The Maker's Mark



Lest there be any confusion whose handiwork the created universe is, God left His mark imprinted upon His creation to let His creatures know that He is the Creator. The unmistakable trace of His hand is on virtually everything He has made and brought forth. His “manufacturer’s mark” consists of just one character – the number “7.”
Reputed to be the number of spiritual completeness and divine perfection, 7 is also the “indestructible” number – it is the only number that cannot be divided exactly except by itself, its fractions and multiples, and 1 (always leaving a seemingly infinite remainder). Apparently God's favorite number, 7, is all around us.

In the earth and nature.
The Earth has 7 distinct motions: (1) Rotation around its axis. (2) Revolution around the sun. (3) Wobble in its axis. (4) Slow vertical rotation of the magnetic core. (5) Movement with the Sun’s 260-million-year circuit in space. (6) Up and down oscillation in its orbit around the Milky Way. (7) Acceleration with the galaxy toward the periphery of the universe.57
The globe has 7 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Antarctica). There are 7 distinct colors in the rainbow (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red). There are 7 whole tones in the musical scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti).

In man and living things.
The human head has 7 orifices (2 eyes, 2 ear holes, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth). A man’s face has 7 bones (2 nasal, 2 lacrimal/tearduct, 1 maxillary/upper jaw, 1 mandibular/lower jaw, 1 vomer/nostril partition). There are also 7 bones in the neck and 7 bones in the ankle.
A person’s pulse slows down every 7 days throughout life. All the cells in the human body (except brain cells) are completely replaced every 7 years. A child attains the “age of understanding” at 7 years, when he or she can start learning. The 21st-year (7x3) is regarded as the age of maturity in young men and women. Man’s average life span is placed at 70 years (7x10) by both science and Scripture (Ps 90:10). The gestation periods for man and most animals are in multiples of 7, as shown here. Many fruit trees take 7 years to attain full production.
Gestation Periods
Entity

Days
Weeks
Multiples
Man

280
40
(7x40)
Sheep

147
21
(7x21)
Lion

98
14
(7x14)
Dog

63
9
(7x9)
Cat

56
8
(7x8)
Duck

28
4
(7x4)
Chicken

21
3
(7x3)

In the Scriptures.
In the Old Testament alone, “7” appears 287 times (7x41), “seventh” occurs 98 times (14x7), "seven-fold" is used 7 times, and “70” is seen 56 times (7x8) -- for a total of 448 (7x64) instances.58
Hidden heptadic structure. Dr. Ivan Panin of Russia, in the course of 40 years and 40,000 pages of mathematical compilations, discovered that the entire Bible (in both the original Hebrew and Greek) is totally interconnected with endless systems of 7s. Names, words, letters are all linked to one another by special arrangements of 7s. He accomplished his work by hand, before the advent of computers. Jewish and Christian scholars have verified his findings with the use of modern computer programs.59
The very first verse in the Bible in Hebrew has a hidden heptadic structure, an interwoven pattern of 7s, recurring many times, as shown below (Hebrew is read from right to left):

Hebrew characters
No.
Transliteration
English

ת
י
א
ר
6
Bere’shiyt
In the beginning




א
ר
3
bara’
created


מ
י
ה
ל
א
5
‘Elohim
God





ת
א
2
‘et
the


מ
י
מ
ה
5
hashamayim
heaven




ת
א
ו
3
wa’et
and the



צ
ר
א
ה
4
ha’arets
earth







28
7 words


The sentence has 7 Hebrew words with 28 letters (7x4). The first three words have 14 letters (7x2), and the last four words have 14 letters (7x2). The fourth and fifth words together have 7 letters. The sixth and seventh words, combined have 7 letters. The three key nouns (God, heaven, earth) have 14 letters (7x2). The four remaining words have 14 letters (7x2).60 These groupings of 7s are repeated throughout Scripture in countless instances, in both the Old and New Testament original texts.
Let us go over some of the Biblical verses where 7 and its multiples are plainly seen.
The patriarchs. God told Noah to take 7 pairs of clean animals into the Ark (Gen. 7:2). Noah and his family went into the ark 7 days before the rains began (Gen 7:4-10). As the waters began to subside, the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat in the 7th month of the Flood (Gen 8:4), whereupon Noah sent out a dove every 7 days until it brought back an olive leaf as a sign that the waters had dried up (Gen 8:6-12). The olive tree is the symbol of Zayin (“Z”), the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is also used to write the numeral number “7.”
God bestowed upon Abraham 7 blessings. “And (1) I will make of thee a great nation, and (2) I will bless thee, and (3) make thy name great; and (4) thou shalt be a blessing: And (5) I will bless them that bless thee, and (6) curse him that curseth thee: and (7) in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:2-3).
Jacob served 7 years for his first wife Leah, and 7 years for Rachel, his first love (Gen 29). There were 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine in Egypt, when Joseph became Pharaoh’s vicegerent (Gen 41).
The nation of Israel. God made 7 promises to Israel. “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and (1) I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and (2) I will rid you out of their bondage, and (3) I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And (4) I will take you to me for a people, and (5) I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And (6) I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and (7) I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD” (Ex 6:6-8).
The Tabernacle (“Tent of Meeting”) in the wilderness (and later the Temple in Jerusalem) had 7 pieces of furniture: (1) brazen altar and (2) laver in the court (Ex 40:29-30); (3) table of showbread (Ex 39:36; 40:22-23), (4) golden lampstand (Ex 40:24-25), and (5) altar of incense (Ex 40:26-27; 9:2) in the Holy Place; and (6) Ark of the Covenant and (7) Mercy Seat with the cherubim (Ex 31:7) in the Holy of Holies. Aaron and his sons were consecrated for the priesthood in an elaborate 7-day purification ceremony (Ex 29:30,35,37).
God had 7 priests with 7 trumpets march around Jericho with the Israelite army for 7 days (7 times on the 7th day) and then make a long blast with their trumpets – the signal for the people to shout and cause the walls of the city to fall down (Jos. 6:1-20). It took the Israelites 7 years to conquer 7 nations in Canaan: the Hittites, Hivites, Amorites, Jebusites, Perizzites, Girgashites, and Canaanites (Jos 11:16-12:24). It then took them another 7 years to divide the land among the twelve tribes of Israel (Jos 13-22).
King Solomon built the Temple over 7 years (1 Kings 6:37-38). The Israelites kept a feast that lasted for 7 days in dedicating the Temple to the LORD (2 Chron7:4-8).

70 Annual Holidays in Israel
Holiday
Days
Weekly Sabbath
52
Passover, Feast of Unleavened
Bread, and Feast of Firstfruits
7
Feast of Weeks or Pentecost
1
Feast of Trumpets
1
Day of Atonement
1
Feast of Tabernacles
7
Last Great Day
1
Total:
70

The Jews were held captive in Babylon for 70 years (Jer 25:11-12,29:10; Dan 9:1-2; 2 Chron 36:17-21). Thus, the land of Judea lay desolate for 70 years as foretold by Jeremiah (2 Chron. 36:20-21). The angel Gabriel told Daniel that 70 “weeks” (490 years) had been decreed for Israel to restore their relationship with God (Dan. 9:24).  
Sabbaths and holy days. The Creation Week lasted 7 days. At the end of His creative work, the Creator blessed and rested on the 7th day. For that reason, our modern week has 7 days, ending on the 7th day Sabbath of rest.
God ordained 7 holy days for Israel: (1) Passover (Lev 23:5); (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6-8); (3) Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:10-14); (4) Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (Lev 23:15-22); (5) Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:24-25); (6) Day of Atonement (Lev 23:27-32); (7) Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:34-43). Each year, Israel observes 70 holidays.  
The ministry of Christ. The prayer Christ taught His disciples has 7 parts: “After this manner therefore pray ye: (1) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (2) Thy kingdom come. (3) Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (4) Give us this day our daily bread. (5) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (6) And lead us not into temptation, but (7) deliver us from evil” (Matt 6:9-13).
Christ fed four thousand men, plus all the women and children with them, with 7 loaves of bread (Matt 15:32-38; Mark 8:1-9). He cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2). Christ said a man must forgive a brother 70 times 7 (Matt. 18:21-22). In contrast, the LORD told Israel: “And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins” (Lev 26:18-19, NKJV).
Christ uttered 7 last words on the cross: (1) “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34b); (2) “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43b); (3) “Woman, behold thy son!” Then saith he to the disciple, “Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26b-27a); (4) “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34b; Matt 27:46b); (5) “I thirst” (John 19:28b); (6) “It is finished” (John 19:30b); (7) “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46b).
On His Second Coming, Christ will descend on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4). Today we regard as the emblem of peace the branch of the olive tree, symbol of Zayin (“Z”), the 7th letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Christ will usher in the 7th millennium, the thousand years of peace, and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 17:14; 19:16; 20:4,6).
The Church and end-times. The Holy Spirit endows Christians with many gifts. Paul lists down 7 in Romans 12:6-8. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (1) If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. (2) If it is serving, let him serve; (3) if it is teaching, let him teach; (4) if it is encouraging, let him encourage; (5) if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; (6) if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; (7) if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (“Rom 12:6-8, NIV).
The end-time prophecies in the book of Revelation truly overflows with 7's: 7 churches (1:4, etc.); 7 spirits of God (1:4, 3:1, etc.); 7 golden candlesticks (1:12, etc.); 7 stars (1:16, etc.); 7 lamps (4:5); 7 seals (5:1,5); 7 eyes (5:6, etc.); 7 angels (8:2, etc.); 7 trumpets (8:2,6); 7 thunders (10:3,4); 7,000 men killed (11:13); beast with 7 heads and 7 crowns (12:3); 7 plagues (15:1, etc.); 7 vials or bowls (17:1; 21:9); 7 mountains or hills (17:9); 7 kings (17:10); etc.
How can we doubt who the real Creator of the universe and Author of the Scriptures is?

Gestation and holy days
Author and TV host Zola Levitt, writing a book for new parents with the help of a gynecologist, saw an amazing correspondence between the Jewish holy days and human gestation -- from conception to birth.
On the 14th day of each monthly cycle, a woman’s ovary releases a mature egg into the uterus, a process called ovulation. Jews observe the first holy day, Passover, on the 14th day of the first month of the year with, among other traditional food items on the table, a roasted egg.
The woman’s egg cell must be fertilized by a sperm cell within the next 24 hours for pregnancy to take place. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins 24 hours after Passover.
Within 2-6 days, the fertilized egg or embryo attaches itself to the womb and starts growing. The Feast of Firstfruits, which is always kept on a Sunday, may fall 2-6 days after Passover.
Around the 50th day, the embryo begins to take shape as a human being. Jews celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, 50 days from the Feast of Firstfruits.
Starting in the 7th month, the baby is able to hear sounds outside the womb. On the first day of the 7th month, the Feast of Trumpets, rabbis sound their shofars, or trumpets of ram’s horn, for the Jews to hear the signal beginning the civil new year in autumn. (Jews observe two new year days – the other being the religious new year in the spring.)
On the 10th day of the 7th month, the hemoglobin in the blood of the fetus begins to change from that of the mother to its own. The Day of Atonement, when the blood of a sacrificial animal was taken into the Temple’s Holy of Holies for the sins of the people, is kept on this day.
On the 15th day of the 7th month, the lungs become fully developed, which will enable the baby to breathe if born prematurely. The Feast of Tabernacles begins on this day, exalting the Shekinah glory or Spirit of God. The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, which also means “breath.”
Birth, when the baby first sees the light of day, normally takes place 9 months and 10 days after fertilization of the egg. Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights, a holy day added only in the 2nd century B.C., is celebrated 9 months and 10 days after Passover – for 8 days. Male Jewish infants, as commanded by God, are circumcised on the 8th day after birth.61
This incredible parallelism strongly suggests that the LORD who ordained the Jewish holidays and the Creator who engineered the process of human gestation must be the same God who knows all things. David sang around 3,000 years ago: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Ps 139:13-16, NKJV).
_______________
57The Mind of Mankind, Chapter 15; cited by Donald L. Hamilton, “The Many Motions of Planet Earth," 1996-2002, Internet
58Grant Jeffrey, The Signature of God, 1996, p. 234
59Martin Hunter, “Math of the Bible!,” National Institute for Inventors, tract, p. 2
60Chuck Missler, “The Mysterious Mathematical Design of the Bible,” Mysteries of the Bible Now Revealed, 1999, pp. 188-189
61J.R. Church, “Jewish Holy Days: The Making of a Baby,” Amazing Discoveries, Prophecy in the News, June 2006, p. 17

(Excerpted from Chapter 1, Mysteries of Our Maker, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)

God's Image and Traits


Abraham spoke with God (Gen 12, etc.). Jacob, his grandson, met God “face-to-face. “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen 32:30). So did Moses. “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” (Ex 33:11a).

Anthropomorphic.
The Scriptures frequently portray God as anthropomorphic -- having the physical figure, facial features, and appendages (sometimes used figuratively) of a human being.
He has a head with hair (“the hair of his head like the pure wool” -- Dan 7:9b); eyes and ears (“Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place” -- 2 Chron 7:15; 1 Pet 3:12); a nose with nostrils (“These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day” -- Isa 65:5b; Ex 15:8); a mouth with lips (“he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” -- Isa 11:4b).
God has a torso with shoulders (“the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders” -- Deut 33:12b); a back (“And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen” -- Ex 33:23); a behind to sit upon (“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit” -- Dan 7:9a).
He has arms (“with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you” -- Ezek 20:33b); hands (“I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by” -- Ex 33:22b); fingers (“two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God” -- Ex 31:18b); legs to walk with (“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” --Gen 3:8); feet (“the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever” --Ezek 43:7a).
God in human form seems to feel discomfort under the heat of the sun and get hungry as well. “And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them (Elohim); and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat (Gen 18:8).

Human emotions.
The LORD likewise displays the wide spectrum of human emotions. He can have positive feelings, like satisfaction (“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” -- Gen 1:31); love (“the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee” -- Deut 23:5b); amusement (“I also will laugh at your calamity” -- Prov 1:26a); pity (“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him” -- Ps 103:13); mercy (“The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy” -- Ps 145:8).
On the other hand, God can also be filled with negative emotions, such as sadness and disappointment (“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” -- Gen 6:6); anger (“And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless” --Ex 22:24); hatred (“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies” -- Amos 5:21); spite (“I will mock when your fear cometh” -- Prov 1:26b).
The LORD can also feel regret and change His mind (“And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” -- Gen 6:7).
Based on these verses, it seems as though God is no different from any ordinary man!

The LORD’s proxy
Despite the preceding descriptions of God, the Bible tells us that nobody has seen or heard God at any time at all! To begin with, God, being spirit, is invisible: “Who is the image of the invisible God…” (Col 1:15a). Moses reminded the Israelites: “And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice” (Deut 4:12).
Christ says it could not have been God Himself: “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape” (John 5:37). The apostle John teaches the same truth. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). Paul confirms it: “…God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:15b-16, NIV). Who, then, did Abraham, Jacob, and Moses speak with “face-to-face”?

