The Spiritual Significance of Numbers in Scripture – Number 5

Grace Through Faith

[Study Aired January 11, 2025]

Beginning in Genesis the number five is connected to grace through faith. It was through faith that Joseph waited for his dreams to be fulfilled, and when they were he showed great favor to his full brother by the same mother, Benjamin:

Gen 45:22  To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

Signifying the fruits of the work of grace, Joseph presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh:

Gen 47:2  And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

Those five brothers in this story signify Christ presenting those His Father has given Him to His Father.

Signifying the grace and mercy we have been given and which we, as “the temple of God”, will in time extend to the whole world (Rom 11:30-32), nearly every measurement of the temple was a multiple of five.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

There were three entrances to the tabernacle. Three signifies the process of us as we are being judged. The first part was the gate of the court which was twenty cubits wide and five cubits high hung upon four pillars:

Exo 27:16  And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

Exo 38:18  And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

The second was the door of the tabernacle:

Exo 26:36  And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.
Exo 26:37 And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

The length of the court of the tabernacle was a hundred cubits:

Exo 27:9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits [5×20] long for one side:

The width (breadth) of the court was fifty cubits:

Exo 27:12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits [5×10]: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten [5×2].

The measurements of the wings of the cherubim are “five cubits”:

1Ki 6:24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

2Ch 3:12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

The height of the chapiters placed on the tops of the pillars before Solomon’s temple were five cubits each:

1Ki 7:16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

The lavers in which the Levites washed themselves and the offerings were ten in total with five on either side of the temple:

1Ki 7:38  Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths [5 times 8]: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.
1Ki 7:39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

The candlesticks “before the oracle” were five on the right and five on the left:

1Ki 7:49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,

The implements of the temple were in fives:

2Ch 4:6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they [the Levites who were not priests] washed in them; but the sea was for the priests [only] to wash in. [‘We have a sea as well as an altar, in which they that serve the tabernacle have no right to wash.]

Heb 13:10  We have an altar [the golden altar of incense within the first holy place], whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

The candlesticks which give light to all who are within the temple of God are in multiples of five:

2Ch 4:7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

The tables at which the priests within the temple dined and the basins out of which they were fed were in multiples of the number five:

2Ch 4:8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

The measurements of the “molten sea”, used only for the cleansing of the priests, signifying the cleansing of all those “who first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:11-12; Rev 15:2), were all multiples of five:

1Ki 7:23  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits [5×6] did compass it round about.

While this molten sea was literally filled with water for the cleansing of the priests, that same ‘molten sea’ becomes ‘a sea of glass mingled with fire’ in Revelation 15:

Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had [by grace through faith… first] gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Both water and fire cleanse us, but the fire follows the water:

Num 31:23  Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

This all relates to the Lord’s “nation of kings and priests… who first trusted in Christ [who] will rule with Him a thousand years.” It will be “though [our] mercy they [the rest of the world] shall receive mercy” (Rom 11:30-31).

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

What we are being told is that “Ye are the temple of God” and “by grace are ye saved through faith.” The ‘mingled with fire’ is the chastening work of grace experienced by “every son He receives” (Heb 12:6).  The grace of God chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live Godly lives in this present age (Tit 2:11-12). That chastening grace is the significance of the number five.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [G165: ‘aion’, age];

Understanding what grace does gives us a much deeper understanding of what this verse is saying:

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, [chastening] grace did much more abound:

We are self-righteous stubborn sinners, but God’s chastening overcomes us.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

That is the positive significance of the number 5. It is only “by [chastening] grace… through faith” that anyone comes to Christ, and both the grace and the faith are a gift from God.

What we are told is that the whole world is God’s “offspring” and that He will not lose a single soul:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

These are Paul’s words to the pagan Athenians:

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

All men of all time will be saved “by grace… through faith”:

Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. [hypocrisy]
Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before [them] all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Gal 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The wise and foolish virgins were five each:

Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

The five foolish virgins are a negative application of the number five.

