We have just begun our Lent, and we look ahead to seven weeks of it. Yes, I said seven.
Seven seems like a lot of weeks when we’ve undertaken a fast — when we’ve given up sweets, or meat, or screens, or alcohol, or games, or our favorite carbs.
Seven weeks.
Now, I don’t want to overhype the number. The duration of the “spring fast” has varied down the centuries. Sometimes it’s been shorter, sometimes longer. So there’s nothing magic about the number seven.
But there is something significant about it. In fact, there’s much that’s significant, especially for those of us who revere sacred Scriptures.
The Bible begins by telling us that the climax of creation was the seventh day, the Sabbath. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
The Hebrew word sheva (literally, to “seven oneself”) means “to swear a covenant oath.”
The Bible ends with the Book of Revelation, which uses the word seven at least five dozen times. There are seven letters to seven churches, seven seals on the book, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven plagues, seven chalices, and so on.
Between Genesis and Revelation we can find hundreds of instances of sevens. The father of modern Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch raised many examples and said, “In each of the above biblical passages the number seven is used to express a full number ... something ‘whole’ or ‘complete.’ ”
Seven suggests perfection, as it evokes the completion of God’s work. In Genesis it is the work of creation, and in Revelation it is redemption.
But God does more than that. He doesn’t just finish his work, dust off his hands, and clock out. He creates the world not simply for himself but for those he loves. And as he hallows the seventh day he makes a covenant with them — that is, he establishes a bond of kinship with them.
Ever after, this number becomes the sign of a covenant. Abraham sacrifices seven ewe lambs when he makes a covenant with Abimelech at Beer Sheva (“Well of the Oath,” Genesis 21). Jacob labors for seven years, and then seven more, so that he can marry Rachel (Genesis 29).
Well, now you and I face our own time of covenant renewal: the seven weeks that lead us to Easter. Yes, it will be a time of fasting, challenges, and difficulty. But, if we are faithful, these seven weeks will strengthen our family bond with almighty God, which was sealed by Jesus Christ in the events of Holy Week.
To mark this special time this year, I’m producing a seven-part video series of meditations on the Seven Last Words of Jesus — the seven sayings he uttered as he suffered on the cross. You’re welcome to join me. The series is free, and you’ll find a new video every week at StPaulCenter.com/Lent/.
All suffering has meaning, even the small privations we volunteer during these seven weeks. Lent should stretch us. It should make us stronger. But it also should make us love with greater fervor, greater ardor. May this Lent be the greatest ever for you and me.
