Bible's 13s on Friday the 13th

Seeing the TV coverage of the Las Vegas mass shooting, I was reminded of a road trip I made in 2009 to the West Coast and back where I stayed a night on the Vegas Strip in one of the grand casino hotels.

I didn’t gamble, I just swam in the pool and walked around, looking at all the endless stuff. My stay was on a Monday and early in the evening after first checking in I ventured outside to observe a very lively “happy hour” crowd from Trader Vic’s enthusiastically singing along to a live band’s rendition of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

If you look at polls of what people wanted played at their funeral, “Highway to Hell” is always high on the list along with songs like Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust."

The lyrics to the AC/DC classic include, “Ain’t nothing I would rather do/Going down, party time/My friends are gonna be there too.”

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Just as it is in much of folklore, the No. 13 biblically is associated with bad things. An astounding 85% of all 13s in the Bible deal in the negative. Consistently, 13’s the number of rebellion.

The word “thirteen” first appears in Genesis 14:4: “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.”

Genesis 10 reveals Nimrod, a type of the Antichrist, is the 13^th from Adam. He leads the rebellion against God at the Tower of Babel.

In Genesis 13:13 we see the rebellion of Lot when he pitched his tent toward Sodom and its excessive wickedness.

It’s in John 13:26 that the identity of Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Jesus Christ, is revealed. Interestingly, 26 is two times 13.

Proverbs 13:13 reads, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

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“In Isaiah 41:26, if you want to know where rebellion in Israel really began, it says it began with rebelling against God’s Words,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “There are 39 words in that verse. Two times 13 (for the verse number) plus 3 times 13 (for its number of words). A lot of times these things are hidden below the surface.”

In Romans 1:29, the 13^th characteristic of a “reprobate mind” is being “a hater of God.”

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While people like to think America was founded by good God-fearing Christians who loved the Word, it’s extremely fascinating to consider the predominance of 13s early on in our nation’s life.

As Jordan reveals, “There are 13 letters in the motto ‘E Pluribus Unum.’ There are 13 original colonies. There are 13 stars and 13 stripes in the original flag. The symbol on that flag was a serpent and the slogan across it, ‘Don’t Tread on Me,’ which is 13 letters long. The confederate flag had a cross on it with 13 stars overlaying the cross.”

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In Numbers 14, there are 12 tribes of Israel but there are really 13 because of the tribe of Levi doesn’t have an inheritance.

“With Joseph’s two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh, one took Levi’s place and the other took Joseph’s place, so that’s where you get 13 from,” explains Jordan. “But after this rebellion’s over, God says take a rod one from each tribe and lay them out there and then go get that 13^th tribe’s rod (Aaron’s rod) and lay it out. This is where you get ‘Aaron’s rod that budded.’ And verse 10 says that Aaron’s rod that budded is to be kept as a token against the rebels.

“In the Ark of Covenant were the table of Commandments, the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded. There’s the broken law, covered over by the Mercy Seat, and then there’s Aaron’s rod that budded. It’s a picture of the resurrection of Christ—the new life in Christ—and it’s a testimony against the rebels in Israel; just like in the day of Pentecost there was a witness to the resurrection of Christ against the rebels who had rejected Him. But it’s the 13^th rod that’s a testimony against the rebels.”

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“Now you can do this over and over and over in the Bible. Like I said, it isn’t always on the surface. It can be tied up in the text where you have to look for it. In Isaiah 7:8, Ephraim is going into captivity for 65 years. Now, just for fun of it, divide 65 by 13. Five is the number of death. Because of their rebellion, they’re going to suffer death; they’re going to go off into captivity.”

In Ezekiel 4, Ezekiel is told to lay on his side for 390 years, symbolizing the destruction of Israel for her rebellion. That’s 30 times 13.

“For 13 months, he laid there,” says Jordan. “Why? Because of their rebellion they’re going into captivity. And that was the sign.”

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Another great example of a Bible 13 is in I Kings 7:1: “But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.” As we know from the previous chapter, Solomon, who represents the ultimate example of a godly man gone bad, spent seven years building the Temple.

In II Chronicles 9, Solomon is showing off his house to the queen of Sheba, who has brought him gold and spices in return for his hospitality, and it says in verse 13 that “the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold.” This is where the number 666 is first revealed.

