I believe that God weaves His design into the Bible in many ways. One thing He uses is numbers and the number He uses most prominently is the number seven. I saw this again today as I worked on a study of the Third Epistle of John. Although by verse count, its 14 verses are one more than the 13 verses of 2 John, it actually has 4 words less than 2 John. Therefore, by word count it is the smallest book in the Bible. But in this tiny book, God leaves His footprint. The subject matter is fascinating and helpful, but there is much for the lover of numbers as well. Seven is used in the Bible as the number of God's perfect work. Let's see how this number shows God's work in 2John. An outstanding number of statistics are multiples of seven.
The book has 14 verses (2 times 7). It has 294 words (42 x 7). The average number of words per verse is 21 (3 x 7; and this divides evenly). The number of different words used (not counting the same word more than once) is 154 (22 x 7). There are 3 verses (v.4, 7, 8) with 14 words (2 x 7). There are 2 (v.11, 14) verses with 28 words (4 x 7). That means that verse 7 has 14 words and verse 14 has 28 verses. The most prominent key word, truth, is used 6 times. However, the word 'true' is used once, making a total of 7 times for the concept. You can count these as coincidences if you wish, but I cannot help but see the handiwork of God.
