The Perfection of Seven

Throughout the Bible we are reminded of God's perfection and one way we see this is represented in the number seven.  Seven is a number that has significance and it represents "completion" or "perfection" throughout the Word.

Let's look at the word seven in Hebrew. Seven is (shevah). It is from the root (savah), to be full or satisfied, have enough of.  Hence the meaning of the word "seven" is dominated by this root, for on the seventh day God rested from the work of Creation. It was full and COMPLETE, and GOOD and PERFECT. Nothing could be added to it or taken from it without marring it. Hence the word (Shavath), to cease, desist, rest, and Shabbath, Sabbath, or day of rest. This root runs through various languages; e.g., Sanscrit = saptan; Zend = hapta; Greek = epta (hepta); Latin = septem. All these preserve the "t," which in the Semitic.  In the Teutonic languages the "t" is dropped out; e.g. Gothic = sibun; German = sieben; English = seven.

GETTING STARTED:

• In the Old Testament seven occurs 287 times (7x41).
• Old and New Testament - 735 (7x105)
• Seven is used 54 times in the book of Revelation.
• the Word seventy occurs 56 times (7x8).
• Seventy in combination with other numbers appears 35 times (7x5).
• Sevenfold is mentioned 70 times (7x10).
• Seventh is found 98 times (7x14).

OLD TESTAMENT:

1. God created the earth in six days and on the seventh day he rested. (The Millennial Rest day.)
2. He appointed seven days to the week and still today, most advanced nations reckon time in that way.
3. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy!  In Leviticus 23:15-16, the number seven and the Sabbath, (which is the seventh day) is connected with the word COMPLETE. The word complete follows after the words "seven sabbath" (seventh day).  The day following the seventh sabbath there was something new that took place.
4. the word CREATED is used seven times in connection with God's creative work in Genesis...Gen. 1:1, Gen 1:21, Gen 1:27 (three times); Gen 2:3 and Gen 2:4.
5. The seventh time Noah's name occurs in the Bible it says, "Noah was a just man, and PERFECT in his generations." (Genesis 6:9).  Noah took every clean beast into the ark by sevens (Gen 7:2) and every bird by sevens and seven days later it rained. (Gen 7:10)  Peter tells about the long-suffering of God waiting in the days of Noah (I Peter 3:20).  Those seven days of waiting for rain in Noah's day COMPLETED God's time of waiting.
6. Jacob served seven years for Leah and seven years for Rachel.
7. Egypt had seven years of plenty and seven years of famine.
8. Before Aaron and his sons entered their priestly work they were consecrated seven days.  (Leviticus 8:31-36).  Here is a picture of a life COMPLETELY or wholly consecrated or dedicated to the Lord for service.
9. On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat seven times. (Leviticus 16:14).  This is a picture of the COMPLETENESS of the redemptive work of Christ.  "By His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Hebrews 9:12.
10. They marched around Jericho seven times for seven days and on the seventh day they marched seven times...they COMPLETED their marching and the walls came down. (Joshua 6:1-16).
11. There were seven Feast days of our Lord (Passover, Unleavened, First-fruits, Pentecost, Atonement, Trumpets and Tabernacle - Leviticus 23:1-44).
12. Seven branches on one candlestick in the Holy place in the Tabernacle, COMPLETE light of God.
13. Solomon was seven years building the Temple and kept the Feasts for seven days.  His friends waited seven days and seven nights in silence.  They offered seven Burnt Offerings of seven bullocks and seven rams.
14. Naaman washed seven times in the Jordan. (II Kings 5:1-19).
15. The captivity in Babylon was for seventy years (ten groups of seven) Jeremiah 25:11-12 and Daniel 19:2.
16. In Daniel 2: 31-33, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.  Nebuchadnezzar called together seven kinds of officials to the dedication of the image.  Three Hebrew men refused to bow down and were thrown into the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than it had ever been before.  COMPLETE deliverance was provided from the power of death for them.  When they came out of the fire, there was not hint of smoke.  When Christ brings us out of death there is not trace of death on us either! COMPLETE deliverance from the power of death.

