Hello Reader,

As a writer, I am always most excited about my next project. The same has been true in my calling as a pastor. When asked, "What is your favorite book in the Bible?" I often say, "the one I haven't studied yet." I love to learn and I love to share what I have learned with others, so that we all grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

As much as I like to run to the next project, there are moments where I am learning to pause and consider the past.

Not long ago, I got to hold the first copy of "Count the Stars." The book comes out on March 10, 2026 (you can preorder here), but I have been living in it for months. I have read and reread it, tweaked it, edited it, and we have worked to create something that I believe is both beautiful and beneficial for the church. In a couple months you might get a chance to hold a copy in your hands too.

In most issues of Theological Footnotes, I try to show what I am working on theologically or give a fresh reflection on issues of theology and discipleship, but in this issue I wanted to give you a larger sample of what you will find in Count the Stars. The book is an invitation to slow down and pay attention to the details of the Bible -- particularly the numbers in it -- so that we grow as more capable and confident readers of Scripture.

I hope you enjoy this large sample from the chapter entitled, "Finding the Center: Understanding Repeated Numbers."

(Did I mention the book is available for preorder?)

Stephen holding the first copy of "Count the Stars"

Finding the Center

Repetition is a clue to pay attention in the Bible. The more you read and contemplate the Scriptures, the more often details from one passage will begin to feel familiar and remind you of another passage. These connections are a vital resource for diving deeper into understanding the Bible. This is particularly true when it comes to the numbers in the Bible. Once you begin to look, numbers like seven, twelve, and forty seem to appear everywhere. Looking for repetition is the most common and most important practice for understanding biblical numbers.

However, noticing that numbers repeat is not enough. It might be fascinating to realize that two passages from very different parts of the Bible record something with the exact same number, but what does it mean? Why is it important? We need to figure which passage provides the best context for understanding the meaning of this number in the others. Out of all the references to seven, twelve, or forty, which passage provides the center of meaning? Each passage should be read in all its unique particularity and with reference to its context within its particular book. However, the canonical context is also important, particularly when we want to understand the echoes and resonances between various passages and themes (including numbers). Once we have determined which passage sits at the center of meaning for a given number, we can then evaluate how other instances fit within the broader meaning of that number in Scripture.

There are three main places we should look for the central meaning of a repeated biblical number: the first instance, the Exodus, or Jesus. For some numbers, the first time it appears in the Bible is huge clue about how we are to understand it every other time it appears. For others, God’s work of salvation in bringing his people out of Egypt is the central passage which echoes both backward and forward throughout the Bible. While all of Scripture finds its fulfillment in Jesus, some numbers find their central meaning in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many of the repeated numbers will continue the same theme or meaning almost every they appear in the Bible. A select few, however, will have opposite meanings in different places.

Determining the central story for the meaning of a biblical number is more a matter of wisdom than technique. Some numbers will be obvious, while others will require significant time wrestling, studying, and praying before God reveals an insight. Let’s look at each of these three places where numbers can find their central meaning and then work through some examples to help us see how this might work for numbers that have not been included in this book.

First Instance: The Seven Days of Creation & Seventy Nations

One place we look for the central meaning of a number is the first time it appears in the Bible. We then can read the other instances in light of its meaning in this first passage. As we have already seen in the previous chapter, seven is one of the most common and repeated numbers throughout the Bible — appearing from Genesis to Revelation. Understanding the significance of the number seven within the Bible will open up new insights and depths of interpretation for a variety of passages.

