I can already hear some of you saying: but zero isn’t in the Bible. True, the word zero isn’t in the Bible. The number zero isn’t in the Bible. It wasn’t until about the year 130 that there is any evidence for the number zero as a stand-alone number (and not merely a place-marker)[1]. That’s 34 years after the last book of the Bible, Revelation, was written.
Modern Hebrew still has no symbol of its own for zero as a number. Instead it uses the Arabic numbers for all the numbers, including zero. The Hebrew word for zero, epes (pronounced EF-es), means nil or nothing. So linguistically, Modern Hebrew still doesn’t technically have a word for zero, but the concept of zero is clearly there.
In fact, the concept of zero is also clearly found throughout the Bible: the idea that there were none, no people, no animals, no things, nothing.
This morning as I was meditating on God’s Word, I remembered that several years ago a friend had asked me what I knew about the significance of numbers in the Bible. Honestly, I had never thought about it. And this was long before I learned to Google for answers. So, with Concordance in hand, I simply dove into the Bible to see for myself. In fact, that may be the very first time that I became intrigued with Hebrew because it was fascinating to learn that words and letters have numerical values[2].
So this morning I began pondering the concept of zero from a Biblical perspective. When studying the Bible, it’s important to remember the Law of First Mention:
It is important to look for the place in the Bible that a subject, attitude, or principle is mentioned for the first time and see what it meant there[3].
The reason to look for the first mention is because that will help you to understand better all the rest of the places where that “subject, attitude, or principle.” The first mention establishes the true meaning of the concept.
There are many places where the concept of zero is clearly in the Bible, but the first mention is found in Genesis 1:2:
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
The Hebrew word for empty is tōhû (pronounced toh-HOO), meaning void, emptiness, also vanity and worthlessness. Not very exciting so far, right? Well, as I started thinking about all the other places where the concept of zero, nothing, void, emptiness, etc. occurred, the Holy Spirit revealed something really cool. Based on that first mention of void emptiness in Genesis, He showed me that the number zero is the number that requires the intervention of God. Think about it: the earth was zero, and needed God to make something from that nothing. Sarah’s womb was empty (and also Rachel’s and Hannah’s and Elizabeth’s and many others, most notably Mary’s), and needed God to make something—a baby.
No one is righteous—not even one, (Romans 3:10, emphasis mine).
See how zero is emphasized by repetition in this verse? This is the most important zero in all the Bible. Without God’s intervention, we are all lost—every single one of us. But thank God that He sent His only begotten Son to save us.
And that led me to think about my own life. At the end of three years of deep depression, just when it seemed that my life was a great big, fat goose egg, God intervened and made my zero into something wonderful.
Zero may not appear as a word or number in the Bible or in the Hebrew language, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And that certainly doesn’t mean that it isn’t important. Thank God for intervening everywhere and every time we come to zero. God is good!
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_(number)
Walking By Faith in Europe 
The favour of the Lord is upon us and the Devil knows we are winners.
God bless you…
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Yes indeed! Thank you for commenting! God bless you!
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Once we empty the vessel, then it can be readied to accept infinity. Death and rebirth.
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Thank you for sharing this. . 👼
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate your feedback!
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Thank you so much for writing this. I learnt something at a time when It was really needed. Thanks.
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Thanks for such an encouraging comment! May the Lord God give you a miracle at your personal zero place. 🙂
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That is so encouraging. Thank you for this.
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Thank you! I’m so glad it encouraged you!
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Amen! This has really blessed my soul as I am diving deeper to understand “EVERY” word of the gospel; especially numbers. Thank you so much for sharing. May God forever bless you all.
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Thank you my brother for your God inspired words. They have truly blessed me. I pray the blessing of God over your life. God speed!
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And thank you! (Though I’m your sister, not brother).
