The number 7 occurs frequently in Scripture. On the “seventh day” God rested, and hallowed it (Genesis 2:2 Genesis 2:3). The division of time into weeks of “seven days” each accounts for many instances of the occurrence of this number. This number has been called the “symbol of perfection”, and also the “symbol of rest.” The number 7 is strongly associated with God and His perfect completeness.
Seven plays a vital role in the stories and meaning of the Bible. Discover the specific Bible verses that reference the number 7 in the collection below!
There are 7 days of the week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
There are 7 continents – Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America
The Name Lord – appears 7 times in the Bible – Genesis 22:14, Exodus 6:3, Exodus 17:15, Judges 6:24, Psalms 83:18, Isaiah 2:2, Isaiah 26:4,
There are 7 Churches in Revelation – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea,
There are 7 notes in the musical scale – C, D, E, F, G, A, B
There are 7 colors when light passes through a prism – the three primary colors and four secondary ones affectionately known as ROYGBIV
There are 7 levels in the Periodic Table of the Elements – the 7 levels of periodicity
There are 7 Mysteries given to the apostle Paul – Mystery of the gospel, Mystery of the deity, Mystery of His will, Mystery of Gentiles, Mystery between the church and Christ, Mystery of salvation, Mystery of Lawlessness,
There are 7 baptisms – The baptism of Moses, The baptism of John, The baptism of Jesus, The baptism of fire, The baptism of the Holy Spirit, The baptism of the cross, The baptism of believers,
There are 7 resurrections – The First Resurrection, The Second Resurrection, The Third Resurrection, The Fourth Resurrection, The Fifth Resurrection, The Sixth Resurrection, The Seventh Resurrection,
Multiples of 7 also figure into the biblical narrative: the “seventy weeks” prophecy in Daniel 9:24 concerns 490 years (7 times 7 times 10). Jeremiah 29:10 predicted the Babylonian Captivity would last for seventy years (7 times 10). According to Leviticus 25:8, the Year of Jubilee was to begin after the passing of every forty-ninth year (7 times 7).
The Bible was originally divided into 7 major divisions. The Divisions were 1) the Law; 2) the Prophets; 3) the Writings of Psalms; 4) the gospels; 5) the general Epistles; 6) the Epistles of Paul, and 7) the book of Revelation. Initially, the total number of books in the Bible was forty-nine, which is 7 x 7, further illustrating the integration of seven into the Word of God.
Jacob’s seven years service to Laban; Pharaoh’s seven fat oxen and seven lean ones; the seven branches of the golden candlestick; the seven trumpets and the seven priests who sounded them; the seven days siege of Jericho; the seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven vials, and many others. Sufficiently prove the importance of this “sacred number.” (Leviticus 25:4; 1 Samuel 2:5; Psalms 12:6; 79:12; Proverbs 26:16; Isaiah 4:1; Matthew 18:21; Matthew 18:22; Luke 17:4).
The feast of Passover (Exodus 12:15-16), the feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9), the feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13) and the Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8), were all ordered by seven.
Seven is the number of sacrifice (2 Chronicles 29:21; Job 42:8), of purification (Leviticus 12:2; Leviticus 8:11; Leviticus 8:33; Leviticus 14:9; Leviticus 14:51), of forgiveness (Matthew 18:21; Matthew 18:22; Luke 17:4), of reward (Deuteronomy 28:7; 1 Samuel 2:5), and of punishment (Leviticus 26:21; Leviticus 26:24; Leviticus 26:28; Deuteronomy 28:25).
It is used for any round number in such passages as (Job 5:19; Proverbs 26:16; Proverbs 26:25; Isaiah 4:1; Matthew 12:45). It is used also to mean “abundantly” (Genesis 4:15; Genesis 4:24; Leviticus 26:24; Psalms 79:12).
The number 7 in the Bible shows the completeness, achievement and perfectness of our Heavenly Father. It obtains much of its meaning from relation to God’s creation of all things. The word “created” is used 7 times teaching God’s creative work. There are 7 days in a week and God’s Sabbath is on the 7th day. The influence of the number seven prevailed among the Persians, ancient Indians, Greeks and Romans.
Seven appears over 700 times in the Bible and is often used to represent completeness or perfection. The number 70 is also significant. It is used to represent the number of nations that God promised to Abraham. Additionally, the number 70 is used to symbolize the number of elders that would help lead the Israelites after the Exodus.
