Dear friends:

While meditating on the Word yesterday, I became fascinated again with the numbers 40 and 400.

The Bible has many significant uses of the numbers 40 and 400, and also 4,000.  Typically, 40 is a time of testing.

The year 2007 is 40 years from the prophetic Six-Day War, with Israel miraculously defeating five powerful Arab armies in only six days and retaking Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, for the first time since AD 70.  (Luke 21:24.)  These past 40 years have surely been a time of testing for Israel, and in many ways Israel has failed.  But God's will shall be done.

The year 2007 is also the historic 400th anniversary of the first permanent English-speaking settlement on the New World, at Jamestown, the real birth of America.  These past 400 years have also been a time of testing for this great republic, and in many ways we have failed.  But God's will shall be done. It's fascinating to me and surely significant that this 400 and the above 40 coincide in the same year.

While not exact, the year 2007 is close to the 40th Jubilee Year since Christ's first coming.

While not exact, the year 2007 is close to 4,000 years since Abraham, the first Jew and father of the faith.

While not exact, there were about 40 Jubilee years from Abraham to Christ,

While not exact, there were about 4,000 years from Adam to Christ.

Then just this morning, with amazing timing, I discovered that on TV John Hagee is preaching this week on "2007: The Year of Destiny."  I think it will go on all week.  This morning was sort of a primer on the significance of biblical numbers in general.  He mentions some of the above numbers, and also that 7 is the number of completion.  The remainder of the week should be interesting.

Jim