Sabbathought: Number things bear record of Him

Two weeks ago we said, under the title "All things bear record of me" (see Moses 6:63), that the symbolism of number in the gospel plan in the scriptures is an evidence of the fingerprints of the Lord Jesus found throughout His creation.

His question to His disciples, "How is it that ye do not understand?" (Mark 8:21), as He reminded them of the details in the miracles of the feeding of the five thousand and then the four thousand, shows that He expects His followers to catch something significant here. Let's explore together . . . .

The number one is the number of God, of unity and primacy. Elder McConkie taught that in Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one Lord", we find the greatest teaching moment ever devised.

After the feeding of the multitudes, the disciples and Jesus board a ship to sail across the Sea of Galilee. "Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf." So, did they have any bread or none? Well, they had one loaf with them, they had with them Him who was about to teach that He is the bread of life.

Four is the number of the natural world, of the city block, the gentile number: earth, air, fire, and water---spring, summer, autumn, winter---north, south, east, west---thistles, thorns, briers, and noxious weeds---every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

Before Jesus fed the four thousand, He had them sit on the ground. This was a gentile gathering near Decapolis (which means "ten cities"). In vivid contrast, the five thousand were told to sit down in an orderly manner upon the green grass in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

Add one to four and you have five, the number of grace or favor, one of the numbers of the house of Israel. The five thousand were an Israelite group, and were fed before the four thousand. However, the gentile congregation received the miracle with more faith than the Israelite group---a type of things to come (contrast Matthew 15:31 with John 6:26--66 for evidence of this).

When David slew Goliath he chose five smooth stones for his sling, but he needed only one.

The scriptures and the temple are full of rich and marvelous examples of all these things. We can only touch upon them here because of space limitations. If you are very keen to explore number symbolism further I would be happy to respond. We are not speaking of numerology or magic, which is the adversary's imitation, but of a sacred pattern that points us to our God.

The food provided to each group is instructive also. The four thousand were fed with seven loaves and a few small fishes. That has meaning. Some day we'll visit the idea of a "few," for it has doctrinal significance.

If we merely stay on the surface of the scriptures we shall find only gravel and dust. The divine command is that we search, treasure, and feast, and go deep below the surface where the oil and the gold lie, and where we will find our God, who is our home.

The Christmas story has many such deep and pertinent details. Would you like to explore some of them? Please let me know in the Comments section below.

God bless,

Steve