by Terry 31 Replies latest watchtower bible
Further "all 'bits' on"
What does that mean?
11?
All bits as in pieces of a whole?
All bits as in the part of a bridle that goes in a horses mouth?
All bits as in past tense of bite?
All bits as in drill bits?
All bits as in a small quantity in general?
All bits as in a short theatrical performance?
All bits as in anything that restrains?
The ridiculous idea that numbers "hidden" in words implied mystical meaning (divinely implied) DESTROYED the rational thinking
of early Bible scholars at the birth of Christianity filling their thinking with magical concepts and confusing their hermeneutics.
False premise=false conclusion, in other words.
Let's look at the early church fathers and the impact numerology and gematria had on their thinking, analysis, doctrinal understanding.
In the early years (pre-Constantine) and post Nicene era many commentaries by early Church Fathers extensively considered numerology and gematria as a basis for scripture exegesis.
They were a bit conflicted, to say the least! On the one hand, early christians did not want to be like the Babylonians, Pythagoreans or Gnostics.
But, on the other hand, Rabbinical tradition suggested gematria was a way for Jehovah to hide mysteries in the text which only the wise and discerning reader might unlock.
Consequently, the church fathers condemned a solely numeric basis for philosophy but were open to a spiritual text+numeric scheme if prayer and a pious attitude were combined!
Even so, they almost unanimously regarded the numbers of Holy Writ as full of mystical meaning, and they considered the interpretation of these mystical meanings as an important branch of interpretation called exegesis.
1.Ireneaus spent considerable time in his writings divining the meaning of Jesus name numerically as to its signficance. His examination of the so-called "number of the Beast" led him to employ gematria to unravel the identity of said personality.
2. Ambrose accepted that the number seven was a good and lucky number because Sunday was the 7th day of the week.
"The number seven is good, but we do not explain it after the doctrine of Pythagoras and the other philosophers, but rather according to the manifestation and division of the grace of the Spirit; for the prophet Isaias has enumerated the principal gifts of the Holy Spirit as seven" (Letter to Horontianus)
3. Augustine clearly accepted gematria and numerology as being one of several methods a faithful believer might employ to discover hidden and mysterious meaning in scripture. In commenting on the views of a Donatist named Tychonia (who believed numerology and gematria revealed all hidden mystery) Augustine replied:
"if Tichonius had said that these mystical rules open out some of the hidden recesses of the law, instead of saying that they reveal all the mysteries of the law, he would have spoken truth".
It was simply a "given" that gematria was an iron-clad necessary method of exploring hidden truth.
Influenced mainly by Biblical precepts, the Fathers down to the time of Bede and even later gave much attention to the sacredness and mystical significance not only of certain numerals in themselves but also of the numerical totals given by the constituent letters with which words were written.
Historically, so much nonsense as mysticism, numerology, gematria and pursuit of hidden meaning reflects the confusion of the mind and irrationality present in Christianity from the very beginning ALMOST ENTIRELY DUE TO THE SUBSTITUTION OF LETTERS FOR NUMBERS which gave rise to the ridiculous practice of gematria.
NOTE: So--it isn't that the act of substituting an alphabetic symbol FOR a numerical one is faulty which causes the problem. No. It is the result of human superstition in READING INTO the words and "words" something supernatural that leads to the fallacy!
Secondarily, unless the latter day bible scholar is fully informed as to whatever arbitrary system or method was employed back at the time of writing, that scholar is forced into making assumptions, conjectures, guesses that result in false conclusions.
Garbage in equals Garbage out, in other words!
The most famous example of gematria and numerology in communicating a hidden meaning and appealing to the reader to figure it out using
those methods is in the book of Revelation where John reveals the Mark of the Beast and his "number".
The Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the New Testament of the ChristianBible, relating somehow to the figure of "The Beast". The number is 666 in most manuscripts of the New Testament, and in modern translations and critical editions of the Greek text. Although Irenaeus (second century) reported several scribal errors of the number, there is still doubt by some theologians about the original reading, as some recently discovered third century early manuscripts of Revelation read 616. This topic is a source of contention for many church groups and theologians. [ 1 ] Most scholars contend that the number 666 is a code for the Roman EmperorNero.
