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God's Amazing Number 66!  A Number Which Tends To Associate Itself With God's People Being Saved From Disaster Just In The Nick Of Time.

 

 

By Dan Curry. 812-564-9421

 

 

  Social  media sites may not sound like a true source of wisdom, but there is some pretty incredible material that floats through those sites from time to time.  I saw another such thing again just recently involving the quite auspicious number 66.  I won't bring it up here since it has nothing to do with the Bible, but it brought the number 66 to mind once again.  

  There is something wonderful and very mysterious about this number 66 in the Bible, and also sometimes outside of it.  That's my take from reading the scriptures.  So as I said the other day I saw something very unlikely about the number 66 on a social media website, posted there by a girl I once went to school with, and after reading it I finally decided that the number 66 just deserves an account of its own here on the Deeds of God website.  I had already decided that it was an amazing sort of number. 

  Here are some interesting tidbits about the mysterious number 66.  Maybe you'll also suspect, as I have come to, that there's more going on with this number than what mere chance would likely be able to account for.   

  Why is the number 66 mysterious?  Who  says so?  Well, I admit it is only myself that thinks so, so far as I am aware.  But I feel like I have a fair number of reasons for thinking so.  You see, the number 66 always seems to show up in places where God's chosen people are saved from a terrible disaster, often at what seems to be the last possible moment.  I don't know why this would be the case, why that particular number 66 would be chosen as a special number by God, but it appears to be a pretty reliable occurrence.   Consider some examples:

  1.)  The Bible (speaking of most of the the Protestant versions) happens to have 66 books and its teachings can save guilty sinners from the unmitigated disaster of dying and going to hell forever.  God, having tried in so many ways to change mans' bad behavior, looks down and  sees us so quickly return to sinning.  So, after many patient and merciful efforts to reform us, He sent one last final emissary...His own Son Jesus... to teach us and then to die for us as atonement for our sins.  It was the most expensive and painfully dear atonement cost that He could have paid to have His imperiled human children back, but He loved us so much that He paid it.  His Son went through all that he endured and is now altered in physical form, apparently forever. 

  But there is a way for us now...one single path that we humans can take that will allow our souls to be saved.  We can confess, repent, be baptized in Jesus' name, and follow his teachings, telling our fellow man what we have learned.  So, there is an ongoing rescue of God's people, and it is associated with the number 66.  There are 66 books in the Protestant type Christian Bibles, they are God's word, and God's word rescues souls.  Oddly, Jesus is also called 'the Word', and in the Book of Colossians it says that Jesus is the 'image' of God the Father.  Further more, the Bible says that man is  'made in God's image'.  So by this reasoning man is made in Jesus'  image.  And how tall did God make the average man?  Right now if you search 'what is the average height of a man?' there are some sources of information that immediately pop up which say that the average height of a male of the human species is 66 inches.  '66' inches!  there are other sources that give slightly different values, and it is certain that human height changes from one century to another, but 66" is one number you will find listed.  That is true if you use English units of measure...like the inch...but I have found that the English system of units has an absolutely amazing number of correlations with the Bible.  I would go so far - bad or elitist as it may be portrayed as sounding - as to say that it seems like the English system of units is custom designed in many ways to confirm the words of the Bible.  I certainly don't pretend to know why.  English speakers are terrible sinners like everyone else, and God favors no one on the planet based on their spoken language so far as I know.  All I can say about this connection is that God would have foreseen that the English Units System would be a system widely in use when the latter times arrived and human knowledge began to fill in on matters that pertained to the entirety of the planet.  Perhaps if I knew other languages and used other systems of measurement I would find that they all have Bible connections to an unlikely degree.  

  2.)  The first 66 that really shows up in scripture is Genesis Chapter 6, verse 6.  So what is the situation going on in that exact portion of the scriptures?  Rebellious angels who had lost a war in heaven had been thrown down to Earth, and they had lived like mighty kings among men, too strong for man to contend with, and they had spread wickedness among mankind in many forms.  Man in those times had become increasingly wicked like these rebel angels, though we were wicked already on our own!  After all, the first child born to Adam and Eve had killed his own brother out of jealousy.  But as these fallen angels established their reigns on Earth the times grew truly violent, and mankind earned the true wrath of God.  Yet God chose one family, the family of Noah, to spare from the well deserved disaster that He determined to inflict upon every living thing on the face of the Earth.  

