Lent Day 11: Hidden Mysteries
Mar 18 in Lent
The Bible has many threads interwoven throughout it, once you begin to unravel one of them you discover a new hidden depth knitted carefully and intrinsically through each book, story, life; a fragrance made from a costly oil of sweet spices – with every revelation a new ingredient that I add to my alabaster jar – creating with each one a new scent that reveals a little more of the Father heart and draws you to want to know more.
Every story is full of history, symbolism, direction for every situation and hidden truths (buried treasures). Every letter in Hebrew has a numerical value and every number is a word. The number 40 is continuously associated with lent, so what can we find out?
Forty is the letter ‘mem’ meaning waters. The sea is an untamed world, the more we discover the less we realize we know, it is because of this that this number symbolizes the searching of undiscovered wisdom. It represents a time of trial and probation (for it is during these times that we learn invaluable lessons, where our own resources are exhausted and we turn to God, growing deeper roots, our faith grows, we learn to rely on Him instead of ourselves) can also mean chasticement, but also renewal / revival.
It can be written two ways; with an opening מ or closed ם, representing the womb or the tomb, one brings life, the other death. When we experience times of testing we can choose to allow them to destroy us or use them as a stepping stone to learn something new, the greatest lessons are learnt through suffering. It is also a great ‘Godincidence’ that a woman is pregnant during 40 weeks and that the period representing a new generation is also 40 years. So the number is associated with both good and bad times, for it is hard whilst you are going through it, yet what is born from it was necessary and indispensable to entering better times. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness with Moses, for a new generation was to enter into the Promised Land (crossing the waters of the Jordan River, after having first crossed the red sea). Jesus spent 40 days of testing (after His baptism) before entering into His ministry on earth. It is a period of washing, of purification, of gold being refined.
Forty is the product of 8 x 5 or 4 x 10. Eight = New Beginnings; Five = grace (receiving something you do not deserve); four = God’s creative works; 10 = divine order (completeness, wanting nothing, the result of God’s creative activity). We have now drawn so many beautiful threads it is hard to know which one to follow next!