I’m not talking about a dress size but a supernatural act of God.

Recently much information has come out about the biblical numerology and hidden codes.  Although I think much of this information is out of balance numbers are very important to God.  After all He named the fourth book of Bible Numbers.  God makes extensive use of numbers in order to be exact.

A single number defines absolutely, quantitatively and qualitatively like no other word can.  Anybody can observe if someone has hair or not but when Jesus said my Father knows the exact number of hairs, He got peoples attention.  Why?  There is great power in numbers.  It establishes an absolute truth.

Understanding the biblical use of numbers helps us delve deeper into the meaning of the Word of God.  If we are careful not to read in something where there is nothing we can observation how the use of numbers ads significantly to our understanding of the Bible.

A case in point:  The number Six denotes the number of man (Rev 13:18).  His creation fell on the sixth-day.  The first occurrence of the number makes it and all multiples of it the hallmark of all connected with man.  He works six days a week and the hours of his day are multiples of six.  This number emphatically marks the great men who have stood in defiance of God like Goliath and the Anti-Christ and others whose names add up to 6 or some multiple there of.  (In Hebrew and Greek the letters of their alphabet also represent numbers.  Imagine if in English ‘A’ meant 1 and ‘J’ meant 10 and ‘T’ meant 100.)

An interesting note is that the bricks used to construct the tower of Babel were all stamped 666.  Many of those Bricks are still around today.  Alexander the Great excavated the tower with the expectation of rebuilding it.  He died suddenly before construction could begin.  In Iraq there is a 120’ deep pit where the tower once stood.  Around which is a small community whose houses are constructed with the tower bricks; which still bear the seal.

Six did not start has a ‘bad’ number however it simply identified man.  When he fell he changed his sonship to Satan and six then identified him with rebellion and death.

Eight denotes resurrection, regeneration, a new beginning or commencement. The eighth really means a new first.  Hence the octave in music, color, days of the week etc.  Eight or its multiple is impressed on all that has to do with the Lord’s names, the Lord’s people and the Lord’s work.  The name of Jesus adds up to 888.  He rose on the eighth or the new first day.  Old Testament circumcision took place on the eighth day as a sign of His future resurrection.

Six hundred sixty six absolutely, quantitatively and qualitatively means dead in spirit, soul and body where as Eight hundred eighty eight means resurrected or regenerated in spirit, soul and body.  We have not just recovered what Adam lost when he sinned we have taken on even greater dimensions in Christ.  We have been promoted from a 6 to an 8.  Mathematically speaking an increase of two dimensions would be equal to infinity x 12 x 2.  Jesus walked through walls, on water and flew into the clouds.  I wonder if Adam could do all of that?  He was only a six.

Rocky J.  Malloy

This isn’t just a child’s question, even though it’s usually a child who ventures to ask it.   Almost without exception, when a child hears that God made everything they think, “Well then who made God?”

Children have an awareness of time.  They will later discover that the universe and everything in it is confined to a single, finite line of time that is moving forward and can never be reversed or stopped.  Grownups call this fourth dimension a time/space continuum or a time line.

Even the simple logic of a child understands there is cause and effect associated with time.  Parents use that understanding to explain to their children that if they do bad there is consequence and if they do good there is reward.  But when we tell them about God we break the chain of logic by saying, “He just was.”

It is easy to see why a child recognizes the ‘poor’ logic immediately.  And the old question arises, “If God (the cause) created the universe (the effect) what caused God to be effected?

The necessity of God having a beginning, however, would apply only if He, too, were confined to the same time dimension as we are.  But according to Titus 1:2 and the theory of general relativity, He is not.  (General relativity says that the space and time dimensions of the universe had the origins as matter and energy.)  Titus 1:2 says however that God existed before there was matter and therefore He existed before our time continuum.

Our time continuum is one of the four dimensions that we live in.  (The other three are height, width and depth.)  Time is the realm in which cause and effect rule.

Because God created the dimension of time that we live in, He must operate in a time dimension that is independent of us, one existing before the creation of the universe.

Scripture tells us that time, as we know it, has a beginning.  And that God operated in cause and effect before that time dimension began (Titus 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20).  Bible evidence backed up with general relativity revels that there must be at least one other time dimension in which God exist.

