In Genesis God creates everything in six days and on the seventh day he rested. As I kept reading, in Deuteronomy the number seven seems to come up again but this time the Lord is giving law that must be done in seven days, weeks, etc. Seven is a holy number throughout the bible but we can see how humans first applied it in chapter 16 of Deuteronomy. As stated, "Seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose..." (Deuteronomy 16:15) This quote also demonstrates how everything that the people must do must be at a chosen place—a place that only God can chose which made the even more sacred event. Everyone did exactly what God asked for in the specific amount of time that he wanted because of the harsh punishments that God also established; I saw a new side of God in this chapter. However, God wanted people to appreciate what he has done for humans. Maybe God wanted humans to do things in seven days, weeks, etc. as a way of thanking him for creating us
The number 7 is actually first brought up explicitly back in Genesis 3 ("Anyone who dares to kill Cain 'will suffer vengeance seven times over."[Genesis 4:15]), and even then it is implicitly stated, as you said, upon God's taking seven days to completely finish creation. Considering the "new" and aggressive side of God, whether or not he wanted humans to be thankful for all he did for them, one could also argue that He wants humans to do things in "sevens," rest on the seventh day, etc. because he is merely re-enforcing his rule over the human race. He has already proven himself border-line, if not full-on, tyrannical in his ruling over humans, treating them like Sims (i.e. the whole Tower of Babel spectacle), so I think it is absolutely plausible to assume that God's keeping the number 7 holy and enforcing everything in sevens is just another in an already long list of rules, which is essentially all Deuteronomy was, for humanity to follow in order to appease him.
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DeleteI am intrigued by how God chose the number 7 and why this number alone provides the foundation for God's creations and symbolizes a sort of perfectness and completeness. I researched this number and a source states that the Bible references this number 860 times. I agree with Eddy in that God's enforcement and use of the number seven in all forms acts as a sort of guideline or organization for his sort of tyranny. However, I have never really thought of the Bible as a necessarily intellectual text, and when I think of numbers, especially an obsession with a number, I think of math and science- specifically of numerical patterns in nature. I don't know if God knows of things like this; on one hand he should be all knowing and created this world for heaven's sake (pun intended?) and on the other hand I do not see him as rational or scientific in any light. So: why seven?
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