Well, the Watchtower Corporation DOES use numbers. They just count with zero accuracy.
Farkel
Here is some typical insanity, silliness and profound flummery which preoccupies christians as regards the influence of "meaning" in words with numerical "value".
| No. | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Unity; New beginnings |
| 2 | Union; Division; Witnessing |
| 3 | Divine completeness and perfection |
| 4 | Creation; The world; Creative works |
| 5 | Grace; God's goodness; Pentateuch (first five books) |
| 6 | Weakness of man; Manifestation of sin ; Evils of Satan |
| 7 | Resurrection; Spiritual completeness; Fathers perfection |
| 8 | New birth; New beginnings |
| 9 | Fruit of the spirit; Divine completeness from the Father |
| 10 | Testimony; Law and responsibility |
| 11 | Disorder and judgement |
| 12 | Governmental perfection |
| 13 | Apostasy; depravity and rebellion |
| 14 | Deliverance; Salvation |
| 15 | Rest |
| 16 | Love |
| 17 | Victory |
| 18 | Bondage |
| 19 | Faith |
| 20 | Redemption |
| 21 | Exceeding sinfulness of sin |
| 22 | Light |
| 23 | Death |
| 24 | The Priesthood |
| 25 | Repentance; The forgiveness of sins |
| 26 | The Gospel of Christ |
| 27 | Preaching of the Gospel |
| 28 | Eternal life |
| 29 | Departure |
| 30 | Blood of Christ; Dedication |
| 31 | Offspring |
| 32 | Covenant |
| 33 | Promise |
| 34 | Naming of a son |
| 35 | Hope |
| 36 | Enemy |
| 37 | The word of our Father |
| 38 | Slavery |
| 39 | Disease |
| 40 | Trials; Probation; Testings |
| 42 | Israel's oppression; First advent |
| 44 | Judgement of the World |
| 45 | Preservation |
| 50 | Holy Spirit; Pentecost |
| 60 | Pride |
| 66 | Idol worship |
| 70 | Punishment and restoration of Israel; Universality |
| 100 | Election; Children of the promise |
| 119 | Spiritual perfection and victory 7*17=119 |
| 120 | Divine period of probation |
| 144 | The Spirit guided life |
| 200 | Insufficiency |
| 600 | Warfare |
| 666 | Antichrist |
| 777 | Christ |
| 888 | Holy Spirit; The sum of Tree of Life |
| 1000 | Divine completeness and Fathers glory |
| 4000 | Salvation of the world through the blood of the Lamb ( Those who chose between Christ and Antichrist) |
| 6000 | Deception of Antichrist; Second advent |
| 7000 | Final judgement; Zadok |
| 144,000 | Those numbered of Israel |
When you have some free time you might want to wade through this.
It is a typical example of how rampant Gematria is in bible exegesis among christians.
Just examine the methodology and the premises and see how the conclusions are drawn out.
With gematria, in essence what you are doing is 'counting' the Bible as opposed to just reading it. You count the words instead of just reading the words. It is absolutely fantastic!An example of gematria in Hebrew -- the sacred name Yahweh. Yahweh in Hebrew is spelled, YHVH or:
yud = Y
hey = H
vav = V
hey = H
In gematria it adds up like this:
yud = 10
hey = 5
vav = 6
hey = 5
TOTAL = 26 or (10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26).
26 is the number of God - YHVH. Additionally, with gematria, you get both a Total and a Sum. The "Total" is the number you get when you add up the values of all the letters. 26 is the "Total" for the sacred name YHVH. The Sum, however, is a little different. You use what is called the "small method" -- by breaking down the Total into its smallest number.
Example: 26 or (2 + 6 = 8) YHVH, His Total is 26, but His Sum is 8.
