From Genesis to Revelations, the entire Bible is the Word of God that unfolds the magnificent redemptive history for the salvation of mankind, done by the absolute sovereignty of the living and working God. The core of redemptive history is Jesus Christ, who is the hope of glory for all mankind (Col 1:26-27). God’s purpose in life is to save even a single sinner (John 3:16-17; 1 Thess 5:9, 2 Thess 2:13; Matt 9:13; 1 Tim 1:15). God rescues and saves the sons and daughters of Abraham who are lost because of sin, declaring, “You are also Abraham’s descendant” (Luke 19:10; Matt 18:14; Mark 2:17).
Mystery of the Numbers in the Bible, Recorded by the Inspiration of God (Even the numbers were recorded by inspiration)
All scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21), and sinful man can understand only through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Even the numbers are inspired by God. The meaning of those numberscan not be understood through human power, but only by the powerful grace of the Holy Spirit. The numbers in the Bible contain the truthfulness of God and reveal His absolute sovereignty. They are also the greatest method to demonstrate the years and generations of genealogies recorded in the Bible. We can search for the depths of God through these numbers if we read the Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.“For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (1 Cor 2:10)
“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.” (Hos 14:9)Why did God make a week as seven days? Not many people think about this deeply. This did not happen by coincidence. Seven is the sum of three and four. First, the number three represents the number of the sky. God is a Triune God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. There are three primary colors, and people also count up to “one, two, three” when coordinating to get things done. The number four represents the number of the earth. God said to Abraham, who offered the good land to his nephew Lot, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever” (Gen 13:14-15). In other words, “I will give all this land to you” by spreading out to the north, east, south, and west, represents the number four. By keeping the seventh day, the day of rest, we are going before God carrying the heavens and earth. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Just like how a car filled with gas will go for many kilometers, we will also live through the week with grace when we meet God on the Sabbath and receive His grace and blessings.The Bible contains many historical events related to the number seven. It begins with the seven days of creation and ends with the messages to the seven churches in Revelations. God created the universe in six days and declared seven times, “It is good.” This mysteriously coincides with the seven words of Jesus, who came as the sin offering. Jesus’ entire life was compressed into those seven words He uttered during His six hours on the cross. It was a moment of completion for redemptive history. It was the moment of victorious triumph, and the moment of testimony for the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because they testified of Jesus Christ (Rev 6:9-10). It was the moment that souls, who have gained approval but did not receive what was promised, received the promise of God (Heb 11:39-40). During the time of Noah’s flood, clean animals went into the ark in seven pairs (Gen 7:2). The flood began seven days after Noah entered the ark (Gen 7:9-10). Seven contains the meaning of spiritual perfection and completion. In music, the heptachord do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti makes up thousands and millions of melodies, and the 8th note goes back to do.
The number ten is a number ofabundance, a number of fullness. Once we finish counting from one to ten, we return to eleven. Likewise, when we have the Word of God, all things that were lost will come back to you and fill the space inside of you. Husbands will return; sons and daughters and in-laws will return; wealth will return. God gives us the number of fullness and contentment as a bonus when we keep and love the seventh day, Sunday. The number goes back to itself once it is full. After filling up to 10, it becomes 11, 21, 31 and becomes 100 and 1000, and the blessing of thousands and ten thousands comes to us.
17, the number of victory and God’s redemptive providence
The number 17 is a number that frequently appears in the Bible. It is a number that is not divisible. In other words, it is a prime number that cannot be divided into other numbers but itself. The Chinese character for the word “prime number” contains the letter “素” meaning white. This means it is clean, uncontaminated and simple. Numbers that are not prime can divide and change. The number 17 is the seventh prime number after 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and 13. The sixth prime number, 13, contains the sin of betraying the grace of God, rebelling and opposing God. It represents trying to solve problems by using one’s own methods. Americans and Europeans do not even want to see this number in their dreams. The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiimand Bela served the king of Elam for 12 years and betrayed him during the 13th year (Gen 14:4), and Jesus spoke of the 13 things that come from the heart of a fallen man: evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness (Mark 7:21-22). Haman, the enemy of the Jews, made a decree on the 13th day of the 1st month and plotted to kill the Jews of the 127 provinces on the 13th day of the 12th month.
