Biblical Sevens
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
From the Seven Days of Genesis to the Seven Seals of Revelation, Scripture is saturated with the Number Seven. Essentially all Biblical scholars, regardless of their stance regarding the meaning of numbers in Scripture, have recognized its special symbolic significance. Simply stated, it is impossible to miss. God laid the foundation of its meaning when He introduced this number in the context of His finished Work of Creation.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:2)
God introduced the Number Seven as a symbol of the completion of His initial creative act. But the work that He ended on the Seventh Day in the First Book was really just the beginning of the Biblical revelation of all history that He consummated in the Last Book. And it is here that we see the Divine consistency of the Number Seven as a Biblical symbol; God used it with exactly the same meaning when He revealed the end of time, described as the completion of the "mystery of God," in Revelation 10:5 - And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The word translated as finished is the Greek teléo, which generally means to bring to a close, to complete, to end, to fulfill. This word appears again in Revelation 15:1 which explicitly states the reason for seven angels with seven plagues:
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; because in them is filled up (teléo) the wrath of God.
This verse displays a double emphasis on temporal consummation; the word translated as last is eschatos, whence eschatology, the study of the end times. God reiterated its connection with the Number Seven a third time in Revelation 16:17 - And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
This is characteristic of the Bible; most symbols are clearly defined in the text and used quite consistently from Genesis to Revelation. The Number Seven, the numerical symbol of Fullness, Completion, and Perfection, is a prime example of this consistency, as illustrated by this entry from the Tyndale Bible Dictionary (emphasis added):
In Scripture, seven symbolizes completeness or perfection. On the seventh day God rested from his labors and creation is finished (Gn 2:2). Pharaoh in his dream saw seven cattle coming from the Nile (41:2). Samson’s sacred Nazirite locks were braided in seven plaits (Jgs 16:13). Seven devils left Mary of Magdala, signifying the totality of her previous possession by Satan (Lk 8:2); "seven other devils" will enter the purified but vacant life of a person (Mt 12:45). However, on the positive side, there were the seven spirits of God (Rv 3:1). In the seventh year the Hebrew slave was to be freed (Ex 21:2), having completed his time of captivity and service. Every seventh year was a sabbatical year (Lv 25:4). Seven times seven reiterates the sense of completeness. In the Year of Jubilee (at the completion of 7 x 7 years = the 50th year), all land is freed and returns to the original owners (Lv 25:10). Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, is seven times seven days after Passover. "Seventy," which is literally "sevens" in Hebrew, strengthens the concept of perfection. There are 70 elders (Ex 24:1) in Israel. Israel was exiled to Babylon for 70 years (Jer 25:12) to complete its punishment. "Seventy times seven" (Mt 18:22) reiterates this still further. The Lord was not giving Peter a mathematical number of times that he should forgive another person, but rather was insisting on limitless forgiveness for a brother’s sin.
When God introduced the Number Seven as a symbol of the completion of His Work of Creation, He also associated it with sanctification (holiness), declaring that He "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." Thus God laid the foundation for its application throughout the rest of Scripture. It is a double symbol signifying both completion and sanctification. These ideas naturally cohere because sanctification denotes the setting apart or separating of a person or thing as wholly devoted or completely given over to God, as when He separated the Levitical Priests saying "they are wholly given unto me" (Num 8:16), or again when Paul prayed that "the very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (1 Thes 5:23). This is the essence of the Fourth Commandment which mandates the complete cessation of all mundane work and the complete devotion to the things of God.
The Fourth Commandment permanently embedded the threefold association of completion, sanctification, and the Number Seven into the fundamental rhythm – the very heartbeat – of Jewish life. Just as God ceased His Work on the Seventh Day, so the Jews rest from their work on the Seventh Day and sanctify it unto God. This set the basis of God's sacred pattern of time that completely dominates the Old Testament calendar. It is the origin of the seven-day week now common to the entire world. Obviously, it is very important to God that we recognize and understand the meaning of this number. He used it re-iteratively on multiple scales (days, months, years) throughout His ceremonial laws and in His design of the Jewish religious calendar. The Lord ordained seven days for the sanctification of the altar (Exo 29:37), seven days for the sanctification of the Priests (Lev 8:33), and seven weeks for the cleansing of leprosy (13:1). Likewise, the sanctifying blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled seven times (8:11, 14:7), and following the pattern of the weekly Sabbath on a higher scale, He ordained every seventh year as a sabbatical year when the land was to lay fallow (25:2).