Here is Genesis 6:6, in context, via Bible Gateway.  The fallen angels are referred to as 'the sons of God':

 

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

End Quote

  So there is a terrible destruction of a very great many, but God saves His own from it in a miraculous way!  And the number 66 is right there!

  To add a touch of irony to this, consider the following:  The closest that the Scientific Community has come to acknowledging a world wide extinction event (in my opinion) is their references to the meteor strike in the Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, which is the event they currently seem to consider the most likely culprit for the demise of the dinosaurs throughout the world.  I do not believe in the Scientific time line at all, being convinced by the scriptures that the world is approximately 6,000 years old.  But, this event - when it really did occur - would be a fairly likely candidate for the event which kicked off the Great Flood in Noah's time.  All of life was nearly erased.  Life had to start over again from a pinpoint of origin.  That pretty much describes what happened in Noah's day, right?  And when do Scientists like to say it happened?  66 million years ago.  Everything article I read from the scientific point of view always seems to use the '66 million year ago' phrase.  Honestly, even in their world it's a huge stretch to think you know how many million years ago this allegedly happened.  It's a spitball guess at best.  Yet an event which wiped out all but a lucky 'chosen' few species happened, in the opinion of Science, 66 million years ago, not 65 million, not 67 million, ending the age of the reptiles.  Is God showing His sense of humor that He should lead those who teach against Him to incidentally use His special number for those who escape destruction through His intervention?  Maybe. 

  But there are plenty more examples.   

 

  3.)  Joseph brings 66 relatives to Egypt according to one verse in Genesis, saving them from the great famine.

  In the days of Jacob, who was renamed to 'Israel' by the order of God, there was a great famine.  The son of Jacob named Joseph was supposed dead by Jacob, his Father.  But it was not true...it was a family treachery.  Joseph's brothers had meant to kill him because he was Jacob's favorite son, and because he was a blessed son, loved by God and with prophetic gifts, etc.  He was a hated younger brother, and they had meant to kill him, but had just enough decency to sell him to slavers headed for Egypt instead.  But they told their father Jacob that they had found him killed by animals, and they showed Jacob a blood soaked piece of Joseph's torn clothing (faked evidence) and Jacob had believed Joseph dead, and mourned for him.   

  Now years later, Joseph had risen in Egypt until he was second in the land.  Only Pharaoh ranked higher.   And Joseph had been given visions foreseeing the great famine gripping the middle east lands.  So Egypt had saved back grain for years.  They had mountains of grain.  While everyone else was starving, Egypt was doing all right.  And Joseph was so important that he was able to bring his father Jacob and all of his bad brothers and their families, etc., to Egypt to be fed...to be saved just in time before the famine killed them.  How many were there, saved by God through Joseph, saved just in time?  From Genesis chapter 46:

26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;  End Quote

  So, three score and six (66 in modern English) were saved and brought to Egypt.  66 saved by God just in time.  There is that mysterious number again:  66!

 

  4.)  What about book number 6, chapter 6 of the Bible?  That is a 66 of sorts.  So go to Joshua (book #6) chapter 6. 

  There you find a leader with a name that is essentially the same as Jesus' Hebrew name (Joshua, compared to Jehoshua) and that leader chooses to provide protection and rescue to a few certain residents in a town called Jericho.  Those particular residents helped protect the two pre-invasion intelligence gathering Israelite spies sent into Jericho by Joshua.  God has told Joshua to wipe out every living thing in the town of Jericho, like all of the land of Canaan in fact, because all of the Canaanite peoples have become so desperately wicked that God no longer wishes to even look upon them.  So God directed His chosen people, the Israelites, to move in to the promised land (today what was once the Promised Land or Canaan is predominantly located where Israel sits) and the invading Israelites are told to wipe out all of the evil behaving peoples that dwell there.  But in the town of Jericho there is a prostitute or tavern woman named Rahab who hid Israelite spies that had made their way into the city of Jericho but then fallen under suspicion, were pursued by Jericho authorities, and the spies had to run desperately through the city looking for cover.  Rahab had taken them in, saying that she knew, like many other people in her city, that the God of the Israelites was powerful and the Israelites were many, and so Jericho's citizens felt doomed. 

  The Israelite spies told Rahab that because she had saved their lives, that when Jericho was invaded, she and her family, whoever waited within the safety of her lodgings, would be spared.  And later, when they escaped back to the Israelite army, they told their leader Joshua (Moses' chosen successor) about what the woman had done.  So Joshua ordered that the window that had the red cloth hanging out of it - Rahab's residence , it was a sign that the spies had arranged so there wouldn't be a mistake - would not be touched, its occupants not killed or harmed, because of what Rahab had done. 

