Ancient light on the New Testament text

Ancient light on the New Testament text

The menorah is a lampstand. It holds seven lamps. Three branches go out on one side … three branches on the other side … and there is a centre stem. 3 … 1 … 3. It’s not an accidental arrangement.

God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle for the Israelites in the wilderness. The arrangement, and the furnishings including the menorah, were a type and shadow of the true tabernacle in the heavenlies (see Heb 8:2,5).

A screen was set up. A person couldn’t see over the screen. They had to enter, to experience what was on the other side.

To enter an outer court they first approached a brazen altar of sacrifice. There was no by-passing the altar. It was a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. To be right with God there is no by-passing of Jesus.

Having entered the outer court, the person who stayed there lived by natural light. They hadn’t yet got to the light of His life.

To get closer to God they had to approach the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent, covered in dark skins. From the outside there was nothing about the tent that made it attractive. The beauty was within.

To go into the tent they first had to wash with water at a laver. That was also a symbol. Washing with water pointed to the cleansing of mind and spirit that comes through the Word of God (see Eph 5:26). It’s needed regularly.

Now the person could enter the tabernacle. Inside was a holy place. Inside there was no natural light. Light came from the lamps on the menorah. The menorah was a symbol … a symbol pointing to Jesus … to Jesus, revealed by the Spirit … to Jesus revealed in the text of the New Testament.

Your Bible is no doubt a translation, into English. The original writing was in Hebrew for the Old Testament, and in Greek for the New Testament.

There’s a small problem. There was no printing until about 600 years ago. That means that all ancient texts had to be copied by hand, and with the copying came tiny errors.

Today we have thousands of ancient manuscripts of the New Testament and parts of the New Testament. They don’t all agree. So, the question is: what text was your Bible translated from? Does that text conform to the original writing?

We believe that the original text of the New Testament is identified on this website: LivingGreekNT.org. Why? Because we believe that God placed a “watermark” of His hand of design on the original writing. “Men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (see 2 Peter 1:20-21).

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew script. Every letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a numeric value. The New Testament was written in Greek. Every letter of the Greek alphabet has a numeric value. God’s fingerprint, so to speak, is on the original text. There is evidence of mathematical structure and design in the text, design that extends to word values, word count, letter count, and more.

On the LivingGreekNT website, there are 137,720 Greek words in the New Testament text. 137,720 is 40 x 11 x 313. 3 1 3 is the pattern of the menorah.

What about the numbers 40 and 11 ?

The instructions for Moses to make the menorah were first recorded in Exodus chapter 25: (vs 31) “And you will make a lampstand of pure gold, of hammered work it will be. The lampstand, its base and its branches, its bowls, its knobs and its bulbs of one piece it will be. (vs 32) “And six branches will come out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the second side.” The shape: 3 1 3.

There are 121 Hebrew letters in the words of the two verses. 121 is 11 x 11.

The numeric value of the two verses is 8,880. That’s 888 x 10. We get the name of Jesus from the Greek of the New Testament: ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. The numeric value of ΙΗΣΟΥΣ is 888.

Now 8,880 (the numeric value of the two verses that first describe the menorah) is a number that is divisible by 40. (40 x 37 x 3 x 2).

40 x 11 x 313. (The number of Greek words in the New Testament text).

Here is another passage relating to the shape of the menorah … in Isaiah chapter 11. (vs 1) “And a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit …” (It’s prophetic of Jesus). (vs 2) “And will rest on Him the Spirit of the LORD, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”

Seven spirits. (The Holy Spirit) the Spirit of the LORD. The Spirit of Wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of Counsel and strength. The Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In Hebrew, these four phrases with the numeric values: the Spirit of the LORD. 214 + 26 is 240. The number is divisible by 40.

טhe Spirit of wisdom and understanding. 214 + 73 + 73 is 360. A number divisible by 40.

The Spirit of counsel and strength. 214 + 165 + 222 is 601. And 601 is the 110th prime number. 110 = 11 x 10.

The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 214 + 474 + 617 + 26 is 1331. Which is 11 x 11 x 11.

40 and 11 are prominent in the numeric structure of the verses.

3 1 3 is the shape of the menorah. 40 x 11 x 313 is the breakdown of the number of Greek words in the original text of the New Testament.

Now, the very first verse in the Bible (Genesis 1:1) in Hebrew is the key to all numeric design in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ

Seven words. There is a middle word, spelled with the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The word is untranslatable. There are three words to the left of the middle word, and three words to the right. The arrangement is the same as the menorah: 3 1 3.

Each of the seven Hebrew words has a numeric value. The value of the first word and the sixth word: 913 + 407 is 1320. And 1320 is 40 x 11 x 3.

The value of the first and last words is 913 + 296 which is 1209. And 1209 is 31 x 3 x 13. 31 3 ... 3 13.

40 x 11 x 313. The breakdown of the number of Greek words in the New Testament text.

Going on in God draws us closer and closer to Jesus. The New Testament is all about Jesus. The Christian life is not self-serving. A mature Christian life is a life that points people to Jesus.

In Matthew chapter 10 verse 40 Jesus is recorded as saying to His disciples: “He who receives you receives Me. And he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” And that verse is the 313th verse in the New Testament.