The number 70 is symbolic in the Bible because it is composed of two perfect numbers, seven and ten. All power is used to achieve perfect spiritual order, which is represented by this symbol. Moses appointed seventy 70 elders (Numbers 11:16). According to Jewish tradition, 70 souls were sent to Egypt in order for the Hebrews to flee Egypt. The world is made up of 70 nations, 70 languages, and 70 nations, which is the same as the names in the table of nations. The Great Sanhedrin, Israel’s Supreme Court from ancient times, had 70 men on it.
The number 7 is the foundation of God’s word. It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to creation. Used 735 times (54 times in Revelation alone), it symbolizes completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). If we include with this count how many times “sevenfold” (6) and “seventh” (119) are used, our total jumps to 860 references.
Throughout the Bible, God often gives symbolic significance to mundane items or concepts. For example, numbers in the Bible, especially the number 7, which at times provides a special emphasis in the text.
The first use of the number 7 in the Bible relates to the creation week in Genesis 1. God spends six days creating the heavens and the earth, and then rests on the seventh day. This is our template for the seven-day week, observed around the world to this day. The seventh day was to be “set apart” for Israel; the Sabbath was a holy day of rest (Deuteronomy 5:12).
Thus, right at the start of the Bible, the number 7 is identified with something being “finished” or “complete.” From then on, that association continues, as 7 is often found in contexts involving completeness or divine perfection. So we see the command for animals to be at least seven days old before being used for sacrifice (Exodus 22:30), the command for leprous Naaman to bathe in the Jordan River seven times to effect complete cleansing (2 Kings 5:10), and the command for Joshua to march around Jericho for seven days (and on the seventh day to make seven circuits) and for seven priests to blow seven trumpets outside the city walls (Joshua 6:3–4). In these instances, 7 signifies a completion of some kind: “a divine mandate is fulfilled.”
Interestingly, man was created on the sixth day of creation. In some passages of the Bible, the number 6 is associated with mankind. In Revelation the “number of the beast” is called “the number of a man.” That number is 666 (Revelation 13:18). If God’s number is 7, then man’s is 6. Six always falls short of seven, just like “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Man is not God, just as 6 is not 7.
Series of seven things crop up often in the Bible. For example, we find seven pairs of each clean animal on the ark (Genesis 7:2); seven stems on the tabernacle’s lampstand (Exodus 25:37); seven qualities of the Messiah in Isaiah 11:15; seven signs in John’s Gospel; seven things the Lord hates in Proverbs 6:16; seven parables in Matthew 13; and seven woes in Matthew 23.
Multiples of 7 also figure into the biblical narrative: the “seventy weeks” prophecy in Daniel 9:24 concerns 490 years (7 times 7 times 10). Jeremiah 29:10 predicted the Babylonian Captivity would last for seventy years (7 times 10). According to Leviticus 25:8, the Year of Jubilee was to begin after the passing of every forty-ninth year (7 times 7).
Sometimes, the symbolism of 7 is a great comfort to us: Jesus is the seven-fold “I AM” in the Gospel of John. Other times, it challenges us: Jesus told Peter to forgive a wrongdoer “seventy times seven” times (Matthew 18:22). And then there are passages in which the number 7 is associated with God’s judgment: the seven bowls of the Great Tribulation, (Revelation 16:1), or God’s warning to Israel in Leviticus 26:18.
Speaking of the book of Revelation, the number 7 is used there more than fifty times in a variety of contexts: there are seven letters to seven churches in Asia and seven spirits before God’s throne (Revelation 1:4), seven golden lampstands (Revelation 1:12), seven stars in Christ’s right hand (Revelation 1:16), seven seals of God’s judgment (Revelation 5:1), seven angels with seven trumpets (Revelation 8:2), etc. In all likelihood, the number 7 again represents completeness or totality: the seven churches represent the completeness of the body of Christ, the seven seals on the scroll represent the fullness of God’s punishment of a sinful earth, and so on. And, of course, the book of Revelation itself, with all its 7’s, is the capstone of God’s Word to man. With the book of Revelation, the Word was complete (Revelation 22:18).
In all, the number 7 is used in the Bible more than seven hundred times. If we also include the words related to seven (terms like sevenfold or seventy or seven hundred), the count is higher. Of course, not every instance of the number 7 in the Bible carries a deeper significance. Sometimes, a 7 is just a 7, and we must be cautious about attaching symbolic meanings to any text, especially when Scripture is not explicit about such meanings. However, there are times when it seems that God is communicating the idea of divine completeness, perfection, and wholeness by means of the number 7.
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