  And when Jericho was invaded Rahab's family was not harmed.  She became a great grandmother of King David as a matter of fact.  Where is this undeserved salvation enacted?  In the Book of Joshua, which is

Book 6, chapter 6 of the Protestant Bible.  Another 66. 

  Here it is, Joshua chapter 6, again via Bible Gateway:

 

Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.

And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord.

And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.

And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

11 So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.

17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.

20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

27 So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. 

End Quote

 

  5.)  In the New Testament, Book 6 is Romans, and its Chapter 6 pertains quite largely to giving up your old life and becoming a slave and true servant to Jesus, who died to redeem your life.  It is about doing what it takes to be rescued, just in time, from hell where our former ways were leading us.  The whole chapter speaks of this rescue of our souls by Jesus, the Son of God and our redeemer.  So there is yet another 66 associated with a rescue of God's people. 

 

  6.)  Did you know that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 after a long siege?  It's true.  But what does that have to do with the number 66?  Well, it was a very long siege.  It started in A.D. 66.  And in that year, A.D. 66, several Legions of Romans surrounded Jerusalem and set siege.  But then, unexpectedly, they broke the siege for a short time and left to take down some easier more quickly defeated Israelite cities.  Jerusalem was a true fortress!  When the Israelite armies inside of Jerusalem saw the Romans set the siege, but then inexplicably leave, the Jewish army in Jerusalem concluded that God had filled the Roman army with fear in order to save His people Israel, so they rallied and streamed out from the gates of Jerusalem to overtake the Roman Army that had just departed.  Christians hiding behind the walls of Jerusalem among all of the Jews took advantage of this seeming miracle , and they ran like crazy!  They believed they were seeing the signs Jesus had told them to watch for (Matthew chap 24) signifying that they must run and run quickly when they saw such signs.  There was no Roman army to kill them for being Israelites, and no Jewish soldiers to kill them for running away like traitors.  They bolted out of Jerusalem and fled to other nearby countries....to the Decapolis region (region of the 10 cities), for one place.  To Petra in present day Jordan for another.  As for the Jewish army, they caught up with the Romans that had departed Jerusalem, and to Rome's surprise the Jewish army gave then a terrible and humiliating defeat.  And then the Jewish army returned to Jerusalem triumphant and with no real fear of Roman armies at that moment.  But soon enough other Roman Legions returned and reset the siege on Jerusalem.  And 4 years later, after a long cruel and horrifying siege involving battles and disease and starvation, and truly courageous fighting by both sides, Jerusalem fell, with over 1,000,000 having reportedly died in its taking.  But reportedly no Christians had remained inside the walls for those horrible years of siege. 

  And so ancient Christian church writers declared that though Jerusalem fell, all of the Christians - the new chosen people of God, the ones who had believed and followed God's Son Jesus - had gotten away safely years before in A.D. 66.  A.D. 66!  There it is again. 

 

  7.)  As mentioned earlier, there are 66 books in the Protestant type Bibles, and the Book of Revelation is book number 66.  That book involves God rescuing His people once and for all from the grip of evil through a series of terrible judgments upon the wicked who dwell on the Earth.  And then there will be the great judgement.  And so it involves God's people being rescued from the jaws of evil just at the last moment.  God's people rescued at the last possible moment...there it is again, associated with the number 66 yet again.

 

  8.)  The Book of Isaiah has 66 chapters.  Some clergy call it 'the Little Bible.'  Its 66th chapter, Isaiah 66, prophetically speaks of God coming at the end of time to punish His enemies, save His people from their trials, and to establish a safe peaceful kingdom for His servants.  God's people, again saved at the crucial moment, by His power.  And once again the number 66 is involved.

 

  9.)  Judges 6:6 has us seeing how the depredations of the raiding Midianites had Israel in such a hopeless state of oppression that they cried out to God for help.  And so Gideon arises as a hero of the land in the rest of chapter 6 to lead and save his fellow Israelites and to defeat the vast hordes of Midian via the power and assistance of the right arm of God.  Again, God's people saved from destruction at the crucial moment, and the number 66 is associated. 

