The number 40 appears multiple times throughout the Bible, often symbolizing periods of testing, trial, or preparation. The number 40 signifies the amount of time in meditation that one needs to endure before receiving the word of God. You will be tempted to quit during this time and it takes great will power to endure. The spring equinox, the sunrise, is the promised land.
Here are some notable passages from the King James Version (KJV) where the number 40 is mentioned:
Old Testament:
1. Genesis 7:4 – God informs Noah of the impending flood:
“For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights…”
2. Exodus 24:18 – Moses on Mount Sinai:
“And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.”
3. Numbers 13:25 – Spies return from Canaan:
“And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.”
4. Numbers 14:33-34 – Israel’s wilderness wandering:
“And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years…”
5. 1 Samuel 17:16 – Goliath’s challenge:
“And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.”
6. 1 Kings 19:8 – Elijah’s journey to Horeb:
“And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.”
7. Jonah 3:4 – Jonah’s proclamation to Nineveh:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
New Testament:
1. Matthew 4:2 – Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness:
“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”
2. Acts 1:3 – Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances:
“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days…”
These passages illustrate the recurring significance of the number 40 in biblical narratives, often associated with periods of trial, testing, and transformation.
The number 40 appears multiple times throughout the Bible, often symbolizing periods of testing, trial, or preparation. Here are some notable passages from the King James Version (KJV) where the number 40 is mentioned:
Old Testament:
1. Genesis 7:4 – God informs Noah of the impending flood:
“For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights…”
2. Exodus 24:18 – Moses on Mount Sinai:
“And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.”
3. Numbers 13:25 – Spies return from Canaan:
“And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.”
4. Numbers 14:33-34 – Israel’s wilderness wandering:
“And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years…”
5. 1 Samuel 17:16 – Goliath’s challenge:
“And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.”
6. 1 Kings 19:8 – Elijah’s journey to Horeb:
“And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.”
7. Jonah 3:4 – Jonah’s proclamation to Nineveh:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
New Testament:
1. Matthew 4:2 – Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness:
“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”
2. Acts 1:3 – Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances:
“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days…”
These passages illustrate the recurring significance of the number 40 in biblical narratives, often associated with periods of trial, testing, and transformation.