“Solomon, up until this point in his career, is a type of Christ, but it’s here in his career that he switches to being a type of the Antichrist and it happens right at this paragraph mark,” says Jordan. “By the way, his number 666 is found in Revelation 13:18. Eighteen is three sixes. I mean, these numbers get really weird as you go through them!”

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The only other time the number 666 appears is in Ezra 2:13: “The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.”

Jordan explains, “Now you say, ‘Well, who is that dude?’ Well, he’s just a guy on the list but his children are 666. But if you look his name up in a dictionary, Adonikam means ‘the lord of rebellion.’ And the lord of rebellion is associated with verse 13 but also with the number 666 because God’s Word is going to connect those numbers together.”

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In II Chronicles 9:17 it is learned that for Solomon’s house 13 years in the making he installs an ivory throne. “Do you know in the Bible where there’s a white throne?” says Jordan. “Now, there’s some typology in this stuff with Solomon back here that some of us brethren have been working on for years.

“There’s typology with regard to the structure and shape of the universe and the satanic rebellion to usurp the authority in the universe. Not just the earth, but the whole universe and working on the principle that the earth is the pattern (the template) that the rest of the universe is structured after. There’s some things here connected with Solomon and this throne of judgment that he built.

“This house he built is up in the northern parts of the land. That’s the reason I say when you get here Solomon has changed from being a type of Christ, the true son of David, to a rebel and a usurper.

Verse 18 goes on to describe the six steps to the throne that has a foothold of gold and a lion on each side of each step.

“You got six and six and six to get up to Solomon,” explains Jordan. “You see, what he’s doing is identifying himself with the wrong crowd. By the way, notice he overlays it with gold. In Daniel 2, Babylon is symbolized by that head of gold. We’re not talking about the deity of Christ here in Solomon’s mind—it’s the other guy.”

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In I Samuel 17, there are three great enemies of Israel associated with the number 666. The first one is Goliath.

The passage reads, “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
[5] And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
[6] And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
[7] And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.”

Jordan says, “He’s six cubits high, he’s got a spear whose head is 600 shekels of iron and if you count them in verse 5 he’s got six pieces of armor. Goliath is associated with 666. He’s one the giants; one of that satanic seed.”

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For Daniel 3’s revelations about Nebuchadnezzar as a type of the Antichrist, the chapter begins, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.”

“You see, this is a counterfeit usurping of God’s position and threescore cubits and six is 66,” says Jordan. “By the way, the number 66 in Scripture is associated with idolatry. Sixty high and sixty wide and Nebby the king—notice there are six musical instruments that are going to sound out and those six musical instruments, when you hear them, you bow down to the image that’s 60 by 6.”

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In Revelation 13, 666 is the number of the beast. “It’s the trinity of man; it’s man trumped,” says Jordan. “It’s the ultimate achievement of man apart from God. And all these associations—they’re always bad like this.”

Revelation 17:9-13 reads, “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
[10] And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
[11] And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
[13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”

Jordan explains, “Once again, this numerology stuff is more than just what’s laying on the surface of the scripture. You have seven heads, seven mountains and one woman, and there are seven kings, five are fallen, one is and one isn’t there yet. You see the numbers in the text we’re looking at? The numbers in the passage add up to 66.

“Now, 66 is close but it’s no cigar yet because we’re looking for 666. Look at Genesis 7 and then Revelation 17:14. ‘These shall make war with the lamb.’

"Notice all of these guys here are going to make war with the lamb? You know what the number for war is in the Bible? The first time it shows up in Genesis 7:11 it’s in the 600th year of Noah’s life.

“You know what God did on the 600^th year of Noah’s life? He declared war on the earth. And in your Bible, 600 is the number of war. And after He lists the 66 there, then the next thing He talks about is war, which there’s the rest of the 600 right there.”

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The number 23 is associated with God’s judgment on the Gentile rebellion. In  Revelation 17, John describes in a vision seeing “a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
[4] And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
[5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Jordan says, “There’s six items listed in her array. She’s got 17 with the seven heads and 10 horns and17 and 6 is 23.

“Now, look what happens to her. Rev. 18:8 says, ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.’ That’s the number of judgment right there.'

“All these numbers get bound together for the purpose of confirming underlying in the text the things that are clearly taught; clearly laid out. It’s not the doctrine of the text, it’s just underlying things you look at that cause you to say, ‘Boy, you look at those things and you see confirmations!’ ”

(new article tomorrow)