEN Trumpets, SEVEN Personages, SEVEN veils, SEVEN dooms, SEVEN new things.
The Lord Jesus instructed us to “forgive SEVENTY times SEVEN”. In other words, He is saying, “Keep on forgiving until you are complete.” Or even, “forgive as I have forgiven you”. Even the duration of Israel’s great punishments for idolatry was based upon this law of SEVENS. Their captivity in Babylon was for SEVENTY years, ten periods of SEVENS (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Daniel l9:2).
The Sabbath of Years
The Sabbath is not only a day, but also a year. In the same way that every seventh day is a Shabbat (Sabbath in Hebrew), so every seventh year is a Sabbath year, which is to be kept distinct and separate from the six preceding years.
The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards (Leviticus 25:1-4).
During this Sabbath year God commanded that no work would be done on the land. “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove” (Exodus 23:10-11).
Precisely how this worked out in terms of the economics and practicalities of agricultural life is not clear to us. To prevent the Israelites from experiencing any shortages or other hardships during the Sabbath year, God promised that in the year immediately preceding the sabbatical period the land would yield fruit sufficient for the next three years (Leviticus 25:21).
We can trust, then, that the God Who provided the rule, would also honour its observance. We can say that during this Sabbath year, not only would the people rest, but the land itself would rest. It has been suggested that the modern practice of periodically allowing a field to lie fallow for a year is an acknowledgement of the wisdom of God’s command. Furthermore, during the Sabbath year the Israelites were to leave their fields, vineyards and olive groves open for the poor to glean.
On the last day of this Sabbath year (on Elul 29), Israelites were to be released from debts owed to other Israelites. “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed”(Deuteronomy 15:1-2).
Lack of space prevents us from exploring this fully, but we can assert that in this we see both God’s wisdom and mercy at work: the financial transformation (or even “default/reset” to use a computing term) would rescue people from debts where they could not repay and dissuade rampant money lenders from ruthlessly exploiting their economic and legal power over the poor. Every seventh year all debts were wiped away – in this we undoubtedly see a ‘picture’ or a ‘type’ of Salvation through Messiah Jesus.
Conclusion
It is fair to say that seven is a magnificent number in the Bible! Indeed it is truly “the magnificent seven”! Far too often for mere coincidence, the number is associated with God providing a COMPLETE and FINISHED, message to us. In the Moedim we see the same truth; God’s message of Jesus the Messiah is completely stated, completely illustrated, in those seven appointed times of the Lord. There is nothing more to be added.
This book, The Messiah Pattern, contains a fuller exploration of patterns in the Bible: https://christian-publications-int.com/default-23.html?ID=142
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