Disobedience – Discipline – Dependence – Deliverance
and
Preparation for God to do a new thing
We are currently going through our annual 40 Days
emphasis at Church, and the theme this year is Unify. It got me thinking about the number 40 as
used in the Bible. Numbers have symbolic
meaning typically when used in the Old and New Testaments. For instance, 3 is considered the number of
perfection: the Trinity, Jonah in the
fish’s belly, and days Jesus was in the grave. The number 7 is the number of
completion: creation days, Old Testament Feasts, and seals of Revelation. But what about the number 40? Let’s look at some instances forty is used
and examine the symbolic meaning of the number.
Disobedience –
Discipline – Dependence – Deliverance
Genesis 7 4 Seven days from now I will make it rain on
the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth
every living thing I have made.” 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.
The story of Noah is a perfect example of the
disobedience of humankind, discipline meted out in the form of the destruction
of all living things on the earth except those in the ark, the dependence on
God by Noah and his family, and the deliverance provided by God.
Jonah 3 2 “Get up! Go to
the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah got up
and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command… 4 Jonah set out on
the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!”5 The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.
Nineveh was an evil city, completely disobedient to God and his
call. God disciplined the people of the
great city by decreeing that they would be utterly destroyed due to their
wickedness. Jonah proclaimed to the
people what God had planned and they repented and completely depended on God to
deliver them. Deliverance was provided
when God saw their actions and showed mercy on the city.
Numbers 13 25 At the end of 40
days they returned from scouting out the land. 26 The
men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the
Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the
whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to
Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk
and honey, and here is some
of its fruit. 28 However, the
people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. Numbers 1426 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron: 27 “How
long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have
heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against Me…33 Your children will be
shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of
unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You
will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40
days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will
know My displeasure.
When Moses
sent spies into the Promised Land, they returned and reported that it was a
land of giants that could not be conquered.
God was very displeased with their disobedience throughout the exodus
from Egypt to this point, and their final lack of faith in His provision which
he had demonstrated time and time again to them on their journey. The people were disciplined by being forced
to wander in the wilderness and learn true dependence on God. After 40 years, the children of Israel were
delivered into the Promised Land and finally claimed possession of the land
promised to Abraham so many years before.
Preparation
for God doing a new thing
Exodus 2417 The appearance of the Lord’s glory to
the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the
mountaintop. 18 Moses
entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain
40 days and 40 nights.
Moses went to Mount Sinai and met with God. There he was given the 10 Commandments, and
the plans for the Tabernacle. God was
preparing to launch a new thing with the children of Israel. A new set of laws to live by, a method by
which sacrifices could be made for the remission of sins, and a place where God
could dwell with His people in their presence.
Matthew 4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
by the Devil.2 After
He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.
Jesus
began his ministry in this world by going into the wilderness and fasting for
40 days and 40 nights. This was probably
the biggest example of God preparing to do a new thing with His people. God was going to show His people that the Law
was not attainable, except by a perfect man.
Also, a perfect sacrifice of a lamb without blemish or spot, to provide for
forgiveness of all mankind, and bring them back into fellowship with God once
again.
Acts 1 3 After He had
suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Jesus conquers death and the grave, and then walks the
Earth for 40 days. During this time, he
gives further guidance to His followers on what to do next. He is preparing His followers to receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit, which will then guide them in all they do. God is doing a new thing by providing the
Spirit to live and dwell in each of us.
Psalms
40
I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of
destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my
footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
