09.09.09

.
Dear Bishop Manchester, please could you tell me the significance of the number nine? - Nikolett

.

Nine has a special significance in mathematics as the sum of digits of numbers derived from multiples of 9 are themselves always a multiple of 9. For me, the number 9 represents Jesus Christ who is God Incarnate. The numerological value of "Jesus" is 9, as is the numerological value of "Christ." The numerological value of "Jesus Christ" is also 9. The hidden name of Jesus was composed of the same four Hebrew letters as Tetragrammaton, but with one letter added in the middle, the Hebrew letter Shin, ie "IHShWH," which can be rendered into English as "Yeheshuah." This was held by Christian kabbalists of the Renaissance to have deprived Tetragrammaton of all its power, even as Jesus Christ had supplanted the God of the Hebrews and the New Testament had displaced the Old Testament. This view was first explicitly set forth by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463 - 1494) in his seminal seventy-two conclusions on the kabbalah, published in 1486. In the fourteenth conclusion, he argued that the insertion of the Shin into Tetragrammaton represents the descent of the fiery Holy Spirit into the four-fold realm of matter: the Incarnation of God in human form. Pico held that the addition of the Shin made the previously ineffable "IHWH" pronounceable.
.

This premise was defended by the first great non-Jewish kabbalist Johannes Reuchlin (1455 - 1522) in his highly influential work De Verbo Merifico (On the Wonder Working Word), and his later work De Arte Cabalistica (On the Science of the Kabbalah). Reuchlin held that with the birth of Jesus, the name of the four letters had been rendered powerless; its abilities to cause miracles having passed into the name Jesus. This is why in the Gospels the name of Jesus has such force in casting out demons and healing the sick. By using the holy tongue, Hebrew, and the numerical methods of the kabbalah, Reuchlin maintained that the truths of Christian doctrine could be proved and, moreover, that all occult, ie hidden, secrets could be laid bare.
.

Hence Christ said: "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you." And : "In My name they shall cast out demons." So the name of four letters is no longer necessary, the whole virtue thereof being translated into the name Jesus. Neither is there any other, as Peter confirmed, under heaven given unto men by which they may be saved."

.

ONE - Denotes unity, and commencement. The first occurrences of words or utterances denote their essential significance, in interpretation. Words that occur only once, in the originals, are emphatic and important. First day, Light.

.

TWO - Denotes difference. If two different persons agree in testimony it is conclusive. Otherwise two implies opposition, enmity, and division, as was the work of the Second day.

.

THREE - Denotes completeness, as three lines complete a plane figure. Hence, three is significant of Divine perfection and completeness. The third day completes the fundamentals of creation-work. The fourth, fifth, and sixth days are the counterpart and repetition of the first, second, and third, and correspond respectively. The number, three, includes resurrection also; for on the third day the earth rose up out of the deep, and fruit rose up out of the earth.

.

FOUR - Denotes creative works (3+1), and always has reference to the material creation, as pertaining to the earth, and things "under the sun", and things terrestrial.

.

FIVE - Denotes Divine grace. It is 4+1. It is God adding His gifts and blessing to the works of His hands. The Hebrew Ha'aretz (the earth), by "Gematria" (ie the addition of the numerical value of the letters together) is a multiple of four, while Hashamayim (the heavens) is a multiple of five. It is the leading factor in the Tabernacle measurements.

.

SIX - Denotes the human number. Man was created on the sixth day; and this first occurrence of the number makes it (and all multiples of it) the hall-mark of all connected with man. He works six days. The hours of his day are a multiple of six. Athaliah usurped the throne of Judah six years. The great men who have stood out in defiance of God (Goliath and Nebuchadnezzar and Antichrist) are all emphatically marked by this number.

.

SEVEN - Denotes spiritual perfection. It is the number or hall-mark of the Holy Spirit 's work. He is the Author of God's Word, and seven is stamped on it. He is the Author and Giver of life; and seven is the number which regulates every period of Incubation and Gestation, in insects, birds, animals, and man.

.

EIGHT - Denotes resurrection, regeneration; a new beginning or commencement. The eighth is a new first. Hence the octave in music, colour, days of the week etc. It is the number which has to do with the Lord, Who rose on the eighth, or new "first day." This is, therefore, the Dominical number. It or its multiple is impressed on all that has to do with the Lord's Names, the Lord's People, the Lord's works.

.

NINE - Denotes Finality of judgment. It is 3 x 3, the product of Divine completeness. The number nine, or its factors or multiples, is seen in all cases when judgment is the subject.

.