Meaning of Numbers: The Number 0
Although the word "zero" that represents the number 0 is absent in the 1611 King James translation (KJV), the conceptual meaning behind it is found many times within its pages. The Bible, for example, contains synonymous words for its value such as "none" (358 times), "nothing" (225 times), "empty" (38 times), "nought" (36 times), "void" (24 times) and others.
According to a 2009 Scientific American article entitled "The Origin of Zero," the digit 0 did not begin to take shape until the fifth century A.D. in India. The English word we use to represent it did not come into existence until around 1595 - 1605 A.D. (dictionary.com). It took human societies quite a while to wrap their minds around using 0 as a value as it represented something that was contrary to their daily lives.
". . . the idea of a number (0) that represented nothing was counterintuitive and controversial, raising philosophical as well as mathematical questions. Europe's first mathematics, after all, was concerned mainly with counting and measuring solid objects, and you can't count to nothing" (Easy as Pi).
The First and Greatest Sin!
Vanity has a surprising connection to 0! The Bible clearly states that Lucifer's first sin, the sin that began his spiral into becoming Satan the devil, was vanity.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness . . . (Ezekiel 28:17, HBFV).
How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! . . . For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.' (Isaiah 14:12 - 14, HBFV).
The English word "vanity" in the Old Testament is derived from several Hebrew words. The first is shav (Strong's Concordance #H7723) which means emptiness, falsehood, desolation and uselessness. Another is aven (Strong's #H205) which means iniquity or something coming to naught (0). Other original language words translated as "vanity" include hebel (Strong's #H1892), the Greek word mataiotes (Strong's #G3153) and others which describe something void of (possessing 0) truth.
Lucifer no doubt thought pursuing vanity and what it offered was worthwhile, and that it would lead him to become greater, better, and more powerful than he was. God's view, however, was entirely different. He knew that Lucifer was pursuing what amounted to nothing! His vain ways would never improve his existence. God knew the path his greatest angelic creation chose would take him nowhere (0) and produce nothing (0)!
Evil Promotes Number Zero!
The first Biblical (not chronological) reference to the concept behind the number 0 (nothing or none) was the devil's use of it to tempt mankind to sin! This, of course, makes sense since Lucifer's choice to pursue vanity, prior to this event, had locked him into perfectly pursuing nothing!
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Genesis 3:1, KJV throughout).
Another way of stating the devil's deceptive introduction to Eve is, "Is it true God said you cannot eat of any (zero) of the trees he created?"
God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from ANY tree in the garden except the tree of good and evil (Genesis 2:16 - 17). Out of love, he created a wide variety of tasty foods for the first humans to enjoy. He generously allowed them to eat as much as they wanted from more than 99% of Eden's trees.
The devil, however, who through lust and vanity turned himself into a spiritual black hole, decided to twist the Lord's words in order to bring down man. He subtly asserted that Adam and Eve were offered nothing (zero) for food, implying their Creator was a sadist who commands his creation follow his impossible rules! Their only option, according to the deceiver, was to call God's bluff by eating of the forbidden fruit and becoming just like him.
God's Rule and Number 0
The authority of the Bible over all humans is based on the assertion that the Godhead, composed of God the Father and Jesus Christ, are the only true Deities in the universe (see Isaiah 44:24 - 28). Everything that exists in the physical universe and the spiritual realm (e.g. angels) were made by the Father through Christ (John 1:1 - 3). All other gods either are a creation of mankind's imagination or are inspired by demonic powers who seek to exploit and destroy humanity.
In an interesting set of verses, Isaiah 44:6 to 45:22, the Lord proclaims eight times that he alone, and no (0) others are God.
Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no (zero) God . . . Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me . . . That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none (nothing or zero) else.
. . . Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God . . . I am the Lord; and there is none else.
. . . and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none (nothing or 0) else (Isaiah 44:6, 8, 45:5 - 6, 14, 18, 21 - 22).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 0
We humans can never truly guarantee that something we want to happen will take place. Even if what we want to happen takes place, we cannot 100% insure we will receive the outcome we desire. God, on the other hand, always accomplishes what he sets out to do. When His will is carried out, it never returns empty (has 0 effects).
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (producing no or 0 effects), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).