2024

Expecting Gods Glory

Text: John 21:1-12

John 21:10–11 KJV 1900

10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Gematria

The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) Gematria

gematria (gay-mah´tree-uh), the practice of assigning a numerical value to proper names or to related words and expressions. This was easily done in the ancient world because, in both Hebrew and Greek, letters of the alphabet were also used as numerals

Daniel 8:13 “13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”

The word “Certain”in that scripture, in the Hebrew is Palmoni, an angel whose job is to do nothing but measure and count.

That being said we can look at every letter in the bible and know that it also represents a number. So numbers mean something, has a definition and could represent what we are going through are about to experience in life. God speaks through numbers.

Most of the things I am about to bring up is from Troy Brewer’s book Numbers that preach.

Lets look at a couple of numbers and there meaning:

The Number One-unity

This number also has to do with superiority, priority, beginnings and God Himself.

God’s number one priority for you is to become ONE with Him. After salvation, He does this through a process of teaching us how to put Him first. That’s why the first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other, gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) It could have been the second or even the ninth I suppose, but God is after us for the purpose of unity.

The Number Two-A Faithful Witness

This number also has to do with manifest power, testimony, being made separate and Godly division.

The Lord sent His written commandments down to His people on two stone tablets. (Deuteronomy 5:6-22) Another interesting thing to note is at every major event in the Bible, the Lord has at least two witnesses present: • Moses took Joshua with him into the Mount of God to receive the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 24:13) • Two thieves witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Mark 15:27) • Two angels witnessed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:4-6) • Two angels witnessed the ascension of the Lord into heaven. (Acts 1:10-11)

The Number Three-Perfect completion

This number illustrates fullness and being complete. Three is resurrection and LIFE!

The resurrection of Jesus has so many threes around it because God was preaching that Jesus was the perfect, complete sacrifice for all time. • Jesus rose on the third day. • The writing on the cross was in three languages. • There were three crosses on Calvary. • He was crucified in the third hour. • There were three hours of darkness at Calvary.

The last three words of Jesus were, “It is finished.”

Peter denied Jesus three times before the resurrection.

Peter acknowledged he loved Jesus three times after the resurrection.

The Number Four-Creation and Things That Are Made

This number has to do with the things that are made. Four is the “world” number. It’s the number God stamps on things that have to do with “all the world” and the number He uses to mark when He is doing a work within His creation.

In the beginning of all creation, God stamped the number four all over that event by the way He created the whole shebang. (A little pun for our big bang theorist buddies) On the first day of creation, we see that “God said,” “God saw,” “God divided” and “God called” in order to make it all happen. Go to Genesis 1 and check it out. From that point forward, God uses the number four to represent things having to do with material creation, or as Matthew 24:14 says: “all the world.” Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come That is why there are:

four elements: earth, air, fire and water • four regions: north, south, east and west four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter

four lunar cycles: new moon, first quarter, full moon and third quarter

There are four little creatures that represent great wisdom: ants, hyraxes, locusts and lizards. (Proverbs 30:24-28) • There are four creatures that are beautiful in how they move about: a lion, a strutting rooster, a he-goat and a king secure against revolt. (Proverbs 30:29-31) • The Old Testament books appear in Septuagint order; law, history, writings and prophecy. • The New Testament books are also arranged in Septuagint order: Gospels, Acts, Letters and Revelation. • Jesus was the fourth person in the fiery furnace of affliction in the book of Daniel. • The appearance of Jesus happened at the beginning of the 4,000th year or the fourth day. • On the fourth day of creation, God finished making the material earth. • When God creates a new earth, the New Jerusalem will be “four square.” (Revelation 21:6)

I believe you get it. Four is the number God stamps on things that represent His work in creation in the positive. In the negative it represents worldliness and worldly systems.

Just as we dig deeper in the meaning of the Hebrew words compared to english interpretation, we find a deeper meaning of the scriptures through the numerical meaning of each letter and word in the bible. Isn’t that amazing?!

Lets look at our text today and see what secrets that are hidden within the numerical meaning of 153.

John 21:11 “11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.”

153- The Sons of God

The number 153 is a number also associated with the Vesica Piscis, or ‘vessel of the fish.’ It was an ancient Pythagorean symbol used by early Christians in Rome to represent Christianity. Two circles, symbolizing God and man, are brought together in a sacred marriage. When the circumference of one touches the center of the other, they generate the fish shape known as the Vesica Piscis. The ratio of length to height of this shape is, amazingly, 265:153, and is called the “measure of the fish.” It’s still a symbol for Christians today.

Back in the day when you encountered a stranger you would draw half of the fish in the dirt and if the stranger completed the fish then you knew that they were a Christian.