We also know that there must be at least one other time continuum for God because both science and mathematics teach us that anything on a single time continuum must have a starting point or a beginning, like our universe for instance.  And if there were only one time continuum that too would mean that God had a beginning, but he didn’t.

God operating in two or more dimensions of time has no need of a beginning.  Simply stated a duel-dimensional Being exists not on a time line but on a time plane where an infinite number of times lines running in an infinite number of directions would be possible.

God moves and operates along an infinite number of time lines independent of the time/space continuum of our universe.  He therefore has no beginning and will never have an end (John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16,17).  That is why He told Moses, “I Am that I Am” or “I am the cause that put all things into effect therefore I Be” (Ex. 3:14).

Anyway, that is why we just tell our children, “He was!”

Rocky J. Malloy

Recently I was in Southern California on a trip to Australia.  While scanning through the radio, on my way back to the airport, I picked up a secular station.  The host was talking about God.  His ignorance about the subject astounded me.  I was tempted to miss my flight just so I could pull over and call in.  It did make me realize that there are giant misconceptions about who God is and how He operates even among sincere Christians.

The greatest misconceptions seem to be over what is and what is not the Will of God. Historically there have been two points of view on the issue of God’s will, ‘election’ and ‘free will.’

There is so much ignorance about God because most people view Him through the lenses of  ‘election’ referred to as Calvinism or ‘free will’ referred to as Armenianism.  Churches tend to be in one camp or the other.  Churches aligned with denominations tend to be Calvinist in nature.  Independent churches tend to be Armenian in nature.

Calvinist believe that God ‘elects’ or predestines every minute detail of our life, good or bad, explaining everything that happens as preordained by God.  Each man’s destiny is in Gods hands.  Armenianism or ‘free will’ believes that man is in control of his own life and destiny.  God participates by providing a map through his word and direction though his Holy Spirit.

Without getting into a major exposition it will suffice to say that both camps need to move toward the middle, Calvinism more so than Armenianism, if we are to understand both the wisdom and grace of God toward his creation.

Election acknowledges the omni presence and power of God but goes too far by blaming God for man’s errors and rebellion, even going so far as to state that God planned sin to test man.

Free will, which acknowledges that man’s fall was a result of his rebellion, goes too far by limiting God’s participation in redemption.

People get trapped and ensnared by their opinions and doctrines of God.  They forget about the love of God.  Relationship is the path, not religion.  The only true perspective is to see the different doctrinal positions as complimenting each.  That is why I personally try to avoid being labeled and why I love Calvinist as much as I do Armenians.  I love people who love God no matter what their label.  I enjoy the freedom and liberty to work with anyone that confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The Truth is more than just the facts; truth is Jesus.  The ‘Truth’ is constantly working on our behalf.  He wants the best for mankind.  Truth took on the form of a human so that is could suffer for all of man’s rebellion, making a way for man to restore his relationship to God.  When sin entered the world calamity became default.  Bad happens when man rejects God or rebels against his word.   Never distrust the goodness of God!

If in doubt, go to the beginning.  When Adam and Eve had the forbidden fruit in their hand God didn’t knock it out.  He gave them their own free will even though it had terrible consequences.  He limited himself in the affairs of man while at the same time taking an active role their restoration.

In an attempt to answer tough questions about the calamities of life we forget about relationship and fall into religion.  We say things that sound right but have no life.  When talking about God don’t blame him for bad things.  Man’s lack of relationship with God is our fault not His.  Remember love never fails and God is love.

Rocky J. Malloy

Recently a man told me, “I call it like it is.”  That might sound noble but it could not be further from the truth.  God calls it what it’s not (Rom. 4:17).

Acknowledging situations or things by calling them like they are requires no faith and Paul called that sin (Rom. 14:23) because it is of fear.  Calling things that are not as though they were requires faith because it is of love.  Anybody can look at a bad report and agree with it. It takes faith to look at the same situation and call it what God calls it.

People fear faith.  They prefer to wrap themselves tightly in verifiable facts calling it security.  They deny the existence of that which cannot be tested, proven, or measured.  Those in fear shout the loudest about the foolishness of faith in a world of science.

