40 Days of Preparation Why 40 Days

As we begin to prepare our hearts for Easter the question needs to answered why “40” days?  In this post I will attempt to explain the significance of the number “40” in the Scriptures.

40 days of Rain

The first instance in which the number “40” occurs in the Bible is during the story of the flood.  You can read about this great flood in Genesis chapters  6, 7 and 8. God judged the world and destroyed it with water “40” was the number of days during which it actually rained. 

¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:12 (ESV)

Since the number “40” was the number of days and nights it rained upon the Earth “40” has been understood to connote divine judgment. 

40 Years of Wandering

When God judged the children of Israel for their lack of faith in taking the land which He promised to deliver into their hands once more it is the number “40” which He chose as the term of their punishment.

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: ²⁹ your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, ³⁰ not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹ But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. ³² But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ ³⁵ I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” Numbers 14:26–35 (ESV)

Please notice, however, that we cannot say that “40” is the term of Israel’s  judgment’s because “40” means divine judgment.  God chose the number “40” because that was the length of time which the spies were in the promised land.  The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for “40” years because they disobeyed God, and not because God arbitrarily chose to punish them. We do learn from this story, however, that once more those who are familiar with Scripture recognize that the number “40” is associated with this judgment of God.

40 Days of Spying out the Land

As we discussed previously when God brought the children of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage to the edge of the promised land He had them send spies into the land, one from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.  These spies were tasked with determining the condition of the land to which God had led them, and to determine what kind of defenses the people who inhabited the land might possess.

²³ And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. ²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. Numbers 13:23–25 (ESV)

In this story the number “40” seems to be arbitrarily chosen, but when the spies deliver a report that causes the children of Israel to not believe that God has acted faithfully in leading them to this land, and that they would therefore prefer to return to the bondage of Egypt God uses this number “40” to calculate the length of their punishment. Thus once more the number “40” is associated by those familiar with the Scripture with judgment and punishment.

40 Stripes

When Moses gives the law to the children of Israel the assigned punishment from the judge for someone who deserves to be whipped was 40 lashes.

³ Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight. Deuteronomy 25:3 (ESV)

So once more the Bible student has justification in associating the number “40” with judgment and punishment. The number “40” has a richer and deeper biblical meaning, however, than simply denoting God’s judgment and punishment.  The number “40” is also used in a positive sense as well.

40 Denotes Maturity

The number “40” was also an important milestone in a man’s life indicating that he was mature and now ready to accept his place in Hebrew society, being married and eligible to hold important public offices.

²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. Genesis 25:20 (ESV)

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Genesis 26:34 (ESV)

⁷ “I [Joshua] was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Joshua 14:7 (NASB)

We are beginning to learn that the number “40” has more than one meaning, and that among its meanings is that when someone reaches the age of 40 they are mature and should be prepared to take their place in society, to become the head of a family, and be ready be used of God.

40 Days in which Moses Communed with God on Mount Sinai

When God (YHWH) gave Moses the 10 Commandments it was after Moses had spent 40 days in God’s presence. Can you imagine meeting God face to face and being personally invited to stay in his presence for any length of time.  This is exactly what God did for Moses, and this is also what He invites each of us to do today whenever we pray!

¹⁸ Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:18 (ESV)

So initially from considering Moses’ encounter with God on Mount Sinai, we would all agree that the number “40” may also be associated with a very special time of blessing.  In the book of Deuteronomy Moses gives us a little more detail about this encounter.

⁹ When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Deuteronomy 9:9 (ESV)

Moses tells us that while he was in God’s presence not only did he not eat anything he didn’t even drink any water.

¹¹ And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Deuteronomy 9:11 (ESV)

Medical science would lead us to believe that it is impossible for a human being be without water for between 8 to 14 days and survive. Therefore, many would dispute Moses’s claim of being without bread and water for a period of “40” days.  These people would say Moses’ claim would be improbable, or impossible, and would therefore say that such claims “prove” that the Bible is unreliable and inaccurate.  As you might imagine I disagree!  It seems completely plausible to me that in the presence of the Creator of the universe one would be able to survive for as long as He choose to sustain you.

After this original encounter of “40” days and nights God gives Moses the 10 Commandments and he proceeds down the mountain only to find the children of Israel engaged in worshiping an idol in the most debase and sexually explicit means possible. It is upon seeing this debauchery that Moses throws down the stone tablets containing the 10 Commandments in disgust.

Next, Moses describes his prayer of intercession on behalf of Israel.

¹⁸ Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Deuteronomy 9:18 (ESV)

Once more we see the number “40” related to sin and fear of God’s judgment.

²⁵ “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. Deuteronomy 9:25 (ESV)

The meaning of number “40” in this case is more complicated than simple judgment, however. Do you not see the beauty in the man of God interceding on behalf of the children of Israel for “40” days and nights because he is afraid that God will destroy them in His wrath.  Thus, the number “40” should also be associated by those familiar with the Scripture as an representing an intense time of prayer and fasting.

40 Days of Elijah’s Journey through the Wilderness

Another positive aspect for the number “40” in the Scriptures occurs during the life of the prophet Elijah.

⁸ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. ⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:8–9 (ESV)

After God had given Elijah a major victory over the prophets of Baal, in fear he flees from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. It is then while Elijah is feeling sorry for himself that God shows him compassion and not judgment when an Angel bakes him bread and provides him with water, which gave him strength for “40” days.  Here we have the number “40” associated with God giving his prophet the means to endure a trying time even when Elijah is afraid and not demonstrating his own personal faith in God’s ability to protect him.

40 Days of Testing

We need to understand these OT occurrence of the number “40” so that we can fully understand the significance of “40” in the NT.  In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry once more we see the number “40” associated with a time of testing but this in and of itself is not necessarily a negative.

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Matthew 4:1–2 (ESV)

I hope you see in this text that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into this time of trial and testing.  Jesus passed the test! For each of us who claim His name as Savior this is a huge positive.  For “40” days and nights Jesus, in his human flesh, must have struggled but He did not yield to Satan or to sin.  As a result His is the perfect life, He is the perfect Savior, and His was the perfect sacrifice for sin fully acceptable to God the Father. Were it not for Jesus’ successful navigation of this “40” day period of testing, temptation and fasting these things would not be true for us.

40 Days of  Post Resurrection Appearances by Jesus

After Jesus was resurrected from the dead He appeared to His disciples and others so that they might see and believe that God had indeed raised Him.

³ He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 (ESV)

For Christians this represents the most positive use of the number “40” in all Scripture.  This use of “40” also has the greatest relevance for our utilization of the number “40” in our preparation for Easter.  We should rest assured that Jesus Christ is indeed alive! His resurrection from the dead was witnessed by more than 500 people during these “40” days according to the apostle Paul.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (ESV)

We choose to use “40” in part to remind us of God’s judgment and to motivate us judge ourselves.  We choose “40” also because we believe that our preparation for Easter should be an intense time of prayer and fasting or prayer and self-denial. We also choose the number “40” to commemorate Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection from the dead.  In the final analysis is this not what Easter and our celebration of it is all about?