And you do this with every word in the Bible, both the Hebrew and the Greek. What is interesting are the "connections." For example -- we see that YHVH = 26 = 8. The name Jesus in Greek adds up to 888 (as opposed to Satan's 666). The name Immanuel in Hebrew adds up to "8." Jesus rose from the dead on the 8th day. David was the 8th son of Jesse. Circumcision of a newborn male Jew is done on the 8th day, etc. It goes on, and on, and on. Is the number 8 then, a coincidence? What is really interesting about it all is that both the Hebrew and the Greek line up together. Is this a coincidence?The name Jesus in Greek = 888 or (8 + 8 + 8 = 6). 8 = Son of God, 6 = Son of man, for 6 is the number of man. The name YHVH = 26 or (2 + 6 = 8), 2 = united (or divided depending on the text), 6 = man. Therefore, 26 is 'united with man'. How is YHVH united with man? He is united by the Sum, or 8 which is JESUS. Is this a coincidence?
Another interesting example in getting into this is the number 666 for the beast. We've already been given the Total, but we now need the Sum, which is (6 + 6 + 6 = 18 = 9). In the book of Revelation, 9 is the number of Antichrist and the deception of Antichrist and Satan (9 actually refers to the tribulation of 'fruit-bearing,' and depending upon the 'tree' the fruit is coming from determines whether or not it is Satan or Christ). The name Apocalypse or Revelation in the Greek adds up to 9. 9 is also the number of months a woman carries a child. At the end of 9 months, the child (fruit) is birthed through the tribulation of birth-pangs. Jesus and the apostles referred to the last days as being like a 'woman in travail.' Is the 9 of the book of Revelation a coincidence? I don't think so. Even the 144,000 adds up to 9 or (1 + 4 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 9) as does practically everything else in the book of Revelation.What do we know about antichrist? We know that he is going to stand in the holy place claiming himself to 'be God'! He wants to 'be God'. What is really interesting is found in the name Tyrus in Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28 is the chapter in the Old Testament which speaks of Tyrus being "the anointed cherub that covereth." That he was perfect in beauty until iniquity was found "IN thee." The name Tyrus in Hebrew = 296. What we actually have there is a "26" (the value of the name of God) with a "9" in the middle! 26 is the number of God, 9 the number of the evil fruit of iniquity. The 9 in Tyrus is "in the middle", BETWEEN the 2 and the 6. Therefore, it is true -- Tyrus represents antichrist who wants to BE a 26, but iniquity is IN it -- the 9, hence 296!Also, 296 is a picture of what Satan did in the fall. Remember above that 26 means "united with man?" Well, we can see from the 296, that there has been a division, a wedge put between the 2 and the 6. Instead of being "united with man," man, the 2 and 6, is now "separated" by the 9. The unity between man and God has been broken. Additionally, 296 is also (2 + 9 + 6 = 17 = 8). 296 adds up to 8 as does 26 adds up to 8. What does this mean? This means that 296 is a FALSE CHRIST!!! Not only does he want to "be God," he also wants to "be Christ." The only thing that saves us is the knowledge of the 9. Is this all a coincidence? And it happens over, and over, and over again.Another interesting facet in gematria is its use in prophecy. It has revealed the actual dates of events that have happened. One such event is the actual year that the nation Israel was birthed again. It can be found in Leviticus 25:10 (look for an updated study when completed).Gematria really cannot be experienced until you start doing it yourself. What is so exciting is when you find a connection unexpectedly that links together something you were unaware of before.
Read all you can on the subject before you start. Consider what others have discovered already. Provided for you at another web page is a Book List of Christian Authors on the subject of Biblical Numerics and gematria.
:Jesus rose from the dead on the 8th day.
He did?
Farkel
I have noticed this. The Bible spells out quantities, and has trouble with fractions. They express 1/6 as "the sixth part"--what happens if they need something like 2/7? It also makes addition virtually impossible, especially without the zero. It also leaves it possible for anyone to pull 1914 out of it without its being valid--and then string endless generations from 1914 to Armageddon as they see necessary.
