Significance of The Number 40 in the Bible

The Number 40 in the Bible deals with judgment or testing, fasting, waiting, probation or trial Period. The number 40 is used 98 times in the Bible. God considers the number forty a very significant time period. Consider these following scriptures: 1. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights when God wanted to cleanse the world and start over. Gen 7:12 2. Jesus was seen in the earth 40 days after His crucifixion. (Acts 1:3 3. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. Mat 4:1-2 4. Jonah warned the City of Nineveh they had 40 days until God would overthrow the city. The people repented in those 40 days and God spared the city. Jonah 3:4 and 10 5. Noah waited another 40 days after it rained before he opened a window in the Ark. Gen 8:6 6. Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days. Exodus 24:18, Exodus 34:28-29 7. Moses’ face shone after the 40 days on the mountain. Exodus 34:29 8. It took the spies 40 days to search out the Promised Land and bring back fruit. Num 13:25 9. The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, one year for each day they explored the Promised Land. Exodus 16:35 10. Goliath came for forty days before being killed by David. 1 Sam 17:16 11. Elijah strengthened by one angelic meal went forty days to Mount Horeb where the Lord passed by and he heard the voice of God1 Kings 19:8 12. After the patriarch Jacob (Israel) died in Egypt, the Egyptians spent forty days embalming his body (Genesis 50:3). 13. Both Isaac and Esau were forty years old when they were first married (Genesis 25:20, 26:34). 14. The holy place of the temple was forty cubits long (1 Kings 6:17). 15. King Saul reigned over Israel for forty years (Acts 13:21) as did David (2 Samuel 5:4, 1 Kings 2:11) and Solomon (1 Kings 11:42). 16. Forty centuries after Adam, Jesus came in the fullness of time 13. The book of Exodus has 40 chapters of the Old Testament. 14. There are 40 authors of the books of the Bible. Also we may notice there is 40 weeks in pregnancy waiting period.