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40 Days to Prepare for Transformation
40 Days to Prepare for Transformation
I am going to compare Goliath to Jesus and I have never done that before!
40 is an oft repeated number in the Bible:
1. Rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
2. Moses on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights.
3. Spies in the Canaan for 40 days.
4. Israel wanders for 40 years.
5. Saul, David, and Solomon each reigned for 40 years.
6. Goliath mocked Israel for 40 days, morning and evening.
7. Elijah ate and was strengthened for 40 days and 40 nights as he walked to Mt. Horeb.
8. Jonah warned Nineveh that they would be destroyed in 40 days.
These are all in the OT. When we come to the NT we see the numerical pattern again.
9. At the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, after baptism, he spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. These included:
1. Tempted to turn stones into bread.
2. Tempted to jump off the temple pinnacle to be rescued by angels.
3. Tempted to receive the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship Satan.
And then here is another 40 time period.
10. At the end of Jesus’s ministry, after the resurrection, he spent 40 days on earth (Acts 1:3) partly (John 21:14) with his apostles.
Because I like finding connections, one thing I find interesting is how the 40 days in the wilderness somewhat compare to the 40 days after his resurrection.
1. Instead of turning stones into bread, Jesus eats fish and bread with his apostles by the sea – John 21:9,13
2. Instead of angles protecting Jesus from death from throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple, angels are at the tomb when Jesus comes back to life – John 20:12
3. Instead of talking about receiving Satan’s kingdoms, Jesus teaches about God’s Kingdom coming – Acts 1:3
What does “40” mean? I think sometimes it just means, “a long time”. It has also been suggested it symbolizes a period of testing, trial, probation, or preparation before a major spiritual transformation or new beginning. Now this doesn’t fit Goliath, but that is how I compare Goliath to Jesus (well, sorta).
Before going there, Moses’s life was divided into 3 time periods of 40.
Preparation for a transformation fits him as each 40 year period was something new and different and preparing for what was coming.
What does 40 days mean in Jesus’s 40 days after his resurrection? I think here it again means a period of preparation. But not preparation for Jesus. He was preparing his apostles for their spiritual transformation.
Transformation for others is how God used the 40 days of Goliath to wait for David who helped transform Israel!
We see the effects of this period of preparation on the day of Pentecost, 10 days after the Ascension. This means we must take time to serve others in preparing them for service.
40 days isn’t always God preparing us, it is God using us to prepare others.
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