7 is Completion

Today, Thursday, September 17, 2009, is the official 7 month marker for my wedding. My fiancé' and I have decided to thematically refer to these months as "Getting Things Done!!!" Our mission statement, "we've covered a lot of ground, but we've got a lot of ground to cover." Our vision is to Plan Prayerfully, Prepare Purposefully, and Pursue Persistently. So why the number 7??? I'm glad you asked. The following are a few areas where the number 7 is significant: mathematics, science, technology, mythology, music, television, film, literature, video games, sports, the classical world, and various names and titles. However, for us, the most significant meaning behind the number 7 derives from religion - Christianity.

The number seven (7) in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in the Bible. These include:Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1);God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Sabbath); Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41); Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3-10);Seven day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16);Seven year cycle around the years of Jubilee (Leviticus 25); The fall of the walls of Jericho on the seventh day after marching around the city seven times(Joshua 6);Seven things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-19);Seven loaves multiplied into seven baskets of surplus (Matthew 15:32-37);The Seven last words (or seven last sayings) of Jesus on the cross; Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6); Seven Spirits of God are mentioned in the Book of Revelation; Seven churches of Asia to which the "Book of Revelation" is addressed; Seven churches, seven stars, seven seals, seven last plagues, seven vials or bowls, seven thunders in the Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

Other sevens in Christian knowledge and practice include:The Seven Sacraments in the Catholic faith (though some traditions assign a different number); Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit; The Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary, of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions; The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions; The Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy and Seven Spiritual Acts of Mercy of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions; The Seven Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility; The Seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride; The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin); In the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is 77th in a direct line; The number of heads of the three beasts (7 × 10 × 7 + 7 × 10 × 10 + 7 × 10 = 1260) of the Book of Revelation, and of some other monsters, like the hydra and the number of seals; In the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew 18:21, Jesus says to Peter to forgive seventy times seven times; There are seven suicides mentioned in the Bible (OT and NT).

Although the number 7 has both a "good" and an "evil" connotation, per Christianity, we ultimately prefer to view it in terms of completion. Thus, I have charged and I am challenging myself to not only COMPLETE the wedding plans, my projects at work, my search for a house, my marriage itself, but this blog, too. And since my married name will be MOSES, it is my belief that, we, like the Israelites have defiled ourselves and the tablets have been broken. Yet, God is allowing us 7 months to COMPLETELY carve two other tablets, to replace the ones that have been smashed. And this second set will be placed in the Ark of the Covenant, hence designated as the Ark of the Testimony. This is my solemn vow.