As long as the ancients could create a physical template (using tools like a rope or straight edge or compass) they could extrapolate their
practical awareness of proportions and fractions.
The Great Pyramid is an extremely unsophisticated pile of stones exquisitely manufactured and set in place by dint of craftsmanship, meticulous engineering and high standards of execution.
The way the Great Pyramid as a mystical revelation has been employed by crackpots because of the "measurements" inside is abundant proof that even Charles Taze Russell and J.F.Rutherford were mystical and hermeneutic in their thinking.
The false premise of mystery inherent in scripture, number and exegesis is what makes Christianity so adaptable to human imagination over a long
span of time. i.e. They simply re-invent it over and over for current thinking and application.
Great topic Terry! Reminds me of the following which was written by Runningman. Even numbers did exist as we know them today, with the facts laid out below, how can any of it be taken seriously.
Every now and then, I run into someone who believes that every word in the Bible is literally true. If the Bible says that men lived for 900 years, and that 5 linear miles of water fell on the earth, then it must have happened. There is really no way to prove that these events did not happen, since by definition, a “miracle” is something extra-ordinary.
However, sometimes the Bible writers slipped up. When they told a story, nothing but superlatives would do. More than anything else, the numbers that are tossed around in the bible show this to be true. Apparently, mathematics was not their strong point, because on numerous occasions, the bible writers made statements that simply could not have happened.
So, basically, this chapter is sort of an accountants-eye view of the Bible.
SOLOMON, AND THE ISRAELITE ABATTOIR
King Solomon was a very devout man. He also liked to do things in big ways. Take, for example, the sacrifice that he offered up during a festival:
“Then the King and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep.” - 2 Chronicles 7:4,5
Now, let’s pause for a moment and let these numbers sink in. According to verse 9, this festival lasted seven days. That means that one animal was killed every 4.3 seconds, day and night, for a week.
Let’s look at it another way. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, an adult sheep would weigh between 80 and 400 pounds. Let’s take an average size of 200 pounds. Oxen come it at around 900 pounds. This means that Solomon slaughtered 43.8 million pounds of animals.
This would be a pretty big pile of animal. If the animal carcasses were stacked, with no wasted space, it would make a pile of 3.9 million cubic feet, or, a pile 5 feet high, covering 18 acres.
And what did he do with this meat? Well according to verse 7, he tried to put it on the alter, along with a cereal grain offering.
“For there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze alter Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat.” - 2 Chronicles 7:7
Talk about an understatement. I could picture Solomon, looking at that mountain of meat, and saying to his attendant, “Gee, do you think that’s too much to put on the alter?”
The sheer volume of meat involved is enough to convince anyone that this passage is grossly exaggerated. I will not even attempt to calculate the economic impact of this slaughter on a relatively poor group of desert farmers.
THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE
Solomon’s temple was a lot smaller than most people picture it. 1 Kings 6:2 tells us that it was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. In a rare example of biblical precision, 2 Chronicles 3:3 gives exactly the same measurements. A cubit is 17.5 inches, so the temple would have been 87.5’ x 29’, and about 4 stories high. It would total 2,552 square feet in area. To put this in perspective, it would be less than twice the size of my house, but four stories high. This number is very important, so keep it in mind.
The total temple area was larger than simply the “house of the LORD”. There was a courtyard, a palace, and other buildings. However, as we will soon see, the contents and value are out by at least a factor of a thousand, so, a few extra buildings are hardly significant.
The Gold and Silver
“With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD, a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron without weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided.” - 1 Chronicles 22:14
Since 1 talent = 75.5 pounds, this means that 7.55 million pounds of gold and 75.5 million pounds of silver went into the temple - a total of 83.05 million pounds of precious metal. Now, remember the size of the temple. To get this much gold and silver into the temple, there must have been 32,543 pounds of it per square foot. The priest must have had to crawl over the heaps of gold to get to the alter.
