The Meaning of the Number Three in Scripture

The Value of Studying Biblical Numbers The number four and its use in Scripture were exhaustively studied in a previous article series . Four was connected to the physical, natural, and created realms, as well as to transformation processes. Things that are subject to change and transition were discovered to be associated with this number. In contrast, this study will expound on the number three, its use in Scripture, and its association with spiritual and eternal themes. This number is used to express things and events associated with things that don't change and are solid, real, and dependable. That is what I genuinely love about God's Word. He has made His truth consistent in so many ways, and if you question the literary presentation, He will confirm it in a mathematical or even geometrical conclusion. Studying Biblical numbers in no way supports any form of numerology that looks to numbers for personal, private future foretelling. These kinds of practices are clearly forb...

  Introduction and Review This is the second part of a series that examines the number three and how it categorizes themes in Scripture. Part 1 studied the geometrical aspects of the number three that illustrate the stability and eternal qualities of triangles. (Links to all articles in this series are listed at the end of this installment.) This lesson will explore the aspects of stability and truth associated with this number.  A young man demonstrates rope-making using three strands of twine at a reenactment of pioneer days. The Dependability of Three The Preacher in Ecclesiastes understood the strength and dependability of three. ... a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  — Ecclesiastes 4:12 Silk will demonstrate this in the next section. The Strength of Silk Silk is produced and used by worms and spiders to make webs and cocoons. This substance is said to be stronger than steel, pound for pound. Silk's strength is due to the prism-like triangular structure of its f...

  Introduction and Review This is the third part of a series that examines the number three and how it categorizes themes in Scripture. The previous lesson examined how themes of dependability, strength, and truth are associated with this number. (Links to all articles in this series are listed at the end of this installment.) This lesson will explore the connection between the light, God's Word, and the number three. Georges de La Tour Light is linked with God's Word, which illuminates the human soul. The image shows a lamp that uses oil, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Light Light is the topic of the third verse of the Bible and the first command God spoke. God said, “Let there be light."  — Genesis 1:3   This light also governs the first three days before the sun, moon, and stars arrive on day four. The beginning of the Gospel of John confirms this connection in verses 1-4 and appropriately titles this section in the NKJV as "The Eternal Word." In the beginning w...