Numbers in Creation
How were numbers used to design the UNIVERSE?

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?  Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" (Isaiah 40:12, NKJV throughout unless stated)

"The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them." (Psalm 111:2)

There can be neither works nor words without numbers. We can understand how man can act and speak without design or significance, but we cannot imagine that the great Creator could either work or speak without both His words and His works being absolutely perfect in every way. "As for God, His way is perfect" (Psalm 18:30). "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;" (Psalm 19:7). God's words and work are both perfect in power, perfect in holiness and righteousness, perfect in design, perfect in execution, perfect in their object and end, and, may we not say, perfect in number.

Galaxies form the shape of a ROSE! *

"I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands." (Psalm 143:5).

Are the laws governing the universe ENFORCED?

In all the works of God we find not only laws and a law maker but also a law enforcer. We speak of laws, but they are nothing in themselves. They have no being; they possess no power; they cannot make themselves, or carry themselves out. What we mean when we speak of law in nature is simply this: God in action; God not merely giving or making laws, but carrying them out and enforcing them.

As He is perfect, so His works and His words also must be perfect. And when we see numbers used not by chance, but by design; not at haphazard, but with significance; then we see not merely so many works and words, but the Living God working and speaking.

In this first section we will confine our thoughts to design as it is seen in the works of God; and in the second, as it is seen in the Word of God. When we see the same design in each; the same laws at work; the same mysterious principles being carried out in each, the conviction is overwhelming that we have the same great Designer, the same Author; and we see the same Hand, the same seal stamped on all His works, and the same signature or autograph, as it were, upon every page of His Word. And that, not an autograph which may be torn off or obliterated, but indelible, like the water-mark in the paper; so impressed upon and interwoven with it that no power on earth can blot it out.

How were numbers used to design the HEAVENS?

In the heavens we see numbers displayed in a remarkable manner. For example, there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, each with three constellations, making 36 in all, which together with the 12 signs make a total of 48. There must be a reason, therefore, why the number 12 should thus pervade the heavens. Why should 12 be the predominating factor? Why should it not be the number 11, or 13, or 7, or 20?

Because 12 is one of the four perfect numbers, the number of governmental perfection; hence it is associated with the rule of the heavens, for the sun is given "to rule the day," and the moon "to govern the night." The significance of this, however, must be deferred till we come to consider the number "twelve" under this head. It is enough for us now to notice the fact here, upon the threshold of our subject, that we have one common measure, or factor, which is seen in the 12 signs of the Zodiac, the 36 (3x12) constellations, the total 48 (4x12); the 360 (12x30) degrees, into which the great circle of the heavens is divided. No one can tell us why the number of degrees was first fixed at 360. It has come down to us from ancient times, and is used universally without a question. And it is this division of the Zodiac which gives us the 12 months of the Zodiacal year. This is called also the Prophetic year, for it is the year which is used in the prophecies of the Bible.

Here, then, is an example of number as it is used in the heavens. Twelve is the pervading factor.

How were numbers used to design CHRONOLOGY?

It is not necessary to go into the intricacies of this vast part of our subject. Notwithstanding the fact that God gave to man these heavenly time-keepers, he has so misused the gift (as he has every other gift which God has ever given him) that he cannot tell you now what year it really is! No subject is in more hopeless confusion, made worse by those who desire the dates to fit in with their theories of numbers, instead of with the facts of history.

We shall, therefore, avoid man's use of numbers. Our only concern in this work is with God's use of them. Here we shall find both design and significance. Here, therefore, we shall find that which is certain and full of interest.

What was the FIRST natural division of TIME?

The first natural division of time is a DAY and this day is stamped by the number seven:

"Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the SEVENTH DAY God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the SEVENTH DAY from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the SEVENTH DAY and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3, NKJV)

When He ordained rest for Israel, which should show forth His work of Redemption, the number seven is again stamped upon it in all its times and seasons. The seventh day was the holy day; the seventh month was specially hallowed by its number of sacred festivals; the seventh year was the Sabbath year of rest for the land: while 7 x 7 years marked the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:4,8).

Thirty jubilees bring us from the Exodus to the opening of Christ's ministry. Jesus began His ministry by preaching a seven-fold prophetic "jubilee" message:

"So He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.  TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.'

"Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.' " (Luke 4:16-21)

The great symbolical divisions of Israel's history, or rather of the times of God's dealings with them, are marked by the same number; and if we confine ourselves to duration of years rather than to the succession of years and chronological dates; with καιρος (kairos), season, a definitely limited portion of time, rather than with χρονος (chronos), time, the course of time in general* (hence our word "chronology"), — we shall have no difficulty.

* In modern Greek καιρος has come to mean weather, and χρονος ,  year, thus preserving the essential distinction between the two words.

What are the FOUR DISTINCT PERIODS that God dealt with ancient Israel?

God's relationship with His people have to do with actual durations of time rather than with specific dates. God's dealings with ancient Israel are divided into four distinct periods that are 490 (70 times 7) years each in length:

1. From the birth of Abraham to the children of Israel's exodus out of Egypt.

2. From the Exodus to the foundation of Jerusalem's Temple.

3. From the Dedication of the Temple to Nehemiah's return to rebuild Jerusalem.

4. From Nehemiah's return to rebuild Jerusalem to the Second Coming of Jesus.

It is clear that these are periods of duration having regard only to Israel, and to Jehovah's immediate dealings with them. For in each one there is a period of time during which He was not immediately governing them, but in which His hand was removed, and His people were without visible tokens of His presence with them.

PERIOD 1 of God's relationship with Israel
From the birth of Abraham to the children of Israel's exodus out of Egypt

Notes on Period 1

Abraham was 75 years old when the promise (Genesis 12:4) was made to him. The Law was given 430 years after (Exodus 12:40; Galatians 3:17). But 430 and 75 make 505 years, or 15 years over the 490. How are we to account for this gap of 15 years as forming part of the 505 years? The answer is that at Abraham's departure into Canaan (12:4) he was 75 years old, Ishmael was born 10 years after (16:3), therefore Abraham was 85 years old at Ishmael's birth. But he was 100 years old when Isaac was born (21:5). Therefore it follows that there were 15 years (100 minus 85=15) during which Ishmael was occupying and usurping the place of the "promised seed"; and 15 from 505 leaves 490. Here then we have the first of the seventy-seven of years, and the first "gap" of 15 years.

PERIOD 2 of God's relationship with Israel
From the Exodus to the foundation of Jerusalem's Temple, according to Acts 13

"Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, 'Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about FORTY YEARS He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.

"'After that He gave them judges for about FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for FORTY YEARS . . . ' " (Acts 13:16-21, NKJV)

But from the above total we must deduct the years of captivity under:

Notes on Period 2

The actual number of years was 573, according to Acts 13:20. But 1Kings 6 says:

"And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord." (1Kings 6:1, NKJV)

Therefore commentators immediately conclude that the book is wrong. It never seems to dawn on them that they can be wrong. But they are, because the number is ordinal, not cardinal, and it does not say four hundred and eighty years, but "eightieth year." The 480th from or of what? Of the duration of God's dealings with His people, deducting the 93 years while He had "sold them" into the hands of others. Thus there is no discrepancy between 1Kings 6:1 and Acts 13:20. In the book of Acts the actual number of years is stated in a cardinal number; while in the Kings a certain reckoning is made in an ordinal number, and a certain year in the order of God's dealings with His people is named. And yet by some, the inspiration of Acts 13:20 is impugned, and various shifts are resorted to, to make it what man thinks to be correct.

In regard to the 40 years of oppression under the Philistines: The 18 years of Ammonite harassment mentioned in Judges 10:8 were part of a joint 40 years' oppression - on one side of the Jordan river Israel was oppressed by the Philistines, and on the other side of the river they were oppressed by the Ammonites.

In regard to the addition of 3 years for the furnishing of the temple and ending all work: In 1Kings 8:2 the temple was dedicated in the seventh month, though it was finished in the eighth month. Therefore it could not have been the same year; and it may well have required three years for the completion of all the interior work described in 1Kings 7:13-51.

PERIOD 3 of God's relationship with Israel
From the Dedication of the Temple to Nehemiah's return to rebuild Jerusalem

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks . . . And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; . . . Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week . . ." (Daniel 9:25-27)

How were numbers used to design NATURE?

