Blog post #5, RELS 32

Lucky ‘Number 7’

Across many cultures, this is a ‘lucky’ number. The New Testament Book of the Apocalypse, or Revelation, refers frequently to the mystic sacredness of the number seven. In the book St. John addresses himself to seven churches in Asia, greeting them from the Lord and from the seven spirits, which are before his throne.  

John describes his vision on the island of Patmos, when he saw one like the son of Man, in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, and holding in his right hand seven stars. The golden candlesticks are explained as being the seven churches, and the seven stars as the angels of those churches. In following visions a throne is set in heaven, and in the right hand of Him that sat on it is a book sealed with seven seals.

Then a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the Earth, takes the book and opens the seven seals one after another. When the seventh seal is open, seven angels with seven trumpets appear, which they blow one after another.

Before the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, there are seven bursts of thunder. Afterwards there appears a dragon with seven heads and ten horns, but with ten crowns upon his horns. The seven angels, pour out one after another the seven vials of God’s wrath upon the Earth. Then there is seen a woman seated on a scarlet coloured beast which has seven heads, these being seven mountains on which the woman sits. It is added that there are seven kings, of whom five are fallen, and one is reigning, and one is yet to come. In the last vision, that of the heavenly Jerusalem, the prevailing number is not seven but 12, derived probably from 12 tribes of Israel.

However, with this exception seven is the prevailing number of the Book. Von Hammer-Purgstall, (an Austrian orientalist) observed that, there are two sevens in the Book’s greeting; seven churches and seven spirits. In the body of the Book there are found besides two seven candlesticks, stars, seals, horns, eyes, trumpets, and thunders; and second, seven angels, heads, crowns, plagues, vials, mountains and kings.