Weekly Article

Questions and Answers: The Number Seven

Weekly Article 11/18/05

by the Rev. Matt Kennedy

Church of the Good Shepherd

Questions and Answers: The Number Seven

This question was recently sent in by Mr. Ed Habicht.

“I was reading the book of Revelation the other day and everywhere I looked I saw the number seven. Is there anything about “seven“ in the bible?”

Several numbers have special meaning in the bible, as they did in the ancient world. Forty, twelve, and seven each have metaphorical as well as literal meaning. The number seven is probably the most important of these numbers.

To the Jewish people of the Old and New Testament the number seven conveyed the concept of wholeness, fullness, and completion. The link between the number seven and the concept of completeness goes all the way back to the story of creation.

God completed his work of creation on the seventh day. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because he rested from all the work of creating he had done.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

As time went on seven took on more and more metaphorical significance until it became synonymous with the idea of a blessed completeness.

This does not mean that when you read the number seven in the bible that you should always assume it is being used symbolically or metaphorically. It is usually used both as a metaphor and to convey historically accurate information.

Let me give you an example.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus addresses the seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) under St. John’s pastoral leadership. These churches were real churches. They weren’t metaphors. And yet, together the trials, sufferings, joys and victories they experience seem to sum up the experience of churches everywhere.

The church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) struggles with unfaithfulness to the law of God in the face of a pagan culture. Jesus urges this church to repent and return to the fold. The church in Sardis, while a real church, is representative of all the churches throughout history that have struggled with compromise and unfaithfulness.

The church in Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) by contrast remained faithful throughout an extended period of violent persecution and suffering. Jesus commends them for their perseverance and yet they still tolerate false teachers. Jesus urges this church to repent of this tolerance and stop listening to heresy. The church in Pergamum, while a real, church represents all the churches throughout history that have faced persecution and struggled with heretical leaders and teachers.

Taken together, all churches past and present can locate their own contemporary experiences by analogy in one of the seven churches described in Revelation.

Thus, the number seven is used in this section of revelation both historically: there really were seven churches with these real problems that Jesus addresses; and metaphorically: these churches taken together represent the complete experience of all churches for all time.

Reading further in Revelation you find that John has a vision of Jesus seated on his throne in Heaven surrounded by his disciples, departed believers, and martyrs. John sees seven lamp stands, seven stars, seven scrolls, and later he hears seven trumpets. The use of seven here is much more metaphorical than historical. John really did see these things, but he saw them in an apocalyptic vision. This means that the metaphorical meaning of the number seven ought to take precedence in our interpretation. The sevens represent the fullness of whatever the object in question (a star, lamp stand, trumpet, etc…) symbolizes.

As with all issues of biblical interpretation, the context is the key. What kind of book are you reading? Is it historical narrative like one of the gospels? Is it a record of a prophetic vision like that found in Daniel 7? What is going on in the section of the book you are reading.

The context will tell you which understanding of the number 7 should take precedence.

Take for example the conversation between Jesus and Peter in Matthew 18.

Peter approaches Jesus and asks him, “How many times should I forgive my brother, up to seven times?’ (Matt 18:21)

Peter was probably not using seven in the metaphorical sense. Most likely he literally meant “seven” times. Peter thought that would be more than enough forgiveness.

Here’s Jesus’ answer: “I tell you not seven times, but seventy seven times” (18:22)

Jesus responds to Peter’s literal use with a stronger metaphorical use. Not one seven (7) he says, but two sevens (77).

Jesus was not saying that you should keep a list of someone’s infractions and when they reach 78, stop forgiving.

He was using seven metaphorically.

Forgive completely and wholly and never stop forgiving because no matter how much or how many times you forgive someone, you can never come near forgiving as much as you have been forgiven. (Matt 18:23-35)

As I said above, the key to knowing whether seven is being used metaphorically or literally is the context.

In this section of Matthew, Jesus follows up his response to Peter with a parable intended to convey the infinite mercy and grace of God toward his people (Matt 18:23-35). God forgives believers completely. Thus , in the same way believers should forgive completely (18:35).

The number seven’s metaphorical meaning perfectly fits with this exhortation. Thus, Jesus must have intended his use of the number seven in his reply to Peter to be understood metaphorically, “forgive completely”.

Since Jesus’ was correcting Peter, and not agreeing with him, we can assume also that Peter intended his use of the number seven literally.

It seems complicated, but the more familiar you become with the bible the easier it will become to understand how to use the context to understand when a number is being used metaphorically and when it is being used literally.

Here are the basic metaphorical definitions for the other two numbers I mentioned above:

Twelve: This number is usually representative of the whole people of Israel. It harkens back to the 12 sons of Jacob whose offspring became the 12 tribes of Israel. This is why Jesus chose 12 disciples. to make the point that his ministry represented the restoration of God’s kingdom.

Forty: This number is associated with times of trial and testing. When God sent the great flood, it rained for forty days and forty nights. The people of Israel escaped bondage in Egypt to be tested in the desert for forty years before reaching the promised land. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights and was tempted by Satan following his baptism during the very earliest period of his public ministry.

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