We see the same law at work in various areas of nature. Sometimes one number is the dominant factor, sometimes another. In nature the number seven is found to mark the only possible mode of classification of the mass of individuals which constitutes the special department called science. We give the seven divisions, with one example from the animal kingdom (dog) and one from the vegetable kingdom (rose):

How were numbers used to design the VEGETABLE KINGDOM?

Here all is law and order. Number comes in, in many cases determining various classifications. In the Endogens (or inside-growing plants) three is a prevailing number; while in Exogens (or outside-growing plants) five is a prevailing number.

The grains in Indian corn, or maize, are set in rows, generally straight, but in some cases spirally. These rows are always arranged in an even number. Never odd! They range from 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and sometimes as high as 24. But never in 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, or any odd number of rows. The even number is permanent. Mr. H. L. Hastings tells of one farmer who looked for 27 years and could not find a "cob" with an odd number of rows. A slave was once offered his freedom if he found a corn-cob with an odd number, and one day he found one! But he had found it also some time before, when it was young; carefully cut out one row, and bound it up, so that the parts grew together as the corn-cob developed, and finally presented the phenomenon of having an odd number of rows. This exception proves the rule in an interesting manner.

If we notice how the leaves grow upon the stem of a plant, not only is law seen in classifying their nature and character, but number is observed in their arrangement and disposition. Some are placed alternately, some opposite, while others are arranged spirally. But in each case all is in perfect order. After a certain number of leaves one will come immediately over and in the same line with the first:

• In the apple it is the fifth leaf,

• In the oak it is the fourth,

• In the peach, etc., it is the sixth,

• In the holly, etc., it is the eighth; but it takes two turns of the spiral before the eighth leaf stands immediately over the first.

• In the larch it is the twenty-first leaf; but it is not until after eight turns of the spiral that the twenty-first leaf stands directly over the first.

Examples might be multiplied indefinitely were design in nature our only subject. We are anxious to search the Word of God, and therefore can touch merely the surface of His works, but sufficiently to illustrate the working of Law and the presence of the Law enforcer.

What are the 7 AGES of MAN?

Physiology, which is the study of the functions and activities of living organisms, offers a vast field for illustration, but here again the influence of the number seven is seen. The Bible states about man's life span "The days of our lives are seventy years;" (Psalm 90:10), which is 7 x 10. In seven years the whole structure of his body changes.

According to Philo, there are seven Greek words used to describe the seven ages of man:

1. Infancy (παιδιον, paidion, child).

2. Childhood (παις, pais, boy).

3. Youth (µειρακιον, meirakion, lad, stripling).

4. Adolescence (νεανισκος, neaniskos, young man).

5. Manhood (ανηρ, aner, man).

6. Decline (πρεσβυτης, presbutes, old man).

7. Senility (γερων, geron, aged man). 

How is gestation and the number seven related?

The various periods of gestation also are commonly a multiple of seven, either of days or weeks.

With insects the ova are hatched from seven half-days (as the wasp, bee, etc.); while with others it is seven whole days. The majority of insects require from 14 (2x7) to 42 (6x7) days; the same applies to the larva state.

With animals the period of gestation is:

• The mouse is 21 (3x7) days.
• The hare and rat, 28 (4x7) days.
• The cat, 56 (8x7) days.
• The dog, 63 (9x7) days.
• The lion, 98 (14x7) days.
• The sheep, 147 (21x7) days.

With birds, the period of gestation is:

• The common hen is 21 (3x7) days.
• The duck, 42 (6x7) days.

The gestation period of humans is about 40 weeks, or 280 days (40x7).

Moreover, man appears to be on what we may call a seven day cycle. In various diseases the seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-first are critical days; and in others seven or 14 half-days. Man's pulse beats on the seven day principle. For six days out of the seven our pulse beats faster in the morning than in the evening, while on the seventh day it beats slower.

Thus the number seven is stamped upon physiology, and he is thus admonished, as man, to rest on God's seventh-day Sabbath. He cannot violate this law with impunity, for it is interwoven with his very being. He may say "I will rest when I please," — one day in ten, or irregularly, or not at all. He might as well say of his eight-day clock, "It is mine, and I will wind it up when I please." Unless he wound it at least once in eight days, according to the principle on which it was made, it would be worthless as a clock. So with man's body. If he rests not according to the Divine law, he will, sooner or later, be compelled to "keep his sabbaths," and the rest which he would not take at regular intervals, at God's command, he has to take at the command of man all at once! Even in this case God gives him more rest than he can get for himself; for God would have him take 52 days' rest in the year, and the few days' "change" he is able to get for himself is a poor substitute for this. It is like all man's attempts to improve on God's way.