The holy anointing oil was of five parts, four spices and “and a hin of olive oil.” The four spices were measured in shekels which were divisible by five:

Exo 30:22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred  shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much,  even two hundred and fifty  shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
Exo 30:24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:
Exo 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

The title ‘Christ’ (G5547) means ‘anointed.’ Christ was His Father’s anointed, meaning He had been given His Father’s spirit without measure:

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

It was “the spirit [without] measure” that kept Christ from ever sinning. We have been “sealed with the holy spirit of promise”:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

We have been given an “unction of the spirit” which gives us the ability to discern those who are “not… of us”, but Christ alone is referred to when we are told that ‘God gave not His spirit by measure unto Him’.

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction [G5545: ‘krismah’, anointed] from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

This word translated as ‘unction’ here in 1 John 2:20 appears only three times in the New Testament, and the other two times are in verse 27 of this same chapter where it is twice translated as ‘anointing.’

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing [G5545: ‘krismah’] which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing [G5545: ‘krismah’] teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The Lord’s spirit is signified by ‘the holy anointing oil.’

The incense was of five parts, the fifth being salt, translated as “tempered together.”

Exo 30:34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, [1] stacte, and [2] onycha, and [3] galbanum; these sweet spices with [4] pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
Exo 30:35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, [5 – salt] tempered together [Heb: salt- malach-4414], pure and holy:
Exo 30:36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.
Exo 30:37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.
Exo 30:38 Whosoever shall make like unto that [another Jesus], to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

David’s faith is signified by the “five smooth stones” which he “took out of the brook”, and he put them in his shepherd’s bag:

1Sa 17:38  And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
1Sa 17:39  And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
1Sa 17:40  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
1Sa 17:41  And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

The smoothness of the five stones signifies the trial of our faith by God’s chastening grace and the “washing of water by the Word”:

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

We are lacking five things at the time the Lord chooses us as his wife:

Eze 16:4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born [1] thy navel was not cut, [2] neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; [3] thou wast not salted [4414: malach] at all, [4] nor swaddled at all.
Eze 16:5 [5] None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. [The day we first come to Christ, while still in Babylon]

The children of Israel came out of Egypt “harnessed” which the CLV translates as “in five sections.”

Exo 13:18  But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed [H2571: ‘chomesh’] out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 13:18  Hence Elohim caused the people to turn about by the wilderness road of the Sea of Weeds. Deployed in five sections, the sons of Israel ascended from the land of Egypt. (CLV)

Some of the literal versions translate this Hebrew word H2571 ‘chomesh’ as “in the fifth generation” (ABP; CAB).

The ERR and the ECB both say ‘in ranks of five” for the word ‘chomesh’.

Exo 13:18  But God led Elohim turned the people about around , through the way of the wilderness of the Red Reed sea: and the children sons of Israel Yisra El went up harnessed ascended in ranks of five out of the land of Egypt Misrayim . (ERR)

Exo 13:18  and Elohim turns the people around, through the way of the wilderness of the Reed sea: and the sons of Yisra El ascend in ranks of five from the land of Misrayim. (ECB)

The stone cut out of the mountain without hands became a kingdom that destroyed and replaced the fifth kingdom of iron mixed with clay to become a new fifth kingdom which filled the whole earth:

Dan 2:32  This image’s [1] head was of fine gold, his [2] breast and his arms of silver, his [3] belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33  [4] His legs of iron, [5] his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

These five kingdoms of men signify the object of Christ’s grace which is working with His elect in this age, and will come to all “in Adam” at the great white throne. The significance of the number five is the grace and faith which the Lord has gifted to those “whom He wills.”

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Psa 65:4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [ that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

God’s temple is covered with the number five. The anointing oil is all measured in increments of five, and the components in the incense are described in multiples of five. We are the Lord’s temple, where the Lord dwells.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The anointing oil separates to the Lord that which must be separated to Him. Nothing else can do so.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: ‘helkuo’, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

The sweet smelling incense keeps the Lord’s people connected to their heavenly Father through our prayers and supplications with gratitude:

Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

The Lord is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”, and we will do well to “declare His works with rejoicing.”

Mat 20:1-16 Laborers in the Vineyard

[Study Aired January 26, 2021]

Mat 20:1-16 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire  labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the  labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in  the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the  vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went  their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and  did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found  others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all  the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.  He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever  is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord  of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And  when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise  received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he  answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:  didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

What is this parable showing us about the kingdom of heaven?

