Subject: what is important about 40 |
Bible Note: Hi Searcher, Both of us believe that the final words written by the Scripture writers were verbally inspired by God, so that in one sense each word is God's, but where we differ is on how God went about it. I am in no doubt that God allowed each writer to write from his own viewpoint, although kept from error, and that each writing reveals the personality and slant of its author. One obvious example is where in Samuel we read that God caused David to number Israel, whilst in Chronicles we read that it was Satan who caused David to number Israel. Both are correct. If you study Samuel you will discover that he writes with a strong emphasis on God's sovereignty in everything that happened. He rightly sees God as the prime cause of everything that happens. The Chronicler on the other hand looked at second causes. That too is correct. There are many second causes. They also wrote in terms of their own times, and used the ideas in vogue in those times, while again being kept from error,although of course gradually a tradition would build up, as it did in the use of numbers. Indeed that all this is so is clear when we examine their writings. God was quite happy for them to use numbers as they wished as long as it did not produce error when looked at from their viewpoint. We have to be astute. Thus if one wanted to use 40 or 70 symbolically, and another did not, God did not intervene. The Bible is not so artificial. Take for example the numbers connected with the reigns of Israel's and Judah's kings. In some cases there appear to be blatant contradictions. But the truth is that some sources dated the reigns from when they became regents with their fathers, others dated them from when they began their sole reigns. Again some included the year of accession, while others excluded the year of accession. Both methods were in use at the time. Best wishes |