Meaning of Numbers: The Number 7
The English word "seven" for the number 7 appears 463 times in 391 King James Bible verses. 372 of its appearances show up in the Old Testament while 91 of them are written in the New Testament. Genesis, in the Old Testament, records the word the most (54 times) followed by the books of Leviticus and Numbers (46 each). The books of Revelation (54 times) then Matthew (10) use it the most in the New.
Did Job suffer due to self-righteousness?
If we include other variations of the word for 7, such as "sevens" (2 times), "seventh" (120 times) and "sevenfold" (6), it brings our total up to 591 Biblical uses.
The number 7 is the foundation of God's word. It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to creation and symbolizes completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual).
The word "created" is used 7 times to describe God's creative work (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27, 2:3 - 4). There are 7 days in a week and God's Sabbath is on the seventh day.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:2 - 3, KJV).
Appearances of the Number Seven
There are at least seven men in the Old Testament who are labeled "a man of God." They are Moses (Joshua 14:6), David (2Chronicles 8:14), Samuel (1Samuel 9:6, 14), Shemaiah (1Kings 12:22), Elijah (1Kings 17:18), Elisha (2Kings 5:8) and Igdaliah (Jeremiah 35:4).
In the book of Hebrews, written by the Apostle Paul, he uses 7 titles to refer to Christ. The titles are "Heir of all things" (Hebrews 1:2), "Captain of our salvation" (2:10), "Apostle" (3:1), "Author of salvation" (5:9), "Forerunner" (6:20), "High Priest" (10:21) and the "Author and finisher of our faith" (12:2).
Matthew 13 is unique in that Jesus gives 7 parables within only 47 verses! These are the parables of the Sower and seed (verses 3 - 9), the tares (24 - 30), the mustard seed (31 - 32), leaven (33), hidden treasure (44), pearl of great price (45 - 46) and the dragnet (47 - 50).
In the book of Revelation there are 7 churches as well as the same number of angels overseeing them. The book also contains seven seals, trumpet plagues, thunders, and the last plagues to come up the earth. The first resurrection of the dead takes place at the seventh trumpet which completes the salvation of the Church.
The 7 spirits of God are mentioned only four times, all of which occur in the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6).
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne (Revelation 1:4, KJV).
The seven churches of Apostle Paul are groups of Gentile converts he wrote to in the first century A.D. These assemblies, composed of home fellowships, were located in the cities of Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi, Colosse, Ephesus and the Roman Province of Galatia.
Number Seven and Miracles
Jesus performed 7 miracles on God's holy Sabbath Day, thus affirming its continued sacredness to the Eternal and necessity in the life of the believer.
1) Jesus healed the withered hand of a man attending synagogue services (Matthew 12:9).
2) At a Capernaum synagogue he casts out an unclean spirit that possessed a man (Mark 1:21).
3) Right after the above miracle Jesus heals Peter's wife's mother of a fever (Mark 1:29).
4) A woman attending synagogue, who was made sick by a demon for eighteen years, is released from her bondage (Luke 13:11).
5) At a Pharisee's house eating a meal with the host and several lawyers, Jesus heals a man with dropsy (Luke 14:2).
6) A man who is disabled and unable to walk is healed at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:8 - 9).
7) Jesus heals a man born blind at the pool of Siloam (John 9:14).
Noah's Ark
Noah and his family enter the ark on the tenth day of the second month (Iyar 10). Seven days after entering the ark, on the seventeenth day (Iyar 17), it began to rain both day and night (Genesis 7:4, 10 - 11). This constant rain continued for forty days (verses 4, 12). After 150 days total (Genesis 8:3) Noah's ark finally rested on Mount Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Tishri 17).
And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:3 - 4, KJV).
The "mountains of Ararat," on which the ark rested, are located in the eastern part of modern-day Turkey. These mountains are composed of two primary peaks. The one called "Greater Ararat" has a present elevation of 5,137 meters (16,854 feet) while the other, called "Little Ararat," is 3,896 meters (12,782 feet) high.
Biblical History and Seven
According to Jewish tradition, the creation of Adam occurred on September 26, 3760 B.C. (Tishri 1 or the Feast of Trumpets, which is the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew sacred year).
King Solomon began the work of building Jerusalem's magnificent temple in the fourth year of his reign. He finished it in the eleventh year of his reign, seven years after he begun.
