Sometimes people see truth in patterns in the Bible that are fanciful. There are indeed symbolic numbers and spiritual meanings to some numerals, but all numbers are not pregnant with mystery or a divine conspiracy.

What about the number: 4?

I immediately think of the craziest spiritual beings we could have imagined in the Four Living Creatures from Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4. I think Ezekiel would have been shaking in his sandals as he was given the vision of these spiritual beings (super awesome cherubim):

Ezekiel 1:5-14 (ESV): “And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, ⁶ but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: ⁹ their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. ¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. ¹² And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. ¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. ¹⁴ And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.”

We also find that the number 4 is a symbolic number for global or complete dimensions of something. For example, in Jeremiah 49:36, Ezekiel 37:9, Daniel 7:2, Zechariah 2:6, and even Matthew 24:31 the “four winds” are used to indicate global dimensions covering all four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west). It would be the same as the four corners of the earth meaning… the whole earth… as in Isaiah 11:12, Ezekiel 7:2, and Revelation 7:1. Speaking of Revelation, the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 has three gates facing each of the directions showing that the foundation of New Jerusalem is complete and lacks nothing.

Yep, 4 Gospel accounts also came to mind (Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn).

Revelation pops up again with a symbolic number 4 in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. My favorite use of them, other than the Bible, is both in Marvel Comics and the TV show Highlander (because I loved Methos), but I digress. In Revelation chapter 6, these four horsemen symbolize the complete and significant judgments on the earth. These judgments cover everything all over the planet in all directions for everyone. Hence… 4.

The number 4 indicates completeness like the number 7 (spoilers), but not to the degree of the number 7. The fact that directions (N, E, S, W) are based on 4 lends me to believe that this number is more for earthly-things-completeness rather than heavenly-things-completeness. Just a thought.

TMB