There is a physical reality, a perceptual reality and a spiritual reality.  One is based on the facts, the other on opinion and the last on the truth.  The truth is always greater than the facts or opinions.

Anytime we are faced with a fact or an opinion that is not TRUE we must act in faith.  Not by denying the facts or opposing opinion but by declaring the truth.  In other words we must have more faith in the truth than we have in facts or opinions.

We are so conditioned to act in fear based on circumstances that we find it fearful to act in faith based on truth.

Romans 8:15 says that, “For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Being sons of God we operate on a higher plane than physical reality.  We soar in the high places of spiritual reality.  “We have the same spirit of faith (that God has), according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4:13).

Living by faith means believing and speaking the truth no matter the facts or opinions.  In order to believe and speak the truth we must first hear the truth (Rom. 10:17).  That is why in Mark 4:24 that Jesus warned us about what we hear.  Listening to doubt and unbelief will cause you to speak doubt and unbelief; which will “again put you back into the bondage of fear.”

Being a Christian carries with it a great responsibility of believing and speaking the truth all the time.  Believing the truth and speaking the truth is called love and it drives out all fear, doubt and unbelief (1 Jn. 4:18).

We go to church, read the Bible and pray to fill ourselves with the love of God so that we can always believe and speak the truth.

The next time you are faced with a situation that requires the declaration of truth and the spirit of fear comes on you like a chill on a cold night what are you going to do?  Operate in the spirit of fear or the spirit of faith?  Speaking the truth in love will grow you into all things even Christ (Eph. 4:15).

I say that you are of the spirit of faith and that no doubt or unbelief can be found in you thereby denying the devil all access to your life.

Rocky J. Malloy

How you respond to crisis often times revile whether you have a relationship with God or not. When the pressure is on what comes out, love and trust or legalism and religion.
Recently I experienced the difference in a very profound way.

Lourdes and her husband were in a horrible car wreck. Her husband almost bled to death, her two-year-old baby girl was killed and she was declared brain dead when she arrived at the hospital.

I went to Lourdes’ hospital room believing God for a miracle and her family went to a funeral parlor to make arrangements for her death. They actually purchased her coffin.

The differences between religion and relation were never so clear to me. Her parents, like many religious Christians, were responding to crisis by agreeing with the devil instead of with God. Instead of confronting death her friends and family accepting it as if it was from God.

Religion doesn’t resist the devil rather it justifies demonic acts as ‘coming from’ or ‘being approved of’ by God. Religion destroys our resolve to fight because it complicates the will of God to the point where we no longer understand it. It becomes something that defies logic.

The religious elite tells us that God’s ways are not always our ways and that sometimes means illness, accidents and even premature death. But that is not what the Bible says, rather it says His ways are higher, more loving and forgiving than our ways (Isa. 55:7-9)

The problem with religious people is that they do not understand what it means when God gives His word. He cannot break His word like men do (Heb.6:18). For instance God said, “Do not kill” (Ex.20:17). If He could kill why didn’t He just kill the devil and all of his demons? Why didn’t God kill Adam and Eve and just start over or why doesn’t God just kill people that reject Him instead of sending them to hell?

The answer is: God gives life not death (Mat. 10:10). He cannot give something he does not have.

I know religion goes crazy with this recalling all of the times were God ‘killed’ people. Unfortunately that is simply not true. In every case people rebelled against the word of God choosing death over life just like Adam and Eve did. When that happened the destroyer moved in for the kill (I Cor. 10:10).

Religion is death because it separates us from the love of God with ridged rules and rituals. Relationship on the other hand is life because it communicates with God. It is not complicated to know the will of God in any situation. Anything that interrupts communication with God and life is not from Him. Hunger, illness, poverty and confusion all lead to death and away from God. Faith understands ‘God’s will’ is always abundant life. Faith acts on that knowledge. We are told by God to resist the devil because every thing in his bag of tricks is meant to separate us from God.

Lourdes was released from the hospital just two weeks after her accident. Today Lourdes’ empty coffin is a testimony to the goodness of God and the trust we can have in His word. “If we can only believe, God’s word, all things are possible (Mark 9:23).

Rocky J. Malloy