NEW TESTAMENT:

1. Seven loaves and fishes. (Matthew 15:36).
2. Seven devils came out of Mary Magdalene. (Mark 16:9 and Luke 8:2).
3. Forgiveness was said to be measured by seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22) In other words, keep forgiving until you are COMPLETE.
4. Revelation is a book full of many sevens...seven churches, seven Spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven personages, seven dooms, seven new things. It is the COMPLETENESS of all things.
5. The seven angels (in Revelation 10:7) we read in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be FINISHED.  It is DONE is another expression found in connection with the number seven. (Revelation 16:17).
6. Seven times in the book of Revelation blessings of the Lord are promised to His people...the "Beatitudes" of Revelation:  Revelation 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 14.
7. Luke's gospel speaks of Jesus' genealogy starting with the great men before him in multiples of seven. The ggenerations starting from Adam to Enoch is seven, to Abraham is 21, to David is 35 and to Jesus is at 77.
8. While Matthew demonstrates Jesus genealogy in counting the generations by 14's. From Josiah to Jesus, just as there had been 14 generations from David to Josiah and from Abraham to David (14 being 2x7).
9. In Acts there were seven deacons of the church. (Acts 6:17).
10. Jesus spoke seven times from the cross.  1) Matthew 27:46 which were seven words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  2) Luke 23:34 - "Father forgive them...".  3) Luke 23:43, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  4) Luke 23:46 was, "Father, into Your hands, I commit my spirit." (also seven words in this sentence.)  5) "Dear woman, here is your son!".  6) "I am thirsty." in John 19:28 and 7) "It is Finished." - John 19:30

OTHER:

• The number seven is used more than all other numbers in the Word of God, except for the number ONE!
• Seven times the Book of Life is mentioned in the Bible.
• Seven dispensations - Innocence, Conscience, Government, Patriarchal, Law, Grace and Millennial Age.
• Life is in cycles of sevens.  Changes take place in the body every seven years.
• There are seven bones in the neck, seven in the face, seven in the ankle and seven holes in the head.
• Many births are in multiple of sevens: the hen sits three weeks (21 days), the pigeon, two weeks (14 days) both after having laid the eggs for two weeks.  Of 129 species of Mammals, the majority have a period from conception to birth of an exact number of weeks which is a multiple of seven.  Humans have a gestation of approximately 9 months (266 days or 38 weeks) or as long as 9.5 months (280 days/40 weeks).
• Fevers and intermittent attacks of gout, ague and similar complaints have a period of operation of seven, fourteen or twenty-one days, known as critical days.
• Human psychology is constructed on the law of sevens.
• There are seven notes in the musical scale.  All other pitches are only variation of these.  When the musician uses the eighth note he goes back to "do" or the first note and starts over.  (Seven Modes of Music) Man named the notes but God fixed the sounds, even as God fixed the days of the week and man named them.
• All areas of nature are marked with the mathematics of sevens.  There are seven states of matter in the universe (solid, liquid, gas, plasma, beam, Bose-Einstein Condensate or zero matter and Though Wave).
• There are 7 major plates in the outer crust of the Earth's surface.
• Seven colors in the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
• Frost crystals and snowflakes are formed in patterns with sevens.

So, back to the beginning here, why am I telling you all about sevens?  Because EVERY time you are reading in the Word and find the number seven, the reader should know that God is conveying PERFECTION, COMPLETENESS.  That something is FINISHED or DONE.  It is significant and not just random.  Jesus Himself stated while he breathed His last words, "It is FINISHED."  An important point of significance here is to note that seven is the number of God's PERFECTION, His COMPLETENESS - notice that six is the number which is stamped upon all things human or the number of man. Hmmm - that could preach - but not today!

Jesus bled seven times before dying on the cross.  His blood was shed for the remission of sins. (Hebrews 9:22)  We probably all know that but did you also know that Jesus' blood was shed for your healing?  Matthew 8:16-17 says Jesus took upon Himself our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. This is a direct quote from Isaiah (53:4-5) which reads about Messiah, "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, BY HIS WOUNDS we are healed."  Jesus' WOUNDS - His SEVEN times of shedding blood for us was for our HEALING!