The number 153 is also pointing to the identity of Jesus Christ. “For I The Lord Thy God” is equal to 153 in Isaiah 41:13.

Isaiah 41:13 KJV 1900

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

As we enter into a new year I pondered the idea of what the year 2024 would mean, so here we go!

The Number Twenty- Waiting and expectancy

It’s the number associated with prayer and expecting God to do some- thing big. It’s associated with the prophetic. The sum of 10 x 2 tends to be a witness that God has ordered something, and has to do with pro- cess associated with its manifestation.

There are 20 “dreams” in the Bible. 1. Genesis 20:3 - Abimelech 2. & 3. Genesis 28:12, 31:10 - Jacob 4. Genesis 31:24 - Laban 5. & 6. Genesis 37:5,9 - Joseph 7. & 8. Genesis 40:5 - the butler and the baker 9. & 10. Genesis 41:1, 5 - Pharaoh 11. Judges 7:13 – the man in Gideon’s army 12. 1 Kings 3:5 - Solomon 13. & 14. Daniel 2:3, 4:5 - Nebuchadnezzar 15. Daniel 7:1 - Daniel 16., 17. &18. Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 19 - Joseph 19. Matthew 2:13 - the wise men 20. Matthew 27:19 - Pilate’s wife

There are 20 “visions” in the Bible: Genesis 15:1 - Abram - conversation with God Numbers 24:4-25 - Balaam - fell with eyes open 1 Samuel 3:11-15 - Samuel - Samuel conversed with God 2 Samuel 7:17 - Nathan - Word of the Lord came to him at night Isaiah 6 – Isaiah - saw God in the temple Ezekiel 8:1-3 - God grabbed Ezekiel by the hair and lifted him up into vision Daniel 2:19 - Daniel - vision in the night Daniel 7:2 - Daniel - vision in the night Daniel 8:1-3 - Daniel - Lifted up his eyes and saw a vision Daniel 9:21 - Daniel - Gabriel touched Daniel while he was praying Daniel 10:5-7 - Daniel - Lifted up his eyes and saw and heard a man. People with Daniel did not see the vision Matthew 17:1-4 - Peter, James and John - beheld Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus and fell on their face when they heard the voice of God Luke 1:11-22 - Zecharias - saw an angel in the temple Luke 24:22-23 - women at Sepulchre - saw vision of angels and had conversation with them Acts 9:10 - Annanias - Lord spoke to him in a vision Acts 10:3 - Cornelius - Angel appeared and spoke to him Acts 10:10-20 - Peter – sees a vision while praying. Acts 16:9 - Paul - a man appeared to him in a vision during the night and told him to go to Macedonia Acts 18:9 - Paul - the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision at night Acts 26:13 - Paul - Paul and his companions see a light shining brighter than the Sun

The Number Twenty Four- Perfect Government Made Manifest

It’s the product of 12 x 2 and is connected with God governing some- thing.

The number 24 is also attributed to intercession and prayer. That makes sense when you line that up with the priests and the elders. There are 24 priests in 1 Chronicles 24. There are 24 elders in Revelation. The 24 divisions of priests (1 Chronicles 24:1-19) and cantors (1 Chronicles 25:9-31). There are 24 chapters in the Gospel of Luke.

Encircled and Protected So it seems to me there’s a pattern connected to being encircled and protected. Perhaps guarded and watched over. The world is 24,000-plus miles around. There are 24 hours in a day. It might interest you to know that while there are 37 recorded miracles of Jesus, there are exactly 24 cures.

So with this information we can conclude that 2024 means:

2024 To Expect Gods Perfect Government!

The Lord Spoke to me:

I want you to notice a few things in our text this morning. The bible says “that night the disciples caught nothing”, can you imagine the struggle. One scripture says that they toiled all night. Before the blessing there is going to be a struggle. Isaiah 60:2“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the people: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, And his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

Through out the bible God shows up in the midst of chaos. The Lord showed me that the spiritual warfare is going to increase. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Do not fear the struggle! Let your light shine! The glory of the Lord will shine!

The second thing I want you to see in our text is that they did not know that it was the Lord. John the beloved is the only disciple that recognized who Jesus was. What God is about to do is something that we have never seen before. Isaiah 43:19“Behold, I will do a new thing; Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 “9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

God is about to pour out His Spirit like never before! Stayed prayed up and watch!

The last thing that I want you to notice in our text is that Jesus said “Come dine with me”. Jesus is coming back! The time is coming when we will sit and dine with the King of Kings! Revelation 19:9“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

What do we need to do with this information? We need to pray and expect the things of God in 2024. Not the things of this government or the things of the world. But the things of God! There will be turmoil and struggles in the coming year. Be prepared! Be Ready!

Happy New Year! 2024!