A pattern of numbers shows up in the original Hebrew text of the first verse of the Bible. Why? The pattern could not have occurred by chance. Certainly the pattern verifies that the text is supernatural. Man did not contrive this. God did, to show that He is the author of the Bible. But why these particular numbers and this pattern? We shall see. The first words of the Bible are "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." In the original Hebrew text "Be'reshit bara Elohim et ha'shamayim ve'et ha'aretz". Every letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a numeric value. A simple calculation produces a numeric value for each word. Here are the word values. These two words have a combined value of 999. These three words have a combined value of 999. These 3 words add up to 888. And these three words add up to 777. 777, 888, and 999 twice. It's a pattern. It isn't there by chance. But why these numbers ... 777, 888 and 999 twice? Let's see what is in the 777th chapter of the Bible. The 777th chapter of the Bible is Jeremiah 32. There are promises for Israel detailed in the chapter. They are promises that follow predictions of defeat, and of scattering of the Jewish people out of the Land of Israel. The predictions of judgment have come to pass, but the promises that follow have not been fulfilled yet. God says "I will gather them out of all the lands ..." (lands plural) "... all the lands to which I have driven them. I will bring them back to this place ..." to the land of Israel. Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians not long after Jeremiah wrote the words. The Jews went into captivity to Babylon for 70 years and then a remnant returned to the land of Israel. About 600 years later, Israel was conquered by the Romans and once again the Jewish people were scattered, this time all over the world. Now we shall look at the 888th chapter of the Bible. The 888th chapter is Amos 9. In Amos 9 God promises "I will plant them in their land ... and they will never again be uprooted out of their land which I have given them." That promise wasn't fulfilled when Israel returned from the Babylonian captivity ... "they will NEVER AGAIN be uprooted out of the land ..." Israel is back in the promised land ... not all of them yet, but millions are settled there and, if God's promises are to be believed, then Israel is there to stay ... forever. When we say that Jeremiah 32 and Amos 9 are the 777th and 888th chapters of the Bible, we are going by the order of traditional Christian Bibles. The Christian Bible has 260 chapters in the New Testament, and those 260 chapters follow 929 chapters of the Old Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books containing the 929 chapters. The traditional Jewish Bible has the same 39 books of the Old Testament as the Christian Bible but, after the first seven books, they are arranged in a different order. In the order of the Jewish Bible, the 777th chapter is not Jeremiah 32, and the 888th chapter is not Amos 9. In the order of the Jewish Bible the 777th chapter is Proverbs 18, and the 888th chapter is 1 Chronicles 24, and those chapters contain nothing significant prophetically. In other words 777 and 888 relate to promises for the Jewish people only when we use the Christian order of the chapters of the Old Testament. Also, the code that we get from Genesis involves the number 999 twice, and there are only nine hundred and twenty nine chapters in Hebrew Bibles. But we can find 999 chapters in two different ways, when we examine the Christian Bible. There is a 999th chapter, of course, and we shall come to that. We also find 999 chapters when we start with Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60 is prophetic of God's future dealings with Israel. Isaiah 60 is the 739th chapter of the Bible. The Bible says that "No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes and amen in Jesus." Jesus is revealed in the 260 chapters of the New Testament. Isaiah 60 will find fulfillment in Jesus. Add the 260 chapters of the New Testament to the 739 chapters up to Isaiah 60, and we get 999 chapters. Isaiah 60 says that "... darkness will cover the earth ... but His light will rise on Israel ... the remnant of Israel will be gathered from afar" ... and Israel will recognize her Savior. Israel will receive everlasting salvation. Redemption, the Bible says, is in Jesus. Redemption is only in Jesus. So far, the 777th and 888th and a 999th chapter have unfolded as follows. Israel will be regathered from every land to which God scattered them. God will plant Israel in their land never again to be uprooted. Israel will find salvation in the Promised Land. These themes are found in other places in the Bible, but here we have a clear sequence of events on view, and we are alerted to this through the code in Genesis 1:1. And now we come to the 999th chapter of the Bible. The 999th chapter is John 2. In the Gospel of John chapter 2, Jesus says to his Jewish listeners, "Destroy the temple (of His body) and in three days He will raise it up." A few years later, Jesus was crucified and buried, and He did rise from the grave on the third day. However, we might consider that Jesus was also speaking prophetically of His return some day in the future, because all believers in Jesus are said to be His body. We are living stones in His spiritual temple. We shall be raised with Him. The Bible says that "A day is like a thousand years in God's sight". Nearly two thousand years have passed since Jesus' death and resurrection. A third millennium of 1,000 years is upon us, and Jesus said that He is coming back. He died in Jerusalem. He rose from the grave in Jerusalem. He ascended to heaven from Jerusalem. And Jesus is going to return to Jerusalem. He has promised salvation in the land of Israel for the remnant of the Jewish people. Back to John chapter 2. It also says that Jesus went to a wedding "on the third day". That's interesting. There was a wedding that Jesus went to with His disciples. But the Bible says there is going to be a wedding when Jesus returns. And that wedding will be when Jesus claims the bride of Christ. When all God's people are as one ... Jew and Gentile joined. One body fulfilled. Jesus will have a people for Himself from among the Gentiles, and from among the Jews. He gave His life to pay for the sins of all who will place their faith in Him. It's a message people need to hear, because it proclaims that God loves us, but He is holy. He cares for us, but He is to be taken seriously. He is faithful. He knows we are weak, so He completes what He began. It's a message that should be shared.
