Punishment, Preparation, Milestone, and Completion
We’ve looked at occurrences in Scripture of the numbers twelve, seven, and three. Now let’s consider the number forty in the Bible. It occurs throughout the Old and New Testaments.
Forty Days and Forty Years
The most common use of the number forty in the Bible is to measure time, such as forty years or forty days, which is often expressed as forty days and forty nights.
Sometimes God connects the two, using forty days to represent forty years (Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6).
Another notable use is forty lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3 and 2 Corinthians 11:24). In this case forty is an upper limit, as in not more than forty.
A few times, however, forty is just a number that bears no symbolic meaning (such as Genesis 18:29 and Genesis 32:15).
Yet when it comes to Jonah’s warning to the people of Nineveh that they would be destroyed in forty days (Jonah 3:4), we’re left to speculate if forty carries a spiritual implication or not.
Today we treat numbers with absolute precision and assume that forty means exactly forty, no more and no less.
Let it not distress us if the writers in biblical times may have used forty more as an approximation or a symbolic representation for emphasis. We should not, however, let this distract us from the rich significance of the number forty.
But what does the number forty represent?
Trials and Testing
We often see the number forty in the Bible representing a time of trial or testing. Consider a trial as punishment and testing as preparation. Sometimes it is both, with punishment serving as preparation.
Moses spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain with God (Exodus 24:18). There he received the Ten Commandments and God’s other instructions for the people.
Among other things, we can view these forty days as God preparing Moses for the next phase of his life, which would last forty years.
The people did indeed spend forty years in the desert (Numbers 32:13). This punished the current generation who disobeyed God and prepared the next generation to obey him.
Consider that it rained for forty days and forty nights, which caused the great flood (Genesis 7:4 and Genesis 7:12). This punished the evil people and purged the land of their wickedness, while at the same time God delivered Noah and his family aboard the ark.
Last, Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days (Luke 4:1-13). During this time, he fended off the attacks of the devil. This prepared him for ministry.
A Significant Milestone and Completion
A secondary meaning—and perhaps an overarching one—is that the number forty represents a significant milestone and marks completion.
Eli led the people for forty years (1 Samuel 4:18). King David also ruled for forty years (1 Chronicles 29:27). So did King Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:30) and much later King Joash (2 Chronicles 24:1). These all stand as momentous milestones.
Most notably, resurrected Jesus stayed on earth for forty days and then returned to heaven (Acts 1:3-9). This marked the completion of what he came to earth to do.
Forty in the Bible
When we see the number forty in Scripture, we should pause to consider it. Does it mark a time of trial and testing? Perhaps it signifies a milestone or celebrates the completion of a life lived well.
May these mentions of the number forty in the Bible inspire us. Let us use our trials and testing to prepare us for what is to come.
Then we can finish our lives strong, celebrating a milestone and marking the completion of a race run well (1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1).
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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