Fifteen

Deliverance

I will add unto thy days fifteen years.—2 Kings 20:6

David Stein

Much of the Bible is highly symbolic. The infinite wisdom of Jehovah made .it that way so that it would appeal only to those having a certain condition of heart and humility of mind. Others would reject it as nonsense.

So it is that numbers in the Bible are frequently symbolic. The list of numbers Bible students have used for their symbolic value is large. But fifteen is not a number we encounter often in Scripture. Its obscurity has not made it a candidate for deep study. However, even this number appears to have a meaning associated with it. Fifteen appears to symbolize deliverance, with the associated ideas of restoration, restitution, and healing.

Hosea’s Wife

“The LORD [said] … Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said … abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” —Hosea 3:1-5.

This interesting text deals prophetically with the future relationship of Israel to Jehovah. First Hosea is told to marry an adulteress! This strange directive of Jehovah makes sense only when we see it as a parallel of Jehovah’s relationship to Israel. Israel adulterously served other gods, showing her unfaithfulness to her covenant. However, the time will come when God will redeem Israel from that condition and deliver her to a new and precious relationship.

This was already suggested by Hosea: “And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi [husband]; and shalt call me no more Baali [Lord]” (Hosea 2:16). Jehovah is saying he will not be just another faceless god of the unfaithful nation, but rather he will be the husband of a nation that will then become faithful and loyal.

The price of fifteen pieces of silver for the deliverance of the woman connects the symbolic meaning of this number with the concept of deliverance. But the 1½ homers of barley contain at least two more marvelous lessons.

First, that the purchase price was barley is a wonderful allusion to the sacrifice of Jesus. In the agricultural year of Israel, barley was the first harvest of the year. Since it was the firstfruits of the nation’s harvest, it was handled in a special way: “When ye be come into the land … and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD … on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day … an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD” (Leviticus 23:10-12).

A sheaf of this firstfruits, the barley offering, was to be waved before the Lord “on the morrow after the sabbath.” From the context, this would be the morrow after the first day of unleavened bread which is the sixteenth of Nisan. This is significant because it was on the sixteenth of Nisan that the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead! Consequently, we associate the barley harvest with the resurrection of Jesus. Thus the barley Hosea paid for the woman teaches that Jehovah redeems Israel with the precious blood of Jesus.

The second lesson is the quantity: 1½ homers of barley. Because one homer is equal to ten ephahs (Ezekiel 45:11), this price is fifteen ephahs! Again we find the number fifteen, and the lesson is the same: deliverance, restoration, healing, renewal, and redemption.

Hezekiah’s Deliverance

“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And … Isaiah … said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he … prayed … O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And … the LORD [said to Isaiah] … Tell Hezekiah … I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”— 2 Kings 20:1-6

Hezekiah’s prayer was answered, and his life spared. Jehovah granted him fifteen additional years of life. The direct lesson connects fifteen with deliverance, healing, blessing. But additional information identifies the source of deliverance in the sacrificial death of Jesus. Hezekiah was to go to the house of Jehovah on the third day in appreciation of his healing! We associate this with Jesus who died and was resurrected on the third day (Matthew 16:21).

Also note verse 7: “And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.” Hezekiah’s healing is expedited by laying a lump of figs on the boil. Figs are a general symbol of Israel. This medical protocol suggests the healing of mankind is connected with Israel, in harmony with the original Abrahamic promise, “in thy seed [heavenly and earthly] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18).

Fifteen Furlongs

“Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off” (John 11:18).  The context of this text concerns the raising of Lazarus. He was delivered from death and restored to life. It is not then unexpected to find the number fifteen in this account since a deliverance is prominently shown.

There are further implications. Bethany means “house of misery” (Strongs 963) and Jerusalem “city of peace” (Strongs 2414). The distance between Bethany and Jerusalem may symbolize the journey of mankind from the misery of sin to the deliverance of peace. The result is deliverance, and thus it is fifteen furlongs. This might be one reason why the destination of Jerusalem is taken to another level in Revelation with the picture of New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. John saw the “new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband … God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:2-4).

How wonderful that in the account of raising Lazarus from the dead, which is a kingdom picture, this tiny detail that Jerusalem is fifteen furlongs from Bethany is mentioned! The numerical symbol is consistent.

Noah’s Ark

“Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered” (Genesis 7:20). The entire picture of the flood and Noah is one of deliverance. Again we are not surprised by the presence of the number fifteen, because it depicts deliverance.

This detail may also have a practical reason for being included. Since the ark was thirty cubits high, perhaps it drew about fifteen cubits of depth, i.e., the lower fifteen cubits of the ark were under water. Thus even if the ark floated near the highest mountains in the area, it was not in danger of hitting anything underwater.

Jesus said the days of Noah were prophetic of the days of the presence of the son of man (Matthew 24:37). This furnishes an interesting irony. The “world that was” was destroyed by a flood of water. The world of the future, delivered in the Millennium, will be saved by a flood of the knowledge of God: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

Covering the tallest mountains by fifteen cubits which effected Noah’s deliverance reminds us that the flood of knowledge in the kingdom covering everything will effect the full deliverance, healing, and restoration of mankind by destroying every imperfection of sin.

Genesis 7:24 says “The waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days”—ten times fifteen. Ten often symbolizes earthly wholeness or completeness. Perhaps this one hundred fifty indicates the complete deliverance of Noah and his family.

