The Hitchhiker's Guide to God's Word

In 1978, BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting a comedy series created by Douglas Adams (1952–2001) that came to be known as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The zany, wildly creative broadcast rapidly gained popularity and quickly grew into a multimedia juggernaut, spawning a series of novels, television series, movies, stage productions, video games, and so on.

The story is a bit complicated, but apparently there once existed a race of hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings who designed a computer called Deep Thought, and they programmed Deep Thought to calculate the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

After 7.5 million years of arduous calculation, Deep Thought arrived at the answer. The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything was (drum roll, please) 42.

That's it—42.

Deep Thought then revealed that the answer was incomprehensible, because the beings who had programmed the computer didn't know what they were asking. It then predicted that a bigger, more powerful computer would be built that would endeavor to determine the question. However, it would take 10 million years for this new computer to complete its calculations.

That bigger, more powerful computer was the size of a planet, and contained biological components.

It was called Earth.

As fate would have it, however, five minutes before it was due to complete its 10-million-year program, the computer called Earth was destroyed by a race of aliens building a sort of super highway through space. Thus begins the wild, wacky intergalactic adventure to discover the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

So, the answer is 42...all we have to do now is figure out the question.

The immense popularity of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy spawned a virtual cult around 42, and people began looking for ever more offbeat appearances of 42 in every conceivable place. Incidentally, when asked why he chose the number 42, Douglas Adams swore he simply picked it out of the blue. At any rate, here's a quick Top 10 list of some of my favorite examples:

1. The world's first book printed with movable type was the Gutenberg Bible, which had 42 lines per page.

2. The Titanic was traveling at speed equivalent to 42 kilometers per hour when it struck an iceberg.

3. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is given a potion that renders her essentially comatose for 42 hours.

4. In the television series The X-Files, FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) lives in apartment number 42.

5. The atomic bomb that devastated Nagasaki at the climax of WWII contained the destructive power of roughly 42 million sticks of dynamite.

6. The top three best-selling studio albums of all time—(#1) Michael Jackson's Thriller (42:19), (#2) Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (42:57), and (#3) AC/DC's Back in Black (42:11)—all have a playing time of 42 minutes (rounded down to the nearest minute).

7. Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, wore number 42, a number that has now been officially retired from baseball (last worn by Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, who was allowed to wear it until he retired at the end of the 2013 season).

8. When Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it contained 42 illustrations. (Trained as a mathematician, he reportedly had an obsession with this number over a century before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came along.)

9. There are 42 principles of ma'at, the ancient Egyptian concept of physical and moral law, balance, order and truth.

10. The gestation period for kangaroos is 42 days.

Of course, you know where I'm going with this, right?

The number 42 also has significance in the Bible. In fact, any time a number is mentioned or used in Scripture, or a thing happens a certain number of times, you can rest assured that it means something. It's like I always say:

God doesn't do random.

Biblical numerics

Many different numbers appear throughout Scripture, and they always have some type of significance. Before I go any further, however, let me make one thing crystal clear:

Off limits: The study of the meaning of numbers in the Bible (sometimes called "biblical numerics") has nothing to do with the occult pseudo-science referred to as "numerology." Numerology is typically associated with the seeking of mystical and predictive meanings from numbers, an activity that is properly lumped in with such things as astrology, the Ouija board, tarot cards, palm reading, fortune telling, and other forms of divination...all of which are clearly and expressly forbidden in God's Word because they open people up to demonic influence and deception.

In other words, it's the same old story. Satan takes whatever God does and twists it into something he can use to lead people away from the truth.

That said, here are a few numbers that appear in Scripture and some of the meanings associated with them. This isn't meant to be exhaustive, but it's enough to get the idea across.

ONE: The number one is the ultimate number of unity, and the quintessential number of a monotheistic religion like Judaism (and by extension Christianity). Although God exists in the form of three distinct Persons, together they are one. God is one.