In the fourth year, in the month Zif, the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished according to all its parts, and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it. (1Kings 6:37 - 38, KJV).
Wednesday March 29 in 30 A.D. (Nisan 7 on the Hebrew calendar) began the last week of Jesus' life. This is the day when Jesus traveled to Bethany to have dinner at Lazarus' house (the same man he resurrected from the dead, John 12:1 - 11). During the meal Mary, Lazarus' sister, anointed the Lord's feet with expensive ointment.
The Seventh Foundation
The seventh wall foundation stone to be used by God to build the New Jerusalem will be chrysolite.
The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. (Revelation 21:19 - 20, NASB).
Parables
Chronologically, the seventh parable Jesus gave during his ministry is the parable of the friends of the bridegroom. He gave it in the early part of 28 A.D.
And Jesus said to them, "Are the children of the bridechamber able to mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast." (Matthew 9:15, with parallel accounts in Mark 2:19 - 20 and Luke 5:34 - 35).
Seven Prophetic New Things
The book of Revelation lists seven new things that will take place after the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. They are the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1 - 2), new peoples (verses 3 - 8), the new Jerusalem (verses 9 - 21), the new temple (verse 22), the new light (verses 23 - 27) and finally a new paradise with its water of life (22:1 - 7).
Books and Chapters
The Bible, when it was originally canonized, was divided into seven major divisions. They are the Law, the Prophets, the Writings (Psalms), the Gospels and Acts, the general epistles, the epistles of the Apostle Paul and lastly the book of Revelation. The total number of originally inspired books was forty-nine, or 7 x 7, showing the absolute perfection of the Word of God.
The New Testament's seven general epistles are James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude.
Numbers 7, with its 89 verses, is the second largest single chapter in God's word! The biggest is Psalm 119 with a whopping 176 verses.
The book of the minor prophet Micah contains seven chapters. The only chapters in God's word to contain 7 verses are Psalm 11, 14, 54, 67, 87, 110, 120, 142, Isaiah 18 and Jeremiah 47.
Seven Psalms are ascribed to David in the New Testament (Psalm 2, 16, 32, 41, 69, 95 and 109).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 7
A list known as the seven deadly sins was likely created by the Catholic Church around the 4th century A.D. This list was not meant to showcase the worse sins humans can commit. It was meant, however, to highlight those attitudes ancient Catholics considered were the starting points that led to greater disobedience.
The 7 deadly sinful attitudes, according to Catholics, are wrath, greed, lust, pride, envy, sloth and gluttony. It should be noted that the Bible has no such list in a single place. Scripture, however, does provide at least two lists of behaviors that, if not repented of, will lead to a person not receiving eternal life (1Corinthians 6:9 - 10, Galatians 5:19 - 21)!
There are seven annual Holy Days (holy periods) in the Bible. They are Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread (7 days), Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpet, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles (7 days) and the Last Great Day. This cycle begins in the first month of the Hebrew calendar's sacred year and completes in its seventh month.
Jerusalem, historically, was a city believed to be built on 7 hills. These hills are Mount Scopus, Olivet, Corruption, Ophel, the original Mount Zion, the new Mount Zion, and the hill on which the Antonia Fortress was built. Jerusalem, however, hardly holds this title alone. Cities such as Rome, Babylon, Moscow, Mecca and many others, including at least 19 in America, also claim this distinction.
Jewish Rabbinic literature (The Talmudic Tractate Chagigah 12 b) teaches there are 7 heavens. These levels of heaven are called Vdon, Riqia, Shechaqim, Zebhul, Maon, Machon and Araboth.
The Hebrew word gophriyth, Strong's Concordance #H1614, occurs seven times in seven Hebrew Old Testament verses. The word, translated in the King James as "brimstone," refers to a cypress resin or sulfur. Brimstone, which is flammable, was used by God to cleanse the land of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah which indulged in gross sins and violence.
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone (gophriyth) and fire, from the Lord out of heaven. And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground (Genesis 19:24 - 25, HBFV).
The first time the English word "seven" appears in the King James Translation is in verse 7 of Genesis 5.
Seven is the fourth prime number. Primes are greater than one and only divisible by one and themselves. The primes before and after it are 2, 3, 5 and 11, 13, 17 and 19.