Notice there are five different times the laborers were hired. What do the five  different times the laborers were hired represent? Here is a link to Mike’s  study on the number five:
Significance of the Number Five. In that study it is shown the number five represents grace through faith. Examples such as the measurements of the temple, the measurements of the cherubims, the implements of the temple all are associated with the  number five.

Another set of five I noticed while researching for this study are the five major covenants mentioned throughout the scriptures which are the Noahic, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic and the New. These covenants are tied to our parable represented by the five different times the householder went  out to hire laborers.

The Noahic Covenant “The Flood of many waters”

Gen 6:17-22 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. 

The Abrahamic Covenant “Circumcision of the flesh”

Gen 17:1-10 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the  Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee  exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 

The Mosaic Covenant “Freedom from Bondage”

Exo 6:1-8 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his  land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto  Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

The Davidic Covenant “The house building”

1Ch 17:11-15 And it shall come to pass, when thy [David’s] days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. 

The New Covenant “The Law is put inwardly, written in their hearts”

Jer 31:31-34 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 

These covenants are all part of the process of the old man becoming the  new man by grace through faith.

Eph 2:1-10 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of  disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in  mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder.” Who is this “man that is a householder”?

G3617 
οἰκοδεσπότης
oikodespotēs
oy-kod-es-pot’-ace 
From G3624 and G1203; the head of a family: – goodman (of the  house), householder, master of the house. 

Householder means head of the family. Who is the head of our family? God is literally the householder, and the Christ is the steward.

1Co 11:2-3 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 

This parable taken inwardly shows us that Christ is the householder, and the elect are the stewards.

Col 1:15-18 Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head [householder, master] of the body, the church [the elect]: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

This process starts with the householder hiring the laborers. The householder is hiring laborers to work his vineyard. The vineyard in this  parable is the house of Israel which represents the world.

Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked  for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but  behold a cry. 

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

There are five groups of laborers hired throughout the day. They are described as the first and the last. The first four groups represent the called and chosen. The last group represents those who endure until the end.

Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb  shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings:  and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake:  but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Here is the attitude of the first group even though they receive what was promised – a day’s wage.

Mat 20:10-12 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 

What more can you receive than a day’s wage for a day’s work? The last received the day’s wage first, representing receiving the “crown of Life”.  Everyone receives “Life” but only in the proper order, and only the first group receives the “crown of Life”.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when  he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord  hath promised to them that love him. 

Rev 2:10-11 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:  behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may  be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Today, the teachings of the Christian world dictate doing something in the flesh will secure life. It is either practicing the old covenants, physical baptism, tithing, communion, or some form of good works that saves you.  On the other hand, Christ tells us that only being born again of the spirit and worshipping in spirit and truth will give us life.

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Joh 4:22-24 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we  worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

(Key verses: Genesis 49:16-18)

In the final section of the book of Genesis, we see Jacob living in Egypt for seventeen years until his death at the age of one hundred forty-seven years (Gen 47:28). Prior to his death he called his twelve sons together to tell them “which shall befall [them] in the last days”:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

The theme of “the last days” provides important indicators to our own spiritual progress and maturity, especially for those who can see that the “ends of the world are come” on them (Isa 2:2; Mat 24:1-35; Act 2:14-21; 2Ti 3:1; Heb 1:2). What Jacob said to these sons “happened to them for ensamples, and are written for our admonition” (1Co 10:11). In previous discussions we focused on Jacob’s last words to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun and Issachar. In this discussion, Dan is the focus, and here are the final words of Jacob to him:

Gen 49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Gen 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
Gen 49:18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

“Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel”

Here is the background to the birth of this son of Jacob:

Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Gen 30:4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
Gen 30:5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan [Hebrew: dân = ruler/judge].

Dan was Jacob’s fifth son born and the first offspring from Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah. The Hebrew meaning of the name “Dan” links with God’s judgment. In this regard, it is also interesting to note that the tribe of Dan was positioned on the north side of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and they were also part of the ten northern tribes when the kingdom of Israel split after the death of Solomon. We know that the north is also generally associated with God’s judgment in the scriptures (Lev 1:11; Job 37:22; Isa 14:31; Isa 41:25; Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1; Jer 10:22; Jer 25:9; Eze 1:4; Eze 48:1):

Num 2:25a The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side [of the tabernacle] by their armies…

Because of this position of the tribe of Dan with the tribes of Naftali and Asher at the north of the tabernacle, it follows that these tribes were the last of the twelve tribes of Israel to journey or to enter into battle in the forty years in the wilderness. The tribe of Dan is specifically mentioned as being “hindmost” or “at the rear”:

Num 2:31 (KJV) All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

Num 2:31 (YLT) All those numbered of the camp of Dan are a hundred thousand, and seven and fifty thousand, and six hundred; at the rear they journey, by their standards.

