Apocalypse | 004 | What does 7 mean in Bible Prophecy?

In previous posts, we looked at the meaning and significance of prophecies given to John by God through the book of Revelation. His writings on Patmos were addressed to “…seven churches which were in Asia…” (Revelation 1:4), a region known today as modern Turkey. We will look into the details of these churches in a later post, but for now, we will study the number seven.

Seven is the one most significant numbers associated with God. In the book of Revelation, you will find it embedded in most of its main lines of prophetic events e.g. 7 churches, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 heads of the beast, 7 heads of the dragon, and 7 plagues. What does the number seven symbolize in prophetic terms? Let us look at a few examples:

The Bible says that God created within “…six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11) At the end of the sixth day “…God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) In terms of time, seven symbolizes a complete chronological sequence of events to bring something to fruition or to its fullest/perfect condition.

Another example to reinforce this was when God subjugated king Nebuchadnezzar in seven years of living like an animal to teach him valuable lessons of life. (read Daniel chapter 4)

Therefore, in the context of the prophetic study, the number seven always symbolizes a complete sequence in prophetic time. When John writes to the seven churches in Asia, God is laying out a chronological series of prophetic events. The same goes with the seven seals, trumpets, and plagues, all of them represent chronological series of time prophecies.

It is my prayer that God enlightens and strengthens you with this message. Until the next post, God bless and keep you.