There are a few numbers that crop up again and again in both the New and the Old Testament. What do they Symbolize?
If you've even casually glanced through the Bible, or remember hearing some Bible stories as a child, or even know some basic information about Bible stories, you might have noticed there are certain numbers that keep popping up. The numbers four, seven, and twelve are very prevalent in both the New and the Old Testament.
What surprises many is that these numbers are also prevalent in other religions and traditions, raising the question: Are they based on religion, that is, are they inspired from heaven, or something even deeper?
The answer is yes to both. But the "heavens" in this case are the celestial heavens. The stars of our galaxy that we are still in the beginning stages of exploring and understanding. Have you ever wondered why they are twelve signs of the zodiac in both western and Asian astrology? And why there are twelve months of the year, and why in the Bible there were Twelve Tribes of Israel, and Twelve Disciples of Jesus?
One answer may lie in astronomy. When primitive man looked up into the heavens, he saw something wonderful that he could only observe and guess about the origins. After a while, one thing became clear. Everything that primitive peoples observed was cyclical, in some way. Day and night. Four seasons. And with the passing of each of the four seasons, they noticed twelve distinct "shapes" in the sky. These constellations became the basis for much of both western and eastern mythology, as well as the calendar that is used in almost every country in the world today.
When scientists try and figure out how things work, they are always looking for the "cause" before the observed "effect." Sometimes it's easy to do; sometimes it takes many years and an incredible amount of research. Unfortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the effect that we have today, namely the ubiquitous number twelve, we can only guess at the cause. And that makes for wonderful mythology and story telling.
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