Numbers With Special Significance In The Bible Quiz

Answer: John

In John 21:11 we see that 153 fish were caught by Jesus' disciples, with Simon Peter drawing up the net out of the water.

"Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken."

As a note of what I hope is at least thought provoking I would like to present you with a few insights that might be interesting for you to consider about this number and the circumstances surrounding the mention of it in the text:

First, the disciples had caught nothing up until that point when Jesus instructed them to fish off the right side of the boat. This COULD represent their "catching of men" that He spoke of in the succeeding verses. They were not ready yet to do that "catching", but after Jesus' ascension, and on the day of Pentecost, fifty days later, their collective ministries began.

Secondly, one has to wonder WHY the number 153 was so specifically stated. This MIGHT be representative of the number 17. When one adds the numbers 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17, the number 153 is the end result. The number 17 itself is of especial significance in Biblical terms because it is the result of the addition of 10 (the number of completion) and 7 (the number of perfection), so these fish might be seen to represent PERFECT COMPLETION.

Answer: the number of the original disciples of Jesus

The original number of disciples of Jesus was 12.

In Matthew 4:2 we are told that Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights.
In Exodus 24:18 Moses spent forty days and nights on Mount Zion, communing with God, when he received the 10 commandments.
Noah endured forty days and nights of rain during the flood.
The Israelites spent forty years wandering through the desert wilderness.

Whenever we encounter the number forty in the Bible, we can be reasonably certain that something or someone may be in a probationary period.
In the case of the descendants of Israel, the reason they had to wander around in circles for 40 years as a direct result of their collective grumbling and lack of trust in God. Moses' time on the mountain with God was not a probationary time for him, but for the nation which he was leading. Jesus was not under probation for himself, but for all of mankind. Noah's probation was for the earth itself, along with mankind.

The number 4 represents the earth; the number 10 represents completion, so when multiplied together they result in the number 40, thus perhaps showing a COMPLETE EARTH probationary time.

Answer: 70

The King James version of Numbers 33:9 states that the children of Israel encamped in a place near 70 palm trees.

"And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there."

Note that there were 12 fountains of water along with the 70 palms. 12 is seen by some to represent 'government', while 70 may be interpreted as 'holy perfection'.
7, the number of God's perfection TIMES the number 10, (which may be seen as a number of completion) might then be interpreted as a type of perfect completion.

Answer: 24

Beginning in the 2nd verse of Revelation 4, we read:

"And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were FOUR AND TWENTY seats: and upon the seats I saw FOUR AND TWENTY elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold."

If the number of 12 represents 'government', then the number 24 may be seen to represent a form of 'perfected government'. Furthermore, many believe that 12 of these elders are the Old Testament patriarchs, the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel; while the other 12 are the New Testament apostles.

If that is the case, then it would demonstrate a direct tie-in between the two Testaments of the Bible; 1/2 attributed to the old and 1/2 to the new.

Answer: it is the number of a man

Revelation 13:18 in the King James version says:

"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."

Some feel that the numbers are separately divided; that is each of the sixes represents an individual. One is the beast, one the false prophet and another the antichrist.

This verse states it to be the number of the "beast" himself, and even though it IS a number that represents evil personified, it should not be regarded in a superstitious manner, as many people do. Notice the opening words of the verse -"Here is wisdom."

Wisdom and superstition simply do not mix.

Answer: 120

According to Deuteronomy 7 and 8 in the King James version, Moses lived to be 120 years old.

"And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended."

Imagine. A month of mourning! Talk about a beloved individual; Moses had carefully led his charge of Israelites, Egyptians and others through the wilderness regions of the Middle East for forty years. Prior to that, he himself had spent 40 years in the wilderness alone, in preparation for the arduous journeys that lay ahead, and for the first 40 years of his life, he had lived in Egypt.

Forty is often viewed as the number of probation, and each segment of Moses' life attests to that. In the first 40 years of his life, Moses represents the Hebrew people as a whole, as they endured slavery under the heel of the Egyptians, while he himself may be viewed as being "on probation", in the second phase of his life because he had killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite slave.
During the third phase, again, he may be seen to represent the nation of Israel, as they endure hardships that were largely caused by their grumbling and unbelief in God, at various times during their wanderings.

When taken in sum total, 40x3 (or 120 years) may be viewed as a sort of "trinity" of 40-year spans of probation.

Answer: 21

In the tenth chapter of Daniel, we read of an occasion that Daniel conversed with an angel. In the 2nd verse of the chapter we see that for "three full weeks", Daniel was in mourning, as he tried to come to grips with a vision of the future. That 7 day span times 3 weeks would equal 21 days.

Furthermore, as we continue into the chapter, in verses 12-14, we notice that the answer to Daniels' prayer had been delayed just exactly that length of time before getting to Daniel. God had answered immediately, but a demonic spirit had caused the delay. Read on:

"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me ONE AND TWENTY DAYS: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days."

Michael is the 'warrior angel' who fights the evil spirits in the angelic realm, according to Christian beliefs. He leads the "host" or army of God. Whenever we see the "LORD of hosts" in the Bible, this is a reference to God and His angelic army, that battles the forces of evil.

Answer: thirty pieces of silver

"And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD."

Christians see a relevance to this and the amount of money that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for, later in the New Testament. Not only were 30 pieces of silver involved, (the measure of ransom money, which they feel that Jesus ransomed mankind with), there is also mention of Judas returning the money to the Jewish leaders who had paid him to betray Christ. They could not legally accept such "blood money" by Jewish law, so they in turn purchased a "potter's field" with it. A potter's field was another name for a cemetery in which to bury paupers.

Answer: singing

"And they SUNG as it were a new SONG before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that SONG but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth."

Now, while I personally believe that these people are all of Jewish descent, there are some compelling (and some not-so-compelling) arguments made for this seeming to represent other people as well.

12 x 12,000 = 144,000. There were originally twelve tribes of Israel, each one represented by a son of Jacob (Israel). If one believes that 12 is a number of government, then by extension 12,000 would be government to the thousandth power, so this could be put this way: government times 1000 times perfected government.

From my understanding, (which may be regarded as limited, mind you), EACH of the twelve tribes contributes 12,000 martyrs who die for the cause of Christ during the tribulation period, and they are all Jews.

Revelation 9:4-8 seems to indicate this exactly:

"And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand."

Answer: In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

I was hard pressed whether to focus on the number 49 or 50 with this question, so since 49 precedes 50, let's take a look at both. In Leviticus 25:8-12 we read:

"And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field."

7x7=49, and since 7 may be interpreted as the number of perfection, when it is multiplied by itself it shows "perfect perfection", if you will.
The number 50 is the number that naturally follows it, and if we accept the premise that 5 is the number of grace, and that 10 represents completion, then this shows us a picture of the "completed grace" of God.

(See a quiz that I posted a few years ago, entitled, "Ten Questions, Ten Numbers, Ten Meanings".)