What is the significance of 40 days in the Bible?

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What is the significance of 40 days in the Bible? The number 40 shows up often in the

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Bible. Because 40 appears so often in contexts dealing with judgment or testing, many scholars understand it to be the number of probation or trial.

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This doesn't mean that 40 is entirely symbolic. It still has literal meaning in scripture. 40 days means 40 days.

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But it does seem that God has chosen that number to help emphasize times of trouble and hardship.

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Here are some examples of the Bible's use of the number 40 that stress the theme of testing or judgment.

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In the Old Testament, when God destroyed the earth with water, He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights.

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After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years in the desert tending flocks.

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Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses interceded on Israel's behalf for 40 days and 40 nights.

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The law specified a number of lashes a man could receive for a crime, setting the limit at 40.

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The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy on Canaan. The Israelites wandered for 40 years.

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Before Samson's deliverance, Israel served the Philistines for 40 years. Goliath taunted

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Saul's army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him. When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb.

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The number 40 also appears in the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jonah. In the

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New Testament, Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights. There were 40 days between Jesus' resurrection and ascension.

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Whether or not the number 40 really has any significance is still debated. The Bible definitely seems to use 40 to emphasize a spiritual truth, but we must point out that the

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Bible nowhere specifically assigns any special meaning to the number 40. Some people place too much significance on numerology, trying to find a special meaning behind every number in the

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Bible. Often, a number in the Bible is simply a number, including the number 40. God does not call us to search for secret meanings, hidden messages, or codes in the

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Bible. There is more than enough truth in the plain words of Scripture to meet all our needs and make us complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.