TWO: The number two usually represents a division, or a differentiation between two opposites, extremes, or complementary parts.

God created two genders, male and female. He separated the light from the darkness. There are two eternal destinations: heaven and hell. The number two can also represent agreement, as in two witnesses being required to establish a fact. Jesus sent His disciples out in teams of two.

THREE: The number three usually represents divine perfection. God is a triune Being, existing in three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Similarly, there were three patriarchs of the nation of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The number three also shows up repeatedly in relation to Christ's work of redemption. Jesus took three disciples with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was arrested, and He left them behind to go and pray alone three times, only to return and find them sleeping each time. Later that morning, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. Three were crucified: Jesus between two thieves. Jesus was crucified at the third hour (nine a.m.) and was resurrected on the third day (in fulfillment of the sign of Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of a whale).

FOUR: The number four is often associated with Creation, especially the earth. There are four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. The Bible refers to the four winds, and the four corners of the earth. There are four seasons. Four rivers flowed out of the Garden of Eden.

FIVE: The number five is often associated with divine grace. Jesus bled from five wounds while on the cross: both hands, both feet, and head (the wound in His side came after His death).

One of my favorite examples of the number five being associated with grace requires a wee bit more explanation, because it involves Hebrew.

In Genesis 17, God changed Abram's name to Abraham (v. 5), and his wife Sarai's name to Sarah (v. 15). What God actually did was add one Hebrew letter to each of their names:

The letter he (pronounced "hay"):

To be precise, God added the letter he to Abram, but with Sarai He changed one letter, from yod to he, rather than adding an extra letter:

Abram . . > . . Abraham

Sarai . . > . . Sarah

In Hebrew, all 22 letters (plus five special final forms) have numeric values assigned to them, and the sum of the values of the letters of a Hebrew word is known as its gematria. Now, since the letter he is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, what do you suppose its numeric value might be? Bingo.

God in effect added His grace to their names, and in so doing marked them as the parents of a race of people who would give birth to the Messiah, God's ultimate expression of His grace to mankind.

SIX: The number six is associated with man, especially fallen, rebellious man. No doubt the most widely recognized example here is 666—the infamous mark of the beast from Revelation 13:18, associated with the Antichrist.

God created man on the sixth day. God commands man to work six days, and rest on the Sabbath. The sixth commandment prohibits murder—the killing of a man. Jesus suffered on the cross for six hours, from the third hour to the ninth hour (nine a.m. to three p.m.), since He was suffering in our place to redeem sinful men.

SEVEN: The number seven represents spiritual perfection or completion, and I dare say it would take a person seven lifetimes to track down all the usages of the number seven in God's Word. It is easily one of the most often used numbers in the entire Bible.

God rested on the seventh day. There are seven feasts ordained by God in Leviticus 23 (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles). The menorah (lampstand) in the temple was prescribed to have seven branches (three on each side of a central shaft). It took Solomon seven years to build Israel's first temple.

In the book of Revelation, the number seven is everywhere. To be perfectly honest, I haven't actually tried to count them all myself, but I have read that there are a total of 60 sevens or sevenths in Revelation, a book which only contains 22 chapters.

EIGHT: The number eight represents new beginnings. Since seven represents perfection or completion, eight is the beginning of something new.

God spared eight people in Noah's ark to begin the human race anew (Noah, his three sons and all their wives). God commanded the Jews to circumcise male babies on the eighth day after their birth (which, interestingly, has been established by modern medicine to be the optimal day for the procedure).

Incidentally, like Hebrew, the Greek language of the New Testament also has numeric values associated with each letter. Thus, we can also talk about the gematria of a word in Greek. The gematria of the name of Jesus in Greek (Ιησονς) is 888, and so the number eight is closely linked with Christ, who gives us our new beginning in the Spirit. The women found Jesus' tomb to be empty early on Sunday, the eighth day, and the fact of the Resurrection gives us our new beginning in Christ—our only way to pass from death to life.

