__________________________________________________

ARRIVAL OF 11/11/11 IS A REFLECTION ON WHETHER NUMBERS REALLY BEAR A SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

There can be a thin line between mysticism and the occult and this is particularly true when it comes to playing around with numbers.

For example, today (Friday) is November eleventh in the two-thousandth-and-eleventh year since the death of Christ, which is expressed, in shorthand, as "11/11/11."

No big deal, normally.

But for years now, folks in all kinds of circles -- including Catholic -- have been wondering why it seems they so often glance at a clock or watch and the time is right at 11:11 (a.m. or p.m.).

We have written of this before (one article is here).

A possible reason: 11:11 is the only time a clock repeats four numerals twice in twenty-four hours.

Another: the number is so noticeable, featuring the same four digits, that, well we take note of it -- more so than, say, "10:26" (or for that matter "11:12"). Does it go beyond that in symbolism or significance or coincidence?

There are folks who point to the number in Scripture. "The second judgment was Noah's Flood, Genesis 7:11," notes a website. " The 'curse of Canaan' was executed upon the 'eleven' sons of Canaan." The judgment associated with the Tower of Babel? "The judgment on Nimrod occurred in Genesis chapter 'eleven' verse seven." And Sodom? That's Genesis 19:11: "And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door." The judgment of Egypt? "There were eleven of them -- including the boils in Exodus 9:11.

Of course, when we think of 9:11, we think of September 11. The Twin Towers looked like an eleven. There is also the emergency phone number, 911. It is peculiar.

"Because of the evil report of 'eleven' [Numbers 13:32], Israel refused to go into the promised land," noted a website. "And 'judgment' was executed on Israel as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years," we are also told (speaking here from Israel). "In Deuteronomy 1:2, the Bible specifically tells us when Israel stopped in Kadeshbarnea, in Numbers 13, where the Lord executed the judgment upon Israel – it was an 'eleven' days journey from Horeb!"

Such stuff circulates across non-denominational Christian-style sites, but we should note that it is also very prevalent -- perhaps more so -- among New Agers. Moreover, 11/11/11 comes every century (1911 and 1811 and 1711 and so forth; what about in the 12th century: 1111).

But this time, it comes at a moment when the world is in special anticipation and flux and on the very cusp of another number-driven concern: the year 2012. Many are those who -- playing off interpretations of the Mayan calendar (a version of which ends next year) -- see this as implying an apocalypse or an event of some prophetic significance.

We don't scoff at those who have such notions but caution everyone from jumping into such beliefs.

Does God watch the human calendar? Is it the same as it was in ancient Israel? When does it get uncomfortably close to numerology (here we get back to the occult)?

Yes, there is significance in at least one prophetic biblical number: 666.

And, yes, that seems to show up, often, in strange attachments.

But the Number we should focus upon is Three (and in the Trinity).

It's a single digit and easy to remember and summarizes the whole of the universe, past and well as future, as far as the future is to be.

  E-mail this link directly