Ephesians 1:7-8 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

The Seven Times Jesus Bled for YOU at His Death!
1st Garden of Gethsemane
2nd Pulling of His Beard
3rd Flogging
4th Crown of Thorns
5th Nails in Hands
6th Nail in Feet
7th Sword Piercing His Side

1) the Bloody Sweat: Jesus had finished the Last Supper and he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, to pray.  "Gethsemane" comes from the Hebrew gat shmanim, meaning "oil press." Jesus felt the crushing weight that was upon him and He was being pressed.  This was such a difficult time that an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Jesus, to keep him from death.  Luke 22:43 And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit.  And being in an agony [of mind], He prayed [all the] more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground.

There is a medical name for this rare phenomenon of sweating blood called Hematidrosis. It can occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, profound fear can cause it, for example when facing their own death.  There are several historical references to this condition, notable Leonardo da Vinci described a soldier who sweat blood before battle, another was of six men were condemned to execution, and a case occurring during the London blitz.

Christ himself stated that His distress had brought Him to the threshold of death in Matthew 26:36-38.  Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

The skin usually becomes extremely fragile and tender after this condition occurs and therefore, Jesus' must have felt extreme pain later during his beatings and the crown he wore.

2) Beard Pulled Out
Luke 22:63-65 Now the men who had Jesus in custody treated Him with contempt and scoffed at and ridiculed Him and beat Him; They blindfolded Him also and asked Him to Prophecy! Who is it that struck You? And they said many other evil and slanderous and insulting words against Him, reviling Him.

Isaiah foretold in chapter 50:6 that he would give, "My back to the smiters and My cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting." [Matt. 26:67; 27:30; John 19:1.]

They grabbed Him by the beard and ripped out chunks of hair leaving huge gashing holes in His face. We know that since his face was already extremely sensitive from the earlier hematidrosis, that the beating on his face and pulling out of his beard would produce significant bleeding from his face.

3) Flogging

Mark 15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, set Barabbas free for them; and after having Jesus whipped, he handed [Him] over to be crucified. [Isa. 53:5.]

A Roman flogging was a brutal and terrible thing to endure and it was standard practice for a person to be flogged before a crucifixion. The whip consisted of several short braids of leather thongs with small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones tied at intervals along the length. The photo to the right is a depiction of a Roman Whip.  The severity of the scourging depended on the mood of the soldiers and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death.

Here on the left is an image of a cat-o-nine tails which is another name for the weapon that they whipped Jesus with. Pain and blood loss were generally the goal and humans quite frequently would begin to see the effects of  shock from blood loss. The extent of blood loss could determine the length of time the victim would survive on the cross. 

It was customary for two different Roman soldiers to alternate blows as they repeatedly struck the victim's back with full force.  The iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and deep tissues tearing the meat from the bones. During the scourging, it would be commonplace for the lacerated skin and bloody underlying muscle tissue to take on the appearance literally of "shredded meat" because it was.

In I Peter 2:24 we are reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Peter is quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah when he writes, "He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."

Romans were also known for their taunting and so after the scourging, the soldiers introduced the fourth time Jesus shed his blood for us.

4) Crown of Thorns

John 19:2-3 And the soldiers, having twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple cloak around Him. And they kept coming to Him and saying, Hail, King of the Jews! [Good health to you! Peace to you! Long life to you, King of the Jews!] And they struck Him with the palms of their hands. [Isa. 53:3, 5, 7.]

The most common tree in the region with thorns was the Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) in Israel.  It is suggested that this is the ONLY tree species to be considered "holy" by Muslims.  Interesting in that those who wanted to kill Jesus would pick a tree that Muslims consider holy.  

This tree had thorns averaging one inch in length.

