The number ‘8’ speaks clearly of the beginning of another cycle, which is the pattern of scripture. Western thinking is linear, while Eastern thinking is cyclical. Our western culture is steeped in this kind of thinking. History and the advancement of mankind is seen as a line coming from the left, representing the dark, fuzzy, foggy past, extending to the right, representing the dark, fuzzy, foggy future. Standing in the middle is a cross. Therefore, the march of mankind is seen as a series of events coming and going, culminating with qazillions of people going to heaven or going to hell. This perception begins with the children of God seen as primitive ‘Jewish’ wanderers, stumbling through the graceless age of the patriarchs. These Hebrew neanderthals required rules and regulations because of their stubborn, godless nature. Sporting a sensitive digestive system and having a propensity to ‘labor’ their way into heaven, they gladly received the good news of one day off to rest from their constant struggle to please God with their tireless works. But as time marched on God knew that one day the age of grace would come, when His ‘new’ people, the church, like a phoenix, would rise up from the ashes of legalism and no longer require the harsh taskmaster, Torah. This people would be the ultimate expression of a brand new start, a spotless bride that would overshadow the dark, murky past with all of it’s faithless feasts, sabbaths, and ordinances. On the eighth day a new sun, I mean son, would leap from the horizon, wiping the slate clean, dissolving the past, and creating a whole new generation of faithful servants, subject only to their own confessions and creating a whole new mantra: “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Could it be that the number ’10’ is when things get serious? When reality begins to sink in? When the number ten is reached it seems as if the realization that whatever is about to happen is now going to REALLY REALLY happen. We also have a lot of top ten lists as well. It is as if to say that of all things considered, these are the top ten, and these ten epitomize all the rest.
The number ’10’ in scripture seems to have set the pattern for our top ten lists and countdowns. This number pictures the law, testing, and the summing up of a whole. Obviously the Ten Commandments come to mind when thinking about all the commandments being represented or summed up in the ‘top ten’, so to speak. The Ten Commandments are, after all, things you do, and what sums up good works, at least from God’s point of view.