“Seven” is an example of where the first time it shows up in the Bible is key for grasping its overall significance. The very first story in the whole Bible contains the number “seven.” In Genesis 1, God spends six days making the heavens and the earth. He creates light and darkness, sea and sky, fish and birds, plants and animals. At the pinnacle of the sixth day, God creates human beings. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). However, the capstone of the entire creation account is not the creation of humans, but the seventh day. God created in six days, but the creation account is seven full days.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation” (Gen. 2:1-3)

Creation was completed by God resting. It was not finished until God chose to cease his work and declare the work complete. Rest as the pinnacle of creation has a lot to say to us about the role of sabbath in the life of faith, but this story gives “seven” a particular significance. It symbolizes creation that is “finished” or “complete.” Because God completed creation in seven days, seven is a complete number of something in the Bible. Whenever “seven” is mentioned, it not only refers to a literal number of things, but communicates that the amount is complete, perfect, or full.

With this idea that seven means “completeness,” many of the other sevens in the Bible start to come into focus more clearly. Every seven days, the people were to celebrate the sabbath by resting from their labors (like God did on the seventh day — Ex. 20:8-11; Dt. 5:12-15). The sabbath is not a break from activity so that you can recharge for work, but it is the fullness or completion of the week. Rest completes work. Every seven years, the land and people are called to rest and people are released from the debt (Lev. 25; Dt. 15:2). This represents the fullness of years and people are to be given complete freedom. It also ties closely to the sabbath principle of rest (and freedom) as the pinnacle of the work of creation. Whether the seventh day of the week, or the seventh year, seven represents a fullness or completeness of time.

Pharaoh dreams of seven fat, sleek cows being eaten up by seven poor, ugly, and thin cows, then of seven good ears of grain being swallowed up by seven thin ears (Gen. 41:14- 24). Joseph interprets these as referring to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. In both cases, seven is both literal and symbolic. Egypt has seven years of plenty, but they also experience complete abundance. “So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance — like the sand of the sea — that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure” (Gen. 41:49). Yet, Egypt also experienced seven years of famine — a complete and utter famine. “Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world” (Gen. 41:57). Both plenty and famine were experienced in their fullness.

Naaman is told to wash in the Jordan river seven times (2 Kings 5:10). In this way, he was told not just to wash once, but to wash completely. Jesus casts seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2). He removes a full set of demons from her and completely sets her free. The book of Revelation is full of the number seven and the whole book shows the fullness of God’s plan for the end of all things, when creation and all God’s purposes will finally be complete. Therefore, the seven churches represent the fullness of the church (Rev. 1:12-3:22). This is why their various experiences, challenges, encouragements, and rebukes are as much for the church today as in the first century. The lamb has seven eyes, because it sees completely (Rev. 5:6). There are seven trumpets, seven bowls, and seven seals because these represent the completion or fulfillment of God’s will and judgment upon the earth. Each of the sevens in the book of Revelation is symbolic of something experienced completely or in its fullness.

Another example of a number’s first appearance carrying its meaning is the number seventy. Seventy is a combination of two numbers (7x10), and also carries the sense of a total number of something. While seven symbolizes completeness in the sense of perfection, seventy means complete in the sense of a full amount or full number. We see seventy appear first in Genesis 10 in the genealogy of Noah’s sons. Sometimes called the “Table of Nations,” this genealogy lists seventy nations or cities that come from Noah’s children. These covered what was considered the known world at the time. In this way, the seventy nations symbolize the full number of nations in the world. The other instances of seventy follow similar patterns. There are seventy sons of Jacob who come down to Egypt (Gen. 46:27) — a full amount of the children of Jacob. The parallel possibly runs deeper as well. The seventy sons of Noah cover every nation on the earth. God promised Abraham that “I will indeed bless you and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore” (Gen. 22:17). Jacob, who bears the covenant of Abraham, having the same number of family come into Egypt as the nations of the earth, is the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.

The seventy years in exile for Judah would carry the same symbolism — it is a full amount of years to be cut off and separated from the land of promise (Jer. 25:11). The seventy disciples that Jesus sends out two-by-two would also parallel the seventy nations, the seventy children of Jacob, and the fullness of number of disciples (Luke 10:1-12).

This fullness of number is always symbolic and not strictly literal. While Jesus literally sent out seventy disciples, its symbolic meaning of “full number” does not mean that Jesus must literally have seventy disciples. The same is true of the 144,000 in the book of Revelation (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:3).

