Stephen E. Jones — Numerology
b4 — The Laws of the Second Coming
Gematria and Numeric Symbolism
Jones discusses gematria (the numeric value of Hebrew and Greek letters) as evidence of God’s precision in redemptive-historical timing. As a methodological introduction he writes:
“For those unfamiliar with numeric values (gematria), the Hebrew and Greek letters served as their numbers as well as letters. Hence, each letter carries a numeric value, and one can add up the value of each letter to obtain the numeric value of any word or sentence in the Bible.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
As a concrete example he discusses the value 301 at the crucifixion:
“It was on a lonely hill outside the walls of Jerusalem that this Heavenly One, who came to earth to be born, to suffer, and to die as a man, hung on a cruel cross that afternoon. The hill was called Calvary. Its Greek name was Kranion, whose numeric value is 301. At 3:01 in the afternoon, as he looked heavenward and said, ‘It is finished,’ the moon began to eclipse. It was at 3:01 Greenwich Time that the eclipse began. God makes no mistakes with His timing, nor does He rely on coincidences. The word ‘moon’ in the New Testament is Selene, and its Gematria is 301. Yes, He who had formed the moon and put it into its orbit around the earth, now had given up His human life at 3:01, on a hill called Calvary (301) precisely when the moon (301) began to eclipse. It was the exact hour when the priests were killing the lambs for Passover. ‘Lambs’ [in Hebrew] has a numeric value of 301.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
Interpretation: Jones uses gematria not as a speculative tool but as evidence that God orchestrates both the content and the timing of prophetic fulfilment with precision.
Prophetic Timing: The Third Hour as Anchor Point
Jones argues that God determines not only the day but also the hour of prophetic fulfilment. He illustrates this via the third hour (c. 9:00 a.m.):
“This offering was waved in the temple at the third hour of the day ‘on the morrow after the sabbath’ (Lev. 23:11). Did the offering itself coincide with Jesus’ resurrection? No, Jesus rose from the dead before daybreak. […] The wave-sheaf offering did coincide, however, with His ascension to present Himself as ALIVE in the temple in heaven.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
The same pattern holds for Pentecost:
“The disciples on the day of Pentecost were filled with the Spirit and were doing and saying some strange things. A few bystanders thought that the disciples must be drunk. Peter answered them in Acts 2:15, ‘these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day.’ The third hour of the day was when the priest in the temple offered to God the Pentecostal offering of two loaves of wheat bread that had been baked with leaven (Lev. 23:17). The disciples no doubt would have wanted to receive the Holy Spirit earlier, but God made them wait to the appointed time — not just the right day, but even the precise hour of the day. This shows how important timing is to God Himself.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
Feast Day Patterns as Prophetic Agenda
Jones formulates the foundational principle of his number theology:
“It is another example of how the feast days were prophetic of events to come — not only WHAT was to come, but also WHEN.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
He also distinguishes a dual application:
“The Word shows us that there is BOTH an experiential application on an individual, personal level as well as an appointed time on the historic, corporate level.”
[b4, Ch. 1]
The Feast of Trumpets: The First Day of the Seventh Month
Jones links the Feast of Trumpets (Num. 29:1; Lev. 23:24) to the uncertainty about the Second Coming:
“The Feast of Trumpets prophesies of the resurrection of the dead. It has been called in Jewish circles, ‘the Day of the Awakening Blast.’ Because this festival fell on the first day of the seventh month, it fell on a new moon — that is, when the first sliver of the new moon appeared in the evening sky at the beginning of each lunar month.”
[b4, Ch. 2]
“There was always some uncertainty as to when the new moon would appear or could be seen (if cloudy). For this reason, Jesus spoke of His coming in Matthew 25:13, saying, ‘Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.’ This phrase about not knowing the day nor the hour is a peculiar Hebrew saying, which they specifically applied to the Feast of Trumpets, whose beginning was unknown until the new moon was sighted.”
[b4, Ch. 2]
Two Trumpets, Two Resurrections
Jones explains that the two silver trumpets of Num. 10:2 form a numerical pattern for two resurrections:
“The law suggests that there will be more than one resurrection. For this reason, God told Moses to make TWO trumpets of silver. When the priest blew with just one trumpet, only the leaders, the heads of the people, were to gather before God. When the priest blew BOTH trumpets, the entire congregation was to gather before God. John tells us in Revelation 20 that there will be two resurrections, not just one.”
[b4, Ch. 2]
“The first resurrection, therefore, includes only the heads of the people — that is, those who are called to rule in the Kingdom during the Age of Tabernacles. This is why Paul speaks of the ‘trumpet’ (singular) which the angel will blow, calling them forth from the graves. It fulfills Moses’ prophecy of the single trumpet that was to summon only the rulers of the people.”
[b4, Ch. 2]
On the thousand-year age:
“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. This is obviously a partial resurrection, because not all men are raised to life at this time. Only those who are called to ‘reign with Christ for a thousand years’ are raised in the first resurrection.”
