In our last posting we began to examine the perfect symmetry between the Bible and creation… between the written word of God (Bible) and the spoken word of God (creation/nature). This theme is deeply hidden within the intentional complexities of all divine communication in order to prevent the naturally self-worshipping nature of mankind from witnessing that level of divine glory. The only way to witness a greater measure of the intentionally veiled glory of the Creator is to surrender the arrogance we are born with and society passionately nurtures. The intentional complexity of all divine communication is intended to repel the self-absorbed, casual observer … or humble us, painfully stripping away the defensive outer layers of our own presumed significance (scripturally defined as ‘circumcising the heart’ … Romans 2:29, etc).
Referencing nature (the spoken word of God) we determined that the element carbon, with its numerical identification of six, is the scientific icon for mortal life in virtually all forms. Referencing the Bible (the written word of God) we determined that the element oxygen, with its scientifically numerical identification of eight, is the appointed icon of immortal life. Now let’s ping-pong back and forth between the written word of God (Bible) and the spoken word of God (creation/nature) to see the carefully veiled but unmistakable symmetry between both avenues of divine expression in relation to this pattern.
Ever since the failure in the Garden of Eden when the curse of sin and death was introduced into what had previously been defined by the Creator as a “very good” creation, the number six has been consistently associated throughout the Bible with all the features of that curse: death, hard work, disease, pain, sorrow and subjugation. This curse was inflicted due to the defilement of creation by Adam and Eve’s sin, as clearly recorded in the Bible (Genesis 3). The subtle applications of this pattern parade through the Bible. However, blogs cannot be exhaustive. Let’s go straight to the bold-as-sin example of the 6/sin-&-death relationship in Revelation 13 where we find the prophecy of the Antichrist. This office is numerically identified by triple sixes: 666. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (verse 18). Triples sixes serve as the numerical identification of the ultimate in sinful behavior and philosophy. Death was introduced because of sin. If there were no sin, there would be no death. We are specifically told that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This triple six association with extreme evil has been a consistent feature of fiction and film. It is universally recognized.
Interestingly, just as there is a numerical identification for the man of sin (666) there is also a numerical identification for the man of righteousness. Just as the Antichrist is identified by 666, so Christ is identified by 888. This too, is quite simple and scientifically unquestionable. We can consult the science of Gematria for this clear relationship. The New Testament of the Bible was originally written in Greek. In the Greek language (as well as Hebrew) the letters of the alphabet also served as the numerical system. The first letter of the alphabet (alpha for Greek) also served as their digit indicating one. The entire Greek alphabet was assigned corresponding numbers. In English our numbers are separate from our alphabet, but this was not the case for the Greek or Hebrew alphabets. We may be familiar with Roman numerals where there were originally six letters that also constituted their entire numerical system: I=one; V=five; X=ten; L=fifty; C=one hundred; and D=five hundred… interestingly adding up to 666. But that is another story.
The original Greek spelling for the name of Jesus contains 6 letters that add up to 888: Iesous. Here are the letters and their numerical equivalents: Iota=10; eta=8; sigma=200; omicron=70; upsilon=400 and sigma=200. These all add up to exactly 888 for the six letters in the Greek name of Jesus. These are simple, basic facts that can be verified by anyone that has the capacity to read and has access to a library or the internet. Golly, what a coincidence! … and without massively stretching our imagination as we have to do with the incredibly presumptuous self-worshipping religion of evolution.
The element in nature/creation that exclusively identifies dying life (mortality) is carbon, numerically identified by the number 6 on the universal Chart of the elements. The element in nature that identifies immortal life (by referencing the eternal word of God – the Bible) is oxygen… numerically identified by the number 8 according to the same scientific criteria. This was established in our previous blog posting. These scientifically derived numerical identifications for the two categories of life (mortal and immortal) at the beginning of creation are repeatedly projected in mirrored fashion between both the written word of the Creator (Bible) and the spoken word of the Creator (creation/nature). Doesn’t the whole world understand the phrase “six feet under” to represent the dead and buried?! Just as society associates the number six with the reality of death so the Bible associates six with the judgment of death due to the presence of sin in the world. Noah was exactly 600 years old when the frozen waters above the firmament (Genesis 1:6) collapsed over the course of 40 days and nights, depressing Earth’s continents into the magma they float upon, depressed by the sheer weight of the 4,000 pounds per square inch of pressure created by the crumbled frozen waters originally placed above the firmament. We are told to think of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the same context as the divine judgment upon the world in the day s of Noah. In fact, two of the records of the vision of the coming Kingdom that Jesus offered to three of his disciples was described as arriving a full six days following the promise that some of his disciples would not die before they saw the Kingdom of God come with power (Matthew 16:28-17:1; Mark 9:1-2).
Another feature of the curse of sin and death was the exaggerated difficulty of ‘making a living.’ Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Genesis 3:17-19). Agricultural productivity was dramatically reduced due to the curse inflicted upon all of creation due to Adam & Eve’s sin. Sweat, indicating difficulty and frustration, was introduced into the terms of nature (creation) due to the defilement of a “very good” creation by sin…. Like a global bacterial infection. This feature of the curse of sin and death is also punctuated by the number six. Divine law during the initial Kingdom of God, dictated to Moses at Mt Sinai, required six days of labor and one day of rest (Saturday). This was the law of the Sabbath, the fourth of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). Six days of hard labor is another of the many, many subtle confirmations of the relationship between the number six and the curse of sin and death… seen in both the features of society & nature as well as the Bible.
In the next blog posting we will see how Jesus in particular is subtly bound throughout scripture to both the number six and the number eight. He is the exclusive avenue of salvation, delivering us from the curse of sin and death to the blessing of glorious immortality, from 6 to 8. Jesus is identified by both the six and the eight. The six letters in his Greek name adding up to 888 is just the beginning of this 6/8 pattern that can be bound to him throughout the Bible and nature.