I imagine that the numerologists are very busy today looking
for arcane messages in today’s date, 13 December 2014. This date can be
represented as 12-13-14. This
alignment of dates will not happen again for 100 years. Surely it must have some cosmic significance!
Personally, I think it is just a coincidental arrangement of numbers due to our
current dating system.
When I noticed the 12-13-14 arrangement, I thought about the
significance of numbers, especially in the Bible, which does use numbers as symbols.
Think of the numbers 3, 7, 666, and 1000. Some people think that they see
beyond the obvious symbolic use of numbers and that they can detect many
numerological messages secretly embedded in the text by God. This is on the
same order as belief in the controversial Torah Bible Codes.
The hidden messages which do exit in the Bible were of human origin. For instance, investigate ATBASH. An example occurs at Jeremiah 25:26. These messages were meant by the writers to obscure the true meaning from hostile governmental authorities who might read the texts. The idea is "to hide in plain sight." Also investigate the use of acrostics, an intentional literary form used by some of the Old Testament writers. Two examples of biblical acrostics occur at Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalms 119.
The hidden messages which do exit in the Bible were of human origin. For instance, investigate ATBASH. An example occurs at Jeremiah 25:26. These messages were meant by the writers to obscure the true meaning from hostile governmental authorities who might read the texts. The idea is "to hide in plain sight." Also investigate the use of acrostics, an intentional literary form used by some of the Old Testament writers. Two examples of biblical acrostics occur at Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalms 119.
I do not believe that the Bible is full of hidden supernatural messages. That is a pagan Gnostic idea. God inspired the writing of the various books of
the Bible as a coherent whole and it is intended to be understood. It is a tool, a book of revelation
about the nature of God, not a book of puzzles.
The Bible tells us that God is not a man and that His ways are not our ways. God is totally other, unknowable, and perfect. He moves in the sub-atomic places and in the cosmic places. The Bible is part of God’s effort to make the utterly unknowable (Himself) understandable, at least partly, to our inadequate tiny little minds. Over and over we are told, “the Kingdom of God is like ….” I believe that God has used the entire Jewish religious and cultural system to explain what He is like. The entire Bible points toward Jesus, Who is the ultimate revelation of Who God is.
The Bible tells us that God is not a man and that His ways are not our ways. God is totally other, unknowable, and perfect. He moves in the sub-atomic places and in the cosmic places. The Bible is part of God’s effort to make the utterly unknowable (Himself) understandable, at least partly, to our inadequate tiny little minds. Over and over we are told, “the Kingdom of God is like ….” I believe that God has used the entire Jewish religious and cultural system to explain what He is like. The entire Bible points toward Jesus, Who is the ultimate revelation of Who God is.
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