Spiritual Significance of the Number 3
The Number 3
Another of the numbers where we can readily see God use it in a spiritual sense to signify something, is the number three. It is used of God to signify His Purpose or His Will! For example, when God sent the three messengers to Abraham to tell him that Sarah would conceive in her old age (Genesis 18), by the use of the number three we see in this an illustration that they came with God's "purpose and will" to Abraham. i.e., it was by the will of God and for His own purposes that Sarah should conceive so that God would make a great nation of Abraham through it.
The same illustration is seen as God brought a thick darkness upon the land of Egypt (exodus 10:22-23) for three days. In this, God's purpose and sovereign will of judgment is worked out. The number three illustrated that it was for God's purposes that they were in darkness while all the Children of Israel had light!
We can see this in the three times in a year God commanded that the men of Israel were to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem (Ex. 23:14,17 Deu. 16:16). This illustrated the will and purpose of God in the feasts Laws, which all pointed to Christ!
In 2nd Samuel 21:1 the Lord sends famine in the land for three years, and says it was because of Saul and his bloody house. In other words, it was God's will that this happen, and the purpose of God in doing this was to bring judgment because of Saul's bloody House.
Another example is in 1st kings 17:21 as Elijah stretches forth his body over a dead child three times, and the child lives again. This signified that it was God's will and for His own purpose that the child should yet live again, a type or spiritual "shadow" of things to come.
Again, as the Lord said His servant Isaiah walked naked and barefoot three years as a Sign (signification) and a wonder upon Egypt (Isaiah 20:3), once more indicating God's will and purpose for Egypt.
Even when we look at the three men who were cast into the furnace of fire, and a fourth who was there like the Son of God (Daniel 3:24-25), we see that it was God's will and purpose that these three men would not be harmed by the fire because of the presence of the Son of God. This was demonstrating that by the presence of Christ, the will and purpose of God that His people not be harmed in the fire, will be accomplished.
These are just a few of the examples, and we could go on and on about this. These places where the number three is found is numerical symbology which is putting forth spiritual truths, that we can learn from as we consider them. For in three, God works out His purpose and His will. As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so it indicated it was for God's purpose, and that His will would be worked out in this (Again, a type of Christ).
If I could use an earthly analogy of a Biblical principle, It's somewhat like asking someone three times whether they really want to sell their house for a certain fee. After they say yes the third time, it's established that this is their will and purpose or intention. That, of course, is a bad analogy, but one which makes the point. That is the way the number three is often used in scripture. It signifies the establishment of God's will and His purpose. The three days and three nights Jonah spent in the fish established that God's purpose and will would be worked out in that. In Acts, the Lord smote the Apostle Paul with blindness for three days:
Acts 9:9
"And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Was the fact that he was blind "three" days just a number picked out of a hat, as if any number would do? No, the number was God breathed. He was Blinded three days not by coincidence, but "by divine fiat or decree". It was God's purpose for him to be blind and to neither eat nor drink for those "three" days because He was bringing Paul to the light! Why not four days? Why not two days? Because those are numbers God uses to signify other things, and He wanted to indicate by the number "three" that it was for His own good purpose and by His sovereign Will that Paul be blind. And that is what the number three signifies.
The exact same principle in Acts Chapter 10, when a voice from heaven told Peter to rise kill and eat the beasts of the earth that were on a sheet descending from heaven. And Peter says No, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. Then the voice says, "what God has cleansed, don't call it common". And we read,
Acts 10:16
"This was done thrice (3 times): and the vessel was received up again into heaven."
Why was this done "three" times, and then the sheet received up again into heaven? When we study scripture in context, we find that these passages were to indicate that the gospel was going out to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And that is why it is meticulously pointed out by God that this was done three times and "then" received up again unto heaven. It is to signify this is the purpose and will of God that Salvation go to all the world. It's not just any number, it's the number that signifies God's purpose and will that Salvation go to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The "three" times it's done, gives us this spiritual signification that it is established by God for His purpose.
Christ spoke a parable which was about a fig tree in a vineyard in Luke 13:6 (Symbolizing Israel) and the man of the vineyard came "three" years seeking fruit and found none, and so said cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground. Why didn't God in this parable say cut it down after one year, or after two years? It was because the "three" years he came seeking fruit is symbolizing the purpose of God. He gave it "three" chances before he said cut it down. (Remember the analogy I made of three times asked makes it established?) The establishment of God's purpose and will is seen in this number three.
One of the greatest places to see this numerical symbology is in that there is only one God, and yet there are three in the Godhead. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
1st John 5:7
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one".
The purpose or will of God the one God, is worked out in these three. Read the Bible with wisdom and understanding. Because these things were put there for just that purpose. The purpose and will of God is worked out in the three of the Godhead.
When Paul sought God to remove the thorn in the flesh, but it was for God's own purpose that Paul retain this thorn (it wasn't God's will to remove it) He illustrates this by the number three. Consider what we read in,
2nd Corinthians 12:8:
"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice (three times) that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee.."
Here we see it again "three" times Paul besought the Lord! Why not once, or twice? Why didn't God tell him after the first time or the second? Why did God wait for the third time? It's because God deliberately wants to indicate in scripture by this number 3, that it is not His purpose, or His Will that this thorn be removed. He says to Paul after being asked the third time, "My Grace is sufficient for you." In other words, My Grace is enough for you. i.e., After the third time asking, it was established as God's will that this was not to be removed. Grace was enough for Paul. So again we see clearly that the number three here was an indication to us that it was not God's will that this be removed.
There are just so many indications of the number three being used to symbolize the will and Purpose of God. None more "God Glorifying" than the atonement that the Lord made at the cross. The Atonement has the number "three" all around it and we can readily understand why. That's because though Christ was Crucified, it was God's will and for His purpose that Christ went to the Cross. For example, Jesus sat with the elders in the Temple three days being about His father's work, there were three Crosses, there were three men crucified, there was writing in three different languages on the cross, Jesus prayed three times that if it was possible could this cup pass from me, three Apostles went into the garden to pray with Him, Peter denied Our lord three times, Pilate sought three times to let Jesus go, it was the "third" hour when they crucified Him, Jesus was in the heart of the earth "three" days and "three" nights, When Jesus was risen He asked Simon three times loveth thou Me, and on, and on. The number three is everywhere indicated in the atonement that Christ made for us because it was God's will and purpose. Are these all just coincidental references? The scoffers will tell you that, but the Spirit tells another story. Christ had to go to the cross in order for us to be Saved. It is a Gift of God. It was His will. The number three being used this way is a coincidence like the sheep being used as an indication of a believer is a coincidence. No Possible Way! They were both put there by God to give us a great Spiritual, or symbolical picture that we can learn from.
Unfortunately, there are many in our day who choose to remain spiritually ignorant in these things.
It's not curious then that the number three is sometimes used in conjunction with the number two (which signifies the agreement of truth) when making statements about God's purpose. Because His will and purpose go hand in hand with the truth. For example, in relationship to the Church. For the Church is the pillar of truth, and it is also doing God's Will, and working to accomplish His purposes. Jesus says in:
Matthew 18:19-20
"Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered in My name, there Am I in the midst of them."
There we have the establishment of the truth (2), and the Purpose of God (3) in the definition of the Church. Where two or three are gathered in Christ's name, there is the truth and the will of God being done, and Christ in their midst. That's the two or three witnesses of God. That's the Church with Christ in the midst (remember the two witnesses of revelation chapter 11?) There is the "definition" of the Church! Two or three witnesses gathered together in the name of Christ! The two is illustrating established truth, and the three illustrating the purpose and will of God.
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