I live in the state of Alabama. This year we are celebrating the 200th birthday of our state. Two centuries is quite a milestone. I recall as a young man the celebration of our nation’s 200th birthday in 1976. In the small town where I lived, many of the men grew beards that year as part of the celebration. 200 years!
Alabama officially became a state on December 14, 1819. The city of Tuscaloosa was incorporated the day before on December 13, 1819. So Tuscaloosa is actually one day older than the state and we thus are celebrating the 200th birthday of our city as well. 200 years!
Biblical numerology is a fascinating study. Often the numbers given in the Scriptures are significant. For example the number 7 appears frequently. Seven is a number representing completeness. Think about the 7 days making a complete week. There were 7 sayings of Jesus on the cross. There were 7 churches of Asia in the Revelation letter. Or consider the list of “ones” given in Ephesians 4. There are 7 of them! There is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one GOD.
Numbers are important and are often symbolic. Today’s study takes a look at the number 200. Generally the symbolic meaning of the number 200 is insufficiency. This is the obvious use of the number in the passage from John 6.
John 6:7 – In the account of the feeding of the 5,000, Philip answered Jesus, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
There are other references where the symbolism may not be of importance so we shouldn’t press the symbolic meaning into every situation. For example the following uses are probably not symbolic.
Acts 23:23 – 200 soldiers and 200 spearman were sent to accompany Paul on his journey to Felix, during his incarceration by the Romans.
John 21:8 – The disciples were about 200 cubits off shore fishing when they saw Jesus the third time after His resurrection.
Joshua 7:21 – Among the spoils that Achan kept, were 200 shekels of silver.
The number 200 is found several times in Scripture.
The number 200. Happy 200th Birthday to my home state and my hometown in 2019.
And there is one other reason for my look at the number 200 today. Today marks my 200th devotional blog to post on this site. I began this blog in March of 2012. I hope that along the way you have enjoyed some of my stories. But my greatest desire is that the really important matters have been shared. The blog is entitled, “What Does the Bible Say About It?” I hope you are encouraged to seek answers there.