 |  |
Gematria of "satan," his title and his agents, in Hebrew and Greek, are continually
multiples of 13. Thirteen has always been a number of ill-omen among the superstitious;
maybe there is some deeper reason for it than we had supposed. The first occurrence of
the number links it with rebellion (Gen. 14: 4).
The inspired explanation of that old serpent--"who is called the devil and satan"
(Rev. 12: 9), is 13*13*13. Here we see at a glance that, in the Apocalypse, rebellion has
reached its zenith in satan. Travelling back from revelation to the Old Testament, we
find that the word satan is 13*28. Here we have further light upon his character. 28 is
the number of Gen. 1: 1, for that brief verse contains (in Hebrew) 7 words and 28 letters.
Seven signifies spiritual perfection, and four is associated with the earth and the creature.
The Gematria of the word satan then tells us that into the perfect creation (28) satan
introduced rebellion (13). Satan is linked also to man in the awful word "Belial," for that
is 13*6. The Greek word "serpent" takes us further, for that is 13*60, while the Gematria
of the words, "The son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God," tells us plainly that antichrist will be man, satan
possessed, for the numerical value is 13*13*13*6.
What shall we say then, when we find that the words "Jesus of Nazareth" have as their
Gematria the very same as satan, for it is 13*13*13! How it emphasises the humiliation
of our Lord! Truly we see that "Christ hath redeemed us. . . . being made a curse."
How fully He fulfilled His own words, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up"! Shall we say there is nothing in numerics
after this?
Even, this is not all. That offering of Christ as the substitute, though it brought the
Lord Jesus under the curse, yet glorified God. Consequently we find the words, "God is
glorifed in Him," yielding the same remarkable number, 13*13*13! Thus even numerics
show that satan's rebellion is overthrown and overruled by the cross to bring glory to
God. Joktan (Gen. 10:) is the 13th from Shem. He has 13 sons, the Gematria of his own
name is a multiple of 13, and so also is the sum of the names of his children. This throws
light upon the omission of his name, and the taking up of Peleg, in Gen. 11: The Bible is
full of purpose--that is the secret of its interpretation. Surely we must see design in all
this.
Take another illustration of the way in which the Gematria of names indicates the
character of the owners. The Gematria of the four names, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japhet
is 936, but if we take away the name of Ham, the father of Canaan, the Gematria of Noah,
Shem, and Japhet is 888. The number 888 is significantly the numerical value of the
word "Jesus," and stands in contrast to 666, the number of antichrist (Rev. 13: 18).
The number eleven is worthy of study. Deut. 1: 2 tells us that from Horeb to
Kadesh-Barnea was a journey of eleven days! Now eleven is one short of twelve, the
number of Israel. One more day would have seen them in the promised land; as it was
they failed. There are eleven books in the third section of the Hebrew Old Testament