Meaning of Numbers: The Number 911
The possible meaning of the number 911 is derived from events both within the Bible and outside of it.
In the United States, the number 911 is used as a shorthand reference to the events that transpired on its soil on September 11, 2001. It is on this date that terrorists hijacked several planes and carried out a series of attacks that killed 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000 others in America.
One meaning people have derived from 911 is that the events were like an alarm, warning the U.S. to take seriously those who threaten its homeland and wish to undermine its global influence.
Appearances of Number Nine-Hundred Eleven
One reason why 911 seems to resonate with many who witnessed 2001's horrifying acts of terrorism is its link to emergencies. Since 1968, those in the U.S. have been encouraged to dial 911 in the event of an emergency that might require the immediate response of police, fire, ambulance or rescue services. A few other countries, such as Canada and Brazil, have also adopted this short dialing sequence for requesting emergency help.
Surprisingly, the date of September 11 also plays a unique role in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Because of its rich symbolism, it is highly likely Jesus was born on God's annual Feast day known as the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) in 5 B.C. The first full Feast day of his human-based existence, therefore, was the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In the year of his birth, this period of fasting and worshipping God occurred on September 11 (Christian Biblical Church of God calendar program).
The calendar rules used to determine when to celebrate God's annual Feast days makes any of the fall festivals falling on, or including, September 11 (911) quite rare. Christ does not celebrate any annual holy convocation on this date until 15 A.D. when, at the age of nineteen, the day of Atonement again falls on September 11 (Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah, appendix F).
Marking the Righteous
911 has a subtle appearance in the King James Bible. The ninth chapter of Ezekiel has 11 verses.
Ezekiel 9:11 (911) reveals the rather unique way God planned to protect the righteous while he executed his wrath against the house of Judah in Jerusalem.
The prophet Ezekiel, while living in Babylon as a captive (Ezekiel 1:1), is given a vision by God. The vision shows him some of the abominable sins being committed by those still in Jerusalem which includes those who serve at the temple (Ezekiel 8). Such perverse disobedience angers God to the extent that he decides to personally punish his people.
Have you seen, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they do the hateful things which they do here? For they have filled the land with violence and have turned to provoke Me to anger still more (Ezekiel 8:17, HBFV).
Before carrying out his wrath, however, God commands a man dressed in linen (likely an angel, Ezekiel 9:2 - 3) to use a writer's inkhorn to mark the righteous.
And the Lord said to him (the man with a writer's inkhorn), "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst."
The Lord, after the righteous are marked, then commands a group of five men (likely angels) to execute his wrath.
"Go through the city after him, and slaughter. Let not your eye spare, nor have pity. Fully destroy old men, young men and virgins, and little children and women. But do not come near any man on whom is the mark. And begin at My sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 9:5 - 6, HBFV).
Verse 11 of Ezekiel 9 (911), the last verse of the chapter, reveals what happened after God's wrath was carried out.
And behold, the man clothed with linen, with the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, "I have done as You have commanded me."
Number 911 and Prophecy
The only other time any of the fall Feast days (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement or the eight day Feast of Tabernacles) fall on or include September 11 (911), in Jesus' lifetime, is in the monumental year he started in ministry!
In 26 A.D., after the Lord turned thirty (the acceptable year for a priest to enter into God's service, Num. 4:3, 47), he was baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 3:23). His actual ministry, however, did not begin until September 11 (911) of the same year, which is the Day of Atonement ((Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah. pages 25 - 26 and appendix E). It is also the same day the Lord began his forty day fast and the start of Satan the devil's forty days of testing and tempting him in the Judean wilderness.
The Day of Atonement in 26 A.D. was also extra special for another reason. It was the start of the Jubilee year which is announced every fiftieth year, on this Feast day, with a trumpet (Leviticus 25:9). It was a year of rejoicing as, under the Old Covenant, slaves were set free and Israelites rejoiced as land returned to their original owners (see Leviticus 25, 27).
Jesus himself confirmed his ministry began on 911 (September 11) when the Jubilee year stated. In one of his first messages, and the first one given in his hometown of Nazareth after his ministry began, Christ quoted from Isaiah 61.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; for this reason, He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to proclaim pardon to the captives . . . to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18 - 19).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 911
The English phrase "nine hundred and eleven," used for the number 911, is not recorded in the King James Bible.
There are no words in the Bible's original languages that are recorded exactly 911 times.
The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is the fifth of seven annual high Holy (Feast) days. This special high Feast day, the only one in which fasting is required, has occured on September 11 (911) 92 times from 3761 B.C. (the start of the Biblical calendar) to 2024 A.D.
911 is the 156th prime number. Primes that come before it include 883, 887 and 907, and those after it include 919, 929, and 937.
In relation to the number 911, the first place in the prophetic book of Revelation where Satan is linked, by name, to the incredible suffering that will soon come upon the entire earth is the following.
And they have over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the name he has in Greek is Apollyon (Revelation 9:11).
Revelation 9:11 (911) offers a three-fold affirmation regarding the true identity of the "king" who, in the end time, will be allowed to bring manifold trials on those who have rejected God (see Revelation 9:4). The "angel of the abyss," Abaddon, and Apollyon, are all Bible synonyms for God's great adversary the devil (see our article on the various references to Satan).