Aggelos, the messenger.
Let us go over one passage wherein Abraham met God in person. “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground. And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant” (Gen 18:1-3).
God once appeared to Abraham as three men. The word in the original Hebrew Scriptures most frequently translated “God” is elohim, meaning “gods” (singular, el or eloah, “god”). Some Bible teachers interpret elohim as the three persons of the “Trinity.” But, usually, when the term Elohim is used to refer to God, it is said to be used as a plural of magnitude and majesty. When used in reference to angels, elohim truly means the plural form – more than one.
Now, consider the meeting between God and Moses. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I” (Ex 3:2-4). Note that, first, the “angel of the Lord” appeared to Moses from the middle of a burning bush. Then, we read it was the LORD Himself. Next, it was God who called to Moses from the bush. The terms “angel of the Lord,” “the LORD,” and “God” are used interchangeably. We get the impression that all three are one and the same!
An “angel of the LORD” also appeared to Manoah, Samson’s father-to-be. “But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God” (Judg 13:21-22). The connection between the “angel of the LORD” and “God” is borne out clearly. Manoah knew that it was the “angel of the Lord,” and yet he referred to the angel as “God” Himself! 
The God whom Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Manoah, and even Adam and Eve conversed with was not the Ein Sof or “Infinite Nothngness,” but the “angel of the LORD” – His alter-ego, proxy, representative, or emissary. (The English word “angel” comes from the Greek aggelos, which means “messenger.”) The angel is also called “the LORD” by God’s authority. “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him” (Ex 23:20-21). Similarly, as a country’s president today is addressed as “Excellency,” his or her ambassadors are also called “Excellency.”
When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, there were two entities called “the LORD.” “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven” (Gen 19:24). One called “the LORD” in the sky near the earth rained on the two cities fire and brimstone coming from another one also called “the LORD” higher up in heaven!
Author David Allen Deal (The Mystic Symbol) wrote: “The lesser YHWH (angel of the LORD), also called ‘Metatron’ in the Book of Enoch, is also well-attested to among the Jewish rabbinical sources. He is called the ‘lesser YHWH,’ and the use of the term acknowledges the existence of a greater YHWH, the Father, who is above all.”56
The God with whom Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Manoah, even Adam and Eve, and the other blessed Biblical men had dealings and spoke “face-to-face” was the angel of the LORD.
_______________
56David Allen Deal, The Mystic Symbol, p. 169; quoted in Ancient American; cited in Indian Sabbath Trail tract

(Excerpted from Chapter 1, Mysteries of Our Maker, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)


God, the Omnipotent


God’s powers are truly awesome to His creatures. “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev 19:6). God is all-powerful. “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14). The answer is obvious. “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jer 32:17).

Manifested in “miracles.”
God often manifests His power to men in miracles – extraordinary, supernatural phenomena that seem improbable or even impossible to the human mind. In Scripture, they are called “signs and wonders.” Men’s unbelief is one reason why God performs miracles. “’Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ’you will never believe’" (John 4:48, NIV).
Some of the most spectacular miracles recorded in the Bible are those God did before and after the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, as well as some which interfered with the natural movement of the sun.
The 10 plagues of Egypt. God inflicted ten successive ordeals on Egypt when Pharaoh obstinately refused to let the Israelites go: (1) The waters of the Nile River turned into blood (Ex 7:14-25). (2) Frogs covered the land of Egypt (Ex 8:1-14). (3) Lice formed from the dust and infested both men and animals (Ex 8:16-19). (4) Flies swarmed into all the houses of the Egyptians (Ex 8:20-31). (5) A plague killed all the livestock in Egypt, except those of the Israelites (Ex 9:1-7). (6) A pandemic of boils afflicted all the Egyptians and their animals (Ex 9:8-11). (7) Hail and fire rained down over all Egypt (except Goshen, where the Israelites lived), killing all men and animals out in the field (Ex 9:13-26). (8) Locusts covered the whole of Egypt and devoured all green vegetation and fruits on trees (Ex 10:3-6,12-19). (9) Darkness blanketed Egypt for three days, but the Israelites had light in their dwellings (Ex 10:22-23). (10) All the firstborn of the Egyptians and their animals died (Ex 11:1-7,12:12-13,29-31).
Miracles in the wilderness. (1) The parting of the Red Sea by an east wind that blew all night, enabling the Israelites to walk across to safety from their Egyptian pursuers (Ex 14). (2) The provision of quail in the evening of the day the LORD promised to give them bread and meat (Ex 16:6-13), and when they longed for Egyptian food the LORD sent them a whole month’s supply of quail (Num 11:4-32). (3) The daily supply of manna (“bread from heaven”) that appeared on the ground daily for forty years (Ex 16). (4) Water from the rock in Horeb that Moses struck with his staff (Ex 17:1-6).
Miracles with the sun. (1) The sun stood still when Joshua asked the LORD to stop the sun until they would have defeated the Amorites (Josh 10:12-14). (2) The shadow moved back ten degrees on the sundial, the sign King Hezekiah had asked for to confirm that the LORD had truly healed him and added fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:8-11). (3) Darkness at noon over the whole land as Christ hung dying on the cross, from 12:00 noon until 3:00 in the afternoon (Luke 23:44-45).