Dan associates with judgment, and we know that judgment links with a harvest which occurs after a lengthy growth process has taken place where even the seeds of the evil one have had time to mature and reveal their function in our lives:

Mat 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [Greek: aiōn = age]; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [Greek: aiōn = age].

As the tribe of Dan was “hindmost” or “at the rear”, this tribe helps us to see that it is only in our “last days” when we can appreciate God’s judgment through His symbolic seven plagues, as only then it is actually fulfilled:

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Dan was the first son born of a concubine, but was given full status of sonship by Jacob in these words to him. Dan’s position did not affect his inheritance, even as all in Adam will be conformed to the image of the Son of God through judgment (1Co 15:22-28):

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

“Dan shall be a serpent by the way…”

In our time of spiritual immaturity, we cannot see God’s church as an integrated unit, as at this stage we accept divisions and compare ourselves with others in the household of God (1Co 3:1-9; 2Co 10:12). This spirit was also in the tribe of Dan who were not satisfied with the territory initially allotted to them:

Jdg 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

When we cannot see Christ as the Head of the body having all things under control, our whole perspective of His body and the operation of that body is also twisted. Then we usually do what is right in our own eyes and judge things from that perverted point of view. This is the theme of the book of Judges and that period of physical Israel’s history, for our learning:

Jdg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The period of the rule of the judges in physical Israel’s history is very significant to understand our own perverted sense of righteousness – “that which was right in his own eyes”:

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The tribe of Dan wanted more land, and their eyes were looking over the fence, so to speak:

Jdg 18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah [the birthplace of Samson], and from Eshtaol [Samson was buried here], to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

We know the number five spiritually indicates grace through faith in our lives, and here we see five men being sent out by this tribe to spy – pointing to their time of unbelief which is the negative spiritual application of the number five (Eph 2:8-10). In this time of insecurity and unbelief about our own spiritual gifts and ministry in the body of Christ, we are ‘spying’ on other’s gifts and ministries, being busybodies and not satisfied with our own “bread” which God have given us, as the apostle Paul also found in the church at Thessalonica:

2Th 3:11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
2Th 3:12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

Within this time of searching and spying, the tribe of Dan found an unprotected city called Laish (also called Leshem) as the inhabitants of this city were “careless…quiet and secure” as “there was no magistrate (judge) in the land”:

Jdg 18:7 Then the five men [of the tribe of Dan] departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

These inhabitants of Laish lived “after the manner of the Zidonians”, which was a city focused on self-interest and physical prosperity. Earthly things and entanglement in worldly affairs naturally have a tendency to attract the flesh and cause a state of lukewarmness and carelessness about spiritual things, of which we are warned about in the scriptures (1Co 11:28-34; 1Ti 4:16; 1Ti 6:6-11; Rev 3:14-22):

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

The tribe of Dan was naturally attracted to this city of Laish and saw the opportunity to conquer it. In this they operated like “an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.” The tribe of Dan, with their carnal aspirations and hunger for more land at this stage, appointed six hundred men with weapons of war:

Jdg 18:11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.

This is significant, as we know the number six is the number of man and his beastly efforts to establish what he deems important (Gen 1:24-31). This haughty human spirit of pride can also be picked up in the Danites as they also renamed the city of Laish (or Leshem) after their own name (1Jn 2:16):

Jos 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

Physical man is a deluded creature who believes he has a free will and that his works of flesh can establish a name for himself in the earth – and even in the heaven. This is the nature of mankind since the creation, as God Himself causes this worldly spirit to operate in mankind for a period of time (Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20; 1Jn 2:16; Eze 14:9; 2Th 2:11). In this time we cannot help but be convinced that we can build our own heavenly towers with our own ways and methods – spiritual slime and bricks:

Gen 11:3 And they [the people who congregated in Babel after the global flood] said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

