Genesis 1:14-19 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.I admit this was a stretch at first just so I would be able to use that title. I prayed that the Father would show me the words to say about the number four. In my study he showed me some pretty amazing things concerning the number four and how it is entwined in scripture. As is all numbers, so I will spend a few posts on the amazing glory that numbers have in creation and redemption.
Three signifies Divine perfection. Now the number four is made up of three and one (3+1=4), and it denotes, therefore, and marks that which follows the revelation of God, namely, His creative works. He is known by the things that are seen. Hence the written revelation commences with the words, "In-the-beginning God CREATED." Creation is therefore the next thing—the fourth thing, and the number four always has reference to all that is created. It is emphatically the number of Creation.
It is the number of things that have a beginning, of things that are made, of material things, and matter itself. It is the number of material completeness.
The fourth day saw the material creation finished (for on the fifth and sixth days it was only the furnishing and peopling of the earth with living creatures). The sun, moon, and stars completed the work, and they were to give light upon the earth which had been created, and to rule over the day and over the night (Gen 1:14-19).
Four is the number of: the great elements, regions of the earth, divisions of the day, seasons of the year, and the lunar phases.
In Genesis 2:10, 11, the one river of Paradise was parted, and became into four heads, and "the fourth river is Euphrates." Here, as so often elsewhere, the four is made up of 3 + 1. For three of these rivers are now unnamed, while one is still known by its original name "Euphrates."
In the next chapter (Gen 3:22-24) the cherubim are first mentioned. These are four, and they have to do with creation always. They are first seen here, guarding (Gen 2:15), the Tree of Life, and thus preserving the blessed hope of immortality for creation. They are next seen in connection with atonement, showing the only ground on which creation could hope for the end of its groaning. They are seen on the veil and on the mercy-seat, binding up the hope of creation with Him who is called "the Hope of Israel." So that there is no hope for a groaning creation apart from atonement, or apart from Christ. In the Apocalypse the same four cherubim are called "the living creatures" (Rev 4). These announce the Coming One; these sing of creation and of Him who created all things, and for whose pleasure they were created (Rev 4:11). Whenever they speak it is in connection with the earth. These call forth and announce the judgments or plagues (Rev 6) which issue on the ejection of the Usurper from the earth, and the destruction of them which destroy the earth, and in the exaltation and enthronement of Him when all the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and His anointed, and when the LORD God omnipotent reigneth. Wow Right!
Hence it was that these four cherubic forms were placed in the Signs of the Zodiac, and so placed that they divide it into four equal parts, thus uniting in one the twelve signs which set forth the blessed hope of a groaning creation, which waits for the Promised Seed of the woman to come and crush the serpent's head and bring in universal blessing. The fact, therefore, of the living creatures being four (and no other number) marks them as connected with Creation, and as a symbolical representation that its hope of deliverance from the curse is bound up with the blood-shedding of the coming Redeemer.
I strongly suggest reading a book called The Witness Of The Stars by E.W.Bullinger. It shows how even before we were created the message of redemption was placed in the names and alignment of the stars.
The fourth book of the Bible is Numbers. In Hebrew it is called B'Midbar, the Wilderness. The gematria of B'Midbar is 248 (4x62). It relates to the earth, which is a wilderness compared with Heaven; and to our pilgrimage through it. It tells of Meribah and striving (20:13), and records the history of the murmurings, rebellions, and wanderings.
The fourth book of the Psalms is the Book of the Wilderness. The first Psalm is the "Prayer of Moses, the man of God,"—the man of the wilderness. All the illustrations and metaphors, are drawn from the earth, and this fourth book sets forth Jehovah's counsels and purposes in relation to the earth. (See Psalms 90-106.) In the First Book of the Psalms (1-41), the fourth Psalm has to do with earth. It tells how there is nothing satisfying in it; that apart from God there can be no real prosperity in the earth.
We may note also the fourth Psalms of the other Books of the Psalms:—Psalm 45 (the fourth of the second book), Psalm 76 (the fourth of the third book), Psalm 93 (the fourth of the fourth book), and Psalm 110 (the fourth of the fifth book). All these tell of Dominion in the earth, and they speak of the coming reign of earth's rightful King and Lord.
The Fourth Commandment is the first that refers to the earth.
The fourth clause of the Lord's Prayer is the first that mentions the earth.
I could go on and on, there is so much more correlation with the completeness of creation and the number four, but I would be writing all day. I will gladly point you in the direction of where to study this and answer any questions you have.
When you see creation and the scriptures by the numbers your eyes are fully opened to the magnificent design that went into everything the Father has done.
Wait till you see how the numbers 1,3,and 7 fit into His great design of creation.
May You Be Blessed With Peace and Understanding