NINE: The number nine doesn't appear a lot, but when it does it can suggest the end of man or the finality of all of man's works.

Jesus died at the ninth hour, essentially ending His work on earth as a man. There are nine fruits of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22–23 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control), and we only manifest the fruit of the Spirit to the extent that we come to the end of our works in the flesh.

TEN: The number 10 represents perfect or divine order. It is composed of four (the number of Creation) and six (the number of man), and is associated with testimony, the law (and man's responsibility to obey it), and the completeness of order.

In Genesis 1, there are 10 "God said" statements, which serve as a testimony to God's creative power. There were 10 Commandments given to Moses. The Israelites were commanded to give a tenth of their wealth and produce to God, which served as a testimony to their faith in His providence. There were 10 generations of man before God brought the judgment of the flood. In the last days, in the run-up to a one-world government, there will be 10 "kings" or world authority figures who will ultimately yield their power to the Antichrist (Dan. 7; Rev. 17).

ELEVEN: The number 11 represents imperfection, disorganization, chaos, incompleteness, lack of fulfillment, irresponsibility in keeping the law (which brings judgment), and so on. It's one more than 10, one less than 12. It's just...off. As a result, it's the number of sin.

In Genesis 11, man built the tower of Babel in open rebellion against God—and He confused their languages, resulting in chaos. Two of the last kings of Judah (Jehoiakim and Zedekiah) each reigned 11 years before the Babylonian conquest of Judah and the subsequent 70-year exile. From Mount Sinai, the Israelites traveled 11 days to Kadesh-Barnea—and they could have made it to the Promised Land in no time at all. But in spite of all the miracles God had performed on their behalf, their faith still failed them. As a result, God caused them to wander in the desert for the next 40 years.

TWELVE: The number 12 represents perfect government and God's perfect authority, and is often viewed as the combination of three (divine perfection) and four (the number of the earth).

God placed 12 constellations in the sky that divide the year into 12 months, and provide a cosmic illustration of His plan of redemption (which has been corrupted by Satan and twisted into the occult activity known as astrology). Jacob had 12 sons, each of whom became the father of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. There were 12 apostles who founded the Church. In the Tribulation, 12,000 men from each of the 12 tribes of Israel will be sealed by God to be witnesses to the nations.

FORTY: The number 40 typically represents a time of consecration or of trial, and appears many times throughout Scripture.

Moses lived in Egypt for 40 years, then fled from Egypt and lived in Midian for 40 years, and then spent his last 40 years with the people of Israel as God led them from place to place through the desert as a result of their lack of faith. He was on Mount Sinai for 40 days receiving the Law of Moses. Jesus fasted for 40 days before He began His ministry, and waited 40 days after the Resurrection before ascending to heaven to give Israel one final chance to change their minds and accept Him as their Messiah.

FIFTY: The number 50 is often connected with the coming of the Holy Spirit, being equal to 5 x 10, or the number of grace times the number of divine order. Although competent Bible scholars don't all agree, some believe God gave Israel the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai 50 days after they left Egypt. If so, this would have foreshadowed God sending the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) 50 days after the Resurrection.

Of course, there are many other numbers used throughout the Bible, and the significance of most of the larger numbers can be seen in their factors, such as 70 (7 x 10), and 120 (12 x 10), and so forth.

You might have noticed that I skipped our new friend 42 here. I saved it for last, because I want to give it special treatment.

The number 42 in the Bible

Although the cult that surrounds the number 42 thanks to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is completely whimsical, there is nothing whimsical about the significance of the number 42 in Scripture. It has some positive meanings, as well as some negative ones. First the positive.

First of all, we can think of 42 as 3 x 14, where 14 is 2 x 7, or a double dose of spiritual perfection or completion. We see this is in Matthew's genealogy of Christ, where Jesus' lineage is laid out in three groups of 14 generations: 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to the Babylonian exile, and 14 generations from the Babylonian exile to Christ.

