- Dec 10, 2013
- 3,646
- 262
- Faith
- Non-Denom
- Marital Status
- Private
- Politics
- US-Democrat
The Significance of the Number 40
by Todd Dennis and Richard Anthony
by Todd Dennis and Richard Anthony
Of all the types and shadows of the Old Testament, none is as pervasive and important as the shadows revealed in the relationship between "forty," and the fulfillment of promises.
The rains (in Noah's day) fell for 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:4).
Israel ate Manna for 40 years (Exodus 16:35).
Moses was with God in the mount, 40 days and nights (Exodus 24:18).
Moses was again with God 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 34:28).
Moses led Israel from Egypt at age 80 (2 times 40), and after 40 years in the wilderness, died at 120 (3 times 40; Deuteronomy 34:7).
The spies searched the land of Canaan for 40 days (Numbers 13:25).
Therefore, God made Israel wander for 40 years (Numbers 14:33-34).
40 stripes was the maximum whipping penalty (Deuteronomy 25:3).
God allowed the land to rest for 40 years (Judges 3:11).
God again allowed the land to rest for 40 years (Judges 5:31).
God again allowed the land to rest for 40 years (Judges 8:28).
Abdon (a judge in Israel) had 40 sons (Judges 12:14).
Israel did evil; God gave them to an enemy for 40 years (Judges 13:1).
Eli judged Israel for 40 years (1 Samuel 4:18).
Goliath presented himself to Israel for 40 days (1 Samuel 17:16).
Saul reigned for 40 years (Acts 13:21).
Ishbosheth (Saul's son) was 40 when he began reign (2 Samuel 2:10).
David reigned over Israel for 40 years (2 Samuel 5:4, 1 Kings 2:11).
The holy place of the temple was 40 cubits long (1 Kings 6:17).
40 baths (measurement) was size of lavers in Temple (1 Kings 7:38).
The sockets of silver are in groups of 40 (Exodus 26:19 & 21).
Solomon reigned same length as his father; 40 years (1 Kings 11:42).
Elijah had one meal that gave him strength 40 days (1 Kings 19:8).
Ezekiel bore the iniquity of the house of Judah for 40 days (Ezekiel 4:6).
Jehoash (Joash) reigned 40 years in Jerusalem (2 Kings 12:1).
Egypt to be laid desolate for 40 years (Ezekiel 29:11-12).
Ezekiel's (symbolic) temple is 40 cubits long (Ezekiel 41:2).
The courts in Ezekiel's temple were 40 cubits long (Ezra 46:22).
God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent (Jonah 3:4).
Jesus fasted 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:2).
Jesus was tempted 40 days (Luke 4:2, Mark 1:13).
Jesus remained on earth 40 days after resurrection (Acts 1:3).
Women are pregnant for 40 weeks (time of testing).
The number forty is used by God to represent a period of testing or judgment (the length of time necessary to accomplish some major part of Gods plan in his dealings with various portions of mankind). The 40 days of rain in the days of the flood were the judgments of God. The 40 day periods of fasting, testing, and communing with God that were faced by Moses and Jesus were a form of God's judgments. The forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness were also the judgments of God. Various leaders in Israel who reigned for 40 year periods were put there BY God according to His Will and Judgments. Egypt was left desolate for 40 years because of God's judgments. I could go on and on, but I think these examples should suffice for now.
The maximum number of "stripes" allowed for punishment was 40. "Stripes" have to do with judgment (including God's). See Luke 12:47-48. When God brings judgment upon His people, it may be rightly termed, "stripes". When Peter states (about Jesus) "by whose stripes ye were healed" in 1 Peter 2:24, he is quoting from Isaiah 53:5 which is a prophecy concerning spiritual and not physical healing as many teach. Although physical healing from God is a wonderful blessing, spiritual healing is an even greater blessing. Our salvation is dependent on the fact that Jesus bore the stripes that you and I deserve to bear. In other words, Jesus' bore the main force of the judgments that should come upon you and I as sinners. Isaiah's prophecy shows the judgments of God were poured out upon Jesus for our healing.
Forty sons of a judge in Israel (Abdon), whose name means "servitude" represents the product or offspring of a judge who serves in Israel. Once again we see the number 40 used in connection with the subject of judgment.
There were ten lavers in Solomon's temple, and each one contained 40 baths of liquid volume (over 350 gallons each). Do these have anything to do with judgment? Yes, because the water in the laver was symbolic of the word of God which "washes" us as followers of Christ today (Ephesians 5:26, Revelation 22:1-2).
I believe one of the easiest "40s" to use to illustrate this symbolism is the story of Noah and the flood. There are two basic forms of judgment that God sends forth. One is the type that He pours out upon the ungodly. This would be the kind we see illustrated in the flood, and also the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The other is the type that He sends upon His people in order to awaken them or bring them to a closer "walk" with Him.
We know that, in Noah's day, the rainfall coming down from "heaven" had two different affects. Obviously, it was a destructive force as far as the lost were concerned. They were outside of the ark of safety, and therefore beyond any hope of survival. However, when the water hit the earth it raised the ark. Raising the ark heavenward symbolizes our being "lifted up to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). The same waters that destroyed the wicked also caused the people of God to be lifted up (thanks to the ark).
God poured His judgments upon the ark. He knew it would stand fast. It was built to His plans and specifications. Why would God require the people to build an ark if He did not plan on sending the same judgments upon it as he sent upon the people who were not in it? The Ark was a God given escape route from judgments which fell upon them all. The forty days and nights of the flood are symbolic of God's judgments which fall primarily upon his people and the spiritual ark today. Even though the wicked drowned right away, God still had a purpose for the ark to go through the 40 day and night period in order to picture the spiritual type. The judgments of God had to fall upon even his true people, but He had provided a means which would save them from those judgments.
Generation
We can easily see from Numbers 32:13 and Hebrews 3:8-10 that God calls 40 years a generation. Matthew 1:17: from captivity in Babylon (586 BC) until Christ is 14 generations. 586 BC to Christ' birth is 586 years, divided by 14 is 41 years. This is important, as it will benefit us in studying the meaning of Jesus' words in Matthew 23:36; 24:34, Mark 13:30, and Luke 21:32.
We are about to put some biblical pieces together in a puzzle that can solve a lot of unknowns and uncertainties in some major doctrinal areas. Let us look at the "pieces" we have figured out so far: 1) The number 40 has to do with God's judgments. 2) God speaks of a generation as 40 years. 3) Jesus speaks of judgments that will come upon a particular generation of the literal Jews.
Wilderness
We find the most significant numerological type of all in one of the most striking events in the account of Scripture - the forty years of wilderness wandering leading up to the possession of the temporal land of promise. In fact, Paul himself wrote that the surrounding events of the wilderness wandering "were our examples" (I Corinthians 10:6), and that "they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (aion-age) have come" (verse 11). It is this event which presents the clearest correspondences to the redemptive work of Christ, and the time-frame of its fulfillment.
To be more specific, the exodus out of Egypt and into the promised land, by the children of Israel under Moses, is a direct shadow of the exodus of the New Testamentary generation from the cross to the entrance into the eternal land of rest. We will see a number of similarities between the two; not only in the area of principles and concepts, but also in the chronological time-frame of the periods under consideration.
The Significance Of The Number 40, article cont. click away
I don't care what your eschatological views are, this article should be read or even printed out and stapled together. God bless!
Last edited:
