Read Time: 10 Minutes
Our God, the Creator of the Universe, speaks to us through His creation. And being a God of Order, not chaos, it should come as no surprise that there is a sophisticated divine order and carefully crafted structure behind the scenes. This should also not be a shock, that the magnitude of the unseen far outweighs the seen.
“We concentrate not on what is seen but on what is not seen, since things seen are temporary, but things not seen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians (2 Co) 4:18 CJB
As God literally spoke the universe into existence, His words must carry immeasurable weight, and yet these words must be connected somehow, with patterns and systems underlying the unity of it all. For these words would create the very fabric of our world.
Let’s tally a few of the unseen things for a moment. Laws of physics, mathematics, biology, nature, you name it – we have interestingly enough denoted these as “laws.” This is because they come from a set of logical principles which are organized via evidence and “proofs.” And these proofs may include words, numbers, equations and other supporting formulaic evidence. A certain founding father once remarked “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” because certain truths are true in and of themselves. These are the fundamental laws of the universe that we set out to prove. And the irony, there is really no benefit to proving something that already exists outside of the proof! Other than confirming our belief and the inherent truth of course.
The Hebrew word gematria – which represents the system of assigning of numbers to letters – is derived from the Greek word geometria, where we derive our English word geometry. Geometry is one of the oldest branches of mathematics, concerned with properties of shape, size, distance, space and structure. How cool is that?!
And for those skeptical or uncomfortable of the numerological aspect of all this, modern numbers did not exist until around the 5th century. So civilizations were using letters as numbers since ancient times.
And thus if there exists a geometry behind words and letters, it would make sense that this logic would be pervasive throughout the universe itself, found specifically and significantly in mathematics.
In fact, in 1960, physicist Eugene Wigner wrote a paper entitled “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in Natural Sciences”
In the beginning of the paper, Wigner quotes the Mathematician Bertrand Russell, and this captures the essence of this very post:
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty, a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.”
-Bertrand Russell
And there is perhaps no more appropriate passage in scripture to speak deeper to this than the direct quotes of Yeshua from Matthew & Luke:
““Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.”
Luke (Luk) 11:9-10 CJB
So keep seeking my fellow math lovers. You will find that there is a magnificent beauty and order underpinning creation that only God can be responsible for. We will cover a few examples below. Moreover, you will see there is a deep intentionality in the actual structure of the universe. When we understand the mathematics and logic, we understand God, perhaps even just a little bit more.
And when we seek to understand Him, it showcases our love for all that He is. It is no different than having a conversation with our loved ones. Asking questions, seeking to know them, tells them we love them. It shows we care. And seeking to understand their answers and patterns…well that will touch their heart.
I pray that this post appeals to your sense of awe and wonder, and that it leads you to dig deeper into the treasure trove that is biblical mathematics. It can truly be found anywhere you look – in the structure of the tabernacle, in the poetical patterns of the psalms and in the depths and breadth of creation. Deepen your knowledge of Him and His Creation, and you will deepen your love and strengthen your bond.
1 – Divine Order Embedded in Creation
There is a profound verse relative to our discussion found in one of the Apocryphal books entitled “Wisdom of Solomon.” Read through it carefully and particularly note the last verse (bolded for emphasis).
“For thy Almighty hand, that made the world of matter without form, wanted not means to send among them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions, or unknown wild beasts, full of rage, newly created, breathing out either a fiery vapor, or filthy scents of scattered smoke, or shooting horrible sparkles out of their eyes: whereof not only the harm might dispatch them at once, but also the terrible sight utterly destroy them. Yea, and without these might they have fallen down with one blast, being persecuted of vengeance, and scattered abroad through the breath of thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight.”
Wisdom of Solomon 11:17-20 KJVAAE
There is clearly a divine order to all things, to keep everything operating without utter destruction. And it is ordered by geometry, numbers and metrics. In other words, mathematics!
It is embedded into everything as we have discussed. And it does a very good job of helping us to model the universe. This does not mean that we have everything figured out. In fact, it could not be farther from the truth. Most of our deeply advanced mathematical wisdom is still grounded in theories and probabilities. Quantum mechanics and theoretical physics are prime examples. And while we have mastered the basics, fundamental theorems and first principles, we still have A LOT to learn and understand. Ask anyone involved in Quantum computing…
Even most of AI, or machine learning specifically is grounded in regression or statistical learning, as well as Bayesian or probabilistic inference.
If I haven’t lost you yet, good, bear with me. If I have lost you, just understand that we still cannot predict the future with 100% certainty, so we are still operating on our best estimates based on models. In layman’s terms, we don’t understand the exact formula to the universe or even the “randomness” for that matter!
One key is example is from a Professor of Engineering at Ben Gurion University named Haim Shore. Professor Shore published a book called Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew. If you are interested, you can purchase a copy or find a .pdf of the book here.
Even the title itself speaks volumes! He calls his findings coincidences because in many cases they are findings which are statistically significant (i.e. confirmed via specific statistical tests and analysis); however, they are not exact proofs. This is not to say that they are not evidence of God’s hand or fingers in creation. It is quite the opposite. Although, it is to say that we have the fingerprint but not the whole picture. Think of them like little breadcrumbs left so we can follow the trail…
One example is on page 194. Taking the correlation between the numerical value of Hebrew words for certain metals versus the inverse of the Atomic weights, there is almost a perfect correlation (r = 0.97858). This is one example for gold, silver and copper. There are other examples with even higher correlations!
In my opinion, this is no coincidence. But again, that is for you to decide. And should you decide to, dig deeper to find the treasure embedded in creation.
2 – The Mathematical Constants e and pi
There are many other examples of biblical mathematics, even outside of numerology or gematria, where based on odds alone, there is without a doubt a Creator of the Universe. In fact, I wrote about one example in a post entitled Our God is One of Peace and Order.
Nevertheless, even within gematria, there are several examples related specifically to the mathematical constants e and pi. While we will not go down these particular rabbit holes today, this will be great fodder for another time. And I encourage you, especially if you understand gematria and basic numerology to look up how the Bible the calculates these two mathematical constants when you have time.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword—piercing right through to a separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 TLV
The sheer fact that we have constants which can model significant facets of our universe screams for intelligent design. Pure chaos and randomness cannot create order. Especially not of this magnitude.
For those unfamiliar with e and pi, somewhat ironically, these are called “irrational numbers.” In other words they are not “real” numbers. How about that for a claim! Moreover, these numbers literally go on forever after the decimal without repeating a pattern. In other words, they are numbers which cannot be specifically known by man but logically help us model the universe. Take a second to let that settle in…sound familiar?
The sheer fact that we have such constants and logical rules showcases the handiwork of God. Even more convincing is the two areas that they model. “e” as discussed, is the number to model growth and decay. “Pi” is the number to model geometry and measurement, specifically areas, volumes, and rotations for circles and spheres. In other words, one models our world and space (literally), while the other models the matter of which our world is made and time.
Space and time are two of the most fundamental dimensions of our universe. God sanctifies space through His mishkan or tabernacle, and sanctifies time through Shabbat, or the day of rest. When we observe the Shabbat, it is like we are sanctifying both – the time He has reserved and His tabernacle within our heart.
The other amazing thing about the mathematical constant e is that it models growth in and of itself (i.e. e raised to the x). This is a very unique property and displays an aspect of continuous growth and transformation. It mirrors and parallels our spiritual growth and relationship with him. It models money doubling every 7 years (another cool number concept). It represents continuity and embodies the principle of the seed by itself (thank you Rabbi Brad Scott of Blessed Memory).
God is everywhere if you look deep enough. He wants us to grow and has given us the power of compounding within the laws of nature.