The Bible states in the other passages from the gospels that the Roman soldiers continued to beat Jesus on the head. The blows would drive the thorns into the scalp and forehead, causing severe bleeding. The prophet Isaiah provides a graphic description of the outward appearance of Messiah after He had undergone the flogging and crowning of thorns. Isaiah 52:14[For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished at Him.] His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man's, and His form beyond that of the sons of men--but just as many were astonished at Him,

Just as there were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness- Christ’s body was so disfigured at this point from all he had endured, that He did not appear human anymore. Yet, sadly, the worst was still to come. The blood flowed from his hands, his feet, and his side during the crucifixion. Luke 23:33 tells us about the beginning of His experience on the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Golgotha was located just outside the city on a rounded knoll that has the appearance of a bare skull.

Crucifixion including:
5) His Wrists:
It is important to know that there were prophecies foretold that not a bone of Messiah would be broken:

• Exodus 12:46 states, "In one house shall it be eaten [by one company]; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house; neither shall you break a bone of it." [John 19:33, 36.]
• We can also read in Numbers 9:12 "They shall leave none of it until the morning nor break any bone of it; according to all the statutes for the Passover they shall keep it." [John 19:36.]
• And in Psalms 34:19&20 "Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

This is significant as tapered iron spikes from 5 to 7 inches long were then nailed through our Lord's wrists in-between the two bones (the radius and the ulna).  He was not nailed at his palms as many think as this would have just torn through by his weight and most importantly is that prophecy.  If they nailed a spike in his hands is is quite probable that bones in the hand would be broken and thus prophecy would not have been fulfilled. It should also be noted that in ancient terminology, the wrist was considered to be part of the hand.

6) His Feet
In the same way that the hands, or wrists were nailed to fulfill prophecy, we must understand that Christ’s feet in the traditional sense were not nailed in the way that most crucifixes or pictures portray him.  Remember, no broken bones of any kind. The common way for feet to be nailed was through the tendons at the back of the foot in between the anklebones.  The pain of this is almost unimaginable.

7) His Side
Last but not least, the seventh time Jesus bled is when a sword pierced his side. Let’s look at the verse keeping in mind that most crucified victims hung on their crosses sometimes for days and the soldiers would break their legs so they could not longer hold themselves up to breathe.

John 19:31-37 Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from hanging on the cross on the Sabbath--for that Sabbath was a very solemn and important one--the Jews requested Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and of the other who had been crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came (flowed) out. And he who saw it (the eyewitness) gives this evidence, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe also. For these things took place, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (verified, carried out), Not one of His bones shall be broken; [Exod. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Ps. 34:20.]  And again another Scripture says, They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced. [Zech. 12:10.]

From the first man, woman was formed from the side of the Adam when asleep, and was called Life, and the mother of all living. Jesus, who is called, the second Adam bowed His head and fell asleep in death on the cross, that a wife, which is his bride the church, might be formed from Him in blood and water.  In the blood is the forgiveness of sins and in the water of baptism that cleanses us from sin.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezek. 36:25-27.]

What's it all mean?
Putting this all together for you and me is the shedding of Christ blood for us.  This brings forth a revelation.
Jesus faced and conquered His fear in the Garden for YOU and for me.  He felt fear and stood in our place. Jesus received help from an angel as we too need the help that only comes from heaven.

Jesus faced ridicule and mocking along with personal attacks that came from others.  Jesus allowed his blood to be spilled out for you and me when we are hurting from emotional, physical or personal things.

When he wore the crown of thorns Jesus stood in the gab for all the curses and mockeries of the devil.  He came to take our curses as he became a curse for us.

The floggings and beatings were for our healing.  For US!  We have to claim and believe this though for it to be true.  OUR faith has to accept what Jesus suffered in our sted. He took it on HIS back.  He carried it all.  We don't have to!

His Hands shed blood so our hands so that we could carry the power of healing to a lost and dying world with the touch from our hands.  His hands fill our hands.

His feet prepared the way for us to walk in His peace.  We have the gospel of peace that we need to carry to all of humanity.
Jesus Christ was dead when the spear pierced his side, yet there was still blood that was pouring out as well.  The water and the blood represent so many things to us as believers.  We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11)  Ephesians 5:26 says that having been cleansed by the washing of the water with the Word.  The water of the Word...Jesus was the Word.  He spilled out His life blood for us to overcome and He gave us His Spirit to do greater things than He did.  It is FINISHED!  We have ALL that we need!  Do you see the perfection?