Decoding Prophetic Numbers: Unlocking Symbols & Prophetic Markers Behind God’s Timeline
Numbers are the artistic science of sending a deliberate message to an audience who doesn’t speak your language.
On a humid day back in 1974, a group of world-famous scientists gathered in Puerto Rico for a top-secret ceremony. They didn’t let the world know because they knew the message would be criticized by every agenda in humanity. So, they pointed Arecibo Observatory’s giant radio telescope toward a cluster of 300,000 stars and ramped up the transmitter to more than a million watts of power. Pushing a single button, they sent the world’s first deliberate message to anyone listening in outer space.
The date was 11/16.
Traveling at the speed of light, this postcard from Earth blasted through our atmosphere past the waves from brand-new powerful FM radio stations. A million watts of radio signal cut through the songs of Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Denver, and Aretha Franklin on a 25,000-year journey to reach its target.
Carl Sagan and other notable scientists of the day decided this message should be about 3 minutes long. It had what they described as “vital information” about our species, including a crude stick-figure representation of a human, a DNA double helix, atomic numbers of the chemicals necessary for life on Earth, and a drawing of a telescope. It was basically a secret radio signal inviting any intelligent civilization, good or bad, who came across it to come find us. A personal invitation to seek us out, dig deeper, and get to know us better.
Out-of-line crazy, you think? No. It’s actually normal practice for any well-established NASA nerd to try to communicate with intelligent beings who might come across us.
This isn’t the only time we have sent deliberate messages to intergalactic beings. In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft containing “artifacts” from Earth and flung them to parts unknown. The same invitation was given to anyone who happened to come across our little hunk of metal flying through the vastness of space. In essence, they were saying, “There’s more to us than this. Come and seek us. If this got your attention, there is way more to be discovered about us. You are welcome here.”
The equivalent of a message in a subatomic bottle being thrown into the Marianas Trench, it’s not mathematically likely to be picked up by anything, even if it could be. It points to the sender’s deliberate intention—the purpose—to convey an intended invitation, and they did it through numbers.
The Arecibo Message and the Voyager artifacts are just two of many examples of humans trying to communicate a deliberate message to an audience that doesn’t speak our language—in this case, intended receivers in outer space and other galaxies. In every case, do you know how the smartest minds in the world communicated our message? Through numbers and symbols, just like how God speaks prophetically.
Why did they choose numbers and symbols as the voice of their message? Because they were trying to reach every language conceivable throughout the universe the only way they could—through numbers and symbols.
Numbers and Symbols
Amid the endless diversity of God’s creation, He has designed a few things to have universal keys that unlock, well, everything! From the very beginning, God has used the precision of math and the symbol of numbers to communicate a deliberate message to those willing to seek Him. To the prophetic seeker of Jesus, letters and words are translated from numbers and math. Numbers prophesy just like the stars of Heaven.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard (Psalm 19:1,3 NKJV).
Not only do words and math prophesy God’s warnings and promises, the details of how the words are written and how the math is presented also prophesy.
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:18 NKJV).
Biblically, the prophetic message to the seeker is completely lost if they ignore the numbers and symbols intentionally given by the Holy Spirit. It’s a lot like finding the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, realizing the machine is not natural, and then missing the actual message from the sender because you refused to look at the numbers and symbols engraved on it. How ridiculous would that be?
Just like that, consider the actual message of the numbers and symbols that prophesy in the following biblical texts.
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints” (Jude 1:14 NKJV).
The 14th verse of the mysterious book of Jude tells us that Enoch was the 7th from Adam. So what? Is that supposed to mean something to us? Well, it obviously meant something to the Lord, or He would not have delivered that specific message for us to seek out.
Enoch wasn’t the 6th generation from Adam, and he wasn’t the 8th. He was the 7th. So, what is the Lord telling us about the number 7 and Enoch’s place in the bloodline of Christ?
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24 NKJV).
“Walking with God” implies both righteousness and relationship—things that qualified Enoch to prophetically see something at the very end of human time—the return of King Jesus Himself. The number 7 is about fulfillment, fullness, and completion. It represents the end of a timeline—a 7-day week—just as the number 8 represents a new beginning.
With that said, the one who saw the very end of days and the church coming back with the Lord on a white horse also saw the rapture of the church personally. Hebrews 11:5 tells us Enoch was “taken away,” so he did not see death at the ripe old age of 365. Other versions use “translated” or “taken up” rather than “taken away.”
Wait a minute! That’s the number of days in a Gregorian calendar year. The Jews don’t even follow this solar calendar. They use a lunar calendar of 355 days. To the Western world and the Gentile people, this is where the beginning meets the end. Could there be a message in these numbers, and if so, who would that message be for?
God is very deliberate. The sender of the message intentionally placed a definite message there! But you have to seek it out.
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2 NKJV).