The Seven Feasts of the Lord exemplify God’s reiterative application of this number in the structure of His ceremonial circle of time. It begins with the Feast of Passover on the fourteenth day (2 x 7) of the first month followed immediately by seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Pentecost then comes fifty days (7 x 7 + 1) after the first sabbath following Passover, a pattern God repeated on a higher scale with the Year of Jubilee set for every fifty years (7 x 7 + 1). The whole cycle of Seven Feasts culminates with three connected "holy convocations" of the seventh month, beginning with the Feast of Trumpets followed by the great Day of Atonement which God integrated with the Year of Jubilee and the numerical pattern of "seven times seven" (Lev 25:8f):
And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year [7 x 7 +1], and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Bible sevens can also be literal or allegoric mystery's to solve. Of sevens in the Bible, seven days can be just another week or 1 day can allegorically be as a 1000 years and a 1000 years can allegorically be as 1 day. Paul, who writes more New Testament writings than all the other six New Testament writers combined, tells us the Bible is filled full of allegory in both "covenants" Peter also tells us not to be ignorant of this one thing: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."(2Peter 3:8). David tells us: "A thousand years in thy sight [are] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night" (Psalms 90:4).
The Seven New Testament Writers
1. Matthew
2. John
3. Luke
4. Paul
5. James
6. Peter
7. Jude
Note: six writers combined write 12 of 27, but Paul writes 15 of 27; more than all six combined.
The Seven Days of Genesis
1. And the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:5)
2. And the evening and the morning were the second day (Genesis 1:8)
3. And the evening and the morning were the third day (Genesis 1:13)
4. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day (Genesis 1:19)
5. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day (Genesis 1:23)
6. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31)
7. And on the seventh day God ended, blessed, and sanctified (Genesis 2:1-3)
Note: the seventh day has no mention of evening and morning, as six other days do.
After the sixth day, prior to the seventh day, the heavens (plural) and earth were finished.
What God saw, seven times, in Genesis 1
1. good (not both good and evil) (Genesis 1:3-4) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
2. good (not both good and evil) (Genesis 1:9-10) And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
3. good (not both good and evil) (Genesis 1:12) The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
4. good (not both good and evil) Genesis 1:16-18 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
5. good (not both good and evil) (Genesis 1:21) So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
6. good (not both good and evil) (Genesis 1:25) God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
7. very good (every thing he made was exceedingly good) (Genesis 1:31) God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Seven Things That Can Count as Nothing Without Faith, Hope & Love:
1Corinthians 13 1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteriesandall knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1. speak with tongues of men and angels (nothing but sounding brass & tinkling cymbal)
2. have [the gift of] prophecy (you are nothing)
3. understand all mysteries (you are nothing)
4. have all knowledge (you are nothing)
5. have faith so as to remove mountains (you are nothing)
6. bestow all your goods to feed and help the poor (profits you nothing)
7. give your body over to hardship (profits you nothing)
Seven Things Peter Says Add To Your Faith: 2Peter 1:3-9
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
1. virtue
2. knowledge
3. temperance
4. patience
5. godliness
6. mutual affection (brotherly kindness)
7. love
- Some Bible Sevens that are Fairly Obvious Biblical Sevens
-In Genesis we find seven days, but only six days of work, rest on the seventh day
-Enoch was the seventh from Adam, who pleased God, but was "not found"
-In Genesis 7 we find clean beasts taken in Noah's Ark by seven, but only for sacrifice
-In Genesis 29 we find Jacob serving seven years for a bride, but thereby he got stung
-In Genesis 31 we find Laban chasing Jacob seven days journey
-In Genesis 41 we find Pharaoh dreams of sevens, but such plenty is followed by famine
-In Exodus 29 we find seven days required to sanctify the altar
-In Leviticus we find the sprinkling of blood and oil seven times for cleansing
-In 2Samuel 2 we find David is king in Hebron seven years before he's king in Jerusalem
-In Judges 6 we find the Israelites are given over to Midian seven years
-In Judges 14 we find Samson's wife weeping before him seven days
-In 1Kings 6 we find it took Solomon seven years to build the temple
-In 2Kings 3 we find restoration at the end of seven years
-In Psalms 12 we find purification of the earth taking seven times
-In Psalms 119 we find David praising his LORD seven times a day
-In Proverbs 24 we find a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again
-In Ezekiel 40 we find they went up by seven steps
-In Ezekiel 44 we find priests were defiled for seven days
-In Acts of the Apostles we find seven men appointed as deacons over the people
-In Revelations we find seven angels, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven horns, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven plagues, seven spirits, seven eyes, seven lamps, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven mountains, and seven kings
-Mary Magdalene, out of whom came seven demons
Seven Men appointed to serve tables in Acts 6:
1. Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost
2. Philip (not the apostle Philip, but Philip the evangelist who did miracles in Samaria)
3. Prochorus
4. Nicanor
5. Timon
6. Parmenas
7. Nocolas a proselyte of Antioch (perhaps the founder of Nocolaitans mentioned in Revelation 2)
Note: Stephen saw Jesus "standing" on the right of God, and it got him both cast out and stoned to death.