Here’s another interesting tidbit. One cubic foot of silver weighs 628.4 pounds. This means that the silver of the temple occupied 120,146 cubic feet. The total gross size of the temple was only 111,650 cubic feet. Therefore, if the silver of the temple was formed into a solid block, it would be bigger than the temple itself - never mind the gold, iron, bronze, timber, and stone.
In addition to the gold and silver, there was apparently so much bronze and iron that it could not even be weighed. Since the gold and silver weighed in at 83 million pounds, that means that the bronze and iron must have weighed considerably more (I will assume that it was double). We are now looking at somewhere in the range of 100,000 pounds of metal per square foot of the temple. That is the equivalent weight of 40 full size cars per square foot. And we haven’t even gotten to the rock and timber, yet.
The gold and silver equates to a dollar value of $54 Billion today. Even given the inflated population figures of Israel that are recorded in the Bible, it still means that every man, woman, and child in the nation contributed almost $20,000, or 40 pounds of gold and silver. In all likelihood, the population of Israel was only about 1/10 of the Biblical figures, so the contribution per person would have been approximately 10 times higher. And, of course, we have not costed the iron, bronze, rock, timber, and labour. Not bad for a group of poor desert farmers.
The Labour Force
“King Solomon raised a levy of forced labour out of all Israel; and the levy numbered thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in relays; they would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the levy. Solomon also had seventy thousand burden bearers and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the hill country, besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.” - 1 Kings 5:13-16
By my count, this comes to 183,300 persons who worked on this temple. To put this in perspective, it took 1,283,000 man-years to build the temple, or 503 man-years to build each square foot it.
If I apply this rate of construction to my living room, which is 20’ x 12’, it would take over 120,000 man years to build it. To put it yet another way, if a construction team of 100 persons (which is too big to function on such a small job) worked on building my living room, it would take them 1,200 years to build it.
If 183,000 people really worked for seven years to build a 2,552 square foot temple, they must have worked at a snail’s pace. Their progress could only be measured at the molecular level.
The lumber
According to the above quote, 10,000 labourers brought lumber from Lebanon at a time. There were a total of 30,000 labourers rotating on three shifts. Assuming that each labourer brought back 100 pounds of lumber on each trip, that means that one million pounds of lumber arrived at the temple every month. Don’t forget that the temple was only 2,552 square feet, and it was already piled with gold, silver, bronze, and iron.
That’s almost 400 pounds of lumber per square foot, coming in every month. Every year, the equivalent of 240 semi-trailer loads would have arrived. Where did they put it all?
The staff
When the temple was finished and put into operation, staff was required. King David outlined the staffing requirements:
“’Twenty four thousand of these,’ David said, ‘shall have charge of the work in the house of the LORD, six thousand shall be officers and judges, four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the LORD with the instruments which I have made for praise.” - 1 Chronicles 23:4,5
So, 24,000 persons were to work in the house of the Lord. This must have been a pretty slack job. Based on the size of the temple and courtyard, and considering that access to certain parts of the temple was restricted to the priests and high priest, there couldn’t possibly be room for more than about 100 people at a time. This means that each Levite would have worked for only about one day per year. Where can I apply?
The total contents
Wow, this must have been some building. Consider what was inside its walls:
Ÿ 6,260 cubic feet of gold
Ÿ 120,146 cubic feet of silver
Ÿ 338,000 cubic feet of iron (minimum estimate)
Ÿ 321,000 cubic feet of bronze (minimum estimate)
Ÿ 600,000 cubic feet of Lebanese Cedar arrived every year
Ÿ untold quantities of stone, brick, and local timbers
Ÿ 24,000 staff (not necessarily simultaneous)
Ÿ Assorted fixtures, the Ark of the Covenant, etc.
All of this was inside a building with a total volume of only 111,650 cubic feet. And, don’t forget that buildings are essentially hollow. Again, all I can say is, “Wow”.
HOLY QUAIL!