Enoch was the 7th from Adam and he prophesied about Jesus, whom Scripture shows was the 77th generation from Adam. So why all the 7s? What is God telling us about Enoch, Jesus, fullness, fulfillment, and the end of a timeline?
As mentioned previously, the word church is in the King James New Testament 77 times, as is the term “house of God.” King Jesus is the Head of the church, which was birthed out of His death on the cross and resurrection 3 days later (another deliberate message). He is coming back for His church at the end of days and, like Enoch, His bride will be mysteriously whisked away. Do you see it?
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NKJV).
We have to respect the fact that God gives us numbers that prophesy because He wants us to understand the message and the love behind it—not just be fascinated with the bottle the message comes in. Speaking of the 14th verse of Jude, which is 7+7, the following are some 14s that are prophetically woven into the story of Jesus.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17 NKJV).
The number 14 prophesies “generational promises.” This is when God proves He will keep His covenant from one generation to the next generation. I would bet folded money that Matthew knew 14 has the numeric value of the name David. I think he tied all that together when he was bringing up the bloodline of the prophesied “Son of David.” I have no idea if he knew the words “hand” and “gold” also have the numeric value of 14 in Hebrew gematria.
Gematria: Numeric Value of a Word or Letter
What is gematria? It’s a phenomenon that happens when a language also uses its letters as numbers. Just like the Greek and Roman languages, each letter in the Hebrew alphabet is also a number. Therefore, each word also adds up to a numeric value. That means every word—every verse and passage of your Bible—is also a number. Do you see how numbers can truly prophesy?
Note that we are not talking about numerology, which is the twisted belief that numbers actually give direction and power to those who live their lives based on them. That is what witches and New Age mystics do, just as they look to their horoscope as the “voice” of the universe directing them day in and day out. Let me tell you this— there is no power in numbers. None! God speaks through them, but we do not carve out a shrine and worship the messages in the numbers any more than we worship the numbers themselves.
That said, know this, too—there is the greatest power in God’s Word. That’s the starting point of this book you’re reading—the numbers and symbols surrounding historic headlines prophesy a message from the God who uses everything to introduce Himself to a people who may or may not understand His message.
God is the Author and Inventor of all things numeric and mathematical. Numbers bring a depth of prophetic insight to each and every event and headline.
Continuing with the number 14, Passover begins on the fourteenth day of the Nisan. That is most likely the day Jesus was born and, positively, the day Jesus died on the Cross.
The “Torah of the Lord”—translated as “God, the Lord God”—is mentioned 14 times in the books of Chronicles (KJV). In the King James version of the Bible, the expression “the fear of the Lord” occurs 14 times in the book of Proverbs.
Israel became a nation again on the 14th day of May in 1948. I would say that qualifies for generational promises. I would also say there is a deliberate message in the timing (14) of this prophecy fulfilled at the end of a timeline (7+7).
The Voice Within the Thunder—Epic Events as Prophetic Markers
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord… (Isaiah 6:1 NKJV).
Throughout the ages, the linear great halls of time have seen countless epic events that captivate the human imagination. The drama of all humankind’s history has been produced from the hard choices people face, such as natural catastrophes, the theater of politics, the hope of love, the tragedy of terrible defeat, and the triumph of achieving victory.
Some of these events have made an impression—even an impact— across cultures, languages, and generations. The events are so dramatic they leave a mark on time itself.
Prophetic markers are spiritual indicators pointing to the promises and warnings of God’s Word through real-time events. Like finding an “X” on an old pirate map, prophetic markers tell you exactly where to dig.
You have seen the shaking that these prophetic events made upon their generations, but have you heard the voice inside the thunder? Most people only see the epic event, but they do not hear the voice of the Lord within that event. This can be seen as Paul relates his conversion experience to an audience in Jerusalem:
And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me (Acts 22:9 NKJV).
Just like that, the voice of God was hidden within the account of the Titanic and Hindenburg disasters. It’s a clear and definitive Word that God is still speaking today if you can respect the numbers that prophesy.
And 9/11 is not just a number. It’s a date and a marker in time. The prophetic marker of 9/11 is also a message to us in these end days. It’s part of our culture. It is God prophesying to anyone willing to hear His voice in the midst of the thunder. Most will not qualify, but that’s not you. You will be committed to searching out the matter within the message.
…Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake” ( John 12:28-30 NKJV).
The Lord is speaking through the amazing headlines around us, and the prophetic markers are stamped upon our history. Together, we will discover the heart of the Father through the Word and the numeric voice within it. Once we learn how to tune in, we will never see the headlines without “turning to see the voice,” as John did on the Isle of Patmos. We learn it through pursuing the joy and wonder of the Word, and by daring to look into the numbers that prophesy.
Welcome, my friend, to a front-row seat to human events as we discover the Voice within the thunder and the prophetic messages within some of history’s greatest triumphs and tragedies.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