[b4, Ch. 2]
The Sabbath Cycle (Number 7) and the Jubilee Year (Number 50)
Jones describes the numerical structure of the Torah’s division of time:
“Time was divided into seven-year ‘weeks.’ Every seventh year was a sabbath land rest, where no one was to sow or reap the fields. […] The Jubilee year was different. It came at the end of seven sabbath years, at the end of 49 years.”
[b4, Ch. 3]
He quotes the full Jubilee passage:
“You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants.” (Lev. 25:8-10)
[b4, Ch. 3, quoting Lev. 25:8-10]
On the three sabbath levels as three levels of rest:
“There are three sabbaths (the 7th day, the 7th year, and the Jubilee), so also are there three levels of rest which believers can experience. These rests correspond to the three feasts.”
[b4, Ch. 3]
Jacob’s Life as a Numerical Pattern
Jones analyses Jacob’s biography as a redemptive-historical number pattern.
On the number 22 and the almond branch:
“The number 22 signifies ‘light’ in the Bible, and for this reason the word ‘light’ appears 22 times in the Gospel of John. In fact, because there are 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the number 22 is associated with the Word, or the light of His Word. There were 22 almonds on the lamp stand in Moses’ tabernacle.”
[b4, Ch. 4]
On Jacob’s 7+7 years of service:
“Jacob then agreed to work for Laban for seven years as a substitute for a dowry for Rachel. At the end of seven years, Laban gave him Leah instead… Laban then promised Jacob that he could also marry Rachel the following week, if he would agree to work for him another seven years. This he did… After 20 years of servitude, Jacob left Laban in the 21st year to return to Canaan.”
[b4, Ch. 4]
On Jacob’s departure in the Jubilee year:
“Whether or not he knew it is unimportant, however, since we are told specifically that God told Jacob when to leave (Gen. 31:11-13). God knew, and so God told him to leave on the 49th year of the 45th Jubilee. Jacob was born in the year 2107 from Adam. This was in the 43rd Jubilee year. He died 147 years later on the 46th Jubilee. Jacob’s release from bondage came during the final rest year (49th year) of the 45th Jubilee, and the following year returned to Bethel in the 45th Jubilee.”
[b4, Ch. 4]
On the two camps of Jacob as a pattern of two resurrections:
“At Mahanaim (Gen. 32:2). The name in Hebrew means ‘two camps.’ There he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men. Jacob was afraid and divided his family, flocks, and herds into two camps (Gen. 32:7). God used the situation to set a very important pattern for the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets… We have already shown how the Feast of Trumpets is the appointed time for the resurrection of the dead. We have also shown how God instructed Moses to make two trumpets. Blowing just one trumpet summoned the rulers of the people, while blowing both trumpets summoned the entire congregation (church). And so Jacob divided his household into two camps. This prophesies of two resurrections.”
[b4, Ch. 4]
The Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles
Jones describes the numerical structure of the Feast of Tabernacles (7 + 1 days):
“In those days it was customary for the priest at the temple to pour out a drink offering of water each morning for seven days during the Feast of Tabernacles. This would be poured out of a silver pitcher. They did not do this on the morning of the eighth day. So when Jesus cried out for men to come to Him for drink, it signified a different kind of water that would be poured out on the eighth day of Tabernacles.”
[b4, Ch. 7]
Jones also sees a pattern in the eight signs of the Gospel of John:
“There are, in fact, eight signs in the book of John. They are as follows: Turning water into wine (John 2:1-10). The Nobleman healed (John 4:46-54). The Bethesda healing (John 5:1-13). Feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-13). Walking on the water (John 6:16-25). The blind man healed (John 9:1-7). The raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45). Catching the 153 large fish (John 21:3-12)… These signs correlate with the Feast of Tabernacles.”
[b4, Ch. 7]
On the seven processions around the altar (the Jericho pattern):
“On each of the seven days of Tabernacles, the priests formed a procession and walked around the altar, singing Psalm 118:25… On the last day of the feast, that is, the seventh day, the priests walked around the altar seven times. Alfred Edersheim says in The Temple, page 280, ‘But on the seventh [day]… they made the circuit of the altar seven times, remembering how the walls of Jericho had fallen in similar circumstances, and anticipating how, by the direct interposition of God, the walls of heathendom would fall before Jehovah.‘”
[b4, Ch. 7]
The Sign of Jonah: Three Days and Three Nights
Jones analyses the number symbolism in the sign of Jonah (Jon. 1:17; Matt. 12:38-40):
“And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. In Matthew 12 the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah. He did not give them the type of sign they desired, but He did give them a prophetic sign that they did not understand. Matthew 12:38-40 says… for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
[b4, Ch. 12]
On the atomic change at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:51-52):
“Under Tabernacles, Paul says we will all be ‘changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet’ (1 Cor. 15:51, 52). The Greek word translated ‘moment’ is atomos, which literally means ATOMS. In ancient times the word was used to indicate the smallest particle of matter that could be subdivided. Paul used the word to indicate an atomic change in the material body itself that would allow the glory of God to be manifested even as Jesus’ body after His resurrection.”
[b4, Ch. 12]
On the eight-day cleansing period and completion on the eighth day:
“In identifying the two doves with the cleansing of lepers over an eight-day period, it shows us that the work is not completed until the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles of some year.”
[b4, Ch. 12]