However, the 7th prime number, 17, has a special meaning in the Bible. It is the sum of 7 and 10, which means spiritual perfection. The number 17 can be found in the age, year of birth, and year of death in the genealogy of the 20 patriarchs from Adam to Abraham in Genesis 5 and 11. It does not appear anywhere but appears intensively during a certain period. We must understand the great and profound mystery within this.
Editor’s note: all subsequent calculations are based on the chart in the 1st book of the History of Redemption Series, The Genesis Genealogies (Abraham Park, Publisher: Huisun)
▷The ancestor of mankind, Adam, was created in 4114 BC. 4114 is 242 times 17.
▷Methuselah, the 8th generation from Adam who lived the longest life in the history of mankind, lived to the age 969 (Gen 5:27). 969 is 17 times 57. “Methuselah” means “judgment will come upon the world when he dies.” In fact, the flood came in the year he died in the 1656th year since Adam (calculation of years using Adam’s creation as the 1st year) and the old world disappeared and a new world emerged. His father Enoch walked with God for 300 years after having him and was taken up to heaven alive (Gen 5:22-24). Methuselah, like his father, lived a godly life without sin on this earth.
▷Methuselah had Lamech at the age of 187. 187 is 17 times 11. Methuselah and Lamech were people who survived up to the flood. Methuselah had his first son at the age of 187, the latest out of the 10 patriarchs from Adam to Noah (Gen 5:25). He lived a life that warned of the coming judgment and his son Lamech gave birth to Noah, the righteous man who survived the flood. Despite the wickedness of mankind during that time, 17 is a number of victory that shows the providence of God in preserving the holy seed through the ark of salvation.
▷Lamech lived 595 more years after having Noah at age 182 (Gen 5:30), living a total of 777 years. 595 is 35 times 17.
▷Noah died at the age of 950, 2006 years after Adam(Gen 9:29). 2006 is 118 times 17. Noah was a man who experienced both the world before and after the flood. He lived 350 more years in the new world after the judgment. The flood came on the 17th of the 2nd month at Noah’s age of 600.
▷There were two people that walked with God among the patriarchs that lived before the flood. Enoch, the 7th generation of Adam, went up to heaven without seeing death. Noah, the 10th generation, survived the judgment of water. Both the 7th generation and 10th generation were people who were blessed.
▷Eber, Adam’s 14th generation, was 34 years old when he had Peleg (Gen 11:11). 34 is twice the number 17. Eber was a godly descendant who crossed the river and turned away from the fallen world that built the Tower of Babel. It is recorded that Shem is “the father of all the children of Eber” (Gen 10:21). But in the days of his son Peleg, the world was divided with the incident of the Tower of Babel (Gen 10:25).
▷Serug is the 17th descendant of Adam (Gen 10:10-23). There are 10 generations from Adam to Noah(Gen 5:3-32), and 7 generations from Noah’s son Shem, to Serug (Gen 11:10-23). Serug was born 1819 years after Adam (Gen 11:20). 1819 is 107 times 17. He saw his son Nahor pant for breath while deeply immersed in the world and die at the age of 148, which was the earliest among the 20 patriarchs after Adam. He lived 32 more years and died at the age of 230 (Gen 11:25-26). Serug lived contemporaneously with his 7th ancestor Noah for 187 years (11 times 17). Despite being born into a godly household and living contemporaneously with Noah for a long time, he did not repent even after hearing about the frightening message about the judgment by the flood. He lived among the world and relied on military strength and weapons to conquer it rather than relying on God. As such, we can see that the multiples of 17 contain the meaning of victory within the ages and genealogy of the patriarchs who were involved in the flood. This is made clearer when looking at the dates related to the flood.
▷The flood came during the 600th year of Noah, on the 17th day of the 2nd month. “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.” (Gen 7:11)
▷Noah’s ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the 17th of the 7th month (Gen 7:24, 8:4). Can this be called coincidence?
