There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. [Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (NASB)]
Every morning, I receive an email from a Christian site to which I subscribe. Having no interest in Temu, make-up, or a “game-changer” pen for seniors, I ignore the ads as nothing more than “click bait.” Today’s ad from a jewelry company, however, caught my eye with its words, “Just in: Angel Numbers.” Having missed all the articles about them in Allure, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Day, Instyle, and Vogue, I didn’t know what an “angel number” was, so I Googled it. Apparently, when you see repeated digits (such as 11:11 on your clock, $9.99 on a price tag, 30303 on a license plate, or a date like 2/22/22), the universe is sending you a message! Rather than a coincidence, these repetitive numbers are a “sign from your guardian angel” (or a dead loved one). Supposedly, the “language of angels,” such numbers are meant to point you in a certain direction or confirm the direction in which you’re going! Of course, a host of psychics, spiritual mediums, and numerologists are more than willing to tell you the meaning of your “angel numbers.” And, as I discovered from the ad, once you find your number, you can purchase it in jewelry!
Although angels are in the Bible, “angel numbers” aren’t. Nevertheless, trying to legitimize this concept, explanations try to tie them to Scripture. While one site claimed that the “angel number” of 222 has special Biblical meaning because there are 22 book in the Bible, another claimed it was special because the word “wisdom” appears 222 times in the Bible and Acts 2:22 is the only place in which the words “signs,” “miracles,” and “wonders” appear in the same verse. Wrong on all counts. Those words also appear together in 2 Corinthians 12:12 and Hebrews 2:4. While “wisdom” does appear 222 times in the King James, that’s not true of other translations or in the original Hebrew and Greek. Moreover, even if you’re only referring to the Hebrew Bible, there are more than 22 books in it! Another site claimed the Bible “suggests” that when 2 and 3 are repeated twice (2323), they have “divine power.” Of course, it never cites a verse because it isn’t true! Apparently, 333 is supposed to mean your prayers are answered because there are three persons in the Trinity, Jesus raised three people from the dead, and Abraham offered three animals to seal the covenant. He actually offered five, but truth and accuracy have nothing to do with “angel numbers,” numerology, “spirit guides,” and other New Age practices!
I was especially troubled by this ad because it was sent by a well-respected Bible research site as part of a morning devotional written by a prominent Baptist theologian! While the juxtaposition of ad and devotion implied their tacit approval of angels speaking to us through repeated numbers, I’m sure neither site nor theologian approve! While God occasionally uses numbers in Scripture to symbolize something, not every number has a hidden meaning. “Angel numbers” simply are not Biblical. As Christians we are not to put our faith in numbers or angels—we are to put our faith in God!
Granted, angels do serve as God’s messengers. An angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness twice, two angels came to Lot in Sodom, and an angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. An angel visited Jacob in a dream and one fed Elijah. Angels appeared to Moses in a burning bush, to Balaam and his donkey, to Gideon, and to Samson’s mother. In the New Testament, angels appeared to Zechariah, both Mary and Joseph, to the shepherds, and to the women when they found the empty tomb. They ministered to Jesus in the wilderness, opened the prison gates for the Apostles, sent Philip to find the Ethiopian, freed Peter from prison, presented John with his revelation, and poured out judgments upon the earth. What none of these angels did was communicate with a special sequence of numbers.
While we tend to think of an idol as a shrine to Vishnu, a figure of Buddha, or Aaron’s golden calf, idolatry extends beyond stone, metal, and wood. Baptist theologian John Piper defines an idol as “anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance in the place of a wholehearted reliance on the true and living God.” Whether it’s a rabbit foot, St. Christopher on the dash, our phones, wealth, power, approval, or even an “angel number,” anything we believe offers us special blessing, assistance, guidance, or protection becomes an idol. Let us put our trust and faith in God alone!
While God is still active in our world and His angels are at work, let us remember that God communicates with us through His Word and the Holy Spirit—not by the numbers on the alarm clock, a phone number, or the day’s date! May we also remember that Satan and his minions are angels who, rather than protect or guide us, attempt to lead us into sin. I suspect this New Age fascination with “angel numbers” is just one of their methods. Let’s not fall for it!
God gifted Solomon with great wisdom and people from every nation journeyed to Solomon’s court to hear his wisdom. Although 1 Kings 3 tells us that Solomon wisely determined the identity of the real mother in a dispute between two women who claimed to have given birth to the same infant [3:16-28], one wise answer hardly seems newsworthy enough to make him famous beyond Israel’s borders. Even the king’s prolific writings and vast knowledge of botany and zoology don’t fully explain his renown. In a world without mass media, what caused his reputation to travel some 1,400 miles to Sheba (modern Yemen)? Sheba’s queen was so interested in meeting the king that she and her entourage made a journey which, including her stay in Judah and the return trip, took two to three years. What about Solomon caused her to travel so far to assess the king’s wisdom and wealth for herself?
A century of dike-building, agricultural development, and population growth has destroyed much of Florida’s wetlands and threatened the survival of dozens of animals like Florida panthers, Snail Kites, and Wood Storks. The White Ibis, however, is an exception. Having adapted to the new urban landscape, large groups of ibis happily graze the lawns of subdivisions, parks, and golf courses. They’ve found it easier to poke at the soil for a predictable buffet of grubs, earthworms, and insects than to forage in the remaining wetlands for aquatic prey like small fish, frogs, and crayfish. Once wary of humans, these urbanized ibis pay little or no attention to people as they follow one another across our lawns.
The Israelites had been away from Israel for less than two months when they arrived at Rephidim. With no water to drink, the people complained, questioned whether the Lord was with them, criticized Moses, and then threatened him. Fearing for his life, Moses asked God what to do. Instructing him to strike a rock with his staff, God promised that water would come gushing out and, as promised, it did. The miracle was memorialized by the name given to this location, Massah (meaning testing) and Meribah (meaning quarreling.) Unfortunately, that was not the last time the Israelites tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses.
Like their parents, my youngest grands like to race and recently did this year’s 5K “Hot Chocolate” run. When Paul referred to running, he wasn’t referring to fun runs like theirs or a marathon like the one their parents ran nor were his boxing and wrestling references to the sports we know today. His allusions were to the Panhellenic games and Olympics which were well known throughout the Roman Empire in his day.
Pastor Chris recently shared a devotion she read in which the author gives his office globe a gentle spin each morning. After a moment or two, he places a finger on the globe, stops its revolution, and prays for the people wherever his finger lands. Chris said she’s adopted this practice but, to make it more than a quick uninformed prayer, she does some research on the country’s needs and religions to guide her petitions.
Devotions of the Heart 