Nicolaitans are noted in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15, notably for their doctrine and their deeds being hated.
Some Bible Sevens that are not so obvious Hidden Biblical Sevens: Hidden Sevens:
-In Genesis seven it took seven days to load the ark
-Seven days are mentioned in John 1 & 2:1 when counting the days
- Jesus healed an impotent man with seven words, rather than help him into troubled water: John 5:1-14
-Book of Judges is about seven cycles of falling and rising up
-Blood of Jesus was shed seven times when counting
-Seven pillars of wisdom are mentioned in Proverbs
-The covenant was established seven times with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
-There are seven covenants and each one is also sevenfold
-There are seven one's denoting unity of the Spirit in Ephesians 4
-There are seven baptisms mentioned in the Bible
-There are seven hopes mentioned in the Bible
-Seven things are an abomination unto the LORD who hates only six of such in Proverbs 6
-There are seven offices of the body in Romans 12
-There are seven steps in the prayer of 2 Chronicles 20
-There are seven festivals of the LORD found in the three feasts of Israel
-Seven loaves become seven baskets of leftovers in Matthew 15
-Seven Angels accompanied Paul into Asia in Acts 20:4
-Seven trees are mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah 41
-Seven spirits are mentioned in in Isaiah 11 and four times in Revelation
-There are seven steps to God's presence in the tabernacle of Moses
-There are seven marvelous things God did for Israel in Psalm 78
-There are seven brooks mentioned in the Bible
-There are seven Marys mentioned in the New Testament
-There are seven wildernesses mentioned in the Bible
-There are seven things to add to faith in 2 Peter 1
-There is a seven part restoration of dead bones in Ezekiel 37
-There are seven things "now" faith is in Hebrews 11
-There are seven holy garments mentioned in Exodus 29
-There are seven reasons for blowing the trumpet in the Bible
-The lamb of God is worthy to receive seven things in Revelation 5
-There are seven things the Messiah is appointed to do in Isaiah 61
-There are seven enemies of God the angel led Joshua unto over Jordon
-The resurrected Christ appeared seven times, the seventh time to seven apostles gone fishing by night
-There are seven appearances of angels in Acts of the Apostles
-Seven men went to witness the gift of the Holy Ghost to Gentiles in Acts 11
-Seven Last Utterances comprise the Easter story in the four gospel accounts
-Seven times it mentions Jesus is seated at the "right hand" of God
Seven "I am"s in John's Gospel:
- I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
- I am the Light of the world (John 9:5)
- I am the Door (John 10:9)
- I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
- I am the Resurrection (John 11:25)
- I am the True Vine (John 15:1)
- I am the Way (John 14:6)
- Calamity: I will laugh at your calamity (Proverbs 1:26)
- Fear: I will mock when fear cometh (Proverbs 1:26)
- Desolation: when your fear cometh as desolation (Proverbs 1:27)
- Distress: when your distress cometh upon you (Proverbs 1:27)
- Destruction: when your destruction cometh as a whirlwind (Proverbs 1:27)
- Anguish: when anguish cometh upon you (Proverbs 1:27)
- No Answer: then they will call, and I will not answer (Proverbs 1:28)
Seven Giants mentioned in the Bible- Og - Deuteronmy 3:11
- Sippai - 1Chronicles 20:4
- Lahmi - 1Chronicles 20:5
- unnamed - 1Chronicles 20:6
- Goliath - 1Samuel 17:4
- ishbi-benob - 2Samuel 21:16
- Saph - 2Samuel 21:18
Seven Marys mentioned in the New Testament
1. Mary: mother of Jesus(called Christ), James, Joses, Salome
2. Mary: wife of Cleophas; sister of Mary(mother of Jesus): John 19:25
3. Mary: Bethany, sister of Martha & Lazarus; wiped Jesus' feet with her hair: John 11:2
4. Mary Magdalene: out of whom came seven demons; the first to see the risen Jesus
5. Mary: of James: Luke 24:10 (Note: "of ____" denotes father or mother in geneologies)
6. Mary: wife of Zebedee; mother of James & John: Acts 12:12
7. Mary: who bestowed much labor on us: Greeted by Paul in Romans 16:6
Jericho Sevens
- seven walks, of
- seven priests, blowing
- seven trumpets, for
- seven days, with
