"SEEK YE OUT OF THE BOOK OF THE LORD, AND READ."
(Isaiah 34:16)
66: WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
It was the great way west, a seriously long ribbon of road stretching from Chicago in Illinois to Los Angeles in California: from the shore of Lake Michigan to the shore of the Pacific Ocean, the best part of two and a half thousand miles of farmland, mountain and desert. Not just a line on a map, but the very spinal cord of a nation!
BRIDGE DOWN!
Let us assume for a moment a bridge collapse somewhere - anywhere - on Route 66. It could be just a few short planks across a drainage ditch, or a soaring viaduct spanning a white-water ravine, but the result would be the same in either case. Route 66 would effectively become a cul-de-sac, a long road to nowhere. With the ribbon cut, you could only go so far... and no further!
So just where is this road trip of the imagination taking us, you might well ask? Well, if we see The Bible as our Route 66... Just bear with me, my friends, and I'll endeavour to explain!
ISAIAH'S AMAZING 66
The Book of Isaiah is remarkable in many ways. One of its least feted attributes is that its 66 chapters form a kind of route map of the complete canon of Scripture, from Genesis right through to Revelation.
Isaiah effectively splits into two distinct sections, so clearly that some Bible scholars - blind as to why this is so - have quite erroneously suggested two different authors!
Section One: Chapters 1-39, characterized by "CONDEMNATION" = THE LAW
Section Two: Chapters 40-66, characterized by "CONSOLATION" = GRACE
Chapters 1-39 = the 39 Books of the Old Covenant / Testament
Chapters 40-66 = the 27 Books of the New Covenant / Testament
Isaiah's 66 Chapters thus marvelously model the Bible's 66 Books!
66 AS A TRIANGULAR NUMBER
66 is an example of what is known in mathematics as a triangular number. In other words, if seen as an unbroken numerical sequence, that sequence could be arranged to form a perfect equilateral triangle:
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3031 32 33 34 35 36 37 3839 40 41 42 43 44 4546 47 48 49 50 5152 53 54 55 5657 58 59 6061 62 6364 6566
As such it is remarkably emblematic of the Trinity, its equal sides reflective of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; it can be perceived as a divine seal on the Scriptures, a holy mathematical "signature" on the revealed Word of the Creator to His creation!
THE TRINITY'S 66
But why 66, and not some other triangular number? The answer lies in the fact that the God-given language of the Jewish Tanakh - the Old Testament of the Christian Bible - is of course Hebrew.
God is "the first and the last," the beginning and the end, and as such He is also everything in between! The Hebrew alphabet, from the aleph to the tav, is 22 letters long. Therefore:
God the Father = the aleph to the tav = 22
God the Son = the aleph to the tav = 22
God the Holy Spirit = the aleph to the tav = 22
The sum of the Trinity is consequently 22 + 22 + 22 = 66
THE BIBLE'S 66
Let's look again at the full 66-book canon of scripture in its Trinitarian, triangular format, using abbreviations of the titles for the sake of simplicity:
GE EX LE NU DE JO JU RU 1S 2S 1K
2K 1C 2C EZ NE ES JO PS PR EC
SO IS JE LA EZ DA HO JO AM
OB JO MI NA HA ZE HA ZE
MA MA MA LU JO AC RO
1C 2C GA EP PH CO
1T 2T 1T 2T TI
PH HE JA 1P
2P 1J 2J
3J JU
RE
The very last warning recorded in Scripture is: "If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:19).
It echoes the original O.T. commandment, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it." (Deuteronomy 4:2).
THE WORD OF GOD IS ABSOLUTELY UNALTERABLE! IT IS THE SUM OF HIS MESSAGE TO MANKIND. NO ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION IS PERMISSIBLE; IF ATTEMPTED, MAN MULTIPLIES HIS MISTAKES WITH ETERNALLY DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES!
It can be seen that altering the Bible's sum of 66 books would immediately "erase" its holy "signature," effectively making it just a word and not The Word! It is why Satan has toiled tirelessly to persuade men to do exactly this! (The Roman Catholics' inclusion of 'The Apocrypha' or the Latter Day Saints' 'Book of Mormon' would be classic examples, as indeed would the exclusion of the entire New Testament by non-Messianic Jews).
But the old serpent, being "more subtil than any beast of the field" (Genesis 3:1), his deceits run far deeper and even more deviously than that!
THE JOT AND THE TITTLE
Jesus taught that "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:28). The words "jot" and "tittle" are so translated from the original Greek words "iota" and "keraia," the former being the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet and the latter being the mere part of a letter (like the dot of an i or the cross of a t).
WHAT THE LORD WAS EMPHASIZING IS THAT IT IS NOT JUST AN ISSUE OF THE KEEPING OF THE 66 BOOKS THAT CONSTITUTE THE FULL CANON OF HOLY WRIT: IT IS THE KEEPING OF EVERY PART OF EVERY LETTER, EVERY LETTER OF EVERY WORD, EVERY WORD OF EVERY SENTENCE, EVERY SENTENCE OF EVERY VERSE, EVERY VERSE OF EVERY CHAPTER, EVERY CHAPTER OF EVERY BOOK, AND THEN EVERY BOOK OF THE 66!
Satan's awareness of this has prompted the endless use of his censor's scissors. And the result? The multitude of "modern" Bible translations, that in the name of supposed "readability" have done exactly that which the Author expressly forbade! Omission and paraphrase have become the order of the day; Scripture has become akin to a cordial for men to dilute to taste!
It can be no coincidence that the exponential growth of error and false doctrine in the Church parallels her abandonment of the King James Authorized Version. (Whilst no rendering of the original texts in any language other than that in which they were first transcribed can ever be as perfect as the Holy Spirit-breathed master copies, I would personally hold that the KJV's majestic word-for-word translation remains the optimum choice of Bible in the English-speaking world). It is for very good reason that we are instructed to "remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set." (Proverbs 22:28).
THE PIC'N'MIX APPROACH
It is not merely a matter of which translation we use. It is of vital importance to personally adhere to the text in its entirety, to obediently embrace every last "jot and tittle." What I might call the "pic'n'mix" approach to the Scriptures is at the heart of the prophesied great "Falling Away," the End-Times apostasia which is so obviously being fulfilled before our very eyes. You can't just select what you like best, and reject the rest: if you pick up your scoop, you either take all or none at all!
To move the boundaries of God's Word is not just a stumbling block to ourselves, but to others as well. Dare we not heed the stark warning, "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen." (Deuteronomy 27:17).
THE BIBLE IS OUR "ROUTE 66," AND IF WE TAKE ANYTHING AWAY, BE IT A PIP OR A PUMPKIN, A MOUNTAIN OR A MOLEHILL, IT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF THE METAPHORICAL BRIDGE COLLAPSE WE PICTURED EARLIER: OUR JOURNEY IS CURTAILED; WE CAN ONLY GO SO FAR AND NO FURTHER. WE ARE SEPARATED FROM THE COMPLETENESS OF GOD'S DIVINELY DECREED INSTRUCTION AND REVELATION TO US!
IN CONCLUSION...
A little verse which hopefully encapsulates something of the essence of this article:
"The building stands - so grand and tall! -
By every brick in every wall,
While every tile upon its roof
Makes sure that it's waterproof!
Don't take one brick, or break one tile,
Or add bits in a different style:
You may just come to rue the day
You added or you took away!"
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