 

  10.)  In 2 Kings chap 19, we read about when King Sennacharib of Assyria decide top surround Jerusalem with over 185,000 assault troops and sent his General to the wall of Jerusalem to speak to the frightened Israelites looking over the edge.  The General said they should surrender, because their God could not defend them.  He basically insulted God's ability to save His people in the face of such power as the Assyrian army could wield.  Their King, Hezekiah, took that to the Lord in prayer because Jerusalem had no hope against such a giant army.  That night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died in their sleep out in the dirt where they camped around Jerusalem.  The Assyrian army awoke, saw what had happened, and they left.  Verse 36 is essentially in the middle of the description of God's response to the vain Assyrians.  And the number 36 is 6 x 6.  Is that cheating?  Or is it the number 66 implanted by God in His word?  God knows....I can only speculate.  Here are the verses from 2 Kings 19, vs. 35 - 37 :

 

   

35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.  End Quote

 

  11.)  Now look at the book of Exodus, where the Israelites were mistreated with harsh, crushing, and unrelenting cruelty as slaves of Egypt's Pharaoh.  God sent Moses and Aaron to warn Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh was vain and proud, he would not listen.  So God sent plagues, that could have warned Pharaoh of God's power and the foolishness of provoking God to rage.  But Pharaoh would not heed.  Finally, God had had enough of Pharaoh, and he decided to end it all.  He decided it was time to drop the hammer on Egypt and save His people out of Egypt before their awful bondage destroyed their last shred of hope. 

  And where does God tell everyone, at the last moment, that it is now time to save His people?  In Exodus Chapter 6, verse 6, (there's that 66 again!) He says these things to Moses in several verses, including verse 6, in which He informs the people of His imminent rescue of them:

1 But the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.'" 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land." 12 But Moses said to the Lord, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?" 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
 
End Quote
 
 
  12.) The last time the plague struck England, and it was particularly bad in London, the year was 1665 A.D.  As the death toll rose there came to be a grim belief that God was punishing them for having grown spiritually cold towards their Lord, and so a great revival began, and a vast number of prayers to God and Jesus for relief and mercy.  And in 1666 A.D. it had run its course and the plague was gone for reasons that were unknown.  There were reports that many felt it died out so suddenly in the end that it seemed to them that God had acted on their behalf and stopped the plague.  Read 'The Year of the Plague', towards the end, to get a sense.  It is a semi-fictionalized recounting by someone who lived through it as a boy.  It's available for free on line.  
 
 
  13.)  In early United States history there is always mention of the Pilgrims, a religious group of Puritans who came across the Atlantic in 1620 on a small ship called the Mayflower.  They were fleeing religious persecution by other Christians in Europe.  They wished to return to a pure style of Bible based worship.  And they were willing to risk everything in the little known wilderness of the Americas for a chance to worship as their conscience dictated.  Their colony was eventually a success, but about half of them perished that first cold difficult winter.  Their voyage across the Atlantic took (can you guess?) 66 days. 
 
 
  14.)  During the 1930's the United States experienced a combination of drought and bad farming techniques which left much of the land dry and vulnerable to the high wind storms common to the area.  It was called the dust bowl, and it drove thousands of farmers out of business as gigantic towering dust storms swept across the lands of the south central states.  Some of the dust storms from central states even reached Washington D.C.
  Many of the destitute farm families loaded up their belongings, and praying to God, drove west hoping to find some new place to work and try to settle down and start again.  Highway 66 to California, from Chicago, became famous for being filled with these refugee families.  Its nickname is 'America's Highway', or  also 'the Mother Highway'.  When these largely Christian families needed to be saved, this was the route used by a great number of them.  Many such families found work in the California oil fields and farms.  (Thank you, California!)
 
 15.)  Psalm 66 involves the words of a man calling for praises to God, and remembering times when God has saved His people from their times of great distress.  So it is remembering God's rescues of His people on a more 'national' level.
 
  16.)  Psalm 6, verse 6 holds the words of a sick person speaking of their weakness and misery because of their illness, with verse 6 reaching the approximate crescendo of the depths of the persons misery.  The rest of the Psalm recounts God saving them from their illness as the person's enemies look on.  It is about last minute rescue on a 'personal' level, in that sense.
 