We can also think of 42 as 6 x 7, or the number of man times the number God, which suggests spiritual perfection. This also finds application in Matthew's genealogy, since it speaks to the fact that Christ is both fully man (six) and fully God (seven).

One interesting albeit less obvious appearance of the number 42 is in the construction of the menorah that stood in the temple. In Exodus 25, God gives details concerning how this golden lampstand was to be made. It was to have seven branches, three on each side of a central branch. At the top of all seven branches were three cups, one knob, and one flower. There was one knob at each of the three points where the branches extended from the central branch, and below that there was one flower, one knob, one cup, and one more flower at the base.

Confused? I feel your pain. (Hence the graphic.)

The point is that all together there were (count 'em) 22 cups, 11 knobs, and 9 flowers. These all have spiritual significance attached to them, but they were also meant as decorations to make the menorah an object of exquisite beauty, and all told there were 22 + 11 + 9 = 42 such decorations. The menorah that stood in the temple was crafted by the hand of man (six), but ordained and designed by God (seven).

What this 6 x 7 representation of 42 means in most cases, however, is man's will in conflict with God's will, or man's strong opposition to God's will. As you might guess, this "man vs God" theme is one that runs through the entire Bible. Here are a few of my favorite examples.

So near, yet so far

In Numbers 13–14, God has led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and to the doorstep of the Promised Land. Moses sent 12 spies out to reconnoiter the area, and when they returned after 40 days, 10 of the 12 gave a negative report. They whined about the fact that the land was full of giants that they couldn't possibly defeat, even though God had told them they could.

Only two of the spies—Joshua and Caleb—expressed confidence that they could successfully take the land God had promised them, and had faith in God's ability to deliver their enemies into their hands as He had promised. After all, God had performed miracle after miracle in delivering them from Egypt, and Joshua and Caleb saw no reason to start doubting God now.

Unfortunately, however, the people listened to the negative reports, and doubted God and what He had told Moses. They refused to attempt to go in and take the land, and in His anger and frustration with His people, God cursed them by decreeing that no one who had doubted Him and treated His Word with contempt would ever enter the Promised Land.

Instead of entering the land God had promised them and was ready to deliver to them, He caused them to wander through the wilderness for 40 years. They were so close to the Promised Land that they could smell it. It was right there. But due to their stubborn refusal to trust God, in spite of all He had done for them, they were instead forced to wander through the wilderness until the faithless generation had died off.

Naturally, they stopped to set up camp numerous times and in numerous places during those 40 years. The journey was broken up into stages, and you'll never guess how many stages the journey was broken up into.

You guessed it—42. Man's opposition to—or lack of faith in—God.

Balaam—prophet for hire

In Numbers 22–24, the nation of Israel is on the march, with God leading them and delivering their enemies into their hands. Balak, king of Moab, was worried that his nation, too, would fall to the Israelites. To his credit, at least Balak had enough sense to realize where Israel's strength came from—from their relationship with the one true God.

Balak hired a well-known prophet named Balaam to curse Israel for him, so he could defeat them. Although Balaam did have spiritual gifts, his heart was not right before God, and he agreed to take money (lots of money) for his prophetic work in spite of the fact that he knew full well it was sin and contrary to God's revealed will.

Balaam went to Balak—again, knowing in his heart it was against God's will yet stubbornly (and greedily) proceeding anyway—and attempted three times to deliver the desired curse for his employer Balak. Three times, he offered seven bulls and seven rams on seven altars before attempting to get the desired "prophecy" from God.

Each time, at least Balaam was honest in reporting what God had actually said. The first time, Balaam failed to curse Israel. The second time, he blessed Israel. The third time, he not only blessed Israel, but cursed Balak!

Needless to say, that wasn't exactly what Balak had in mind—and so Balaam didn't get paid.

