Posted By: Charity
666, 153 and the Judgment of the Living - 03/17/18 03:16 AM
153 and 666, both found in scripture, are two of the most interesting and “symmetrical” numbers in mathematics. Their properties are summarized below but first the scriptural context.
In Revelation 13 there is a warning for us living in the end-times that a powerful beast that was once mortally wounded (by the Protestant Reformation) will revive. When it revives it will form an alliance with a second beast, one that has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. These two set up an image of the first beast forcing everyone to worship it under the threat of death. This beast is identified with the number 666 and the scripture invites us to study and understand it but says that understanding it will require the wisdom of God: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Rev. 13:18. Other versions render the phrase “number of a man” as “a human number” or “the number of man”, suggesting that the number stands for those who in their fallen human nature worship the beast and his image. These remain unrenewed by the grace of God and unsaved. Which begs the question: What does it mean to worship the beast? We'll come back to that question below, but first,
Regarding 153, just before his crucifixion Jesus told his disciples to meet Him in Galilee after his resurrection. In obedience to his direction, they gathered there but when night fell and Christ had not come Peter, wanting to be productive while waiting, and night being the best time to fish in the clear waters of the sea said “I'm going fishing”. Peter, James and John, all of them skilled fishermen, caught nothing that night – nothing until Christ called to them from the shore as dawn was breaking and told them to let down their nets again but on the other side of the boat. When they did, immediately their net filled with so many fish that it ordinarily would have broken but it didn't. When they counted the catch there were 153 large healthy fish. This miraculous catch represents the gospel harvest, the saved.
The number 153 has several mathematical properties making it one of the most “symmetrical” numbers. It is the sum of the first 17 integers (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 16 + 17 = 153) and is also the sum of the first five positive factorials, 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!. The number 153 is associated with the geometric shape known as the Vesica Piscis or “bladder of a fish” formed by the intersection of two circles of the same radius at their centers creating a lens. Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician, in his Measurement of a Circle, referred to the ratio of the width to height of this lens as 153/265, constituting the "measure of the fish", this ratio being an imperfect representation of 1 to the square root of 3.
The number 153 is both a triangular number and a hexagonal number meaning that 153 symmetrical objects such as spheres will form an equilateral triangle or hexagon when evenly spaced in rows. 153 is also a truncated triangle number, meaning that 1, 15, and 153 are all triangular numbers.
153 is the smallest three-digit number which can be expressed as the sum of cubes of its digits. According to Wikipedia, only three other numbers can be expressed as the sum of the cubes of their digits: 370, 371 and 407. It is also a Friedman number, since 153 = 3 × 51, and a Harshad number in base 10, being divisible by the sum of its own digits.
In base 36, 153 is 49 which is 7 x 7 in base 10, double perfection or completion. Compare this with 666 which in base 36 is II, that is, the double letter I as in “me, me”.
Finally, another remarkable feature of the number 153 is that it is the limit of the following algorithm.
1. Take any random positive integer divisible by three
2. Split that number into its base 10 digits
3. Take the sum of their cubes
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 and eventually the number will be 153.
And since 1 cubed x 5 cubed x 3 cubed = 153, this is the limit of all integers divisible by 3 whose digits are separated, cubed and summed. So 153 is a fit symbol of the limit and the sum of the final harvest of the righteous.
In Revelation 13 there is a warning for us living in the end-times that a powerful beast that was once mortally wounded (by the Protestant Reformation) will revive. When it revives it will form an alliance with a second beast, one that has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. These two set up an image of the first beast forcing everyone to worship it under the threat of death. This beast is identified with the number 666 and the scripture invites us to study and understand it but says that understanding it will require the wisdom of God: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Rev. 13:18. Other versions render the phrase “number of a man” as “a human number” or “the number of man”, suggesting that the number stands for those who in their fallen human nature worship the beast and his image. These remain unrenewed by the grace of God and unsaved. Which begs the question: What does it mean to worship the beast? We'll come back to that question below, but first,
Regarding 153, just before his crucifixion Jesus told his disciples to meet Him in Galilee after his resurrection. In obedience to his direction, they gathered there but when night fell and Christ had not come Peter, wanting to be productive while waiting, and night being the best time to fish in the clear waters of the sea said “I'm going fishing”. Peter, James and John, all of them skilled fishermen, caught nothing that night – nothing until Christ called to them from the shore as dawn was breaking and told them to let down their nets again but on the other side of the boat. When they did, immediately their net filled with so many fish that it ordinarily would have broken but it didn't. When they counted the catch there were 153 large healthy fish. This miraculous catch represents the gospel harvest, the saved.
The number 153 has several mathematical properties making it one of the most “symmetrical” numbers. It is the sum of the first 17 integers (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 16 + 17 = 153) and is also the sum of the first five positive factorials, 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!. The number 153 is associated with the geometric shape known as the Vesica Piscis or “bladder of a fish” formed by the intersection of two circles of the same radius at their centers creating a lens. Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician, in his Measurement of a Circle, referred to the ratio of the width to height of this lens as 153/265, constituting the "measure of the fish", this ratio being an imperfect representation of 1 to the square root of 3.
The number 153 is both a triangular number and a hexagonal number meaning that 153 symmetrical objects such as spheres will form an equilateral triangle or hexagon when evenly spaced in rows. 153 is also a truncated triangle number, meaning that 1, 15, and 153 are all triangular numbers.
153 is the smallest three-digit number which can be expressed as the sum of cubes of its digits. According to Wikipedia, only three other numbers can be expressed as the sum of the cubes of their digits: 370, 371 and 407. It is also a Friedman number, since 153 = 3 × 51, and a Harshad number in base 10, being divisible by the sum of its own digits.
In base 36, 153 is 49 which is 7 x 7 in base 10, double perfection or completion. Compare this with 666 which in base 36 is II, that is, the double letter I as in “me, me”.
Finally, another remarkable feature of the number 153 is that it is the limit of the following algorithm.
1. Take any random positive integer divisible by three
2. Split that number into its base 10 digits
3. Take the sum of their cubes
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 and eventually the number will be 153.
And since 1 cubed x 5 cubed x 3 cubed = 153, this is the limit of all integers divisible by 3 whose digits are separated, cubed and summed. So 153 is a fit symbol of the limit and the sum of the final harvest of the righteous.