Twelve is a number of high standing in the world today. Twelve is the amount of eggs in a carton. Twelve inches are in a foot. Even the face of a clock has twelve numbers, ones repeated two times in each day.
The actual word twelve comes from the Germanic compound “twalif” meaning having two left over after sorting out ten. A group of twelve things is called a duodecad. In adjective form, we say duodecuple.
Those terms may be esoteric to most of us, but we understand the use of the term twelve quite well. We order our eggs, quote the length of objects, and even bake cupcakes in twelves. Need a larger quantity? Twelve dozen are known as a gross. We even have a term for twelve plus one: a baker’s dozen.
Let’s tie twelve into the Bible. Jacob had twelve sons, making up the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus had twelve disciples. Even in the secular world, people recognize the twelve days of Christmas.
Where are the spiritual ramifications, though? How does the number twelve affect our walk with Christ?
Revelation 21:19-27 speaks of the New Jerusalem. In this passage, we read of twelve gates where stand twelve angels. The walls of the city have twelve foundations portraying the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Then note the size of the city: 12,000 stadia. Its walls are 144 cubits (the total of twelve multiplied by twelve) and each of the twelve gates are made of twelve individual pearls.
Yet, within the foundation itself is the twelve we wish to look at today. The foundations of the city are adorned with twelve types of jewels. The first eleven are of wondrous beauty and exquisite form, but the twelfth is the most precious of them all.
Verse 20 in this passage tells us: “...the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.”
This is a partial listing of the stones in the foundations. Amethyst is listed as the final one, coming in the twelfth and final position. Is there any way this is accidental? Of course not.
Let’s look at a passage from a previous MyChurchNotes.net article titled “God’s Gemstones.” This article breaks down the religious significance of each of the stones in the foundations of the coming masterpiece of New Jerusalem. Let’s reread what it says about amethyst:
“Iron and aluminum give the amethyst its brilliant purple color. The more iron we find in the mineral, the more purple it shines.”
How magnificent is that? Iron, one of the hardest and most versatile substances we know, one that makes up the backbone of our modern day industrial infrastructure; and aluminum, one of the softest and most malleable metals in existence, combine to make us shine brilliantly for Christ. We have to be both iron and aluminum in order to be what God wants us to be. When the devil comes at us with his wiles and tries to sideline us, we must have spiritual backbones of iron. Yet, when our fellow man stumbles against us, we must be soft enough that we can mold the message of Christ to his needs, so that we do not drive him from the cross with our religious intolerance and inflexibility.
Iron and aluminum. That’s what good Christians are made of. We are the brightly shining amethyst that makes up the final and most beautiful of the stones in the foundation of the greatest of the cities ever built or ever to come.
Let’s make sure our neighbors and coworkers can see us shine with the beauty of Jesus each and every day.
When we truly understand what Jesus needs us to be to our fellow man, we will shine with his love; and we will draw others to the cross.
Copyright © 2014 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.I.19.14.vp