But notice that in his stubborn opposition to God's will, Balaam sacrificed quite the herd of livestock:

3 x 7 bulls + 3 x 7 rams = 42 animals.

Sorry, can you repeat that?

In Genesis 10–11 we meet a man named Nimrod, who in many ways was a foreshadowing of the Antichrist. He was the great-grandson of Noah, and became widely known for his pride and his raw lust for power, a lust which manifested itself in his arrogant ambition to build and rule a global empire. (Can you say "New World Order"?)

Nimrod's plan to build a tower that would "reach unto heaven" was well underway in Genesis 11, and the legendary Tower of Babel was no doubt connected to idol worship, and quite possibly meant to serve as a portal for demonic entities who sought to enter our physical dimension and mate with human women. Sound crazy? They had done it before the flood, and they managed to do it afterwards as well (Gen. 6:4). This was in open defiance of God's will for man, which was to go forth and replenish the earth after the flood. Nimrod wanted to stay where he was and establish a centralized headquarters from which to exercise total power and control.

God had other ideas, however. God confused their language to such an extent that various groups within Nimrod's empire could no longer communicate with each other. Work on the Tower of Babel ground to a halt, and Nimrod's goal came to naught. As will that of the Antichrist.

But here's an interesting tidbit for you.

Here is the Hebrew gematria of the name "Nimrod":

nun (50) + mem (40) + resh (200) + dalet (4) = 294 = 7 x 42.

"Beat it, baldy!"

In 2 Kings 2, we catch up with Elijah, one of Israel's greatest prophets, shortly before he ascended to heaven in a mighty whirlwind—and also Elisha, one of the younger men being trained by Elijah. It had become a widely known prophecy among them that Elijah would one day be taken up to heaven, and when the day came Elisha faithfully refused to leave his mentor's side.

Just before fiery chariots came down to separate him from this world and he ascended to heaven, Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted to receive. He could have asked for anything, but Elisha had a heart for God and he asked for a double portion of the Spirit that rested on Elijah (2 Kings 2:9).

Many people misunderstand verse 9, assuming it means that Elisha wanted twice as much of what Elijah had. That sounds a little greedy, but it doesn't mean that. The expression "double portion" refers to the portion given to the firstborn in a family. In other words, Elisha was effectively asking to officially become Elijah's successor (his firstborn, spiritually speaking), and for the portion of God's power that would make it possible.

In fact, Elisha had already been named as Elijah's successor, but Elisha was asking for the power of God that would make it a reality. Receiving it from men was one thing—receiving it from God was another. He wanted the power from God to fulfill what he had already been called to do.

Not long afterwards, Elisha was on his way to the town of Bethel, which was one of the primary centers of pagan worship of the day. Along the road, he was accosted by a large crowd of young men who apparently knew of the recent events surrounding the prophet Elijah, and they openly jeered at Elisha, mocking him to his face:

"Beat it, baldy! Hey chrome-dome, why don't you fly on up to heaven like your daddy Elijah?! HA HA HA!"

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but you get the point. Elisha was a relatively young man, but apparently he had become prematurely bald. But make no mistake. They weren't just mocking Elisha. They weren't just mocking his mentor Elijah. They weren't just mocking the prophetic office held by both men, and they weren't just mocking God's choice of a successor to Elijah.

They were mocking God.

And that's what tore it for Elisha, who turned to the youths and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Suddenly, two female bears came charging out of the nearby woods and attacked the young men (2 Kings 2:24). When the dust settled, 42 of the youths had been mauled by the bears.

A dress rehearsal

In a preview of what the Antichrist will attempt to do during the Great Tribulation, several legions of the Roman army began surrounding the city of Jerusalem in AD 66 in order to put down a Jewish revolt. By the summer of AD 68, with four legions in place around the city and awaiting orders to attack, the Roman army received unexpected news.

The Emperor was dead.

In June of AD 68, Emperor Nero committed suicide—an event which triggered many months of political turmoil and jockeying for power back in Rome, while the army sat and waited.