Jacob

“Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times” (Genesis 31:41). Jacob served Laban fourteen years as debt for acquiring Laban’s two daughters as wives. The year of his deliverance from this debt to his father-in-law was the fifteenth year of his service.

The Tabernacle Court

“The breadth of the court on the east side … shall be fifty cubits. The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits” (Exodus 27:13-16).

The east side of the court was fifty cubits wide and it had a gate twenty cubits wide. There is specific mention that on each side of that gate were fifteen cubits of linen curtain. The gate to the court, the door to the tabernacle, and the vail dividing the Holy from the Most Holy all represented Jesus: “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

We properly associate the gate as “the way,” the door as “the truth,” and the vail as “the life.” The gate was one hundred square cubits as was the door and the vail. One hundred is another of those wonderful symbolic numbers and consistently seems to point to Jesus and his ransom sacrifice. The gate, Jesus as “the way,” is flanked on each side by fifteen cubits of white linen. It seems to show this is the way to deliverance, healing, and restoration. Again Jesus is at the center.

There might be something more in the repetition of fifteen on either side of the gate. Jesus laid his life down that we, the church, might have heavenly life. The world in the kingdom will have deliverance to human life. This is the doctrine of the two salvations. It may be a reasonable inference that the fifteen cubits on each side of Jesus represent the two salvations which flow from his offering.

The Altar of Burnt Offering

“Thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits” (Exodus 27:1). This brazen altar, or Altar of Burnt Offering, was five cubits by five cubits square, and three cubits high. This is another representation of Jesus as the ransom sacrifice. Each side of the altar was fifteen square cubits. No matter which side one examines, one sees the deliverance which stems from the sacrifice of Jesus.

Bars of the Tabernacle

“Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward. And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.”—Exodus 26:26-29

These verses describe the bars which held the tabernacle boards together—five bars each on the north, west, and south, a total of fifteen bars! A beautiful application of this is how love binds the church together: “The love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). These bars, covered with gold, represent the divine love Jesus has for the church, the same love expressed by those in the church.

That there were fifteen bars suggests deliverance. Perhaps the most dramatic deliverance effected by love is deliverance from fear: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). Love delivers from fear and substitutes trust.

The Exodus

“They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians” (Numbers 33:3). Israel’s deliverance from Egypt occurred on Nisan 15.

Feasts of Israel

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles both commenced on the fifteenth day of the month (Nisan 15 and Tishri 15—see Leviticus 23:6,34). The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately followed the Passover. Thus the connection with national deliverance, reckoning back to the deliverance of the firstborn, is clear.

For the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles we turn to Zechariah: “Every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

Note the connection between the kingdom and the future celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Full deliverance for the world requires them to observe the future Feast of Tabernacles. The blessings are held back unless there is compliance. Since both feasts commenced on the fifteenth of the month, we see illustrated the lesson of deliverance, both for the church of the firstborn and for the world.

Steps to Ezekiel’s Temple

“The gate that looketh toward the east … they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them … toward the utter court … the going up to it had eight steps” (Ezekiel 40:22,31).

Ezekiel’s temple had an Inner and an Outer Court. There are seven steps to the Outer Court and eight steps to the Inner Court. Thus there are fifteen steps to the Sanctuary of the House of the Lord, fifteen steps to reach the place of deliverance, healing, and restoration.

Deliverers of Israel

“When the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men” (Micah 5:5). The deliverers of Israel when the “Assyrian” attacks are seven shepherds and eight principal men (princes)—a total of fifteen deliverers.

The seven shepherds represent the church, since seven symbolizes spiritual completeness or perfection. The eight princes of men represent the ancient worthies, the ancient heroes of the Old Testament, resurrected first among mankind and raised to princely positions in the earthly phase of the heavenly kingdom.

Deliverance in the Days of Esther

“But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness” (Esther 9:18). The Jews celebrate their deliverance from the enemy on the fifteenth day of the twelfth month.

Solomon’s Temple

“Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him … from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt … seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day … they … went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.”— 1 Kings 8:65,66

This episode occurs during the dedication of Solomon’s temple. He held a great feast of fourteen days and sent them home on day fifteen. However, the Scripture does not call it day fifteen; it calls it day eight. Why? Eight is a symbol of newness: new life, new relationship, new beginnings. Hebrew males were circumcised on the eighth day of life, entering into the Mosaic Law covenant for which circumcision was a sign. Jesus was raised to newness of life on the eighth day (the day after the seventh).

The building and dedication of Solomon’s temple pictures the establishment of Christ and the church in power and glory, commencing deliverance for the world. This is indeed the most wonderful newness for the world. But it is also the beginning of the deliverance from sin and death. Thus we see a synergy between the symbolic meanings of fifteen and eight.

Gematria

Gematria is the substitution of letters for numbers. Such substitution leads to many interesting symbolic meanings and insightful results. The shortened form of Jehovah used occasionally in scripture is Jah. The Hebrew letters used in this name are: Yod (w) and Hey (h). Yod is the tenth letter, and Hey the fifth letter, of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus the “number” of Jah is fifteen. Our God is a great deliverer. His promises never go unfulfilled.

Conclusion

The presence of the number fifteen in Scripture draws our minds to the concept of deliverance, healing, restoration, and redemption. Often symbols of the sacrifice of Jesus are implicitly associated with the number fifteen. Jesus gave us a vital promise to sustain us in the intervening time of the Gospel age: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).