Some miracles explained?
Unbelievers in ancient times tried to dismiss God’s miracles as the works of magic or evil spirits.40 In our modern day scholars offer reasons, scientific or otherwise, to explain many Biblical miracles.
The ten plagues. The Nile’s turning into blood is said to be a natural effect of its annual flooding, with the water first turning green, then yellow, then ochre red starting around the 25th of June due to the proliferation of algae and other microorganisms, similar to “Red Tide” today. Frogs subsequently multiply in September. An infestation by flies and outbreak of animal plague supposedly often follow in December. So do a purported epidemic of boils, hailstones, a locust invasion, and darkness caused by fine sand blown by the southwest wind from the desert, filling the atmosphere.41 Hence, Egypt’s magicians were able to imitate the first two miracles of turning water into “blood” and causing frogs to appear (Ex 7:22; 8:7).
In contrast, the feats of Moses were undeniably miraculous in the suddenness of the change in the river and the over-abundance of the frogs. Trying to mimic the third miracle, the magicians were unable to turn dust into lice (or gnats), (Ex 8:18). It is doubtful if they even attempted to copy Moses’s acts of bringing on swarms of flies, the animal plague, and the boil epidemic, from which they themselves terribly suffered (Ex 9:11), but not the Israelites. The hailstorm and locust invasion could not have been normal recurrences as they were said to be the worst ever in Egypt (Ex 9:24; 10:14). Lastly, the death of all the firstborn of both men and animals in Egypt, except those of Israel, has no parallel in human history. Can these be called anything other than miracles of God?
The Red Sea divided. The “Red Sea” that the LORD parted to let the Israelites escape from the Egyptians is in the Hebrew original Yam Suf, which means “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds.” It was at the northern end of the Red Sea, where no reeds grow. Centuries after the Exodus, canal-building by pharaohs trying to link the Nile delta and the Red Sea drained the Reed Sea, leaving only marshes called Bitter Lakes. In 280 B.C., Jewish scholars translating the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek Septuagint rendered “Reed Sea,” which no longer existed, as Erythra Thalassa (“Red Sea”). In 300 A.D. Jerome had the name Mare Rubrum (“Red Sea”) in his Latin Bible, the Vulgate. Martin Luther correctly translated Yam Suf as Schilfmeer (“Reed Sea”) in his German version of the Old Testament in 1534.
In short, the sea the LORD parted “with a strong east wind all that night” (Ex 14:21) and the Israelites crossed on foot was not the Red Sea, which has an average depth of 1,765 feet, but the shallow Sea of Reeds. Does that make the event a non-miracle? Absolutely not. Just the same, the shallow Reed Sea posed an impassable barrier to the Israelites.
In a computer-aided study, calculations by Nathan Paldor and Doron Nof of the American Meteorological Society showed that a wind blowing at 40-45 miles per hour for 10 hours would reduce the level of a shallow body of water by 10 feet.42 “Such heaping up of the waters by the wind is well known and sometimes amounts to 7 or 8 ft. in Lake Erie (Wright, Scientific Confirmations of the Old Testament, 106).”43 That would have been enough to let the Israelites cross the sea and later drown the Egyptians and their horses weighed down by war implements. The miracle was, how did that east wind happen to blow with just the needed strength, at the right place, in the right direction, all night?
The provision of quail. The quail that fell on the Israelite camp were birds residing in or passing through Egypt and the Holy Land on their migrations northward in March and southward in September.44 With strong wing muscles, quail can fly rapidly for a short time. When migrating, they spread their wings for the wind to carry them along.45 The southeast wind blew the quail over the Red Sea,46 across the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez, and on to the Sinai peninsula. On their way north, they passed over narrow portions of the sea, but arrived so exhausted they could easily be caught by hand.47
It was not a miracle if Moses knew about the annual migration and encamped in the birds’ path. What was truly miraculous was the number of the birds. God gave around two million Israelites enough quail to eat for a month! Can you imagine how many birds that was? The quails fell “by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp” (Num 11:31b-32).
A “day’s journey” is about 20-22 miles, so the quail extended some 40-44 miles on the two sides of the camp combined, piled “two cubits” (3 feet) or about waist-high on the ground!48 No wonder the people went sleepless for 36 hours gathering them. A homer (“heap”) is about 8 bushels or one donkey-load. The birds were so many “they spread them all abroad,” that is, they dried them in the sun.49
Some commentators, theologians even, cannot believe they were quail. “It is uncertain what sort of animals they were… The learned bishop Patrick inclines to agree with some modern writers, who think they were locusts, a delicious sort of food well known in those parts, the rather because they were brought with a wind, lay in heaps, and were dried in the sun for use.”50 Now, if the quail were not a miracle, what is?
The daily manna. The World Book says: “Some historians say manna was a gluey sugar from the tamarisk shrub.”51 The Encyclopaedia Britannica adds: “An edible, white honeylike substance known as manna forms drops on the stem of a tamarisk tree, Tamarix mannifera. A scale insect either punctures the stem, triggering the exudation, or secretes the manna itself.”52 Fausset's Bible Dictionary provides more details, saying manna is “the sweet juice of the tarfa, a kind of tamarisk. It exudes in May for about six weeks from the trunk and branches in hot weather, and forms small round white grains. It retains its consistency in cool weather, but melts with heat. It is gathered from the twigs or from the fallen leaves. The Arabs, after boiling and straining, use it as honey with bread. The color is a greyish-yellow, the taste sweet and aromatic. Ehrenberg says it is produced by an insect's puncture. It abounds in rainy seasons, some years it ceases. About 600 or 700 pounds is the present produce of a year. The region wady Gharandel (Elim) and Sinai, the wady Sheich, and some other parts of the peninsula, are the places where it is found. The name is still its Arabic designation, and is read on the Egyptian monuments (mennu, mennu hut ‘white manna’).”53
The Encarta Encyclopedia advances another theory: “Some experts believe that the manna of the Bible was the lichen Lecanora esculenta, or a related species. Arabs still gather this lichen and mix it with meal to produce bread. When dry, it can be torn from the soil and transported by the wind, producing a ‘rain’ of food.”54 The Encyclopaedia Britannica concurs: “Manna is the common name for certain lichens of the genus Lecanora native to Turkey, especially L. esculenta. In the Middle East lichen bread and manna jelly are made from Lecanora.”55
The manna God gave the Israelites, though, differs on several points: (1) It was found on the ground after the morning dew had evaporated, not under trees. (2) The quantity gathered in one day far exceeded the present yearly production. (3) It appeared six days a week, all year round, not just occasionally or for several weeks. (4) None was found on the seventh-day Sabbath. (5) It appeared for 40 years while Israel wandered in the wilderness, but disappeared the day after the Israelites first ate of the produce in the Promised Land (Josh 5:10-12). Now, decide whether manna was a miracle from God or not.