▷Joseph was sold by his brothers at age 17 and separated from his father Jacob (Gen 37:2). Jacob who lost his son of age 17, met Joseph who had become the Prime Minister of Egypt 23 years later at age 130, lived with him for 17 years and died at age 147 (Gen 47:9, 47:28).
▷Jacob was born 2108 years after Adam (Gen 25:25-26). 2108 is 124 times 17. Also, 2108 years after Adam is 2006 BC, which is 118 times 17.
▷Among the 70 family members who went down to Egypt with Jacob, there were 17 descendants of Joseph’s mother Rachel (Num 26:28-37). There were 9 descendants of Joseph and 8 descendants of Benjamin.
▷Among the three tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, descendants of Rachel, the tribe of Manasseh increased the most during the 2nd census taken before entry into Canaan, numbering 52,700 people (Num 26:34). It is 3,100 times 17. How mysterious is the Word of God? Joseph received the blessing of the “fruitful bough by the spring” (Gen 49:22) and the tribes his descendants Ephraim and Manasseh numbered 72,700 during the 1st census (Num 2:18-21) and 85,200 during the 2nd census (Num 26:34-37), fruitful beyond comparison of all the tribes.
▷The tribe of Judah who prospered the most following the tribe of Joseph numbered 76,500 people during the 2nd census, which is 450 times 17. Is this coincidence? Joseph and Judah both have to do with the firstborn tribe. 17 is a number of prominence, the firstborn, a number of prosperity.
▷When Moses descended from his 6th ascent out of a total 8 ascents up Mount Sinai, the Israelites had made the golden calf and were dancing, drinking and eating. Moses shattered the Ten Commandments that God had written on stone tablets which He had carved out Himself. The stone of the Word shattered Satan’s head (Exod 32:7, 20-21; Deut 9:12, 17, 21). The Levites dedicated themselves to the Lord by slaughtering the 3,000 people who led the way in worshipping the golden calf with their swords. God saw this and blessed the tribe of Levi as the firstborns. This was Monday, the 17th of the 4th month of 1446 BC, a day of victory where God crushed Satan(Editor’s note: for calculation of the dates, refer to the 7th book of the History of Redemption Series, The Eternal Covenant for All Generations: The Ten Commandments).
▷The day Moses completed his 8 ascents up Mount Sinai was Monday, the 10th day of the 7th month in 1446 BC (Exod 34:29). This is the Day of Atonement which symbolizes eternal atonement (Lev 16:29-34, 23:27, 25:9). This is the declaration of the first sabbatical year. 26 AD was the year Jesus began His ministry and proclaimed the sabbatical year, saying the words of Prophet Isaiah spoken 700 years ago was fulfilled in their hearing. This was the sabbatical year and the following year is the year of jubilee. 210 sabbatical years and 30 years of jubilee had passed without a single error up until that period. This is content which no theologian in the world has revealed. “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,”THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'””(Luke 4:16-23)
Israel went into Babylonian captivity for 70 years because they did not keep the sabbatical year. God finds the greatest joy in the sabbatical year. We must believe that the most difficult problems in our households and problems with our children will be fixed when we keep the sabbatical year. Jesus is the Lord of the sabbatical year, the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5).
▷David fled from Saul and escaped to 16 places in 10 years. He prayed earnestly at the 17th location, Hebron. There he received the king’s crown at a young age of 30 and became victorious.
▷The years of the 2nd return from Babylonian captivity (458 BC) and 3rd return (444 BC) were both sabbatical years.
▷17 appears frequently during the regnal period. Rehoboam, the first king of Southern Judah, reigned for 17 years (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chr 12:13). He devised only evil for 17 years (2 Chr 12:14; 1 Kgs 14:22), ignored the teachings of the elders and ruled oppressively, becoming the very person who caused the division of the unified kingdom (1 Kgs 12:6-15). He abandoned the Word and worshiped idols, and was attacked by Shishak the king of Egypt and lost the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house (1 Kgs 14:25-26; 2 Chr 12:2-12).