This tribe of Dan was very noticeable in the scriptures in their desire to worship graven images as they also appointed their own priests, even hiring a Levite who was not from the line of Aaron:

Jdg 18:19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

Jdg 18:29  And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
Jdg 18:30  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

Another witness to this self-glorification within this tribe of Dan is mentioned earlier in scripture when Israel was still in the wilderness and the following event took place:

Lev 24:10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;
Lev 24:11 And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)
Lev 24:12 And they put him in ward [under guard/type of imprisonment], that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them.
Lev 24:13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 24:14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
Lev 24:15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
Lev 24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

It was a son in the tribe of Dan who openly blasphemed the name of the Lord and was stoned to death. We do blaspheme and curse God openly by claiming preeminence in the knowledge of His Word but failing to do His Word or apply that knowledge in our own lives and the lives of others (1Ti 6:1-6; Tit 2:3-5; Jas 1-26):

Rom 2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

When the kingdom of Israel split under the rule of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, the tribe of Dan was one of the ten tribes who joined Jeroboam to form the northern kingdom of Israel. It was actually in the city of Dan where Jeroboam put one of the two golden calves for the purpose of worship (1Ki 12:26-31). Birds of a feather flock together, the saying goes, as Jeroboam was also insecure and self-absorbed as he wanted to prevent those under his rule from traveling to the temple in Jerusalem to sacrifice and worship there, as prescribed by God. This finds application in us when we worship our own image (our ideas and false sense of importance) which is the highest form of delusion in our mature beastly state:

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.

“Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan”

Moses expressed these words about this tribe of Dan before the entrance in Canaan:

Deu 33:22 And of Dan he [Moses] said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

We know that the lion is also the sign of the tribe of Judah, as Judah and his tribe grew from being a lion’s whelp to be an old lion. This tribe of Judah was the leading tribe in journey and battles in Israel and positioned first on the east side of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Gen 49:8-9; Jdg 1:1-2) As Judah was the appointed leader in this sense, so was the tribe of Dan appointed to bring up the rear of the people of Israel in their wanderings in the wilderness. This symbol of a lion’s whelp, which is connected here to the Danites, spiritually points out their immaturity in leadership. It is within our spiritually immature state that we actually also project ourselves to importance and rulership over others, like all worldly authorities are given to do (Mat 20:25-28). This type of leadership is also found among God’s people when He takes away the love for His Word and its authority in our lives:

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

The tribe of Dan, in its immature state, leaps from Bashan. Bashan was a fruitful district on the east side of the river Jordan, which is spiritually very significant. The tribe of Dan was blessed with strength and could conquer other nations as the scriptures already pointed out. This was also seen in the life of Samson, one of the judges of Israel. Samson was used as a judge in Israel, and he was indeed from the tribe of Dan. He was a life-long Nazarite, which again brings this immature spiritual state to the fore. God in His mercy will bring all babes in Christ to maturity by destroying our inward Philistines, even our many wonderful fruits of the flesh. This is what the story of this Danite Samson brings to us – God designs occasions through which He also brings the immaturity in us to an end:

Jdg 14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

It was purposeful for God, who alone can create and use evil, to bring forth good as God “sought an occasion against the Philistines” to remove the dominion which the Philistines had over Israel (Gen 1:31; Gen 50:20):

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The immature spirit in the tribe of Dan was also seen when Israel had to fight against Jabin, the Canaanite king under a female judge, Deborah. The tribes of Dan, Reuben and Asher were absent in the war, and they could not see God’s purposes in all of these things. This is what Deborah had to say about these tribes:

Jdg 5:16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
Jdg 5:17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.

All authorities, the good ones and the weak or evil ones, are appointed by God for His purposes (Dan 4:25; Rom 13:1). We know that female leadership in a house, a church or a country, is not reflecting the true relationship in the Godhead between Father and Jesus (Gen 2:21-24; 1Co 11:3; Eph 5:21-33; 1Pe 3:1-6). When God goes to such measures, it is to expose our own hearts in the process as we do not know the deceitfulness and wickedness of our hearts (Deu 8:2):

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jacob’s final word to Dan included this hope:  “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.”