  17.)  During World War II there was an invasion of Nazi occupied France launched from English shores that turned the tide of the war, allowing for the eventual rescue of the imprisoned and imperiled Jewish people through the defeat of the German army.  It was called the 'D-Day Invasion' and the selected landing point was upon the beaches of Normandy, France.  Had it gone poorly it would have been perhaps the greatest disaster of the war.  But God allowed it to succeed, perhaps ordained it to succeed, and so the war soon ended, and the Jews were soon freed.  In fact, within about 4 years the war was over and the Jews had a newly re-minted homeland in modern Israel, a true and amazing act of God.  And when was the D-Day invasion launched, this invasion that was so crucial to the rescue of the imprisoned Jews?  On what day did the Allied troops make the Normandy Beach landings?  On June 6, 1944.  That epic date contains the Biblical 'rescue by God' number, 66.  June 6th is 6/6.  (6/6)/1944
 
  18.) In the Gospel of Luke chapter 3 there is a genealogy stretching, father after father after father, from Jesus back to Noah and from there back to Adam whom God directly created.  It is interesting to note that if you place your finger on Noah and from Noah proceed 66 names into the future times towards Jesus, that 66th name that your finger will fall upon is Jesus, our Savior, and the intended Messiah of the Jews.  Both Noah and (more greatly by far) Jesus were used to save God's people - just in time - from perishing with the disobedient in a far reaching catastrophic calamity.  In Noah's case, all were in danger of physical death by water for their wickedness and disobedience.  Their spiritual eternity will be addressed by Jesus.  In Jesus' case, all those he offered unearnable salvation to were, like we still are today, in danger of eternal torment in a fire that does not extinguish, in which we are told to expect no release from our well earned agonies...unless we enter into covenant with Jesus now, while still physically alive, just as the long ago family of Noah entered, in faith, into residence within the ark.
 
  19.)  One of the most famous 'rescuing of believers in God and Jesus' from recent times took place in the 1979 through 1981 time frame when 66 American people were taken hostage (among others) at the American Embassy in the nation of Iran by Muslim college students who stormed the embassy.  So there is that number- 66 - associated with imperiled God believers!  Some were released near the outset, leaving 53 hostages.  Then one of those became sick and was released as a mercy, leaving 52 (the number of weeks in a year.)  From the time that they were taken hostage...Nov 4, 1979, until the day they were released, Jan 21, 1981, was a total of 444 days.  Negotiations took place under President Jimmy Carter, President number 39.  They were released on the day that President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President.  Here are some corollary oddities:  As the 39th book of the Protestant Bible (Malachi) gives way to the 40th there is a big release of the hostages under the Old Covenant into the Freedom found (beginning in book number 40, in the Gospel of Matthew) under Christ.  It was the long awaited 'Year of the Lord' when Jesus came...and years have 52 weeks. 
 
  So, here is a medical fact that might be worth considering in just a minute:  human feet, the two feet in total, have 66 joints and 52 bones. 
 
  If you look at the 444 days the hostages were held there is another interesting correlation:  If you go to the 44th book of the Protestant Bible (the Book of Acts) and then to the 4th chapter, you are looking at a hostage situation!  A crippled beggar whose FEET and ankles had some problem and did not work (note that it involved his feet, which have the 52 bones and 66 joints) that was described as being 'over 40 years old' (see the 40?) had been healed by Peter and John at the temple, near the temple gate named 'Beautiful'.   He'd been a fixture there at the temple for years apparently, so the entire crowd recognized the man, saw that he was no longer crippled, and were told by Peter and John that it was by the name of Jesus the Son of God that the man was healed.  Many praised God loudly for this.  But the temple guards were told by the Jewish priests and leaders to arrest John and Peter.  The Jewish leadership was jealous of the attention that Jesus (who had been crucified) and His followers were receiving from the people who were supposed to look up to them...the Priests! 
 
  But they questioned Peter and John, who spoke with such boldness (and what could the leaders say...the man who was healed was standing right there with them!) that the leaders grudgingly let their 'hostages' go.  So, there is another sort of a 66 related example.  Sort of!  
 
  20.)  Let's bring the moon in for consideration.  The moon has so many characteristics that call Jesus to mind, so, so many!   The website has an account about it in fact.  But consider this oddity:  some sites list the diameter of the moon as being 2,160 miles.  Some vary by one or two miles from that, but some sites list the number as 2,160.  Now to the Book of Revelation, chapters 7 and 14:  it speaks in these two chapters of a special group of souls the Jesus has saved, all of them virgins we are told, that will accompany Jesus in Heaven, a group that will be composed of 144,000 special disciples that have been made pure and will be allowed to go with Jesus wherever he travels (whenever that pleases Him,  I presume!)  So it is wildly strange that if you divide the number 144,000 by 2,160 you get 66.6666666666 etc.  An endless string of 66's.  The odds of this being a coincidence given the significance of the number 66?  I admit I cannot say.  My gut feeling is that it is all a great mystery engineered by God.
 