It also allowed for the fulfillment of prophecy.

In Luke's version of the Olivet Discourse, he does something Matthew and Mark do not do—he makes reference to events that would occur in their day, rather than just to events that would happen in the distant future.

He starts out much like Matthew and Mark, but with a twist. He suddenly backs up ("But before all these things...") and refers to events that would occur within the lifetimes of the disciples. (Careful study of the three versions of the Olivet Discourse in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke reveals that there is more there than meets the eye.)

Then Jesus warns them of the destruction of Jerusalem that would come:

Thirty-odd years later, that's exactly what they saw: Jerusalem surrounded by armies. And because Jewish believers had read Luke's Gospel, in the months prior to this prophecy being fulfilled in AD 70, they knew exactly what to do.

Get outta town.

The months of political posturing and power-grabbing going on in Rome while the Roman legions sat and polished their armor gave Christians in Jerusalem an opportunity to flee the city, and essentially all of them were spared the gruesome fate that awaited the multitudes who remained.

In a similar manner, the Antichrist will come against the Jews and attempt to wipe them out during the Great Tribulation, and similarly he will not completely succeed. This time God will open the eyes of the Jewish remnant and they will recognize Jesus as the Messiah—the one they rejected the first time—and in their distress they will call upon Him to save them.

And save them He will.

Speaking of the Roman legions...I mentioned that there were four primary legions involved in the siege. To the west, there was V Macedonia, XII Fulminata, and XV Apollinaris. To the east (on the Mount of Olives) there was X Fretensis. Well, color me surprised:

V + XII + XV + X = 5 + 12 + 15 + 10 = 42.

The other mark of the beast...

Anytime anyone brings up the subject of the Antichrist, the first number that pops into people's heads is the infamous 666, often referred to as the mark (or number) of the beast:

The mark spoken of will most likely be a type of computer chip, possibly implanted, or maybe one that is "tattooed" onto your skin (technology that already exists, by the way). But apparently his number is 666, and I will resist the temptation to join in the unbridled speculation as to precisely what that might mean. People have been calculating the numeric values of world leaders' names ever since John penned the book of Revelation, and it's a waste of time. We will never know until we know—and the Church may not be here long enough to know anyway. At least not for sure.

In spite of the sinister connotations long associated with 666, there is another number closely linked to the Antichrist—our friend 42. The representation as 6 x 7 denoting man's strong opposition to God's will has its fullest expression in this man, who will be empowered by Satan himself and will deceive the world into believing he is their savior.

Probably the clearest connection between the Antichrist and the number 42 is seen in the length of his reign:

At the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will cause an image to be displayed in the holy place of the rebuilt temple, and people will be compelled to worship him as God under pain of death. This event—the abomination of desolation—officially kicks off the Great Tribulation and the Antichrist's reign as a satanically indwelt counterfeit Christ—a reign of 42 months.

"Give (false) peace a chance"

Ezekiel 38–39 describes a coalition of Muslim nations that will come against Israel in the end times in the battle of Gog-Magog, and the timing of this invasion relative to the Tribulation has long been a source of debate among prophecy experts. I won't drag you through the different scenarios—at least not in this article. Maybe after I get it all figured out. (I'm joking—it's far more likely to happen before I get it all figured out!)

This coalition is led by a man referred to as Gog, and there are two schools of thought: (a) Gog is the Antichrist, and (b) Gog is a Middle Eastern leader who leads this invasion, but is not the Antichrist. People a lot smarter than me disagree, so I am content to leave the issue of Gog's identity for another day. However, I would like to call your attention to one intriguing detail I noticed.

Whoever Gog turns out to be, he leads this coalition against Israel at a time when the Jewish nation has been lulled into a false sense of peace and security (possibly as a result of the confirmation of the treaty that inaugurates the Tribulation, but that's speculation).

