DO YOU KNOW HOW FASCINATING THE FIGURE 8 ACTUALLY IS?

DO YOU KNOW HOW FASCINATING THE FIGURE 8 ACTUALLY IS?

(A NEW BEGINNING)

8 Aug 2008

The Olympics in China began on the eighth hour, eighth second of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008. The opening ceremony was introduced with a band of two thousand and eight drummers. I was curious why the Chinese chose such a time and discovered that eight sounds like the Chinese word for prosperous, thus it is considered a lucky number in the Chinese culture. Therefore 8.8.08 sounds like thrice prosperous. I found these curious facts:
• License plates containing the number eight are sold to the highest bidder
• Addresses containing the number eight command a higher retail value than neighboring real estate.
• Skyscrapers are now being constructed with eighty-eight floors having an inner eight-sided core.
• Couples who were married on 8.8.08 were said to be destined for happiness and good luck.

Some eights have not been lucky. Eight weeks before the Olympics were supposed to begin China was hit with an earthquake that measured 8 on the Richter scale that may have killed 80,000 people. (the earthquake was far away from Beijing) Another earthquake hit China the week before the Olympics - a 6.1.

A few facts about the number eight
• An eight laid on its side is used to represent infinity in mathematics
• The caduceus, a medical symbol, (where two snakes form several figure eights) and also as stability or balance of opposing forces.
• There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup; 8 pints in a gallon; 8 tablespoons in a gill (1/2 cup) and 8 furlongs in a mile and 8 pinches to a teaspoon.
• In computers one byte is 8 bits.
• 8 notes in an octave
• 8 is the atomic number of oxygen
• The eighth tooth is the wisdom tooth
• A section 8 in is a discharge for mentally unfit military personnel.
• In Columbia and Venezuela "volverse un ocho or tying oneself in a figure eight" means you got yourself in trouble.

Biblical meaning and references for the number 8:
• Eight people were saved alive after the flood
• David was the 8th son of Jesse
• Solomon was the 8th son of David
• God made 8 covenants with Abraham
• The number 8 is prominent in the millennial temple
• There are 8 beatitudes in the sermon on the mount
• The eighth stone in the foundation of the New Jerusalem is Beryl, which was used to cure eye disease.
• There were 8 writers of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter and Jude.
• Jesus (and Paul) were circumcised on the eighth day as required by Jewish law.
• The numeric sum of the Greek letters in the name of Jesus = 888
• Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years was healed when Paul said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat."
God rested on the 7th day after creating the world. Eight is the number of new beginnings and of resurrection. Jesus was raised on a Sunday! Because of these things eight is seen as a biblical symbol of new beginnings.

God is generous with new beginnings. He offers us one every week if we will keep the Sabbath. Our bodies were not meant to keep the hectic pace of our modern lifestyle. It has become common for people in this century to push themselves to the limit. We may even feel guilty for have a day to do nothing at all. Yet God himself rested after creation. The eighth day was meant to be a new beginning.

In almost twenty years of ministry in the inner city I fell into the trap of pushing myself to the limit. The need was great and we often had little to work with. I found that with little money but lots of work much could be accomplished. What I didn't realize was that I was running on adrenalin for many years. While adrenalin is a gift from God to give us the extra push we need in emergency situations, it is not meant to be "turned on" on a constant basis. One beautiful September day a friend and I were enjoying the waves at a Rhode Island beach. It was the last beach day of the season. The kids were back in school and we planned a day of rest and sun. A wave caught me and twisted my back. I crawled out of the water on to the sand and had to rest a long time before I could move again. Following that incident, I had months of painful recovery. From the moment that wave hit me I lost the ability to draw on adrenalin at will. I had violated God's best for me, not allowing proper time for my body to rest. God, in his love for me, was giving me a time to rest; (albeit a forced rest) a painful lesson to say the least.

Another new beginning can be seen in the Old Testament laws concerning servitude. A Hebrew slave was set free at the end of seven years. In the eighth year he was a free man. God also commanded farmers to rest the soil by not planting crops every seventh year. The Lord promised to give a bumper crop in the sixth year that would give the farmer enough to last his family until the harvest of the eighth year. It was a joyful year for the poor who were allowed to reap whatever volunteer harvest arose in the fields.

The most notable new beginning in the Old Testament was the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee was ushered in by the sound of the blowing of a ram's horn or shofar. It began at the end of the 49th year.
The year of Jubilee was a time of cancellation of debts. The land in Israel was sacred; it belonged to God and could not be sold away from its original owners. It could be rented for the number of years until the year of Jubilee then it reverted to its original family. This prevented:
• Runaway inflation and provided a stable economy
• Prevented one person amassing huge lots of land for their own personal gain.
The year of Jubilee was a year of new beginnings for those who were enslaved because of debt. All debts were cancelled. Jews were also forbidden to refuse to loan money because the year of cancellation was at hand.

God offers all who will come to Jesus a new beginning. The apostle, Paul, tells us: "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation"; "The old is gone, the new has come." (2Corinthians 5:17) The "new creation" in the original Greek is that which we derive the word metamorphosis from. Metamorphosis describes a process in which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. When a life is yielded to Jesus Christ that person becomes new. He or she is in born again in that moment by the Spirit of God. Our sins are washed away. We are clean. Our life is now as different as is the life of the butterfly that has emerged from the cocoon. The butterfly never looks back and wonders if it can become a caterpillar again.

When I first met Jesus, it was as if I had always seen the world in black and white and now I could see it in color. Jesus changed the whole course of my life and I have no regrets that I yielded my life to him.

In this new beginning we pass from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We are now a child of God. (John 1:12) If you are bound in slavery to sin God offers you a new beginning. Today is the day of salvation. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead and receive your new beginning...your new life in Christ.

(Pastor Ginnie Lunt)



P.S. AND I HUMBLY ASK YOU NOT TO REQUEST ME TO PUT THIS ON A BLOG OR WHATEVER... IN ALL HUMILITY I JUST WANT TO SHARE WITH MY DEAREST CHRIST FOLLOWING FRIENDS... I DO NOT REALLY NEED COMMENTS OR ANYTHING... I JUST WANT TO HAVE "COMMUNION" WITH YOU GUYS AND I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU... JUST ALSO PLEASE TAKE ME AS I AM - 72 YEARS YOUNG AND MY ENTHUSIASM IS MUCH BETTER THAN MY EYESIGHT.

I LOVE YOU ALL

<:))))>
Your friend
Ramona P.