Tests for our faith?
Some miracles, like the ones we have just discussed have elements that leave the door open for speculation. Why would the LORD, who is all-knowing, choose circumstances that would allow room for doubt? Perhaps, God’s miracles are tests for our faith as well. By allowing alternative possibilities, He allows us to exercise our free will – to believe or not to believe. It is said: No miracle is needed for those who believe, but no miracle is sufficient for those who will not believe.
Yet, some miracles are truly inexplicable -- the darkness at noon at the Crucifixion, for instance. A solar eclipse was impossible, because it was the day of Passover, which always falls at the time of the full moon, when the Earth is between the sun and the moon. “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26; also Luke 1:37). God is omnipotent.
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40Miracles, Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database, 1998
41Ibid.
42“Computer Takes on the Bible,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, March 12, 1992; cited by Robert Faid, A Scientific Approach to More Biblical Mysteries, 1994, p. 69
43Moses, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database, 1996
44Animal Kingdom, The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, 1988
45Animals, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986
46Quail, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, 1996
47Animal Kingdom, op. cit. 
48Weights and Measures, Fausset's Bible Dictionary, 1998
49Herodotus ii. 77; cited in Quail, op. cit.
50Num 11:31-35, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, 1991
51Manna, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
52Manna, Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition
53Manna, Fausset's Bible Dictionary, 1998
54Manna, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
55Manna, Encyclopaedia Britannica op. cit.

