1864 A.D.: James Maxwell discovers fundamental properties of light, possibly in keeping with Numbers 2:9 prophecy!
James Clerk Maxwell, 1831 - 1879, Scottish Mathematician and Physicist, Educated at Cambridge and Edinburgh. Maxwell was allowed by God to make the first great breakthroughs on the physical nature of light.
Not too long ago I was allowed to notice what I believe is a new Bible discovery. And it's an extraordinary one, really. It could help sway some of the tougher skeptics to see that God is the creator of the Universe and Jesus is His son, and that the Bible contains deep and holy knowledge indeed. And, importantly, our young people may see that this is special. They stand in deep need of Godly knowledge, as we all do, to inspire them. Please share this widely if you see its value. Knowledge of God makes God's people more powerful and effective in opposing God's enemies. Sharing is evangelism!
Here it is:
Synopsis: In Numbers 2:9 there is discussion of the size of Judah's marching group as the Israelites march through the Sinai under Moses and Aaron. They are told which formation they are to march in for all of the 40 years that they will march in the Sinai:
2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”
3 On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 His division numbers 74,600.
5 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 His division numbers 54,400.
7 The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. 8 His division numbers 57,400.
9 All the men assigned to the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, number 186,400. They will set out first.
End quote.
Judah's cohort numbers 186,400 men it says. Today, we know that from Judah would come Joseph and Mary, and then Jesus, the light of the world, will physically be born through Mary, right? Well, I've found that this number 186,400 contains a small treasure trove of information about light; information that wouldn't be "discovered" by us humans for well more than three thousand years! Below are some important details to keep in mind:
1.) Jesus is related to and compared to light in multiple scriptures. He even uses the analogy Himself. Connecting a rising sun in scripture with Jesus therefore seems allowable, seems to sometimes be indicated as an approved connection, a thing we are guided to be able to do in some cases, a reasonable understanding of a few different scriptures. Jesus was purposefully likened to the rising sun at certain times in the Holy Word. Here is one example from the New Testament, where John the Baptist is being spoken of, who we know paved the way for Jesus. It is from Luke 1: 76-78:
"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven."
End quote
Here is John 8:12 where Jesus Himself is being quoted:
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
End Quote
Here also is the Gospel of John chapter 1, verse 4 &5:
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. End quote.
Here is an association or metaphor from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, chapter 3, comparing the Lord to a sunrise, though it may be more about of God the Father rather than Jesus:
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.[b]
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
the Holy One from Mount Paran.[b]
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
End quote.
So it is not a stretch to say that things associated with the sunrise can sometimes be referring to Jesus or the Father. Jesus is the Light that dispels the Spiritual Darkness, right, just as the sunrise dispels the night time darkness.
2.) Jesus was from the tribe of Judah concerning his earthly heritage.
3.) Approximately 3,400 years ago not much was known about the physical or numerical nature of light. The tools for measuring it weren't available.
In Numbers 2:1-9 the Israelite tribes, having recently fled Egypt, were told specifically how they were to march in formation through the Sinai wilderness...it was a formation that would have looked like a cross from above it sounds like, though that should have meant little to an Israelite 3,400 years ago. But three tribes would march along on the east side of the group, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the north. Each tribe would carry their own banner, but a selected tribe in each group would always lead. The number of men in each 3 tribe grouping is listed in Numbers chapter 2. The three tribes told to march on the East side of the group (Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon) would walk under the tribe of Judah's banner. They numbered 186,400 men, per Numbers 2:9.
Now flash forward in time. It was determined thousands of years later that the speed of light is about 186,000 miles per second. (today's most favored measure seems to be 186,282 miles per second.) So Jesus' ancestral tribe, Judah, at the exact time God directed the census to be taken, marched with 186,400 men. And the speed of light is about 186,282 miles per second we say.
There is less than 1/10th of a single percent difference. And today's measurement of light might easily be off by more than 1/10th of 1%, right? Or perhaps the speed is not so constant as we believe, and perhaps in about 1350 B.C. that was its actual speed. At any rate, a numerical value so close to the speed of light having so many light related sub-components is one very, very unlikely coincidence.
Of course, to measure light you need defined units of both distance and units of time to determine 'rate of speed'. It is said that light travels 186,282 miles per second. So what is the definition of '1 second'. Well, we have 86,400 seconds in our 24 hour calendar days in our modern era, around 3,400 years after Moses' time. 24 hrs x 60 minutes x 60 seconds = 86,400 seconds. Judah's marching group had 186,400 men. The exact number of seconds in a day - the precise perfect number - was encapsulated into the size of Judah's marching group around 3,400 years ago. Along with the near exact speed of light. Chance caused that to happen? Not very likely at all! And what instrument existed which could have allowed people 3,400 years ago to measure how many seconds were in a day?