The first instance of a number in the Bible can sometimes determine its symbolic meaning throughout the Scriptures. In my reading, this is the least common place to find the central meaning, but it does incorporate one of the most important and repeated numbers in the Bible — seven.

The Exodus: Forty Years and Ten Plagues

The next two places to look for the central meaning of a biblical number are the two central salvation stories of the Bible — the Exodus and Christ. The Exodus, the great saving work of God in the Old Testament, points to and prefigures the greater saving event of God in Jesus Christ. Because of how deeply connected these two events are in the Bible, sometimes there is slippage between the two when trying to discern the center of meaning. However, we will look at two examples of key numbers that find their meaning primarily in the Exodus — forty and ten.

After God delivered his people from Egypt, they spent forty years in the wilderness. This forty-year period was both a time of trial and wandering from God (Ps. 95:7-11) as well as a time of deep intimacy with God (Jer. 2:1-3). Israel grumbled against God, but it was also like their honeymoon after the marriage on Mount Sinai. These twin experiences are held together throughout the forty years — closeness to God and struggle, trial and renewal, intimacy and purification.

These two themes carry over when we think about the other instance of forty in the Bible. When God saw that “the wickedness of humankind was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), he sent a flood upon the earth. For God said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created” (Gen. 6:7). This flood came in the form of rain for forty days and forty nights. The flood was a judgment upon the wickedness of humanity, but it was also a purification and cleansing of creation. Like the forty years in the wilderness was a process of cleansing Israel from its time in Egypt, the forty days of rain cleansed and purified the creation. Yet, both periods of forty were also places for renewal. On the other side of the flood was God’s covenant with Noah and Noah worshipping the Lord (Gen. 8:20-9:17). There were problems on the far side of the flood (Gen. 9:20-29), but it was a time of renewal and purification.

Moses’ life can be divided into three periods of forty years. He spends forty years in Egypt (Acts 7:23), and then forty years in the Midian tending his father-in-law’s flocks (Acts 7:30), before living his final forty years with Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:36). He spends forty days and nights on Mount Sinai (Ex. 32). These periods share the same themes as before — purification and renewal, intimacy with God and trial.

These themes become even more pronounced for Elijah and Jesus, both of whom spend forty days in the wilderness. Like Israel before him, Elijah grumbled and wanted to give up on the mission that God had given him. He seemed alone and it all felt like too much. But then he was fed miraculously in the wilderness (like manna?) and was strengthened for forty days and forty nights and then came to the mountain of God (1 Kgs. 19:4-9). Here, God told Elijah to stand before him and Elijah beheld the presence of God in sheer silence (1 Kgs. 19:11-18). For Elijah, his wilderness time of forty days and forty nights was one of trial as well as one of intimacy with God and a renewal of his calling and mission.

The same is true for Jesus. Following his baptism by John in the Jordan, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Mt. 4:1-11). This is a period of trial for Jesus, where he is tempted by the devil three times. In each instance, Jesus relies on the Word of God to resist the devil, who eventually flees from him. Among other things, these temptations from Satan are a trial for Jesus, determining whether he will follow through on his mission when it becomes difficult. However, unlike Israel, Moses, and Elijah, Jesus does not grumble in the wilderness. He experiences trials and difficulty, but they come from outside of him, not from within himself. Where the periods of forty before Jesus were times of trial and struggle (and, occasionally, failure), Jesus emerges victorious.

Another number that finds its central meaning in the Exodus is the number ten. God uses ten plagues to break the power of Pharaoh and rescue his people from Egypt (Ex. 7:14–12:32). The final plague (the tenth) takes place on the tenth day of the month, which becomes the celebration of the Passover (Ex. 12:3). After delivering the Israelites, God brings them up to Mount Sinai, where he gives them the Ten Commandments, a summary of his Law for his people (Ex. 20:1-17).

