Does God Still Do This? Numbers, Symbols, and Patterns

Editor’s note – We do not usually run a piece built around the patterns of Scripture’s numbers, because that territory invites speculation. This one earns its place by refusing to stop at the curiosity. Every observation here is bent toward Christ, and the closing turn from puzzle-solving to surrender is where the author’s real subject surfaces. Read it less as a study of forty and three than as a meditation on a God who restores by repetition.

Days That Stand for Years

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I look at odd things, and silly thoughts cross my mind. For instance, when I read about olive oil, I wonder whether Popeye is lurking around close by.

Recently, my mind has been occupied by numbers, symbols and metaphors. I’m particularly fascinated by God’s messages to the Israelites when He equates days with years.

I’m thinking of God’s instructions to Ezekiel when he had to act out God’s punishment for the iniquity of Israel and Judah. He had to lie on his left side for 390 days and on the right side for 40 days (Ezekiel 4:4-6). Each day represented a year.

Forty Days, Forty Years

Forty days frequently appear in the Bible.

When the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, they did so for 40 years (Numbers 14:33-34). God provided for them. He was their light at night and their shade during the day. He made sure that their clothes didn’t wear out, and somehow, they didn’t need new shoes (Deuteronomy 8:2-4). Did their clothes and shoes grow with their little ones, or did they swap clothing and shoes as they grew older and taller? I don’t know.

God provided manna, water, and meat in the form of quails (Exodus 16).

When Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, He spent 40 days there (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). One day for each year the Israelites trekked through the wilderness. It’s interesting that the devil tempted him with bread first. We know from the Bible that Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35; Matthew 4:4). He answers the devil saying that man cannot live by bread alone but by every Word from God’s mouth. We also know that He is the Word that became flesh (John 1:1, 14). Essentially, Jesus was saying that we can’t live without Him.

Editor’s note – Notice the chain the author has just drawn. The bread He refused in the wilderness, the Bread of Life He declares Himself to be, the Word that became flesh: it all converges on one claim. We cannot live without Him. That is not number-puzzling; that is the Gospel.

We may survive here on earth, and even thrive without Him, but it’s for a very short time compared to eternity. He is the only Way to Heaven. Without Him, Heaven will not be our destiny.

Paul said that we are to be pitied if our only hope is here on earth for the short time we spend here. Our hope is in the resurrection and our eternal home with God (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Paul also spoke about the Word of God as meat. He lamented that the Corinthians still had to be fed milk instead of meat. God provided meat in the form of quails.

We are told that the water God provided was from a rock, and the rock was Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). Everything about God’s journey with the Israelites pointed to Jesus.

Moses spent 40 days on the mountain before he received the stone tablets with the commandments, and 40 days after he broke them (Exodus 24:18; 34:28). Before he led the Israelites out of Egypt he had spent 40 years in the wilderness caring for sheep, and then 40 years in the wilderness caring for the Israelites (Acts 7:23-30). I am amazed that he had to spend 40 days on the mountain twice. It corresponds with his own years in the wilderness.

Repetition and Restoration

I have never paid attention to time when I go through difficulties. Does my time in my personal wilderness correspond with the mistakes I had made and the journey God is leading me on, and does it prepare me for my destiny? I’m wondering about this, as God seems to use repetitions for restoration. Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus, and Jesus asked him three times whether he loved Him (John 18:15-27; John 21:15-17). We also know that Jesus said Jonah, having spent three days in a fish before the salvation of Nineveh, was a sign just as Jesus would spend three days in the grave for our salvation (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:39-40). Repetition. There are many such examples in the Bible. Why three days? Does it relate to the Trinity in any shape or form? Does it tell us that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are involved in our salvation and our journey here on earth?

Editor’s note – The author asks an honest question and does not pretend to a certain answer. That restraint is worth imitating. Scripture nowhere ties three days to the Trinity, so we should hold such a thought loosely while holding the plain meaning firmly: the three days in the grave are a sign of the resurrection on which our salvation rests.

The devil quoted Psalm 91, tempting Jesus to jump from the top of a high building (Matthew 4:5-6). It’s interesting that Psalm 91 is a psalm that speaks of God’s presence and protection. Just as He was present with Israel in the wilderness and protected them from their enemies, He is always present with us. Psalm 91 says that if we abide in the shadow of the Almighty we will be safe just as Israel abided in the shade of the cloud in the wilderness. It was the cloud that prevented the Egyptian army from getting closer to the fleeing Israelites (Exodus 14:19-20).

Finally, the devil showed his true ambition. He wanted Jesus to worship him. He wanted to be above God. It was the very same sin that had him expelled from Heaven, but Jesus reminded him that God alone is God and He alone should be worshipped (Matthew 4:10). Then the devil left Him.

The Battle Belongs to God

Paul reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, and we do not fight against the devil (Ephesians 6:12). We first draw near to God, resist the devil as Jesus did, and he will flee from us just as he flees from Jesus (James 4:7-8). So many of us tire ourselves by fighting with the enemy instead of doing what the Bible says. The battle belongs to God. We need to stand in God’s presence and watch. God is our victory.

Speaking to myself: “Self, stop worrying. Stop fighting. Stop battling against circumstances. Draw close to God. Give Him your cares and concerns. Resist the lies and negative thoughts of the enemy. Speak the truth from the Word, and watch the devil flee as God fights your battles and gives you the victory.”

A Word from the Editor
The author lands where every honest study of Scripture’s patterns ought to land: not in cleverness but in surrender. James says it plainly, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The numbers and symbols are real, and they reward attention, but they are signposts, not the destination. The destination is Christ, and the posture is to stand still and watch Him fight. If your own wilderness has worn long, that is the word to carry: the battle belongs to God.

Editor Comment: The Israelites' wilderness provision as a sustained type of Christ, drawing the water from the rock, the manna, and the quail toward a single Christological point… strong examples of the synergy of Scripture.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.