▷The period of the sole reign of Jehoshaphat, the king of Southern Judah, was 17 years from 869-853 BC (1 Kgs 22:41-42; 2 Chr 14:1). He did right in the sight of the Lord for 17 years and took great pride in the ways of the Lord (1 Kgs 22:43; 2 Chr 17:6; 20:32-33).
▷The reign of Jehoahaz, the 11th king of Northern Israel, was 17 years (2 Kgs 13:1). He did evil for 17 years and it was so the point the anger of the Lord was kindled (2 Kgs 13:2-3). ▷The number of people recorded in the genealogy during the 1st and 2nd return from Babylonian Captivity were in units of 17. The people who returned during the 1st return were categorized into three, recorded in units of 17 according to family, region and work of service in the temple (Ezra 2; Neh 7). The number of people who returned during the 2nd return were also recorded in units of 17 (Ezra 8).
▷There was a crowd of people who praised and gave thanks during the dedication ceremony of the wall led by Nehemiah after the 3rd return from Babylonian captivity. One choir was led by Ezra and the other by Nehemiah. There were 17 priests and Levites who followed Nehemiah. Half the leaders of Judah followed Ezra and the crowd of priests were 17 including Ezra. Half the people followed them (Neh 12:27-43).
▷Jerusalem appears 17 times throughout Psalms (Ps 51:18; 68:79; 79:1, 3; 102:21; 116:19; 122:2, 3, 6; 125:2; 128:5; 135:21; 137:5, 6, 7; 147:2, 12).
▷Book 3 of Psalms contains the psalms of worship and is composed of exactly 17 chapters (Ps 73-89). Book 4, known as the “Book of the wilderness” or “Book of Numbers in Psalms” is also composed of 17 psalms (Ps 90-106).
▷Psalms 119, the psalm of “victory of the Word” that expound on the 10 attributes of the Word by 10 Hebrew words, is 7 times 17 (For details, refer to the 7th book of the History of Redemption Series, The Eternal Covenant for All Generations: The Ten Commandments). The psalmist of Psalm 119 describes the 10 attributes of the Word in 10 ways: torah (law), eduth (edah, testimonies), mishphat (judgments, ordinances), hoq (statutes), davar (Word), piqqud (precepts), mitswah (commandments), derekh (ways), imrah (promise), emeth (emunah, truth). Worship contains the number of fullness. When we love the Word and hold on to the number 7 in faith, remember Sunday and keep it holy through worship, we can grab a hold of the number 10, number of fullness. The reason we are not able to give worship is because we do not have the number of fullness. We are always lacking and pant like dogs. We pant for money, power, honor and relationships and our eyes are darkened. The love for money is a root for all sorts of evil (1 Tim 6:10, 17). Weeds grow day and night if its root is not removed. The moment we offer up sincere worship before God is the moment of greatest victory. It is the happiest and most rewarding moment in life, a moment that brings God great gladness. Do not think of worship lightly. You possess all the blessings of heaven and earth when you understand the Word through worship. God is more pleased with the moment of worship than when you are promoted at work or your child gets accepted to a prestigious school. The success or failure of a worship depends on your heart. If you do not worship with all your heart and sincerity, it is fake. We must worship God with all our heart and soul with the love for God. The time of worship is the greatest moment in our lives. Even if it may seem we have been defeated by the enemy, it is changed into the moment of victory when we worship. The way to victory in our lives in the wilderness is studying the Word of God diligently, learning, understanding and recording it and giving thanksgiving to Him.
▷Prophet Jeremiah purchased land for 17 shekels while he was a prisoner. Who would buy land when the country was at war against Babylon and would soon come to ruin? 17 shekels is a large amount at that time, equivalent to a daily wage of 68 days. Jeremiah’s heart was in conflict between the Word of God and the words of man. However, he listened to the Word of God and purchased the land and received a great blessing ( Jer 32:8). If you look starting from Jeremiah chapter 1, his spirit was greatly troubled and he prayed 17 times. That is when God opened the gates of heaven and showed him the events of the last days.
