Of all the significant numbers in the Bible, five appears to be the most special in relation to man, standing for grace. Grace is unmerited favor, or receiving a gift that was not earned. The gift given by God was not earned, but additionally, could not be earned in any way, shape or form. Interestingly, if six is the number of man, if we take one away we are left with five, the number of grace. What is the one thing being taken away? Our sin! God’s removal of that sin should give each believer the greatest joy, relief and need to praise the One who accomplished that feat.
The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet also reveals much to us. It is the letter “hey,” which looks like this, . In Hebrew, letters are also pictographs, as each letter also has a word that it stands for. Interestingly, “hey” means “behold,” which is the Old Testament rendering of revelation. In that letter, God announces to us all, “Look at the gift I have given you!” The pictograph of this letter has a man standing with arms raised! Additionally, Jewish mystics of ancient times assigned this letter to represent the breath or Spirit of God.
God chose Abraham and told him that He would bless the families of all nations through Abraham. Abraham did not earn that blessing by his own perfection. Instead, God showed favor through His grace. In Genesis 15:9, God requests a five-fold sacrifice from Abraham: a 3-year-old heifer, a 3-year-old female goat, a 3-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. Once again, five points to the grace of God!
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:1-8
Abraham was not the only one to receive a name change, as his wife, Sarai, became Sarah. In our culture, the most significant time for a name change is in marriage, and in the same manner, Abraham and Sarah took the name of God. The Lord placed that Hebrew “hey” into the midst of their names, filling them with His grace, His Spirit!
Certainly, it is no accident that Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Bible, with one of the most important themes of the book being the grace of God. Is it any wonder that this is the book quoted most often by Jesus while on this earth? Even the title in Hebrew, “Devarim,” means “words.” God gifted us with His words, and through those words, with the ability to know Him! That is grace, for even though He created us, God could have retained that separation from His creation!
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3:24
The same Greek word used for “freely,” dorean, applies to a gift given “without a cause.” It is the same word used by Jesus when He said, “They hated me without a cause,” in John 15:25. Just as there was no cause for people to hate Jesus, there is no cause in us that God would love us! We are justified without a cause by His grace!
David, when only a lad, picked up five, smooth stones to face the giant Goliath in battle, yet he needed only one of those stones. With One Rock pointing to the Rock of our salvation and five pointing to the grace of God, the Lord delivered David and all of Israel that day!
Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
Leviticus 26:8
Notice that the verse above does not say “five shall chase a hundred,” but “five of you shall chase a hundred,” referring to five people being filled with the grace and Spirit of God. Our power is from God, not from ourselves! When Jesus was speaking at length to the multitudes, and desired to feed them, the disciples brought five fish and two loaves. Through His grace, 5,000 men ate that day, a gift from the Bread of life (Matthew 14:17).
Throughout the Bible, five points to the grace of God, who gave the greatest gift to each willing to receive it. To walk in His grace is to understand the immensity of His gift. Though He gave it freely, without cause, it did not come cheaply, costing Jesus death on the cross and a temporary separation from His Father because of our sins. When we continue to walk in sin, we act as if His gift means nothing! Just as the Hebrew pictograph of the fifth Hebrew letter reveals a man with arms raised, the revelation of grace should have each of us behold the Lord, who has gone to great lengths to save us. With the fifth commandment pointing to honoring our parents, we should first honor the Father who gave us life and relationship in Him. He is worthy of all of our praises and we are so unworthy of His grace!
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
Matthew 25:14-17
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