ON THE 24TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS... We’re all familiar with the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, and how “my true love gave to me” something special every day, leading up to Christmas day. Though I’m fond of the now popular “25 Days before Christmas” (the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas), I don’t assign something to every day (though the idea is tempting!) But if I did, day 24 would certainly be special. Remember, the days are leading up to Christmas, when Christians around the world celebrate the advent of the Man-Child, Jesus Christ. As the song Joy to the World states, “The Lord is come!” This historical fact is symbolized in Revelation 13:5, and highlighted in the gospels: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus means “savior”—He came to save us from our sins. What does all of this have to do with the number 24? When you think of God or the Godhead, you may think of the number 3, which can represent the Trinity (Rev. 1:4-5). Or you may think of the number 7, which represents godly perfection (Rev. 4:5; 5:6). Or you may think of the number 12, as it represents the totality of God’s Israel (Rev. 7:4-8). What about the number 24? The number 24 represents ALL of God’s people—all who lived before the cross and all who have lived since! That is, Jesus died for every soul that has ever lived on this earth. This is expressed in the symbolism of Rev. 21:10-15, where the apostle John describes the New Jerusalem: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the TWELVE TRIBES of the children of ISRAEL: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the TWELVE APOSTLES of the Lamb.” In the Bible, the number 12 represents God’s people. Of course, twelve and twelve equals twenty-four (24). This number brings people under the Old and New covenants or testaments together as one in Jesus Christ. But there’s one more thing. The Pulpit Commentary reminds us that the 144,000 (Rev. 7) is the square of 12 multiplied by 1000, “typical of a large and perfect number.” The good news is this: God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, so that every sinner on earth might be saved! Joy to the world!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 13:47:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015