The Dreamer’s Corner Genesis 17:12 probably reveals eight’s correct meaning better than any other verse in the Bible. In it God tells Abraham “...he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you...” and Paul explains the meaning of circumcision: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11). In other words, circumcision’s symbolic meaning and the meaning for number eight are similar; both refer to the same thing. On the eighth day we are to “put off” our “old man.” Therefore we see that the inference here is “put off.” Now, it’s commonly believed that eight means “new beginnings”, and indeed, when we put off our old man we are born again and we start anew. But the correct root meaning for this number is “put off,” and therefore the implied meaning, “new beginning” won’t always fit properly. As in the act of circumcising a baby on its eighth day, one could hardly say the baby had a “new beginning,” but the covering of his flesh is certainly “put off” as God commanded. Here are several other passages of Scripture that confirm that “put off” is the proper root for eight. One real good example is when Noah came out of the Ark on the mountains of Ararat. When the flood was over, the earth certainly had a new beginning, but Noah didn’t land nor exit on the eighth year, nor the eighth month, nor even the eighth day, but rather, “the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month.” And then Noah emerged on the, “six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month...” (Gen. 8:4,13). As we can see from the numbers used, God finished His work (the ark rested in the seventh month), and started anew (Noah emerged on the first year, first month and first day). With God, all beginnings are new, and the number one covers them all! Sweet dreams!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 06:51:26 +0000
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