26 & 27: The Importance of Numbers in the Bible

I am going to gloss over the number twenty-six because there is only one mention in the Bible. Perhaps I could coin the phrase, “as rare as the number twenty-six in the Bible”? In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.(1 Kings 16:18 NIV).
 
One more thing to mention, however, is there are twenty-six generations between Adam and Moses:

1. Adam
2. Seth
3. Enosh
4. Kene
5. Mehalalei
6. Yered
7. Enoch
8. Methuselah
9. Lemech
10. Noah
11. Shem
12. Arpachashad
13. Shelach
14. Eber
15. Peleg
16. Reu
17. Serug
18. Nachor
19. Terach
20. Abraham
21. Isaac
22. Jacob
23. Levi
24. Kehath
25. Amran
26. Moses

 
Moving on to twenty-seven, the atomic number of cobalt. (Twenty-six is the atomic number of iron if you are interested.) There are twenty-seven letters in the Spanish and Hebrew alphabet (as opposed to our twenty-six). There are twenty-seven bones in the human hand.
 
In recent years, the term “27 Club” has been formed, which is a list of popular musicians, actors and artists who have died at the age of twenty-seven. Although it has been disproved by science that stars are likely to die at that age, there is an awful lot of them who have. The list includes Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.
 
Now, we know there are twenty-seven books in the New Testament, but does the number appear anywhere else in the Bible? The answer is yes; there are six mentions of twenty-seven:

• 1 Kings 16:10 (NIV): Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.
• 1 Kings 16:15 (NIV): In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town.
• 2 Kings 15:1 (NIV): In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.
• 2 Kings 25:17 (GNT): The two columns were identical: each one was 27 feet high, with a bronze capital on top, 4½ feet high. All around each capital was a bronze grillwork decorated with pomegranates made of bronze.
• Jeremiah 27:19 (AMPC): For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the [bronze] pillars [each twenty-seven feet high], the [bronze] Sea [the laver at which the priests cleansed their hands and feet before ministering at the altar], the [bronze] bases [of the ten lavers in Solomon’s temple used for washing animals to be offered as sacrifices], and the remainder of the vessels which are left in this city [Jerusalem]
• Jeremiah 52:21 (AMPC): Concerning the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet), and an ornamental moulding of twelve cubits (eighteen feet) went around its circumference; it was four fingers thick, and it [the pillar] was hollow.

 
According to the visions of Mary of Jesus of Ágreda (1602-65), Jesus was twenty-seven years old when he knew how and when he would die. Whether or not this is true we will never know. One thing that has been disproven, however, is the French philosopher Nostradamus’ (1503-66) prediction that the war led by the Antichrist would begin in the year 1999 and last twenty-seven years. Unless we are in the middle of a war we know nothing about, it is safe to say Nostradamus was very, very wrong. 
 
The twenty-seventh book of the New Testament is Revelation written by John. Saint John’s feast day is celebrated on 27th December.
 
Final fun fact, the word “candlestick” appears twenty-seven times in the Old Testament.