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I was sent this article on facebook and got to wondering what other Christians thought about it. It has absolutely nothing to do with Mormon doctrine! It just seems to be a bit of interesting information.
Numbers As Symbols
The Lost Language of Symbolism
by Alonzo L. Gaskill
Numbers, of course, are nothing more than symbols, as is any form of writing. The term numerology is derived from the Latin numerus (meaning “a number”) and logy (a “science” or “study”). Thus numerology means “the science or study of numbers” or “the investigation of the nature and purpose of . . . numbers” as found in the scriptures or life. One expert on numbers and their historical development wrote, “Numbers do not just express arithmetical quantities, but are endowed with ideas and forces that are sometimes benign and sometimes malign, flowing under the surface of mortal things like an underground river.” Indeed, it is the assertion of this chapter that numbers in scripture frequently mean more than what is suggested at face value....
lds10.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/numbers-as-symbols/
You'll have to read the article he goes through all of the different numbers and explains their meaning.
He does use a few Mormon sources, ya can skip over those.
an example from the article.
Five
Although the number five is not common in scriptural symbolism, two ideas are associated with it: God’s grace and man in his fallen state. Contextual clues help to clarify which idea is meant.
Regarding the symbol of God’s grace being poured out, one commentator noted that the Mosaic dispensation, including its tabernacle, had the number five stamped all over it.79 “Five sacrifices [were required]—a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon (Gen. xv. 9).”80 If these sacrifices were performed with faith, and as the typifying of their Messiah, Israel had reason to believe that they would be the recipients of God’s grace. The portable temple in which these sacrifices were to be performed “had five as its all-pervading number; nearly every measurement was a multiple of five.“81 It, too, was a source of God’s grace, just as temples and temple work are today.
One commentator asserts that in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13) the number five is a symbol for both God’s grace and the nature of fallenman.82 In this model the five wise virgins who have oil in their lamps, or testimonies, and righteousness in their hearts83 would be a representation of the grace of God. The five unwise virgins, of course, represent those who, in the spirit of fallen man as an “enemy” to God (Mosiah 3:19), have not prepared themselves for the coming of Christ.
As another example of the potentially combined symbols of grace and fallen humanity, David chose five stones for his sling as he prepared to battle Goliath..."
Numbers As Symbols
The Lost Language of Symbolism
by Alonzo L. Gaskill
Numbers, of course, are nothing more than symbols, as is any form of writing. The term numerology is derived from the Latin numerus (meaning “a number”) and logy (a “science” or “study”). Thus numerology means “the science or study of numbers” or “the investigation of the nature and purpose of . . . numbers” as found in the scriptures or life. One expert on numbers and their historical development wrote, “Numbers do not just express arithmetical quantities, but are endowed with ideas and forces that are sometimes benign and sometimes malign, flowing under the surface of mortal things like an underground river.” Indeed, it is the assertion of this chapter that numbers in scripture frequently mean more than what is suggested at face value....
lds10.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/numbers-as-symbols/
You'll have to read the article he goes through all of the different numbers and explains their meaning.
He does use a few Mormon sources, ya can skip over those.
an example from the article.
Five
Although the number five is not common in scriptural symbolism, two ideas are associated with it: God’s grace and man in his fallen state. Contextual clues help to clarify which idea is meant.
Regarding the symbol of God’s grace being poured out, one commentator noted that the Mosaic dispensation, including its tabernacle, had the number five stamped all over it.79 “Five sacrifices [were required]—a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon (Gen. xv. 9).”80 If these sacrifices were performed with faith, and as the typifying of their Messiah, Israel had reason to believe that they would be the recipients of God’s grace. The portable temple in which these sacrifices were to be performed “had five as its all-pervading number; nearly every measurement was a multiple of five.“81 It, too, was a source of God’s grace, just as temples and temple work are today.
One commentator asserts that in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13) the number five is a symbol for both God’s grace and the nature of fallenman.82 In this model the five wise virgins who have oil in their lamps, or testimonies, and righteousness in their hearts83 would be a representation of the grace of God. The five unwise virgins, of course, represent those who, in the spirit of fallen man as an “enemy” to God (Mosiah 3:19), have not prepared themselves for the coming of Christ.
As another example of the potentially combined symbols of grace and fallen humanity, David chose five stones for his sling as he prepared to battle Goliath..."
