The number three just like many numbers in scripture have meanings that help us understand scripture. The number three is God’s number along with the number seven which I have preached on. The number three is connected to the number seven and both mean completeness or divine completeness. The number three is found commonly in scripture and just as many numbers it has multiple meanings depending on the context. The number three means resurrection, Godhead, and just like the number seven it also can mean completeness. The number three is also found many times in scripture indirectly besides the many times the actual word three is used.
We see the use of the number three present in the first verse in scripture where the Godhead all take part in the creation. The Godhead which is often referred to as the trinity consists of one God in three persons; God the Father, God the Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Ghost. The Hebrew word for God here is plural showing the Godhead. The Godhead is also clearly seen in Genesis 1:26 when God created man and it says “let us” showing the three persons of God. This same phrase is used of the Godhead in Genesis 11:7 when the Godhead confused the languages of the people at the Tower of Babel. John uses a three part description for Jesus in Revelation 1:4. John shows that Jesus has always existed as God, then as a man Jesus who died here on earth and is not here physically now, and then he shows he will come again at the end of the great tribulation. (Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;) The word Godhead is only found three times in scripture. We see the meaning of completeness for the number three in how the word fullness is found in the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19), the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13), and the fullness of the Godhead. (Colossians 2:9) The word Holy Ghost is found 90 times in scripture with this being 3 x 30. Jesus was about 30 years old (3×10) when he began his ministry.
God the Father speaks three times audibly to Jesus. The first time was at his baptism in which the Godhead were all involved with the Holy Ghost also appearing as a dove upon Jesus when he came out of the water. God the Father said he was well pleased with his Son. May he be pleased with all of us as well. (Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.) The second time was at the transfiguration of Jesus. At this transfiguration there were three apostles with Jesus to witness this event showing the true glory of Jesus as God. They were Peter, James, and John. These three inner circle apostles were often given special privileges by Jesus. The transfiguration was showing the deity of Jesus rather than his being a man. The transfiguration is only found in three of the four gospels. (Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.) In this verse we see God the Father says to hear his Son Jesus. Let this be a lesson to all of us to hear Jesus when he speaks and then to obey what we hear. The third time God the Father spoke audibly to Jesus was shortly before his death when he asked God the Father to glorify him and he said he would. (John 12:28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.)
Just as the Godhead is made of three persons, our bodies which are made in the image of God are also in three parts with a soul, spirit, and body. The body just houses the soul and spirit and those two will live forever either in heaven for those who are saved and receive Jesus as their Saviour and in hell for those who reject Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.) The soul is the real you and is our conscience which the Holy Ghost convicts when we sin. The spirit is what we worship Jesus with. For the unsaved this is disconnected from God and it is reconnected when we get saved. This is why the unsaved are just walking dead even though they are physically alive.
Jesus prayed three times on the night before his crucifixion. (Matthew 26:44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.) Jesus brought his inner circle of three when he went to pray. (Matthew 26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.) Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times before the night was over. (Matthew 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.) Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him to match these three denials as well as did he love all three members of the Godhead. (John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.) Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights prior to his resurrection and Jonah as a type of Jesus and his resurrection was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly. (Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.) Jesus was crucified at the third hour. (Mark 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.) There was darkness upon the whole earth for the final three hours that Jesus was on the cross. (Luke 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.)
The Israelites traveled three days journey into the wilderness after they left Egypt. (Exodus 8:27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.) God brought the plague of darkness upon Egypt for three days. (Exodus 10:22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:)
The two spies who went to Jericho spent three days hiding from their pursuers. (Joshua 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.) It was three days after the Israelites were deceived by the Hivites that they realized they had been tricked. (Joshua 9:16 ¶ And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them.) Samson stumped the people for three days with his riddle. (Judges 14:14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.) Saul searched for three days when he was looking for his asses. (I Samuel 9:20 And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?) Many other times we see three days is how long something was in scripture. All Israelite males were required to attend three feasts in passover, Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles.
Three times in the old testament people were resurrected from the dead showing one of the meanings of the number three. The first was the son of the widow of Zarephath whom Elijah raised from the dead. Elijah stretched himself upon him three times. (I Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.) The second person brought back to life was the son of the Shumanite woman by Elisha. (II Kings 4:34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.) Notice in this verse that Elisha did three things after laying upon the child. He put his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands. The third person resurrected was a dead body that was placed in Elisha’s grave. (II Kings 13:21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.) There were only three men resurrected to set the type of Jesus being in the grave for three days. Three people are mentioned in the gospels who were resurrected by Jesus. They were the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:14-15), the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:54-55), and Lazarus (John 11:43-44). The phrase “resurrection from the dead” is found three times, all in the new testament.
We see some cases of the number three in Revelation where the four beasts say Holy, holy, holy over and over with one holy for each of the three persons of the Godhead. (Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.) Just as the number seven gets stolen by Satan who tries to copy God, this can also be seen with the number three where Satan has his own unholy trinity of himself (dragon), the antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet. There are three unclean spirits that come out of the satanic trinity. (Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.) The final three of the seven trumpet judgments are known as the three woe judgments. (Revelation 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!) We also see the evil side of the number three in that we fight against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. (I John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.)
The gospel is based on three things of Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection. (I Corinthians 15:3-4 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:) Noah had three sons and Job had three daughters. Job had three friends and Abraham had three visitors in Jesus and the two angels. God called out to Samuel three times when he called him to be his servant. (I Samuel 3:8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.)
Just as the number seven is found throughout nature, so is the number three. This is seen even in the first verse in scripture where we see God creates a triune universe of time, space, and matter. (Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.) Beginning is time, heaven is space, and earth is matter and all were created at the same time as they all must exist together as matter must have a space to exist in and a time to exist in. Time is divided into past, present, and future. On day three of creation the land appeared or rose from the water as representing the resurrection of Jesus. There are three primary colors of red, blue, and yellow. This is no coincidence as red is the shed blood of Jesus, blue is separation for or from God, and yellow represents deity. Nature is divided into three kingdoms of animal, plant, and mineral. Matter exists in three forms of gas, liquid, and solid. There are three main forces of nature in gravity, light, and electricity. The sun consists of chemical reactions, heat, and light. Our brains are divided into three parts with the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Atoms are made up of three things in electrons, protons, and neutrons. Objects in nature are three dimensional with a length, width, and a height. We can clearly see how the number three not only in nature, but in scripture is very important to God and its significance. The next time you read scripture look for the number three and understand its meaning.