So, there is something in this number that relates to a second. Is there anything in here that relates to a mile? After all, light travels around 186,400 miles per second. So what about miles? You have to have a precise definition of mile, right? It happens that God guides human history and the development of human culture to any degree He wishes. It happens that in some nations such as the USA, exactly 640 acres of God's well-lit land are contained in 1 square mile of land. And so, the distance unit called the "mile" has a concrete link to the number 640, which is contained in the number 186,400. A landowner that owns 640 acres has 1 mile to the East, 1 mile to the West, 1 mile to the North, and 1 mile to the South. Just as the Israelites were taught to march with 3 tribes, an even number of tribes, to the East, West, North, and South.
The number 6400 is found inside of the number 186,400. It is also a 'light related' number, well known among lighting specialists such as professionally trained photographers, and film and video producers. If 6400K light (K stands for Kelvin, the temperature scale...the lighting industry quite commonly rates their products' light intensity using this metric) is used inside of a dark room it is able to approximate a 'daylight' level of lighting. If you search '6400K' you will find a great number of light bulb type products. You have to admit, it's a pretty strange coincidence that so many portions of the number 186,400 relate to light and lighting terms. But this isn't the end of it!
And it gets crazier! Judah's marching group was 186,400 men. Well, the Earth gets its light directly from the Sun, or at night by reflection of the Sun from the Moon. The diameter of the Sun is very close to 400 times larger than the Moon's. But amazingly, the Sun is very close to 400 times further away from us than the Moon. So they appear nearly the same size. That's why the Moon can so exactly eclipse the Sun at times. It's a highly strange coincidence really. But we're just used to it, and full eclipses of the Sun are rare, so we don't often think about how unlikely it was that it should be that way. Judah's marching group, again, was 186,400 men. The number 400 is encapsulated in the size of Judah's marching group.
And more about the number 400 and light. We can not see ultra-violet light because the wavelength is too short in light of how our eyes are designed. But as the wavelength of ultra-violet light increases, our human eyes first begin to perceive a violet colored light at a wavelength of approximately 400 nanometers. (different sources give slightly different numbers for the shortest wavelength light that humans can see, but 400 nanometers is one that you will find given by some sources.)
So, at this point it's an amazing number, these 186,400 marchers in Judah's marching group. But...consider this:
Scientists in the last couple of centuries have worked hard to learn about the phenomenon that we call light. After all, it comprised one of the universe's fundamental components. And it was in December 8, 1864 that James Clerk Maxwell, a deeply Christian physicist and mathematician hailing from Scotland, said to have memorized most of Psalms as a boy, presented a paper to be called "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" to a small group of friends before weeks later presenting it to the British Royal Society. Its effects were so profound that it began what would be called the "Second Great Unification of Physics", Isaac Newton's being the first. Maxwell had worked out certain fundamental truths about the electromagnetic nature of light and his work turned out to be fairly on target, and is considered seminal to further findings. Maxwell is the man credited with performing the breakthrough research on light.
So Maxwell revealed the fundamental secrets of light to a small group of men in England in December of 1864. And well over 3,000 years earlier Judah's marching group was 186,400.
So, in summary, Yahweh, the creator of the universe and all of its matters and energies, caused the number of marchers in Judah's marching group around 3,400 years ago to be listed as 186,400 in Numbers 2:9. That amazing number contains the speed of light, the number of seconds in a day, a suggested understanding of the size ratio of the Moon and the Sun, Earth's two light supplying heavenly bodies. It even encapsulated the exact year when mankind discovered the basics concerning the nature of light, in Anno Domini terms (i.e.: in A.D. timekeeping methodology. Anno Domini means 'Year of our Lord' !) This suggests informed anticipation of exactly when it would be that Jesus would come to Earth (the necessary pre-knowledge that there would be an 'Anno Domini' time keeping structure) as well as knowledge of what would happen afterward concerning human research regarding light (i.e. - the 1864 A.D. first noted public sharing by Maxwell of his discoveries)! Only God could have accomplished that! Only the one Who knew the end from the beginning.
And do you know what the names Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon mean? One definition you can easily find goes like this:
Judah: He will be praised.
Issachar: He will bring a reward.
Zebulon: Exalted, honored.
These are true statements about Jesus also....right?
It is as if the number 186,400 contains within itself a comprehensive prophecy about light.
I hope you will help this exciting Bible discovery reach the Lord's pastors and ministers and lay Christians so that it can be shared far and wide to God's glory, and perhaps, here and there, it will sway some people towards belief in Jesus.
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." from 1 John 1:5
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." Gospel of John 1:1-5