Religions Play With Numbers



When I was first a mayor I blind-sided by new worlds, interests people have and beliefs they carry, I did not know existed. An early one was letters from across the country telling me the meaning of certain numbers. These were people who had studied numbers all of their lives and assigned meaning to them. The Mayor's job was part time, so I was also a professor. I told one of my colleagues about this. He happened to know all about this world of people who held beliefs about numbers and explained some of it to me. 

I was reminded of this experience when I read today the Shiite Muslims in Iran have declared a period of mourning over the death of their religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. The period of mourning is for a specific number of days, 40.

Readers know how long it rained after Noah built his ark, 40 days and 40 nights. Remembering a little more about the Bible we recall Jesus fasted to in the wilderness, talking to God, for 40 days. Moses spent 40 days on the mountain talking to God and came down with the Ten Commandments. But wait there is more, Moses roamed the desert for 40 years. The number 40 shows up some other places too.

We've all heard the number 666 has something to do with the Devil. Watch out for 666.

The number three is big in the Bible also. How long was Jesus in the tomb? Easter starts on Friday, ends on Sunday. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter denied Jesus three times.  There is the Trinity, three combined beings, God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. 

We can't leave this topic without warning about the number 13. Yes, Friday the 13th is a day of bad luck. Lots of hotels I've been in had no 13th floor. Don't forget there were 13 present at Jesus' Last Supper. 

What are good numbers? It seems like seven is good. God finished the universe in six days but added another because he liked seven. In rolling dice, the number seven is the winner.   

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