An unusual account is recorded in Numbers 11. It begins with the Israelites short of food, and looking for a little meat:
“Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you.” - Numbers 11:18-20
So, God sends them a little meat:
“And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.” - Numbers 11:31
Now, let’s calculate just how many quail are involved, here. Most bible dictionaries consider a day’s journey to be approximately 20 miles. So, a circle with a radius of 20 miles would have an area of 1,256 sq. miles. The quail filled this area to a depth of 2 cubits, or 35 inches.
This makes 102 billion cubic feet of quail. The quail is a fairly small bird, averaging one pound in weight, and 13 inches in height. Based on this size, each quail would occupy 0.72 cubit feet. Therefore, God must have blessed the Israelites with approximately 142 billion quail. That’s over 47,000 quail for every Israelite. It must have been like an early version of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
Now, I’m not sure of the world population of quail, however, the current world population of chickens is only 30 Billion. Chickens likely outnumber quail by at least 100 to 1, since chickens are commonly raised in huge commercial quantities in our modern, crowded earth. So, when the Israelites asked God for a little meat, little did they suspect that he would respond with over 500 times the entire world population of quail.
Before I finish with the quail, I must point out the end result of the meat harvest.
“While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.” - Numbers 11:33
I thought God said that they would get to eat the quail for a whole month.
JUST HOW BIG WAS NINEVAH?
“So Jonah arose and went to Ninevah, according to the word of the LORD. Now, Ninevah was an exceedingly great city, three days journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey.” - Jonah 3:3,4
A day’s journey in ancient times was approximately 20 miles, so, Ninevah would have been 60 miles in diameter. It would have occupied 2,826 square miles.That’s one big city.
Let’s make a few comparisons. New York City occupies only 304 square miles. In that area, 7,322,564 people are housed. This gives a population density of 24,000 people per square mile. By contrast, I live in a small city of 195,000, which occupies 42 square miles, for a density of 4,600.
Most ancient cities were fairly dense, due to the logistical difficulties in feeding, watering, and cleaning up after large numbers of people before the age of mass transportation systems, not to mention the cost of building the city walls. For example, ancient Pompeii had a population of 20,000, inside walls with a circumference of 2 miles, for a density of 62,500 persons per square mile. If Ninevah had an average density of 50,000 people per square mile, it must have had a population of 141,300,000.
Since New York is considered to be a “great city” by most standards, Ninevah must have been stupendous. It was 9 times larger than New York in land area, and 19 times larger in population.
But wait, the bible gives us the population of Ninevah:
“And should not I pity Ninevah, that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” - Jonah 4:11
One hundred and twenty thousand persons, spread over 2,826 square miles is only 42 persons per square mile - that’s 15 acres per person, or 60 acres for a family of four. That’s not a city.
Realistically, we could expect Ninevah to have a walled circumference ofapproximately seven miles, assuming that the population figures are accurate. Interestingly, archeologists have found walls that likely were Ninevah, and they were about seven miles around.
So, Ninevah was not a three day journey in breadth, unless Jonah was a really slow walker. So slow, in fact, that he could have gotten a job working on the temple.
THE REALLY BIG WALL
“And the rest fled into the city of Aphek; and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men that were left.” 1 Kings 20:30
That must have been a pretty big wall. To calculate the precise way that this happened, we must first of all calculate the size of Aphek.
The above discussion outlined the sizes of various walled cities. Ninevah, a “great city”, had a circumference of about seven miles. Pompeii ’s was about two miles. Aphek is barely mentioned in the Bible, and is never referred to as being great, so we can assume that it was likely much smaller than either of these two cities. That would give it a circumference of less than two miles. Let’s use 1.5 miles for this discussion. This size would be on the upper limit of what would be reasonable.
If these men were standing against the wall, shoulder to shoulder, they would each occupy about two linear feet. That means that there would need to be seven concentric circles of men, standing against the wall when it fell. The entire wall must have fallen simultaneously, with none of the men getting out of the way, or shielding themselves. As well, the wall must have fallen outward in all places, as if there had been a great explosion.
