All the way through the entire
Bible, God reveals his care for humanity as individuals, as groups and as a
whole. Scattered throughout the pages of biblical historical narratives,
chronicles of God’s lists disclose his overarching interest in divine
measurement. In the Garden of Eden, Adam is tasked with managing the
reproduction of the world. An entire book in the Old Testament is devoted to
its title Numbers. Israel is
chosen as a special group among many nations and must devote itself to careful
adherence to measurement. Many are called, but few are chosen. As the conquest
narratives reveal a systematized eradication of other ungodly nations as per
God’s edict, vigilant lists of kings and kingdoms are recorded. The Book of
Revelation culminates the story with numbers of specific groups and days. A
careful look at Joshua, Job and Jonah in the Old Testament and the Gospels and
the Book of Acts in the New Testament divulges the larger elements of
statistics in the Bible.
Old
Testament Examples
Joshua was greatly used in the
conquest of Jericho and the surrounding nations
that had inhabited the land promised to the people of Israel . As the
land needed to be divided among the twelve tribes of Israel , geographic statistics
played a great part in that distribution. To properly apply those allotments,
Joshua sent out surveyors to write statistical descriptions of the land
including any major cities within given regions (Josh 18:3–5). These completed
statistics were compiled and the land redistribution was hailed as fulfilled
promises from the Lord (Josh 21:45). In this way statistics were used as a
corporate blessing as fulfillment of God’s promises.
Job
was a man who loved his God above all else. Because of Satan’s proposal that
Job’s devotion was based on his material and social blessings, God allowed
these things to be stripped from Job. Interestingly enough, the writer was
mindful to make exact lists of what Job had before his trials (Job 1:1–4) and
with what God blessed him after his proven obedience (Job 42:12). Job was
reinstated with physical health, another family and twice as much material
wealth as before. These statistics are seen as personal blessings for
individual obedience.
The
story of Jonah, however, provides a unique look into God’s heart for the
nations. After a tedious bout between God and his missionary, Jonah finally obeys
and speaks God’s truth to Nineveh .
Upon their repentance, Jonah sulks in his anger. But God uses population
statistics to reveal his missiological heart (Jonah 4:11). According to the
text, 120,000 people are a statistic that warrants God’s concern.
New
Testament Examples
Sometimes the Bible uses specific
numbers to describe divine events, while at other times there are generic
statistical references to quantified groups. The Gospels reflect varied
biblical uses of statistics. In Mark 8:1–10 and Matthew 15: 32–39, the writers
record the miraculous distribution of bread and fish to four thousand hungry
recipients. Another passage, Luke 9:10–17, is an example of feeding five
thousand.
Jesus
was cautious to choose the exact twelve disciples he wanted, a statistic to
which he later referred as God-given and protected. But Jesus often employed
parables that made statistical reference to a number of protected things where
not a single one of the group is ever lost.[1] These
types of statistical references are spread throughout Jesus’ teaching and
prayers.
In the Book of Acts,
Luke attentively records the statistical growth of believers from the ascension of Jesus to the rapid increase throughout the Greco-Roman world. What begins
with 120 believers quickly becomes 3,120 at Pentecost (Acts 2:41). Subsequent
additions are described with words like “more” (Acts 5:14), “large number”
(Acts 6:1), “grew in number” (Acts 9:31), “many” (Acts 9:42), and “great
number” (Acts 11:21). Luke’s choice of words, albeit in the generic sense,
describes a statistical measurement of increase in the church population. Even
Paul’s choice for missiological bases for operations, according to Luke, became
statistical starting points for unprecedented growth. John Mark Hicks, Harding
University
What do you think: Does God really care about numbers?
What do you think: Does God really care about numbers?
[1] In
Matt 10:29 and Luke 12:6, not one sparrow falls; in Matt 24:2 and Mark 13:2,
not one stone falls; in John 19:36, not one bone is broken; and in Matt 18:4,
John 6:39 and John 17:12, not one of the given disciples are lost.
[2] John Mark
Hicks, “Numerical Growth in the Theology of Acts: Part One,” Church Growth Magazine 11 (April – June,
1996): 8-10. Cited 19 February 2009. Online:
http://www.4churchgrowth.com/chur4140.htm#ft001.
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