777 – God’s Answer to 666?

 

 

 

Quotation

 

We can learn a few lessons from the Bible. The first is to live for others. Be willing to be a watchman and share warnings of the coming convergence to those you love. And second, learn to live in the shelter of Jesus, who will protect you from the predator, Satan, who is seeking to destroy Christians during these end times.

 

Barry Denzil Haney, MD

 

Verse

 

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

John 17:22-23

 

Reflection

 

         Since antiquity, humans have been fascinated with numbers. Like the concept of God, numbers are infinite. Like God, very few numbers can be expressed in a meaningful way. For every number you can represent in an incisive way, there are infinitely many more that you can’t, the transcendental number or irrational numbers. In mathematics, the best known transcendental number is the Greek number pi. Like these infinitely more common irrational numbers, God is transcendental -- God is not part of the universe He created and cannot be understood by humans, because He is above and beyond the earthly things we know of.

 

         According to the Orthodox Study Bible, 777 represents the threefold perfection of the Trinity. It can be thought of as God’s answer to 666, the Number of the Beast, Satan. Spiritually, the number 777 is called the angel number. In the Bible, Noah’s father Lamech lived for 777 years. Interestingly, the prime factorization for the number 777 is 3¹ x 7¹ x 37¹, all prime numbers. According to Hebrew tradition, the numbers three and seven are considered perfect numbers. The number three in scripture implies intentionality, with groups of three occurring frequently. Although the word Trinity cannot be found in the Bible, the concept of God as three-in-one is made explicit in John 14-16.

 

Seven is the number of completeness and perfection, both physical and spiritual. Seven appears to be God’s favorite number. It is used seven hundred and thirty-five times in the Holy Bible. In the Book of Revelation, it is used fifty four times. Seven of the big sevens in Revelation include: John writes to seven churches; Jesus stands among seven candlesticks; seven spirits hang around God’s throne; the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes; He opens seven seals; seven angels sound seven trumpets; seven angels pour out seven bowls of wrath.

 

Now, all this fuss about numerology makes sense. The number 777 is God’s answer to Satan the beast. God’s perfection, His completeness is symbolized in the sacrifice of His Son to pay the price for our sin.  In his book, The Bedrock of Christianity, Justin Bass makes the claim Jesus did in fact rise from the dead:

 

If we apply the critical resources at our disposal to the study of the historical events surrounding Jesus’ death and the extraordinary events that followed, the final result is always the same: we find ourselves confronted with the risen Christ. (Bass)

 

         In 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, Paul gives us this creedal confirmation about Christ’s Resurrection:

 

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

 

I will close with this quote from a former atheist, G.K. Chesterton, who later became convinced of Jesus’ resurrection:

 

On the third day the friends of Christ coming at day-break to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized a new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in appearance as a gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn. (Chesterton)  

 

Illustration

 

It Is Complete

 

           He came, looking for someone. He came during

           that day's cool evening breeze. He came as He

           had always come. He came because they knew

           each other, and used to spend time together.

 

           He came to the garden because that is where

           they always met. That's where He was at

           home. And there was no answer.

The man and the woman had hidden.

 

           Something had happened. Something horrible had

           happened, and it was made worse by the excuses

           and feeble stories that followed. Love, trust and innocence –

           everything that is beautiful had been trampled on. (Sauer)

 

Prayer

 

Our Heavenly Father,

 

You conquered death and arose from the

dead on the Third Day. You died for our sins

so we might spend an eternity with You in Heaven.

Your completion of this event saved us from Hell!

 

Thank you for being our immutable God!

Because you never change, Your promise of eternal

salvation gives us the hope to endure the hostile world

in which we live, as we watch the coming convergence

of the final prophecies occurring in the end times!

 

In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior,

 

Amen!

Worship

Complete (So I Lift My Eyes to You Lord)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkMKpwi8RKA

 

God Bless You,

Barry

 

Bass, Justin W. The Bedrock of Christianity: The Unalterable Facts of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020. Print.

 

Chesterton, G. K. The Everlasting Man. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1926, p 267. 

 

Sauer, Kenneth. “‘It Is Complete.’” SermonCentral, April 4, 2012. https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/it-is-complete-kenneth-sauer-sermon-on-crucifixion-165855.