Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - FORTY

 FORTY

It has been said that there is nothing in the Bible that does not have significance. This certainly seems to be true in regard to the recurrence of certain numbers in Scripture. For instance, the number three [3] seems to refer to something which is solid or complete in God’s plan. It is considered a perfect number, as is the number seven [7] which in turn often refers to spiritual perfection and completion. This holds true for many numbers used frequently including the number forty [40].

Forty occurs 159 times in the NKJV of Scripture. It is often associated with times of consecration, trial, or transformation and it is the only number in English whose letters appear in alphabetical order.

There are many examples of how this number is significant in Scripture, including the following:

Forty days and forty nights of the great flood (Genesis 7:4)

Forty years Moses lived in Egypt (Acts 7:23-29) 

Forty years Moses was in Midian (Acts 7:30)

Forty years Israel was in the wilderness and ate manna (Exodus 16:35)

Forty days and night that Moses was on the mountain with God (Exodus 24:18)

Forty years were the intervals of peace in the age of the Judges (Judges 3:11)

Forty years David ruled as king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:4)

Forty years Solomon ruled Israel (2 Chronicles 9:30)

Forty years of judgement Ezekiel prophesied for Egypt ( Ezekiel 29:11-14)

Forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness before He was tempted (Matthew 4:2)

Forty days was Jesus seen by many after His resurrection (Acts 1:3)

Now there are many other examples of the number forty being used in Scripture and it might be good to look at just a few more. For instance:

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

 In the day of trial in the wilderness…

…Therefore I was angry with that generation 

(Hebrews 3:8-10)

Now with whom was He angry forty years?

Was it not with those who sinned, 

whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

(Hebrews 3:17)

It rained forty days and forty nights at the time of the flood. Elijah, in fleeing from Jezebel, went in forty days and forty nights to Horeb. Christ was forty days on earth before His Ascension. The number forty obviously holds great significance in the Bible but does the number have any meaning for us today? Although it is not Biblical, some people believe that the souls of the deceased undergo a transition during this time from earthly life to the afterlife. Others believe that the mourning period after death is forty days. It’s interesting to note also that the period of time between the start of WWII and the next European war - Russia and Ukraine - is about eighty [forty x2] years. 

The number forty in the Bible is certainly something to think about.