Well, this is just TOO GOOD to not share with you.
Last night, I finished prayers and headed off to bed, hoping for a quick transition to sleep. No dice.
Instead, something was circulating through my mind. I was wondering if there was some correlation between all the twelves in the Bible, specifically the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes. And then I started to think about fours...since Judah was the first of Jacob's sons (Israel's sons) to receive a blessing from his father. I decided to look into it in the morning.
Which I promptly forgot, as usual.
In morning Bible study, I felt like I should read Amos. Frankly, it bummed me out. Then I happened to open up into Ezra, and started translating the names of the sub-clans that came out of Babylonian exile. It took a while to translate those, but I really didn't find anything conclusive. And then THAT is when I remembered the twelves and fours.
I counted the names of the minor prophets, and found that the fourth was Obadiah. Eagerly, I flipped to it.
Nothing struck me. I felt like I was trying too hard. A little scrap of paper was nearby, so I started listing twelves: Months, tribes, minor prophets, apostles...but got distracted by the number of kids David had in Jerusalem. Honestly, I still can't figure out the right number. If you know, please comment below. I think it's nineteen (number of God's perfect judgement).
Since I had just finished studying complex Solomon, I noted that he was, indeed, number 4. Continuing my chicken-scratches, I noted the other fours, and really felt like I was on to something big.
I was right, and that's why I'm adding to my Internet profile with this post. I think you're really going to like it.
Here are all the fours I found:
The 4th day in Genesis is when the moon and starts began to separate night and day. Those lights in the firmament were created for signs, seasons, and marking the day and night.
The 4th tribe of Israel is Judah, the first son to receive a blessing from Jacob, and the tribe from which Jesus came. Jesus is the Lion of Judah. The actual Judah is the very brother who dissuaded the rest of the brothers from killing Joseph, instead intending to rescue poor little brother from the pit in which he had been placed.
There are seven feasts ordained by God to keep for all time. Of them, the 4th feast (Moadim) is Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost is marked by several big events, including the giving of the Tablets with the Commandments to Moses (and Israel). It's also the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers, shortly following the Ascension of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
If you've seen a menorah, you know that the middle candle is supposed to
remain raised over the other six candles. And, the 4th candle on the
Menorah (no matter which end you start counting from) is used to light
all the other candles. Remember the seven feasts? Well, if you line them
up along the menorah, then Pentecost/Weeks is the middle one. Paul told
us in scripture that Jesus fulfills all the feasts, that would mean
Jesus is represented by the fourth candle, who lights all the other
candles. The symbol is a lion on the center candle holder.
The 4th commandment is the longest commandment about keeping the Sabbath, a day which we are to keep Holy to God. The giving of this law is worthy of an entire blog post itself. If I'm still here, I'll compare the two times the tablets were given to Moses.
The 4th son of David (of those born in Jerusalem) is Solomon. Solomon, in my last post, is the builder of the great Temple. That story has an awful lot of parallels with building the church we are in today. There's even a rapture hint in there, if one looks closely enough at 2 Chron 9:4.
Do you remember the story of Job? I studied this several months ago, and really loved it. Notice that the 4th friend of Job to enter the story, Elihu (My God is He) was the one who told the truth about God, and after he was done defending God's righteousness, God started speaking.
The 4th apostle identified is John, and he is described as the apostle Jesus loved. He also got the book of Revelation, getting to visit Heaven before he died.
The 4th book of OT is Numbers, which is where this little investigation actually started for me. The 4th book of NT (fourth of the Gospel) is...John.
The 4th month on the Jewish calendar is Tammuz (which we are currently in, and which is almost over). Obviously, this is out of step with the Gregorian calendar, given to us by Pope G. Thanks, G. Now we're all messed up and don't know which day is which.
The 4th miracle of Jesus in the gospel of John was the loaves and fishes, in which he fed 5,000 people and had baskets of leftovers. Right after that Jesus "went over" the Sea of Galilee, a symbolic water crossing like crossing the Jordan, with no mention of how he did it. Walking? Boat ride? Water walking? It's never stated.
The 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is dalet. Like Greek, Hebrew has a numerical value associated with each letter. In this case the value is four. What's interesting is that the symbol used also represents an open door. Who opened the door to salvation for us? Jesus.
We wear wedding rings on our 4th finger, starting from the thumb. The Church is referred to as the Bride of Christ.
I asked for other fours on a Facebook post, and here's what I got:
The fourth day is the day on which Lazarus, dear friend of Jesus, was raised from the grave.
The fourth day is the day Jewish people believe the soul leaves the body.