We all must go through much tribulation to receive God’s salvation, even through blaspheming against God through the spirit of the world with all its lusts and pride in us (Act 14:22). The obsession with their own name and image in these Danites is what we are admonished about, as their name is actually omitted from the twelve tribes in the spiritual city of God in the book of Revelation! However, these self-absorbed Danites in us “shall fall, and never rise up again”, even as spiritual Babylon will fall at the appointed time (Rev 18:1-24):

Amo 8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

When our old name is blotted out, we are given a new name. The new name comes through the doctrine of Christ which will be engraved on the heart of each person in Adam. Even as Aholiab, who was also from the tribe of Dan, was used by God to work in blue, purple and scarlet, and fine linen with the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness:

Exo 38:22  And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 38:23  And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

With the building of the temple of Solomon, the king of Tyre, Huram, also advised Solomon of another skillful man, whose name was Hiram or Huram Abi, who was a descendant with the same craft within the tribe of Naphtali, although he was the son “of a woman of the daughters of Dan” (1Ki 7:13-14):

2Ch 2:13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s,
2Ch 2:14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

All of these colors, and even the fine linen, speak of God’s righteousness and salvation through His temple in heaven, even as we enter through the veils at the doors of the tabernacle with the cherubims woven in them, which all symbolizes His elect (Gen 3:24; Joh 10:1-18; 1Ti 3:15; Heb 10:19-20; Rev 3:12):

2Ch 3:14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

Dan and his tribe typify our road from being the last to be the first, if we can give a truthful account that we lived by all the words of God (Mat 4:4; Mat 20:1-16; Rom 5:8; 1Co 15:22-28; 1Ti 1:15). The tribe of Dan shows this “strange work” of judgment through which God humbles us through His chastening grace (Isa 28:16-21; Jer 2:19; 1Co 11:31-34; Tit 2:11-12; Rev 21:8):

Deu 8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Deu 8:6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
The Keys to The Kingdom – Part 5
Why Are They Blessed?
Numbers in Scripture
Job 42:9-17 “So The LORD Blessed The Latter End of Job More Than His Beginning”
Fear Not
The Spiritual Significance of The Nazarite Vow

Hello Mike and the Is Was and Will Be Team,

I would like first of all to thank you for all your hard work to convey the truth of scriptures to the rest of Christ’s Body. Your work (through Christ) has played a key role in setting my foundation in the truth of God’s Word. I have been listening and watching your messages for about two years now and have recently began the series on Numbers in Scripture.

2Cr 5:17 Therefore if any man [ be] in Christ, [ he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

It is this hope in Christ that should keep this body moving as old things are passing away and ALL things are becoming NEW. I read a lot of the e- mails that you post on the site, and the pain of the different members is felt in all the body, as says also the scripture.
Just to add one more thing Mike, you pointed out a place that I believe is oft- read and oft- missed by the body of Christ:

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [ places].

That is in, our hearts! This is a true doctrine of the scripture and worthy of all acceptation.

Mar 7:14-16 … Hearken unto me every one [ of you], and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

And last of all I’d like to add a few verses for a close.

Ecc 11:2  Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
Mic 5:5 AND THIS [ man] SHALL BE THE PEACE, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
Rev 17:10-11 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [ and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

God Bless You and the Is Was and Will Be Team!
L____

Hi L____,

Thank you for your uplifting and encouraging words.
Like all the other words of scripture, numbers have a meaning which has nothing in common with their primary, outward meaning.
For example the number seven in the verses you quote, means complete, and the number eight means the new man, or new beginnings. So the “seven shepherds” denotes the completed Christ within us, and the “eight principle men” denote the new man within us. They have nothing at all to do with seven literal shepherds or eight literal “principle men.” The message supersedes the words used to convey the message. God’s Word is a parable which means what it means, not what it says. If this is not true, then Christ would be a literal lamb, and His entire church would be a literal woman.
The seven kings of Rev 17 are the principalities and powers within us who are subdued by the eighth man, Christ, within us. The “five are fallen” is the point in our walk at which grace and faith, the spiritual meaning of the number five begins to do its work on that seven- headed beast that we are. Christ comes out of that beast who is also called “the first Adam.” So Christ is that “eighth man who is of the seven and goes into perdition”. That is right. It is only after Christ enters into our flesh that He begins to destroy our flesh. Our salvation is in our perdition of this flesh. That is why we are told this of Christ:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

I read a website that says the number 5 is associated with death. Can you read it and give biblical truth?

