The Perfect Seven
Numbers in the Bible often have a significance beyond the obvious meaning.
One:
The number 1 reminds us that there is one God, Maker of Heaven and Earth:
“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength". (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NLT)
Three:
Three reminds us that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and God's Holy Spirit are indeed Three-in-One. It signifies completeness and solidity:
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19 NLT)
Mankind, being made in God's image, has Body, Soul and Spirit - our physical body; our soul - the intellect, emotions and learning which make us who we are; and our Spirit - the link between us and God, damaged by sin over many years but restored when we accept the leadership of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Jesus Christ was raised on the third day after His death - the perfect sacrifice.
The bible also speaks of a threefold bond, which is often referred to in Christian weddings - as representing the couple and their shared link to the Almighty:
A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT)
Seven:
The number seven is often used to represent perfection and rest from labour:
Having completed the work of creation, God rested on the seventh day.
God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. (Genesis 2:3 NLT)
For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. (Exodus 20:11 NLT)
Biblical farmers used a six-year crop rotation with a fallow (resting) year in the seventh:
For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the LORD’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. (Leviticus 25:3-4 NLT)
Forty nine (seven sets of seven):
Following seven sets of seven years, a "Year of Jubilee" is called, in which property is restored to its original owners and slaves are offered release from their servitude.
“In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. (Leviticus 25:8-9 NLT)