 
  21.). To again consider the moon, which has so very many features and statistics that seem to purposefully call Jesus to mind, here is one physical statistic of the moon's orbital behaviors:  it has an axial inclination of 6.687 degrees with respect to its orbital plane.  So consider that not just as a 6.687, but also look at the numbers, and you see that there is a '66' and an '8' and a '7'.  So, there are writings that say that when Jesus returns next, it will be with a shouted command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of a trump call of God to raise the dead and then raise them, along with such of His followers as are alive at that time, to Heaven.  That is per Thessalonians 4:16. So there is the sound of a trump when Jesus comes?
 
  Well, consider now where you end up, within the Bible's pages, if you go to the Protestant Bible's 66th book, the 8th chapter, and the 7th verse. (66  8 7 ).  You are in Revelation chapter 8, and here is verse 7:  
 
  "The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth.  A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up."  Rev 8:7
 
  So, the moon is in many ways connotative of Jesus, and the tilt of the moon with respect to its orbital axis (6.687 degrees), if converted to book, chapter, and verse of the Bible speaks of the blowing of the first 'TRUMP' of the 7 trumps that will be blown during the terrible 'trumpet judgements'.  And the sound of a trump is exactly what we should expect to hear when Jesus comes down to raise the dead and remove them, along with the living faithful, to Heaven.  It is an interesting correlation that gives you quite a lot to think about.  Was it placed there purposefully by God on the first week of Creation, when He made the Heavens, to serve as a prophetic predictor?  He did say in Genesis that the heavenly bodies were in part to provide signs and wonders.  Maybe this is a purposeful link.  Maybe not.  God knows.    
 
                                                                                                                                            .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
 
22.)   As an example of our 'partial escape' from gravity, I could mention the it took from 1903 to 1969 (about 66 years!) to go from a 100+ foot flight in a crude early airplane at KittyHawk, North Carolina in the USA by the Wright brothers, to U.S. astronauts landing on the moon and walking around!  But that is a little bit different, perhaps less Biblical sort of an instance.  
 
 
23.)  In the Book of Daniel Chapter 3 (It's the 27th book of the Protestant Bible and 27 is the number of books in the New Testament whether you're Catholic or Protestant!) the Jews are captives in Babylon after losing a war.  But Daniel and his three friends Shadrak, Mishak, and Abednego have become important advisors to Nebuchadnezzar through a previous act of God.  Daniel is gone somewhere, he is not mentioned in this particular occurrence about to be discussed.  Perhaps he is off doing the king's business.  But while he is presumably gone, King Nebuchadnezzar builds a tall idol, some image of gold that is 60 cubits tall x 6 cubits wide.  (60 plus 6 is 66, so it is a sort of a 66, right?).  There is no mention of its thickness...only the width and height, so maybe the numbers 6 and 60 are supposed to stick out.  Everyone must worship this new idol by the king's order.  But Shadrak, Mishak, and Abednego will not do it.  They will only worship the true God they tell the king.  No matter what!  Nebuchadnezzar is furious with them and has a great furnace heated up to 7 times its normal temperature.  He has his strongest soldiers take the three rebellious young slave men and toss them into the furnace. It is so hot that it kills the strong soldiers.  Yet...everyone watches amazed as they see the 3 young Hebrew men walking around in the furnace, and there is a mysterious 4th person walking around also, and Nebuchadnezzar sees them still alive in the flames and states that the 4th man looks like a 'son of the gods!'.  He calls them back out of the furnace, frightened at what he is seeing.  They emerge.  They have been saved from certain death, and in fact have no hint of fire damage on themselves or their clothing, or their hair, etc.  They are untouched.  A frightened and repentant King Nebuchadnezzar promotes them, and says that their God is a God like no other.  And he was right, wasn't he?   
 
24.). 66 lines in human fingerprints?  Some sources are saying so!
 
