Flee the Wrath

Yeah I know, twenty three judgement is a weird title for a post.  It all started some time back when one of the youth in our youth group was telling us she would see the number 23 all of the time. For example she’d wake up and it would be 7.23 or whatever. It got a little weirder even as she was telling us the story cause we were holding a bible study in a house which is number 23 .

Some of the kids in our youth group are hearing from God, their just not real sure about it, and sometimes, neither am I. So I tucked this one away in my heart for later investigation.

Now there is a whole bunch of information out there on this number 23,  they made a movie about it, there is a theory about it called the  “23 enigma”. Some of the stats and facts about this number make for interesting reading, but in the back of my mind lurked the question as to whether there was any biblical support or significance for this number twenty three (23).

I didn’t set out to look for things, I didn’t seek to make the case so to speak, but things just kept showing up, and each time I saw them I made a note.

Being a man who’s mind is so often engrossed in thoughts concerning the end of all things pertaining to this present age, and being mindful that Christ’s desire is to see men flee from the wrath of God, the judgement to come, I found it interesting to note that the number twenty three (23), from a biblical perspective, is often associated with judgement.

In 1 Corinthians 10:8, Paul shows us an example in which this number is used  when explaining the judgement which came upon the Hebrews who sought to satisfy their evil and carnal desires.

Again, let us not give way to the desires of the flesh, as some of them did, of whom twenty-three thousand came to their end in one day.

And again in Numbers 26:62 we see  a number of Hebrews, some 23,000 excluded from being counted amongst the Israelites because their fathers and relatives had offered “strange and unholy fire before the Lord”.

Now those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and above; for they were not numbered among the other children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the children of Israel.

Now I don’t know about you but there is very little in this bible of mine which is there by some random chance. Everything is placed by design or with some specific purpose in mind. Perhaps it simply testifies to the glory of God, perhaps He intends us to recognise the pattern and pay attention to it’s significance, perhaps it is prophetic, either way this twenty three (23) seems to be significant.

In the book of Daniel chapter 8, Daniel is given a vision of a period of time in which an abomination which makes desolate, would be granted authority over Gods people as a result of their ireverance, godliness and lack of piety.

How long shall this go on for ? the question is asked

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; [fn] then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

There are other relevant uses of twenty three in the biblical context pertaining to judgement, like the 23 year period period of time between the death of Josiah and the destruction of Judah. Or Isaiah which happens to be the 23rd book of the bible, and chapter 23 deals solely with the judgement of Tyre, a kingdom not unlike Western Christendom, Mystery Babylon.

Twenty three (23), what does it all mean, well according to my reckoning it’s like a signature, a mark of Gods hand, and in seeing it we shall know that He is the author thereof.

Recently I happened to watch a testimony video of a Christian man who believes that he was taken to hell, in order to bring a message of warning back to humanity and to the church. The video was called 23 minutes in hell. When I saw that number Twenty Three (23), immediately my ears, eyes, whatever,  sparked up and I took the time to watch the testimony.

I don’t like talking about hell very much, I don’t even like thinking about it too much to be honest, but I found the video and the testimony of this man to be profoundly moving.

If indeed hell is to be found as this man has found it, and there is good scriptural evidence to support his vision. Then we as Christians ought to be laying our lives down for this gospel, knowing the fearful end of those who are presently condemned to this awful place.

It was 3am on twenty three (23) November 1998 that Bill Weise was taken into a horrifying vision of hell which lasted for twenty three (23) minutes. I’ll let him tell you his testimony.