How were numbers used to design CHEMISTRY?

Here we are met with a field of research in which constant discoveries are being made. Chemistry is worthy of the name Science. Here are no theories and hypotheses, which deprive other so-called sciences of all title to the name. Science is Scientia, knowledge, that which we know, and what we know is truth which can never alter. Chemistry, for example, is not like geology, whose old theories are constantly being superseded by new ones. If we know the action of a certain substance, then our knowledge never changes. But side by side with this unchangeable truth there is the constant discovery of new truths.

All matter is made up of certain combinations of various elements. Elements are one of a class of substances that cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical means. Some elements have been known from the most ancient times, while others have been recently discovered.

The law by which the elements are arranged may seen complex but there is design behind it.

1. All the elements, when magnetized, fall into two classes. One class immediately ranges itself east and west, at right angles to the line of magnetic force (which is north and south), and is hence called Diamagnetic (i.e. through or across the magnet); while the other immediately ranges itself by the side of and parallel to the magnetic pole (i.e. north and south), and is called Paramagnetic (i.e. by the side of the magnet).

2. Further, it is observed that these elements have other properties. Some combine with only one atom of another element, and are called Monads; some combine with only two atoms of another element, and are called Dyads; some combine with only three, and are called Triads: while those that combine with four are called Tetrads, etc.

Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements

3. Some of the most important elements are a multiple of either the numbers 4 or 7 (or very closely so). The atomic weight of iron (Chemical symbol: Fe) is 56 (7x2³), silver's weight (Chemical symbol: Ag) is about 108 (4x27, or 2²x3³), copper's weight (Chemical symbol: Cu) is around 63 (7x9), carbon's weight (Chemical symbol: C) is 12 (3x4), mercury's weight (Chemical symbol: Hg) is 200 (4x50), bismuth's weight (Chemical symbol: Bi) is about 208 (4x52), etc.*

   * Where the others are not exact multiples of these numbers, they are so nearly exact that the slight uncertainty in the accepted weights might account for some of the differences.

The elements of matter are all arranged according to number and law. The elements, when arranged according to the weights and properties which God has given to them, are found to fall in order.

How were numbers used to design SOUND and MUSIC?

Sound is the impression produced on the ear by the vibrations of air. The pitch of the musical note is higher or lower according as these vibrations are faster or slower. When they are too slow, or not sufficiently regular and continuous to make a musical sound, we call it noise.

Experiments have long been completed which fix the number of vibrations for each musical note; by which, of course, we may easily calculate the difference between the number of vibrations between each note.

These were finally settled at Stuttgart in 1834. They were adopted by the Paris Conservatoire in 1859, but it was not until 1869 that they were adopted in England by the Society of Arts. The following is the scale of Do showing the number of vibrations in a second under each note and the differences between them:

In the upper row of figures, those immediately under each note are the number of vibrations producing such note. The figures in parenthesis, between these numbers, show the difference between these vibrations. The figures in the lower line are merely the factors of the respective numbers.

On examining the above it will be at once seen that the number eleven is stamped upon music; and we may say seven also, for there are seven notes of the scale (the eighth being the repetition of the first).

The number of vibrations in a second, for each note, is a multiple of eleven, and the difference in the number of vibrations between each note is also a multiple of eleven. These differences are not always the same. We speak of tones and semitones, as though all tones were alike, and all semitones were alike; but this is not the case. The difference between the semitone Mi and Fa is 22; while between the other semitone, Si and Do, it is 33. So with the tones: the difference between the tone Do and Re, for example, is 33; while between Fa and Sol it is 44; between Sol and La it is 44; and between La and Si it is 55.

