Sunday Morning Greek Blog

If there’s one pattern in math more than any other that makes me realize we have an intelligent, perfect creator, it’s the concept of the perfect square. Consider the following:

1. The perfect squares (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, etc.), represented algebraically by n^2, are the sum of the first n odd numbers. So 5^2 is 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25. I know this sounds cheesy, but God takes what is odd, orders it, and sums it all up into something perfect: everything is “squared away.” By the way, this is very easy to visualize as well. If you start with a single square shape, in order to make the next square, you would add one square to the left, one on top, and one diagonally to make the next square. Then you would add 2, 2, and 1 diagonally to get the next square, and so on.

2. Looking at the first 50 perfect squares, you can also see a complex chiasm of numbers, notably in the last two digits of each number. A chiasm is typically a literary pattern where the author lays out a certain number of points or premises, then repeats them in reverse order. The idea is that whatever is mentioned in the middle of the chiasm is typically the focus of the narrative.

a. Now look at the pattern, first of the final digit of each set of 10 numbers, from 0 to 10, 10 to 20, etc.: 1, 4, 9, 6, 5, 6, 9, 4, 1. Of course, all multiples of 10, when squared, end in a zero (0), so they’re sort of the “fence posts” for the chiasm, anchoring what precedes and what follows.

b. Now look at the pattern from 0 to 50. Notice the last 2 numbers of 0 through 10: 00, 01, 04, 09, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 00. Now look at 40 through 50: 00, 81, 64, 49, 36, 25, 16, 09, 04, 01, 00. A chiasm with 0 through 10. You’ll see the next sets, 10 through 20 and 30 through 40, respectively, have a similar pattern, and the whole set of 50 has 25 as its crux point. If you look at the next 50 numbers, you’ll see the same pattern repeated, and thus it repeats through all 100 numbers.

c. When you look at these numbers in systems used for computers (e.g., binary, octo, hex), you find similar chiastic patterns. In binary, you see the pattern in the last three digits.

3. The chiasm is significant for several reasons I can think of:

a. God created us with 10 fingers and 10 toes. Having a number system in base 10 (even the Jewish and Greek alphabets, which doubled as symbols for numbers, are calculated on base 10) seems like it fits a divine pattern.

b. God created the human body with a symmetrical appearance, mirroring right and left sides. If you hold your hands in front of you (both palms out or in, but not one each way), you can see the chiastic pattern yourself.

c. The scriptures themselves have chiasms throughout. Some have even identified an macro-chiastic pattern across all 66 books. One need only search “chiastic patterns in the Bible” to see dozens of examples and images of such patterns. It’s so prevalent, that one might even say it was an intentional mnemonic device used in the literature of the day to help remember and tell the stories of faith.

d. I believe there is so much more that could be discovered about Scripture by looking at these number patterns. I’m not talking about numerology, though. For example, most of us know that the number of the beast is 666. But did you know that the Greek letters in the Greek spelling of Jesus Christ add up to 888? And look at the number of those from the tribes of Israel in Revelation: 144,000, or 12² x 10³. I believe that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

My conclusion, then, is that the mathematical rules that God put in place in creation are, in part, revealed in, or perhaps modeled in, our Scriptures to demonstrate the divine-design (read “inspiration”) component of God’s word. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet, but I intend to do much more exploring on this topic.

Peace,

Scott

My opinions are my own.