As someone who was never particularly good at ‘maths’, I wondered at first if I was the right person to review this book. Yet, I’m delighted I was called to do so.
What a God we serve
Sub-titled ‘The Beauty of Numbers in Scripture and Creation’, this 230-page study demonstrates that the ‘fingerprints’ of God’s design are apparent throughout the Bible and across the universe. The author’s theme is straightforward; numbers and ‘patterns’ are woven into the fabric of Scripture, albeit we may sometimes have to have this specifically pointed out to us. And this is precisely what David Lambourn’s book sets out to do.
In my own 2019 title, ‘The Messiah Pattern’, I incorporated an Appendix (number 4, in fact) entitled ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (looking at the preponderance of the number seven across Scripture).1 So I am at least warmed-up to this subject, though Lambourn takes this to an entirely new level.
It’s vital to state clearly: this book does not require any dexterity in mathematics to appreciate it, nor to marvel at God’s profound command of eternity and the universe, through patterns both revealed and hidden. So please do not be put off if, like me, your numerical columns do not always add up! This is a ‘marvellous’ work at every level, and left me exclaiming “Wow! What a God we serve. Praise Him eternally.”
It’s vital to state clearly: this book does not require any dexterity in mathematics to appreciate it
The author
David Lambourn studied at Bristol University and at Churchill College, Cambridge. Today he is a member of Hope Community Church in Basingstoke, Hampshire. His other books include ‘But is He God’, a study on the deity of Christ, (endorsed by Archbishop Carey and R.T. Kendall, amongst others), and ‘Babel Versus Bible’, which explores the titanic struggle between Mankind’s worldly ‘babel’ ambitions versus God’s self-disclosure and His holy purposes. ‘The Forgotten Bride’ is an exploration of God’s purposes for the Jewish people, and the institutional churches’ sad history of antisemitism.2
Lambourn is undoubtedly very perceptive and has plainly done much research and prayerful contemplation in developing his material. The book is beautifully and lavishly illustrated, both with helpful schematics of the author’s own devising, as well as numerous photographs that so handsomely illustrate the points that he makes. The book is actually published in two editions (sizes).3
Structure
Straightforwardly, the first seven chapters sequentially explore the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 as they are found in Scripture. Lambourn explores these as One – the number of identity; Two – the number of relationship; Three – the number of fulfilment; Four – the number of life; Five – the number of order; Six – the number of dominion; Seven – the number of perfection. The eighth chapter is entitled ‘Infinity and Beyond’.
For a book that has apparently ‘randomly’ been put together by forty different authors, working in different cultures at different periods of history, the Bible exhibits extraordinarily high levels of organisation.
From the author’s introduction:
“If numbers and patterns are inscribed throughout the universe, we should not be taken aback to find them appearing in scripture in highly significant ways. For a book that has apparently ‘randomly’ been put together by forty different authors, working in different cultures at different periods of history, the Bible exhibits extraordinarily high levels of organisation. Indeed, God’s word contains the DNA of the Trinity embedded within it at every level.
For some, this may come as a surprise. We might expect a preoccupation with numbers to be a symptom of the modern world. Instead, we are talking about an era without calculators, digital timers, spreadsheets, sales targets, computers or the priesthood of number-crunching economists, modellers and forecasters that supervises our lives today. Scripture, however, opens the way up into its own highly ordered world, once we begin to explore in depth.”
Numbers, numbers, numbers
Lambourn takes each key number and explains how Scripture uses and interprets it. To provide two examples:
Number 1 is the number of identity, and we note that God is one (Deut 6:4). Jesus appeared once, for all, to die once, being offered once (Heb 9: 26-28). We become one with Jesus through His death, then we become one with each other in Christ (John 17: 20-23). Consequently, we need to make God number one in our lives (Dan 3: 17-18). Elsewhere, the author reminds us that one set of laws govern the universe, and there is one mediator between Man and God.
Scripture, however, opens the way up into its own highly ordered world, once we begin to explore in depth.
Number 5 is pictured as the number of order, central to the five books of the Torah and many of the proportions within the tabernacle, as well as being fundamental elsewhere in the ordering of scripture. As a description of the human hand (and thus, indirectly, the hand of God) it also portrays authority, as well as being (as half of ten) the basis of our counting system, and thus the root of all the large numbers in the Bible.
At the end of the book, surely with a smile on his face, Lambourn takes us to numbers that in a sense simply cannot be numbered, with his chapter title ‘Infinity and Beyond’. He says this (p.196):
“So much of our lives today is dominated by numbers. They control our finances and time., and the way we organise and plan our lives. We become a statistic when we are born, and another statistic when we die ... Yet those who have accepted the new life that Jesus offers are being prepared for a realm in which the tyranny of human numbers will become a thing of the past. We will instead be overwhelmed by the glory of God beyond anything we have experienced on earth.
God, the author of mathematics, transcends number as He transcends time and space. The book of Job hints at this when it declares ‘He is wise in heart and mighty in strength .... Who does great things beyond searching out, and marvellous things beyond number’”.
Yet those who have accepted the new life that Jesus offers are being prepared for a realm in which the tyranny of human numbers will become a thing of the past.
Summary
This is an attractive and colour-throughout book. Its style is coffee-table but this does not distract at all from its readability as a serious contribution to a profound area of biblical exploration. Besides illustrations, the author uses relevant scriptures throughout, often in attractive coloured blocks that catch the eye.
Overall, this is a wonderful book and lead us to love and to worship our wonderful Creator all the more. Praise and glory to Him!
Endnotes
1 Freely downloadable as a PDF. Just go to the Christian Publications International website.
2 Christian Comment reviewed this recently - see here.
3 The full-size edition at 11x8.5 inches, and a smaller at 9x7 inches.
The Beauty of Numbers in Scripture and Creation is published independently. The full-size edition is available from Amazon for £31.50; The smaller paperback edition for £12.50.
Peter Sammons is Managing editor of Christian Comment, and author of ‘The Prince of Peace – Finding True Peace in World That Wars’ (Christian Publication International, 2015)