Ut queant laxis
Re-sonare fibris
Mi-ra gestorum
Fa-muli tuorum
Sol-ve polluti
La-bii reatum
Sancto Iohannes

By degrees these syllables became associated and identified with their respective notes, and as each syllable ended with a vowel they were found to be peculiarly adapted for vocal use. Hence Ut was artificially replaced by "Do." Guido of Arezzo was the first to adopt them in the 11th century, and Le Maire, a French musician of the 17th century, added "Si" for the seventh note of the scale, in order to complete the series. It might have been formed from the initial letters of the two words in this line, S and I

The ear can detect and convey these vibrations to the brain only within certain limits. Each ear has within it a minute organ, like a little harp, with about ten thousand strings. These organs were discovered by an Italian named Corti, and hence have been named "the organs of Corti." When a sound is made, the corresponding string of this little harp vibrates in sympathy, and conveys the impression to the brain. The immense number of these little strings provides for the conveyance of every conceivable sound within certain limits. In the scale, as we have seen, there is a range of 264 vibrations. There is a difference between each one, so that there are practically 264 notes in the scale, but the ear cannot detect them. The ear of a skilled violinist can detect many more than an ordinary untrained ear. The mechanical action of a pianoforte can record only twelve of these notes. The violin can be made to produce a much larger number, and is therefore more perfect as an instrument, but not equal in this respect to the human voice. The wonderful mechanism of the human voice, being created by God, far excels every instrument that man can make.

There are vibrations which the ear cannot detect, so slow as to make no audible sound, but there are contrivances by which they can be made visible to the eye. When sand is thrown upon a thin metal disc, to which a chord is attached and caused to vibrate, the sand will immediately arrange itself in a perfect geometrical pattern. The pattern will vary with the number of the vibrations. These are called "Chladni's figures." Moist plaster on glass or moist water-color on rigid surfaces will vibrate at the sound, say, of the human voice, or of a cornet, and will assume forms of various kinds — geometrical, vegetable and floral; some resembling ferns, others resembling leaves and shells, according to the pitch of the note.

Even the organs of Corti are limited in their perception, notwithstanding the many thousands of minute vibrating chords. When these organs are perfect or well formed there is what is called "an ear for music." But in many cases there is "no ear for music." This means that these organs are defective, not fully developed, or malformed, in the case of such persons; and that the sounds are not accurately conveyed to the brain.

There is a solemn and important truth therefore in the words, "He who planted the ear . . ."! (Psalm 94:9). What wondrous planting!

Not every one has this peculiar (musical) "ear." And no one has by nature that ear which can distinguish the things of God. The spiritual ear is the direct gift and planting of God. Hence it is written, "He that has an ear," i.e., only he that hath that divinely-planted, God-given ear can hear the things of the Spirit of God. "An ear to hear" those spiritual things is a far greater reality, and an infinitely greater gift, than an ear for music! Oh wondrous ear! It is the Lord that gives "The hearing ear and the seeing eye" (Proverbs 20:12). God "awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear" (Isaiah 50:4); It is the Lord that opens the ear (Isaiah 50:5). The natural ear does not hear spiritual sounds; it cannot discern them (Isaiah 64:4 and 1Corinthians 2:9). Thus nature and grace illustrate each other, and reveal the great fact that there is a secret ear, more delicate than any "organs of Corti," that can detect sounds invisible as well as inaudible to the senses.

How were numbers used to design and create COLORS?

One more step brings us to color, which is caused by the vibrations of light, as sound is caused by the vibrations of air. There is a relation between the two, so that a particular color corresponds to a particular note in music.

Hence there are seven colors answering to the seven musical sounds, and it is found that sounds which harmonize, correspond with colors that harmonize. While discords in color correspond with discords in music.

The seven, both in music and color, are divided into three and four. Three primary colors and four secondary, from which all others proceed, answer to the three primary sounds called the Tri-chord, or common chord, and four secondary.

The subject is too abstruse to enlarge further upon here. Sufficient has been said to show that in the works of God all is perfect harmony, order and symmetry, both in number and design; and one corresponds with the other in a real and wonderful manner.

The one great question now is, May we not expect to find the same phenomena in that greatest of all God's works, viz., His Word? If not the greatest in some senses, yet it is the greatest in its importance to us. For if we find in it the same corresponding perfection in design, then we see throughout the whole of it the same mysterious autograph. And its truths, and promises, and precepts come to us with increased solemnity and power; for the words of the book say with the stars of heaven "The hand that made us is divine."

Numbers in Creation