July is the seventh month. My birthday is on the third “seventh” (3 weeks, 21 days) of the month. And I will be sixty-SEVEN years old. Biblically speaking, the number seven represents completion and perfection. Now, I’m not saying I’m perfect, or even complete, but it’s great to have a birthday with Biblical numbers of perfection. The number seven fascinates me, especially when I see it throughout scripture. And it all started “In the beginning…”
Creation and the Rhythm of Rest
The number seven first appears in the creation narrative in Genesis. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing the pattern for the week and the Sabbath. Genesis 2:2-3 states, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (NIV). The seventh day represents God’s completed work and is a day of rest and worship. I love that the Lord planned a rhythm of work and rest for us.
Feasts, Festivals, and Rest for the Land
The Israelites’ religious calendar is marked by a series of “sevens.” Several feasts and festivals incorporate this number. The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles both last seven days (Exodus 12:15, Leviticus 23:34). Seven weeks after Passover came Pentecost, and the seventh month of the year introduces the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. We see in the New Testament (John 7) that on the last day of the Festival of Tabernacles, the priests marched around the altar seven times.
The Day of Atonement occurs in the seventh month (Leviticus 16:29-30), and every seventh year was a “Sabbatic Year.” After seven Sabbatic years came the Year of Jubilee, which is celebrated after seven cycles of seven years (Leviticus 25:8-10).
“The Sabbatic year was God’s way of allowing the land to lie fallow and restore its fruitfulness. The people were not permitted to have a formal harvest that year, but anyone could eat from the produce of the fields and orchards. God promised to provide abundant crops during the sixth year, so observing the Sabbatic Year was really a test of faith for the people.”1 Isn’t it wonderful that God even had a rhythm of rest for the land?
These observances show us the importance of seven in Israel’s worship and communal life.
From the Beginning to the End
In prophetic literature, the number seven often signifies completeness and divine judgment. The Book of Revelation is replete with sevens, including the seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath. Revelation 1:4 mentions, “John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne.” Revelation 5:6 speaks of the Lamb (Jesus) with seven horns. These horns are a symbol of perfect power. The sevens in Revelation highlight the fullness of God’s plan and the ultimate fulfillment of His purposes.
Perfect and Complete
In the book of John, Jesus makes SEVEN, count ‘em, seven “I AM” statements:
- “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51).
- “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5).
- “I am the door” (John 10:7 and 9, ESV).
- “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14).
- “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
- “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
- “I am the true vine” (John 15:1, 5).
Jesus was and is the only perfect man, and we are complete only in Him. Let’s rest in this truth today and every day.
For His glory,
1 Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Le 25:1–7.