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Absolutely astonishing explanation about biblical nr 0. Thank you, and i thank YHWH who was leading me through His Spirit Ruach ha Qodesh to see this explanation. Indeed, i am in an urge to receive YHWH’s intervention and help in the Name of Adon Yahshua for His Name be highly esteemed! Ahmein Ahmein and HalleluYah!
Be barak by YHWH in the Name of Yahshua!
Shalom
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Thank you for your kind words. Without feedback, I would never know if anybody read it, liked it, found it interesting, or found fault with it. I do appreciate all feedback.
Blessings to you!
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The word tohu, Strong’s H8414, to which you refer, which is spelled “tav-hey-waw” in Ancient Hebrew, has many meanings, and in the KJV, is translated as “without form”, and is followed by the word “bohu”, Strong’s H922, pronounced “bo-hoo”, which has even fewer meanings, and is translated as “void”, and is spelled “waw-bet-hey-waw”, and comes from an unused root meaning “to be empty”. The answer you seek for the “bohu”, the emptiness, of Genesis 1:2, was written by the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 4:1-22, and it is so sad to read, especially Jeremiah 4:19, because most continue to only gain the knowledge of evil and completely miss the knowledge of good, the “1”, and there is none good but “One”, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19, and that “1” is God. As you read on, you will again find the thou and bohu, in Jeremiah 4:23, and they are spelled exactly the same as they appear in Genesis 1:2. God didn’t create (H1254) man on the 6th Day, He made (H6213) man, but most still have no understanding of God. God is still working today, but His day of rest in fast approaching, and on the Sabbath of God, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus Christ, and the 154,000 saints, will build the spiritual temple of God, because God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, just as written in Acts 7:24 and Acts 17:48. What a great day that will be! Godspeed and 2Timothy 2:15.
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Very interesting insight, Damon. Thanks!
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I was meditating on this myself from a mathematical perspective first. This lead me to the concept that if it is or isn’t in the bible then I will know it’s validity. God never uses the concept zero. Only man invented this concept but was that right? I am beginning to question all that man has done in our history, seeing as we have clearly wondered so far from our original inheritance.
This being said, I am now of the understanding that zero is like its concept, it doesn’t exist. If something isn’t or doesn’t exist, then it can not be. Therefore as the Bible says it either is or isn’t. If it is then there is 1 or more of it. If there isn’t 1 or more of it then it is the absence of it.
I will explain: if I have a sheep, I have one sheep. If I have 2 sheep then I have 2 sheep,and so on. If I have no sheep, then I don’t have zero sheep I simply have the absence of sheep.
The Bible says this with light. Darkness isn’t a thing it is simply the absence of light. Zero isn’t a thing, it is simply the absence of a thing. It isn’t a thing in its own right.
Science agrees that the absence of light is darkness. Thus the absence of a thing creates a minus not a zero.
This would mean that mathematically speaking, our numbers charts would look like this ……etc. -4, -3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc……. this would mean that we are minus a thing but u can never have nothing.
In Genesis the concept of void on in the scripture “no one” or “none” it isn’t zero, it is minus.
This blew me away so I won’t expect many to understand.
Regards.
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Thank you for this article. A dream that had this morning (Sunday, October 28, 2018) led me to search for its meaning which landed me here on your website. In the dream I was a cheerleader (this is definitely a dream bc I am in my early 50’s:-)) and the shirt I had on was the color of the Philadelphia Eagles football team. The number on the front of my shirt was -0. Yes, negative zero. I was happy in the dream though. When I woke up I ponder why I would be given a number such as that. The first thought is to think negative, but I looked at it in a positive way that God can take a zero and turn it into a hero:-) He can take a nobody and turn them into a somebody. He can take a negative and turn into a positive. Your article however gave me more insight and I am very grateful. Stay blessed and be encouraged. We serve an awesome, awesome God.
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What a cool dream! God does speak to us through dreams, and this definitely sounds like a God dream.
I am so glad that this post encouraged you. Your feedback has encouraged me. 🙂
Bless you!
Alisa
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Thanks! I’ll check it out.
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