▷After the return from Babylonian captivity, God established a covenant with the Israelites and there were 17 Levites recorded in the sealed document (Neh 10:9-13). 1 Chronicles contains the genealogy from Adam to the return from captivity that compresses the 3600 year history of the Old Testament. Its core is chapter 6, the genealogy of the priests and Levites and is the longest of the record, with the genealogy of the tribe of Levi recorded in units of 17 (1 Chr 6:1-5).
▷The number 17 also plays an important role in the New Testament. The genealogy of Jesus is divided into 3 periods of 14 generations over 17 verses (Matt 1:1-17). Jesus came to this earth and destroyed the work of the devil and was victorious (Heb 2:14; 1 John 3:8). After His resurrection, He appeared to 7 disciples who could not catch fish all night and told them to cast the net on their right-hand side and they caught 153 fish (John 21:1-11). 153 is 9 times 17.
▷There are 17 things (tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, any other created thing) that cannot separate us believers from Jesus (Rom 8:35-39).
▷The Greek word “semeion” meaning signs and wonders appears in the New Testament 17 times. These are all in the gospel of John ( John 2:11, 18, 23; 3:2; 4:48, 54; 6:2, 14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41; 11:47; 12:18, 37; 20:30).
▷The Greek word “apesis” meaning forgiveness and atonement appears in the New Testament 17 times (Matt 26:28; Mark 1:14; 3:29; Luke 1:77; 3:3; 4:18(two times); 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18; Eph 1:3; Col 1:14; Heb 9:22; 10:18). Forgiveness of sins is impossible without bloodshed. Therefore, there is no hope for those who refuse to escape to the cross of Jesus. We must not reject the blood of Jesus on the cross.
▷The book that comes after Ruth in the Old Testament is 1 Samuel. These two books contain the following verses: “May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him” (Ruth 4:15) “Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”” (1 Sam 1:8) This contains the meaning that Jesus, the Lord of the harvest field, will come to take His bride.
Dear Saints. When you work hard from the 1st day to the 6th, then come before God in worship on the 7th day, I believe that the blessing of the number 17 will be upon your families for eternity, receiving the number of completion, the number of infinity, the number of happiness, and the number of sufficiency from 1-10. May you receive and give the blessing of 7, 10, and 17 to your parents, grandfather, grandmother, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, nephews, brothers, friends and colleagues–as you influence them in spirit on this earth wherever you go. Just as the entire household and nation was saved through Joseph, I pray in the name of the Lord that all people will be blessed through the saints of Pyungkang.
Sermon by Huisun Rev. Abraham Park:
<Number 17: The Number of the Final Victory of the Saints> Wednesday Service, December 18, 2013
<Blessed 17: The Number that Represents the Victory, Salutation, and Prosperity of Thousands Upon Tens of Thousands of Times> Thursday Service, January 2, 2014
This sermon was organized according to the Word proclaimed by Rev. Abraham Park during Wednesday Service and the first Thursday Service of the following year, after the Christian Council of Korea officially declared on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, that all the slander by part of the religious circle against Huisun Rev. Abraham Park, were unjust and without any evidence. After the service, Rev. Abraham Park prayed, “Let all the saints devote their attention and listen to this Word, hearing it three to four times, and coming to a complete understanding, and not treat it with contempt. Just as Daniel was ten times better than the conjurers of Babylon, please allow tenfold wisdom and knowledge as the saints read and love the Bible with hearts of sorrow.” He also earnestly requested to the saints: “At this time when our church receives the attention of many people, we must set an example to make them say, ‘When we believe in Jesus, we must believe like those in Pyungkang. The saints of Pyungkang know only of the Bible, the Word of God. They do not talk of others.’ I pray in the name of the Lord that we will love God alone, read the Bible, pray for others, pray for the nation and the people, and pray that all the churches with the cross will not fight about ‘your church or my church,’ and fear God, becoming a godly people and godly saints that have great faith in God.”
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