God Bless
D____

Hi D____,

Thanks for sending this to me. It is always interesting to see what others get from God’s Word. As I hope you have heard me say in the past, ‘Every word of God has both a positive and a negative application.’ That is the very meaning of “a sharp two edged sword.”

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick [ Greek, alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

What comes out of God’s mouth is His Word, and whether he is speaking of a lion, a lamb or Christ Himself, there will always be both the positive lion of the tribe of Judah, and the negative lion who ‘roams about seeking whom he may devour’, a positive ‘lamb of God’, and the ‘lamb with two horns who speaks as a dragon’, and there is even the Jesus who came to deliver His people and “another Jesus” with “another gospel.”

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

The same principle applies to all the numbers, all the colors and all the metals mentioned in God’s Word. There will always be both a negative and a positive application for any word of God’s Word simply because Christ is that Pillar of smoke which is bright as the sun on one side and dark as the blackest night on the other side.

Exo 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

I can see why this man associates the number five with death, when you focus only on  Gen 5 and the fact that the best way to kill a man is to “smite him under the fifth rib.”
But that is only the negative application of this number. This writing mentions the positive applications like the five loaves of bread with which Christ fed the multitudes, the five changes of raiment for Benjamin, Joseph’s favored brother, and the five stones which David picked to do battle with Goliath.
Here is what this writer of whom you wrote has to say about the five part covenant of redemption:

“The covenant of redemption, also known as covenant of grace, set forth in Rom. 8:29, 30 is a five part covenant:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

The five parts are foreknown, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified. God does the foreknowing, predestinating, calling, justifying, and glorifying. It is all his work. Man does not do any of the work.”

While it is true that we must “die daily” in order to gain life, the outcome of the covenant of redemption is life, not death.
Tit 2 tells us “the grace of God has appeared to all men chastening us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts…”

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [ Greek, paidueo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

This paper has helped to give me a clearer view of the negative application of the number five, and for that I am grateful.
I hope this helps you to see why this writer does not see the five loaves, feeding the multitudes, Benjamin’s five changes of raiment, and the five step plan of redemption, as the positive work of grace in our lives, is because he does not see that two edged, positive and negative, light and darkness that is God’s Word. ‘It is darkness to them and it is light to these’ (Exo 14:20).

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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The Spiritual Significance Of Numbers in the Scriptures:

Nearly every measurement of the temple was a multiple of five.

Exo 27:9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:

Exo 27:12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

Exo 26:37 And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

The measurements of the cherubims:

1Ki 6:24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

2Ch 3:12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

1Ki 7:16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

1Ki 7:39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

1Ki 7:49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,

The implements of the temple were in fives:

2Ch 4:6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

2Ch 4:7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

2Ch 4:8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

What are we being told? What we are being told is that “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

What we are being told is that the whole world is God’s house:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

What we are being told is that all men of all time will be saved by grace through faith:

Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before [ them] all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

Gal 2:15 We [ who are] Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor…

2Ti 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

Why are we told this? Here is why; here is where the vessels of dishonor come into the picture:

Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast [ him] out of the vineyard, and slew [ him].

Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [ his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Mat 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

Mat 21:46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [ his] sheep from the goats:

Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [ thee]? or thirsty, and gave [ thee] drink?

Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [ thee] in? or naked, and clothed [ thee]?

Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [ it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [ it] unto me.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [ it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [ it] not to me.

Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The holy anointing oil was of five parts:

Exo 30:22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Exo 30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred [ shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so much, [ even] two hundred and fifty [ shekels], and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty [ shekels],

Exo 30:24 And of cassia five hundred [ shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:

Exo 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

Exo 30:26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,

Exo 30:27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

Exo 30:28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.

Exo 30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Exo 30:30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that [ they] may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Exo 30:31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

Exo 30:32 Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

Exo 30:33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger [“another Jesus”], shall even be cut off from his peopl e.

The incense was of five parts:

Exo 30:34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

Exo 30:35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together [ Heb.- salt- malach-4414] , pure and holy:

Exo 30:36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

Exo 30:37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

Exo 30:38 Whosoever shall make like unto that [ another Jesus], to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

It is all of Grace:

Eze 16:4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted [4414- malach] at all, nor swaddled at all.

Eze 16:5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Psa 65:4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

Act 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [ that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?