The Number 1 And Its Biblical Meaning

 God’s Word is like an onion. An onion has many layers, and when you peel off one layer, there’s another layer beneath it. Likewise, no matter how many times we study the Bible, we can always discover another layer and learn something new.

Biblical numbers are one of these layers. Numbers are very important to God; He designed all of creation mathematically. He also included an abundance of numbers in His Word. The number 7, and “seventh,” is mentioned nearly 600 times in the Bible! The number 2, including such variations as “second” and “twice,” is mentioned about 1,000 times in Scripture.

What is God telling us through all the numbers in His Word? What do they mean? Let’s find out!

I had originally intended to write this post about the first three numbers — 1, 2, and 3 — but there’s too much material. These will have to be a series of blog posts, rather than just one! So let’s start with the number 1.

1: God, unity, preeminence

In the very beginning, on the first day of Creation, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Since the first day of Creation is the first occurrence of the number 1 in the Bible, it ought to tell us something about its meaning.

On the first day, God created light, and light, in turn, represents God. We read in 1 John 1:5, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Since light represents God, and God created light on Day 1, then it stands to reason that the number 1 also represents God. Indeed, we find in Zech. 14:9, “The LORD is one, and His name one.” Deut. 6:4 tells us, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” Eph. 4:6 adds that there is “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Finally, Jam. 2:19 tells us, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

There are many more verses we could look at, but that should be sufficient. God is one. Yes, Jesus Christ is also God, as we saw in a previous post, but He does His Father’s will and is one with His Father (John 10:30; 6:38).

God’s way is the only way, the one true path. In this lifetime, during these roughly 6,000 years God has given man to rule the earth, there are few who find it (Mat. 7:14). When we do, we must keep our eyes on that one path, and never look back, for Jesus told us that, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Serving our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ must be our number one priority. Jesus Christ told us, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Does it mean we should literally hate everyone else but God? Of course not; plenty of Scriptures tell us to love others as ourselves (Lev. 19:18). Jesus simply used hyperbole to hammer home His point that we must love God far more than anyone or anything on this earth.

If we honor God above all else, if we put Him first, then He may reward us being among the firstfruits of His people (Rev. 14:4). The firstfruits will be in the first resurrection, and we are told, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:6). Though it’s beyond the scope of this post, the first resurrection is represented by the Feast of Trumpets, which is not only the first holy day of the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar, but also the first day of the seventh month.

As a further illustration of putting God first, under the Old Covenant, God required Israel to honor Him with the first of many things. In Ex. 13:2, God said, “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” Likewise, the firstfruits of crops belonged to God (Ex. 23:19; Lev. 23:10-20). On the first day of each month, the Israelites offered sacrifices to sanctify the month (Num. 28:11-15).

When we strive to put God first in all things, it logically follows that we must not put ourselves first. That would be usurping the place of God. Indeed, Jesus rebuked those who sought to exalt themselves and put themselves first, saying, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). He further instructed, “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mat. 20:27-28).

God’s purpose for us in this life is to one day become one with Him. Jesus Christ prayed to His Father for us, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:21-23).

Those who put God first and strive to become one with Him should also become one with each other, for God’s Spirit produces unity (Eph. 4:3). Indeed, Psa. 133:1 tells us, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Discord, division, and confusion are not from God, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33). Strife is not the product of those who are one with God: “For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:3). Rather, for those who are one with God, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom. 12:18).

Nevertheless, it isn’t possible for carnal human beings to produce unity, for that can only come from God. Human nature is one of envy and self-seeking. We are told, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there" (Jam. 3:16). And, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9).

The Tower of Babel represented an attempt by carnal human beings to produce unity. “And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth’” (Gen. 11:4). This was self-seeking, man seeking to exalt himself, and would have resulted in untold suffering. God nipped this project in the bud by scattering the people over the whole earth (Gen. 11:5-9). The Tower of Babel was the original New World Order, an attempt by man to unify everyone on earth, so God destroyed it!

In more modern times, men have sought to unify the world by force under ideologies such as Nazism and Communism. This has resulted in unimaginable suffering, death, and destruction. Over 100 million people have perished under Communism alone!

In the last days, according to Bible prophecy, mankind will again attempt to unify the whole world and produce a New World Order. We read of this effort in Dan. 2:43-44, “As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

Notice that even before God intervenes, this system will fail, "just as iron does not mix with miry clay." It will result in disaster and suffering. Mat. 24:22 tells us that "unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved." To save humanity from its own destruction, God will destroy the New World Order built by men, but this time He will establish His own Kingdom and bring about true unity!

No attempt by man to produce unity can succeed apart from God. True unity can only come from God!

Let’s conclude with some final, fascinating observations from the Hebrew language, the language of the Old Testament. In Hebrew, there are no Arabic numerals such as we use. Instead, the Hebrew language expresses numbers with letters. The number 1 is alef, א, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

In the oldest forms of written language, though, including Hebrew, Egyptian, Sumerian cuneiform, and Chinese, letters and words were expressed as pictures. In Hebrew, alef was originally an ox head, representing strength, power, or strong leadership. Here’s the evolution of alef during Bible times:

Proto-Sinaitic	Phoenician	Paleo-Hebrew

God is our strong Leader and King, represented by alef, the number 1. Furthermore, alef is the first letter in the Hebrew word El, which means “God.”

Finally, alef is a Hebrew word as well as the first letter. It’s spelled alef-lamed-peh, or אלף, in the right-to-left script of Hebrew. Alef-lamed spells El, that is, God. In ancient Hebrew pictographs, peh is represented as a mouth, like this: . So we have the mouth of God, or God speaking.

What’s the first thing that God did on the first day of Creation? He spoke! “Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).

What are your thoughts on the number 1? Any disagreements or anything you'd like to add? Feel free to comment below!