There are four cardinal directions: North, South, East, West.
There are four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
There were four rivers coming from the Garden of Eden.
Are there more? Perhaps. But the above convinces me that four is VERY important to God, and when He repeats something so many times, we need to listen.
Depending on which calendar you're following, today 7/12/18 is the last day of the fourth month following the 120th Jubilee, and following the 70th year since Israel's re-birth.
That sounds pretty significant to me.
Last night, I finished prayers and headed off to bed, hoping for a quick transition to sleep. No dice.
Which I promptly forgot, as usual.
In morning Bible study, I felt like I should read Amos. Frankly, it bummed me out. Then I happened to open up into Ezra, and started translating the names of the sub-clans that came out of Babylonian exile. It took a while to translate those, but I really didn't find anything conclusive. And then THAT is when I remembered the twelves and fours.
I counted the names of the minor prophets, and found that the fourth was Obadiah. Eagerly, I flipped to it.
Nothing struck me. I felt like I was trying too hard. A little scrap of paper was nearby, so I started listing twelves: Months, tribes, minor prophets, apostles...but got distracted by the number of kids David had in Jerusalem. Honestly, I still can't figure out the right number. If you know, please comment below. I think it's nineteen (number of God's perfect judgement).
Since I had just finished studying complex Solomon, I noted that he was, indeed, number 4. Continuing my chicken-scratches, I noted the other fours, and really felt like I was on to something big.
I was right, and that's why I'm adding to my Internet profile with this post. I think you're really going to like it.
Here are all the fours I found:
The 4th day in Genesis is when the moon and starts began to separate night and day. Those lights in the firmament were created for signs, seasons, and marking the day and night.
The 4th tribe of Israel is Judah, the first son to receive a blessing from Jacob, and the tribe from which Jesus came. Jesus is the Lion of Judah. The actual Judah is the very brother who dissuaded the rest of the brothers from killing Joseph, instead intending to rescue poor little brother from the pit in which he had been placed.
There are seven feasts ordained by God to keep for all time. Of them, the 4th feast (Moadim) is Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost is marked by several big events, including the giving of the Tablets with the Commandments to Moses (and Israel). It's also the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers, shortly following the Ascension of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The 4th commandment is the longest commandment about keeping the Sabbath, a day which we are to keep Holy to God. The giving of this law is worthy of an entire blog post itself. If I'm still here, I'll compare the two times the tablets were given to Moses.
The 4th son of David (of those born in Jerusalem) is Solomon. Solomon, in my last post, is the builder of the great Temple. That story has an awful lot of parallels with building the church we are in today. There's even a rapture hint in there, if one looks closely enough at 2 Chron 9:4.
Do you remember the story of Job? I studied this several months ago, and really loved it. Notice that the 4th friend of Job to enter the story, Elihu (My God is He) was the one who told the truth about God, and after he was done defending God's righteousness, God started speaking.
The 4th apostle identified is John, and he is described as the apostle Jesus loved. He also got the book of Revelation, getting to visit Heaven before he died.
The 4th book of OT is Numbers, which is where this little investigation actually started for me. The 4th book of NT (fourth of the Gospel) is...John.
The 4th month on the Jewish calendar is Tammuz (which we are currently in, and which is almost over). Obviously, this is out of step with the Gregorian calendar, given to us by Pope G. Thanks, G. Now we're all messed up and don't know which day is which.
The 4th miracle of Jesus in the gospel of John was the loaves and fishes, in which he fed 5,000 people and had baskets of leftovers. Right after that Jesus "went over" the Sea of Galilee, a symbolic water crossing like crossing the Jordan, with no mention of how he did it. Walking? Boat ride? Water walking? It's never stated.
The 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is dalet. Like Greek, Hebrew has a numerical value associated with each letter. In this case the value is four. What's interesting is that the symbol used also represents an open door. Who opened the door to salvation for us? Jesus.
We wear wedding rings on our 4th finger, starting from the thumb. The Church is referred to as the Bride of Christ.
I asked for other fours on a Facebook post, and here's what I got:
The fourth day is the day on which Lazarus, dear friend of Jesus, was raised from the grave.
The fourth day is the day Jewish people believe the soul leaves the body.
There are four cardinal directions: North, South, East, West.
There are four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
There were four rivers coming from the Garden of Eden.
Are there more? Perhaps. But the above convinces me that four is VERY important to God, and when He repeats something so many times, we need to listen.
Depending on which calendar you're following, today 7/12/18 is the last day of the fourth month following the 120th Jubilee, and following the 70th year since Israel's re-birth.
That sounds pretty significant to me.
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