These stories connect the number ten with both God’s Law and God’s judgment and worship. Ten makes clear what God requires and ten rejects all false worship and extols the supreme worship of the Lord. Thus, it should be no surprise that this number comes up again and again in relationship to worship in the temple and the offerings to God. There were ten curtains in the Tabernacle (Ex. 26). Ten showed up already in the flood story (“waters receded until the tenth day of the tenth month” — Gen. 8:5), which is a judgment upon the world for disobedience to the commands of God. Giving a tenth (or ‘tithe’) is part of worshipping God and giving him what we owe to him (Lev. 27:30; cf. Gen. 14:20; 28:22). Sodom and Gomorrah would have been saved from judgment if there were only ten righteous people (Gen. 18:32). While in the wilderness, God provides the people with manna, and the people are to take one omer of manna per person (Ex. 16). However, there is a curious detail mentioned — “(an omer is a tenth of an ephah)” (Ex. 16:36). God gives the people a tenth in the wilderness to eat each day. The people are called to give a tenth to God in worship as an offering. When the people are commanded to offer a lamb every day in sacrifice (read: worship) to the Lord, they are also commanded to offer a tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with oil (Ex. 29:40). The same amount of flour was offered every day as the amount of manna they received in the wilderness. In both cases, they offered a tenth in worship.

The ten plagues and the ten commandments connect the number ten with God’s judgment and commandments, which center on the proper worship of God. For this reason, we see a lot of tens related to the temple, tithing, and the worship of the Lord.

Jesus: The Center of Everything

The most important event in the history of the world is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One of the best ways to understand a biblical number is to see what it means in stories in the life of Jesus. We will look at only two examples, since many of the others will show up in other places in this handbook.

Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Many instances of three in the Bible point to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The most prominent example was named by Jesus himself — Jonah.

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.” (Mt. 12:38-40)

Jonah’s three days in the belly of the fish symbolize the three days Jesus spent in the tomb. Just as Jonah was delivered out onto the shore, Jesus Christ rose up from death. Though there are select references to three that may hint at the three persons of the Trinity (Gen. 18:1-11, though this is debated), the majority should be read in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There is some overlap between the Exodus and Jesus on the number twelve. There are twelve sons of Jacob who form the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen. 35:23-26). Many of the twelves in the Old Testament are clear references to those twelve tribes. Jesus selects twelve disciples (Luke 6:12-16). This is intentional. These twelve disciples constitute a renewed and reformed people of God. Just as the twelve tribes (and the number twelve) previously symbolized the people of God, the twelve disciples (and twelve in the New Testament) symbolize those who follow as disciples of Jesus Christ. In both cases, twelve refers to the covenant people of God; in the Old Testament it refers to the covenant people of Abraham (by birth), and in the New Testament it refers to the covenant people of Abraham (by faith in Jesus). These are related as promise and fulfillment and the symbolism overlaps.

One of the most common and most important tools for understanding the numbers in the Bible is to find where a specific number repeats elsewhere in the Bible. However, that is not enough. We must know what that number means in the Bible more generally in order to see its significance in the particular passage we are studying. We have looked at examples of three different places to look for the primary meaning of a biblical number: its first appearance in the Bible; in the exodus from Egypt; and in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once we determine the central meaning, we will be better equipped to see its significance everywhere.

If this sample makes you excited to learn more, you can preorder the book here and have it on your doorstep on March 10, 2026.

Writing Updates

With the upcoming launch of Count the Stars, I will be putting quite a bit of energy into promotion, since this is our first attempt at a preorder campaign. I would appreciate your help. I love talking about my books and what I am learning, but I am still growing in my comfort is asking people to actually purchase them.

My remaining "writer time" will be devoted to the translation of The Body of Orthodox Doctrine (Zacharius Ursinus' commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism) through the end of 2025. I will pivot to a couple other projects in the new year, two of which are collaborations I am very excited about. Stay tuned for details about those as they develop.

Thank You

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