(Excerpted from Chapter 1, Mysteries of Our Maker, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)



God, the Omniscient



Solomon asserts that God is all-knowing. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Prov 15:3). No one person or thing, good or bad, escapes from His sight. “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD” (Jer 23:24a).
Because He is the Creator of heaven and earth, including space and time, God knows their every nook and corner, as well as everything that has happened and will happen. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…” (Isa 46:9-10a; also Acts 15:18).
God does not only see all our actions and hear all our words, He also knows our innermost thoughts and feelings. “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off” (Ps 139:1-2). He even knows what we are going to say even before it is formed on our lips. “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD” (Ps 139:4, NIV). Thus, Christ told His followers: “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8, NIV).

Interconnectedness.
In traditional physics, the principle of separability states that connected objects once separated can no longer affect one another. Logical enough. Yet, quantum mechanics violates this principle and instead reveals a “quantum connectedness.” An object can still affect another, even when there is no longer any physical contact between them.36 How is that possible?
Fred Alan Wolf says that some subatomic processes result in the creation of pairs of matter and antimatter particles. The twins have identical or closely related properties, except that these are reversed. For example, a negatively charged electron’s antimatter partner called positron has the same mass, but has an opposite positive charge (hence its name) and spins in the opposite direction.37 QM predicts that attempts to measure complementary characteristics on the pair – even when traveling in opposite directions – would always fail. This had led Niels Bohr to speculate: If subatomic particles do not exist individually until they are observed, they probably do not exist as separate, independent entities. They must be parts of an indivisible whole that remains so even after their appearance.38
In the earlier mentioned work of David Bohm with plasma, particles would stop behaving individually and start behaving like parts of an interconnected system. It was as though each particle knew what the trillions of other particles in the universe were doing.
In 1964 John Stewart Bell, a theoretical physicist at CERN (the European center for nuclear research in Geneva), developed a mathematical approach, now called the Bell Inequality, on how connectedness could be tested. As the level of technological precision needed was not yet available at the time, the experiment was conducted only in 1982 at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Optics in Paris. Nevertheless, just as QM had predicted, two photons, although spatially separated, appeared in contact with each other and nonlocally connected! It showed that, on the subatomic level, all things in the universe are interconnected -- nothing is separate from any of all the others.39
That finding provides us with more understanding about how God knows everything that is happening anywhere, anytime. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13, NKJV). God is truly omniscient – all-seeing and all-knowing.

36Fred Alan Wolf, Space-Time and Beyond, 1987, pp. 135-136
37Op. cit., pp. 148-149
38Paraphrased by Chuck Missler, Cosmic Codes, Revised 2004, p. 337
39Op. cit., pp. 339-340

(Excerpted from Chapter 1, Mysteries of Our Maker, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)