- seven blasts, going around
- seven times, on the
- seventh day ... walls fell
Seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24 are determined for seven reasons- to finish the transgression
- to make an end of sins
- to make reconciliation for iniquity
- to bring in everlasting righteousness
- to seal up the vision
- to seal the prophecy
- to anoint the most Holy
Seven things of the altar in Exodus 27- his horns, upon four corners
- his pans, to receive
- his ashes
- his shovels
- his basons
- his fleshhooks
- his firepans
Seven Priestly Garments in Exodus 29- Coat
- Robe
- Ephod
- Breastplate
- Curious Girdle
- Mitre
- Holy Crown
Seven things the LORD is in Psalms 18- my rock
- my fortress
- my deliverer
- my God
- my strength
- my buckler
- my high tower
The LORD is my (sevenfold) Shepherd (Psalms 23) -He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
-He leadeth me beside still waters
-He restoreth my soul
-He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
-He comforteth me
-He preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies
-He anointest my head
- Some Examples of Seven Times and Seventh Time
“And he (Jacob) passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother (Essau)” (Genesis 33)
“And the priest shall dip his finger of the blood, and sprinkle seven times before the LORD” (Leviticus 4)
“I will chastise you seven times for your sins” (Leviticus 26)
“And he (Elijah) said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time ”. (1Kings 18)
“A just (man) falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief”. (Proverb 24)
“Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments”. (Psalm 119)
“The words of the LORD [are] pure words; [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6)
“Let his (Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king’s) heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter (is) by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men …” (Daniel 4)
- The Bible also shows us that God uses "sevens" throughout the Scriptures to denote prophetic time. Examples: "Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:" (Genesis 41:29 KJV)
"And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;" (Genesis 41:30 KJV)
"And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years." (Leviticus 25:8 KJV)
"And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:" (Ezekiel 39:9 KJV)
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."
(Daniel 9:24 KJV)
- Some Bible Sevens that are Fairly Obvious Biblical Sevens
Israel has long been described as a land that flows with milk and honey, wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; these are the biblical Seven Species (Shiva’ at Ha’minim), of the Promised Land. For thousands of years they have played an important role both in the diet of the Promised Land’s inhabitants as well as in religious traditions.
Many references to these basic foods can be found, throughout the bible, specifically to four of the Seven Species, wheat, barely, olive oil and grapes in the form of wine . The Mishna specifies that only first fruits of the Seven Species could be brought to the Temple in Jerusalem, as bikkurim, or offerings.
Sevens in Nature
The Sevens of God can also be observed in the things of Nature. It appears that the physics and chemistry of nature are structured on such a base system. An example that almost everyone can relate to is Music. All the songs you hear on the radio are based on a musical system of just seven major notes. Notice that the seven notes repeat, with the eighth key a higher or lower octave of the first as you go up or down the keyboard. All other minor notes, sharps and flats, fit within the structure of the basic seven.
If you pass sunlight through a prism, it produces seven colors - the three primary colors and four secondary ones:
In the realm of Minerals and Geochemistry, there are seven crystal systems:
Even the Periodic Table of the known Elements appears to have seven levels of periodicity:
So from just these examples we can see that God has ordained a pattern of sevens in Nature. All things of nature, be they matter, energy, time or space were designed and ordained by the Lord God.
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17 KJV)