2 and 70 in The Bible

 

Some numbers hold special meanings in the Bible. I have never really paid attention to numbers 2 and 70 which are quite fascinating.

The number 2 in the Bible represents union, division, and the verification of facts through witnesses. It symbolizes the unity of a man and woman in marriage (Gen. 2:23-24) and the union between Christ and the church. The number 2 also signifies the division of God’s testimony into the Old and New Testaments.
The number 70 has a sacred meaning, made up of the factors of two perfect numbers, 7 (representing perfection) and 10 (representing completeness and God’s law). As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order carried out with all power.

What is cool about 2 and 70 is that these two numbers are paired in significant moments. At the beginning of humanity, there were 2 people: Adam and Eve. By the time humanity was scattered, there were 70 nations scattered from the tower of Babel.

The Jews started out with Abraham and Sarah. At the end of Genesis when all of their descendants traveled to Egypt to live, there were exactly 70 family members in Jacob’s house.

During Jesus’ ministry, He would send His disciples to go out in pairs, two by two (Mark 6:7). Then later on, Jesus appointed 70 disciples and sent them out to spread the gospel.

The pairing of 2 and 70, therefore, can be seen in all humanity, in God-chosen Israelite people, and in the church.

A Father's Dismay

 

In the movie A Christmas Story, a little boy named Ralphie was helping his father fixing a car tire when he dropped the nuts he was holding. In a panic, he blurted out: “Oh, sh*t!”, much to his already-grumpy father’s dismay.

Unlike Ralphie’s father who used swearwords often, I rarely applied foul language in my daily speech. Nonetheless, I feared of one day when my son, Spidey, would muster something like Ralphie did. I wouldn’t know what to do.

Then something happened. I was at my desk working at home and Spidey was playing with his Transformers toys on the floor nearby. Spidey liked to talk to himself while playing, pretending that his robots were interacting verbally. Suddenly, I noticed that Spidey was shouting “Dammit! Dammit!”

“Oh great”, I thought to myself, “so the day has come.” Did he learn that from me? Did he learn that from his friends at school? At church? From TV? More importantly, what am I supposed to explain to him now? Parenting is hard. I had a quick prayer to God that I would say the right thing.

“Spidey,” I turned to him and asked, “What did you just say?”

My son looked at me quite innocently and said: “Dimetrodon. This guy is transforming. He’s turning into a dimetrodon. DIMEtrodon!”

He was shouting dimetrodon.