 
25.)  Battle of Hastings, 1066 A.D. ?  Maybe!  I believe that one of the only 11th century historical dates an average American can pop out is 1066...Oct 14, 1066 A.D. to be exact.  The Battle of Hastings in England occurred on that date, when Normandy's William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, defeating and killing the Saxon King Harold II.  William was a surprisingly devout Catholic man by all accounts of his contemporaries, his banner was blessed personally by the Pope before he crossed the English Channel, and the Catholic Church was the most powerful force involved in spreading western Christianity in that day, despite their faults such as they were.  William, once in charge, reformed the English Catholic Church to a high degree in so far as bringing it into line with the officially stated practices of the Catholic Church in mainland Europe (where they also were known to violate their official practices!) and he built a great number of sturdy, long lasting and sometimes very beautiful stone churches and also founded a couple of important monasteries.  He became King over a large swath of England, though not Wales or Scotland or certain other areas.   
  It was said that the Saxon version of the English Catholic Church had slipped into a great number of unholy practices.  Simony, married priests, fees charged for performing religious duties, etc.  And certain pagan customs and practices were being unofficially smiled upon.  England's church reform of that day would prove crucial when in future centuries the swelling power of their Navy would allow them to conquer many lands.  Soon enough, the Catholic Church would be supplanted by the Church of England there on their mother isle, true.  But William brought needed reform to the English Catholic Church as it existed in his day, keeping it from slipping back towards more pagan practices and times.  What does our Holy Father hate more than the worship of false gods?  Present-day USA with their love of Halloween and their pagan Easter practices should take note.  While it is hard to say just how angry this paganization of our nation makes Him, I would suppose that almost all of us know that it would please Him if we gave that all up to please Him.  And so what is our excuse not to? 
  Though the British Empire conquered lands for profit and influence, they none the less were an undeniable if reproachably incidental agent of Christian evangelism in that where ever they colonized they also Christianized.  The hypocrisy of their motivations can be discussed all day long, and will surely be scrutinized by the Holy Father on the day of judgement.  This is true of all conquering nations who claimed or claim themselves Christian.  But Jesus said that He was the only path to the Father.  So receiving the teachings of Jesus by any means is a boon to any nation or people the value of which cannot even be truly quantified, though woe betide the people that brought it along merely as an accessory to their true sinful intent.  How shall such evangelism be judged?  But it is also true to say that the religious administrations or power structures of false religions will most often see their people destroyed before they will voluntarily surrender power.  So what about the souls saved from damnation because their nation became Christian through being conquered by forces that did not have Christian things in mind so much as worldly things when they came to shed blood, pillage, usurp, and destroy?
  It would be remiss not to mention William's wife Matilda of Flanders, known as beautiful, pious (in the same sense as William), very capable of ruling the entire kingdom when William was gone, and ...a wild card of a woman by any measure.  Their marriage was absolutely crazy, just insane in many respects, a tumultuous, sometimes violent romance for the ages.  But William loved her very deeply and was devastated when she preceded him in death.  She apparently just did what she chose to do.  She was faithful to her marriage though.  Once she was falsely accused of having an affair and claimed her innocence.  William went so far as to disguise himself as a priest and listen to her confession before concluding she really was innocent.  Then he had her accuser skinned alive, and quartered.  In other instances, he had her drug through the streets by her hair on three separate occasions during their marriage.  He physically beat her up for not accepting his marriage proposal in the first place, but while recuperating in bed she reached the conclusion that he was the only man for her, it was written.  She was his right arm, yet personally funded a rebellion against his rule to aid their mutual son Robert, who felt overlooked by his father.  Discovering her involvement, she lost some of her power and influence with William yet never faced treason charges and remained his true love.  Somehow this couple seems to have strengthened and reformed the church in England, however.  But they truly seem to have brought the trailer court to the palace.   A Saxon writing of William said, 'He was mild towards men who loved God, but stark in the extreme to those who withsaid his will.'  (I guess withsaid is similar to withstood?)  
 
 
 
  And there are certain to be other examples of 66 not mentioned here.  The number 66 truly does have a great number of links to 'rescue by God, or rescue through Jesus', I think.
 
 
  It makes a person wonder if the year 2066 might involve a great salvation of God's people.  Who knows?  We Christians seem to always be moving the end times goal posts.  My next guesses are 2027, 2030/31, and 2050 to be important dates in Christianity.  But 'guesses' is definitely the right word to use.

 

 

  The number 66 seems to so often be somehow associated whenever God's people are saved at the last moment.  It is a beautiful mystery, but it really does seem to be a pattern that God has placed into history and into His Word.