Lordy, Lordy, look whose Forty!!

Clint, my most-wonderful-husband-ever, just turned forty in November. I was on the fence about having a big-to-do party for him. I really had not thought much about the idea of him turning forty until my BSF teaching leader, Esther Farhat, said, "Forty denotes completeness." That thought made me think... what do the scriptures say about the number 40?

Here's what I found...

Genesis 7:4 The Lord said to Noah, "I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

Genesis 8:6-7 "After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

Genesis 25:20 Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah

Genesis 26:34 Esau was forty years old when he married Judith

Genesis 50:3 It took forty days for the time of embalming after the time of death for Jacob

Exodus 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan."

Exodus 24:18 "Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

Exodus 34:28 Moses was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water."

Numbers 13:25 "At the end of forty days they (Israelites) returned from exploring the land."

Numbers 14:33-34 "33 "Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you."

Numbers 32:13 "The LORD's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone."

Deuteronomy 2:7 "The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything."

Deuteronomy 8:2 "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands."

Deuteronomy9:18 "Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so provoking him to anger."

Deuteronomy 9:25 "I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you."

Deuteronomy 10:10 "Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the LORD listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you."

Deuteronomy 25:3 "but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes."

Joshua 14:7 "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions."

Judges 5:31 "So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years."

Judges 13:1 "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years."

1 Samuel 4:18 "When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

1 Samuel 17:16 "For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand."

1 Kings 19:8 (Elijah) "So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

Psalm 95:10 "For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways."

Jonah 3:4 "On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

Matthew 4:2 (Jesus) "After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry."

Luke 4:2 (Jesus) "where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."

Acts 1:3 "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

Acts 7:23 "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites."

Acts 7:30 "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai."

Acts 23:13 (Plot to kill Paul) "More than forty men were involved in this plot."

Acts 23:21 "Don't give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request."

2 Corinthians 11:24 (Paul) "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one."

Hebrews 3:9 "where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did."

Hebrews 3:17 "And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?"

So apparently forty is a significant number is the bible and it does mean alot to God.

Whether it is 40 days of fasting, 40 days alone on the mountain with Him, or the rain stopping after 40 days and 40 nights, 40 is significant. So we did have a big party for Clint. Afterall, he's 40!! I told him that his life is full- full of blessings.

So Happy 40th Birthday Clint and all my friends who have recently or will soon turn 40!! I hope you are encouraged that the number 40 is a blessed number that relates to completeness and fullness in the bible. I hope you know that your life is full and complete in Christ!

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10