The Lord is clearly interested in beauty. Some form of the word is used 76 times in the Bible. We are told that God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He so highly exalts the proper concept of beauty that He often associates it with holiness (Psalm 29:2; 96:9; 110:3). Unfortunately, men tend to pervert beauty as they do all that they touch. God reminds us that outward "beauty is vain" (Proverbs 31:30) and human "beauty is a fading flower' (Isaiah 28:1). Men corrupt beauty and make the "beauty of a man" a focus for idolatry (Isaiah 44:13). Eventually, man's perverseness causes his "beauty to be abhorred" (Ezekiel 16:25). The very concept of what is beautiful is no longer recognizable.
I believe that God weaves His design into the Bible in many ways. One thing He uses is numbers and the number He uses most prominently is the number seven. I saw this again today as I worked on a study of the Third Epistle of John. Although by verse count, its 14 verses are one more than the 13 verses of 2 John, it actually has 4 words less than 2 John. Therefore, by word count it is the smallest book in the Bible. But in this tiny book, God leaves His footprint. The subject matter is fascinating and helpful, but there is much for the lover of numbers as well. Seven is used in the Bible as the number of God's perfect work. Let's see how this number shows God's work in 2John. An outstanding number of statistics are multiples of seven.
The following is an excerpt from Soldiers in Training by Brother Daryl Coats.
In the 1780's, the Baptist pastor John Leland was fighting against Virginia state taxes going to support the Episcopalian clergy. One clergyman argued that they had to have the tax income in order to have the time needed to prepare for sermons. Leland responded that he could expound the scriptures without special preparation and the Episcopalian challenged him to prove it by preaching on a text provided just before the sermon. "Leland went into the pulpit and was handed a text which proved to be Numbers 22:21, 'And Balaam saddled his ass.' Mr Leland first commented on the account from which the text was taken, and then said he should divide his subject into three parts: 1st, Balaam, as a false prophet, represents a hireling clergy; 2nd, the saddle represents their enormous salaries, and 3rd, the dumb ass represents the people who will bare such a load." Quote taken from "How Satan Turned America Against God" by William P. Grady (p.159-160).
One of the most interesting short verses in the Bible reads, "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying." In seven simple words (seven being the number of perfection), The Bible identifies the source of what Moses wrote. It did not come from Moses, but directly from the Lord Himself. The words of the law are the words of God. This is an important doctrinal truth. However, I do not know what Bible reference to give you for this verse. It occurs with these exact seven words a total of 72 times in the Bible. 72 is 6 times 12 (6 being the number of man and 12 the number of Israel). Perhaps this indicates that God used Israel to bring His words to man.
An article in the September 15, 2006, edition of "Forward" tells of the sweet challah bread that is on every Rosh Hashanah table throughout the Jewish world. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and it is equivalent to the Feast of the Trumpets in the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25). Challah is a sweet bread especially made for the occasion to symbolize the desire for a sweet and good year. It is usually baked in a round or spiral shape. This roundness is used to symbolize the round crowns of the righteous and the cycle of the year. Since a circle has no end, it also indicates the desire for a long life.