“Then God said, “Let the land sprout grass, green plants yielding seed, fruit trees making fruit, each according to its species with seed in it, upon the land.” And it happened so.”
Genesis 1:11 TLV
“I will multiply your seed like the stars of the sky and I will give your seed all these lands. And in your seed all the nations of the earth will continually be blessed,”
Genesis 26:4 TLV
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.”
1 Corinthians 3:7 TLV
3 – The Normal Distribution & Probability Density Function (PDF)
The Normal Distribution is effectively the most common and most important distribution of observations within statistics. It is also the most widely used and analyzed in any typical survey, study or business application. For example, if we took a random sample of 100 people on the streets of any city, we would find that most people would have a height within a “standard deviation or two” of the sample mean height. In other words, if the sample average (or mean) was 5 foot 10 inches, most people may be within 5 inches or so – either taller or shorter by 2 to 3 inches (i.e. the standard deviation). In fact, in normal distributions, approximately 95% of the sample would be no more than 2 standard deviations (or 10 inches on either side) versus 5 foot 10 inches!
Moreover, the greater the sample size (we call this “n” for number of samples), the closer to the overall population mean the sample mean becomes. In other words, if our survey of 1000 people results in an average or mean height of 5’10’’, the more people we add to that number, the more confident we can be that the overall population of the world is on average 5’10’’. This is what is known as the Central Limit Theorem, and typically you only need a sample size of 30!
Take a look at the picture below. It is amazing that so much data and things we observe in this world follow this type of distribution. Try it for yourself out in the wild…it really works!
And what is even more amazing about the normal distribution is that we can measure the probability or area under the curve, by using none other than the two constants we learned about! Talking about connecting the literal dots!!
The formula is:
Our God is constant, consistent, never changing. Wouldn’t we expect the same from His fingerprints and handiwork in creation! I believe He leaves breadcrumbs for us, whether they be in scripture, in the natural world, or even in the air if we listen close or breathe deeply enough. He truly is everywhere and surrounds us with His presence. But we have to seek Him, and invite Him into our life.
And if He is everywhere in the natural world, He is certainly within us. And His handiwork is also quite literally found within our biology. It’s why we are commanded to love one another! We are all made in the image of God!
Mathematics is just one area of God’s handiwork. Opportunities to seek Him are endless. Find what you enjoy to do and learn more about it. And that is where God will speak to you. Perhaps that’s why we call it a calling…
Takeaways to make a way (Practical Advice)
- God and His Word are our sole source of truth.
- Our God is a God of Order!
- God Spoke the universe into existence…using Hebrew words.
- There is a beauty in the underlying math of the universe and our biology. Studying the art and science of each is an amazing way of praise and worship.
- Deepen your understanding to deepen your love and strengthen your bond.
- Dig deep to find buried treasure. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter…
- We are only the planter of the seeds, God is the grower.
- Space and time are two critical Dimensions that God sanctifies.
- God leaves breadcrumbs…it’s up to you to find them
- Find what you love and God will speak to you there.
Further Study with your Buddy
For deeper reading on how we can use scientific study to glorify God, read: Loving God Through the Study of Science & Humanities
To understand more fundamentals around the order and structure of our God and His universe, read: Our God is one of Peace and Order
For further study on how algorithms work, especially against the backdrop of the wonderful wisdom of our Creator, read: Going against the Algorithm: A Brief Examination into Wisdom & Creation
Questions for Reflection…
- When is the last time you searched for Wisdom? Prayed for Wisdom? What truths did you find? Were any of them related to numbers or mathematics?
- What makes you love math or mathematics? If you don’t love math, what do you love? Is God calling you there?
- What breadcrumbs has God left you today? This week? This year?
- How do you handle scientific or mathematical “facts” that seem to contradict scripture?
- What calm do you find in order and structure?
- How can you deepen your understanding of God in order to love Him more?
- What mathematical truth will you search for next?
Feel free to drop a comment below!
godlyyy 