Bob,Yes, the number 99 is indeed tied up with the secrets of God. A portion of those secrets has been revealed -- but not all. That's why we diligently keep searching. It is like knowing the jems are there, but it takes a lot of shovelling to unearth them. I used to wonder why God did everything with such mathematical beauty -- and I think, first and foremost, because he took pleasure in it, but secondly, because he was giving us positive evidence for his existence, and evidence that he had a plan that reaches from the beginning to the end (eternity).You noted that the number 99 is the Gematria value for "Amen." Yes, and that is the last word in the Bible. It is like putting the final touches on his great work -- he seals it with 99. But we are also aware that he began it with 99. "In the Beginning God" has a Gematria value of 999. So the Bible really begins and ends with multiple 9s. Why?Well, I think it is because of the very nature of the number 9. Nine represents wholeness, and completion. It also represents perfection, fulness and finality. It is the completion of the digits. Ancient mathematicians recognized the special place of this number and they called nine the "finishing post," because it is the limit to which the generative numbers reach. The number one represents God. He is not only "number one" but he is represented or pictured by the Hydrogen atom, which is also number one in the periodic table. But if you multiply nine ones by nine ones, you will get a beautiful palindrome of all nine digits, with the number nine at its center. Thus: 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321. This illustrates the uniquenes of the number 9. Another name the ancient mathematicians gave this unique number is "the horizon," because it is the completion of the finite and the beginning of the infinite.Our Bible not only begins and ends with multiple nines, it puts the very pivotal time in all history on the number nine. The place where Jesus was born -- Bethlehem -- has a Gematria value of 99. It is not just a coincidence. It was part of a huge, eternal plan. It is a plan that, in the end, will bring ultimate "glory to God." Amazingly, this phrase "Glory to God" as Luke wrote it in 17:19, has a Gematria value of 999. The fully established Kingdom of God also has a Gematria value of 999. David spoke about it in Psalm 48:1 where he said "In the City of our God, the mountain of his holiness." This is descriptive of his completed kingdom in its eternal perfection, and it has a Gematria value of 999.Bob, you have noted that if we keep doubling the number 99 we get some fabulous numbers. Yes indeed we do. They are not just ramdom numbers and they do not have random meanings -- they are the numbers of "salvation" -- and that salvation comes by Jesus Christ. Look at some of the meanings of these fabulous numbers -- I call them the "sacred numbers of salvation."99 = Bethlehem (Jesus came to bring salvation to earth's inhabitants.)99 x 2 = 198 = "The King in his beauty" (Isaiah 33:17) Jesus not only comes as a baby at Bethlehem, but he also comes at his second advent as the great King in all his beauty.198 x 2 = 396 = "Salvation" -- The only place of salvation in all God's creation is right here on this earth, and the radius of our earth is 3960 miles.396 x 2 = 792 = Salvation" Yes, both 396 and 792 are the Gematria for the two Hebrew words which mean "salvation." How can we miss it, God gave it to us twice. He is emphasizing that the earth is the place of salvation. But the number 792 is the Gematria for something else that is absolutely mind-boggling. If we were to spell Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrew, its Gematria value would be 792. Not only is the earth (diameter 7920) the place of salvation; the One who brings salvation also bears this earth number.792 x 2 = 1584 = "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion" (Psalm 48:2) This is a brief word picture of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which rules from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Amazingly it is called the "joy of the whole earth" -- but right now it is the "burdensome stone" of all the earth. If mankind only knew what joy awaits them, coming from Mount Zion.1584 x 2 = 3168 = "Lord Jesus Christ" -- He is the means by which it all happens. He came to earth at the town of Bethlehem (99) and he paid the price for the salvation of all mankind.3168 x 2 = 6336 = "This Jesus God has raised up, of whom we are all witneses." (Acts 2:32) It is because he was raised from the dead, that he was called the "firstfruits of them that slept" -- meaning that others would be raised also. In fact, Jesus died to pay the price for the sin of Adam -- and it had been the sin of Adam that brought us all into the death penalty. So when he pays the price for Adam, it automatically grants a resurrection of all who had died because of Adam.These are the meanings of the wonderful, beautiful, sacred numbers that God has given to us in his Word.Bob, I know that you have many of my books which tell of these numbers and their amazing meanings. For others, reading this letter, if you desire to obtain any of these books, just write to me -- my email address is bgaunt@centurytel.netBonnie Gaunt