Whether he is the Antichrist or not, Gog is clearly out to get Israel:

But Gog needs to be taught a lesson—whoever touches Israel touches the apple of God's eye. And a few verses later we see that it ends badly for Gog and his coalition, as God supernaturally intervenes to destroy Gog's armies, save His people Israel, and sanctify His holy name:

The Hebrew word used in verse 11 above, translated "securely," is a form of the word betach (safety, security). That is without a doubt the mantra in the Middle East today: peace and security...peace and security...peace and security.

The Hebrew word betach appears in the Bible 42 times.

OK, sure. Maybe it means nothing. Maybe it's just a coincidence. But it's like the old Jewish rabbis are fond of saying:

"Coincidence" is not a kosher word.

The real Ultimate Question

I honestly don't believe it's a coincidence that the world would get carried away with the silly idea that the number 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. It doesn't surprise me a bit because this number represents man's opposition to God's will, and sinful men have opposed the will of a holy God since the Garden of Eden.

In fact, I think it's exquisitely ironic that the number 42, the number the world foolishly fancies to be the answer to all of life's questions, is associated with the coming Antichrist and his one-world system—the ultimate expression of man's rebellion against God. He'll be the man with all the answers, and much of the world will follow him and worship him as the God he claims to be.

But he won't be God. He'll be nothing but a sinful man—indwelt by Satan, the Ultimate Wannabe who doesn't have the Ultimate Answer to anything...except maybe how to fail at being your own god.

So, just what is the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything? And is the Ultimate Answer to this Ultimate Question really 42?

In Acts 16, we read that Paul and Silas were in the Roman colony of Philippi in the district of Macedonia—and in prison. But while they were in prison, they were praying, singing and praising God so loudly that they were keeping everybody awake—including the jailer. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the place and opened all the prison doors, and the jailer, assuming all the prisoners had escaped, was ready to take his own life because he was sure he had failed in his duty. Paul called out and told him not to harm himself because all the prisoners were still present and accounted for.

The jailer was no doubt a good man—a capable man who had risen to a position of authority and who had obviously earned and enjoyed the trust of his superiors. He no doubt made a decent living, and he had raised and provided for a family and probably led a reasonably comfortable lifestyle.

He was a lot like many people today.

And just like many people today, he sensed that he lacked something on the inside. There was an emptiness that his job, his responsibilities, his family, his friends, his possessions, his hobbies, his lifestyle, his religion couldn't fill.

That night, however, as he lay awake and listened to these two men—men he knew had been unjustly beaten and imprisoned for simply worshiping God and telling the people of Philippi the news about the Messiah, something began to ache in his spirit. These men spoke of this Jesus, who had come to the world as God in the flesh and who had been crucified and had risen from the dead in fulfillment of prophecy, and who offered forgiveness and eternal life to those who would repent of their sin and believe in Him in faith.

He may have heard rumors about all that Messiah business before, and maybe had blown it off. Religious fanatics, whatever.

But these guys...

All these two men had done was cast a demon out of a girl who was making money for her masters by telling fortunes, and she was tormenting them everywhere they went. Day after day, the demon made the girl follow Paul and Silas around and cry out that these men were servants of God who had come to "proclaim a way of salvation." Uh, not quite. They came to proclaim the way—NOT a way—of salvation. Big difference, and a subtlety I'm sure Satan hoped would be lost on the people of Philippi.

As a result, they were falsely accused, attacked by an angry mob, and brutally whipped. Then they were handed over to the jailer, who took them into custody although he knew they had done nothing wrong. He had to do his job; but down deep, he probably knew they would be safer in jail anyway.

But these guys...

In spite of being unjustly locked up in a dark, filthy prison and no doubt suffering excruciating pain from the whipping they had received, they did nothing but preach, pray, and sing praises to God, shouting out for all to hear about His love, His mercy, and His grace. And about Jesus. When the earthquake hit, they and all the other prisoners could have walked out of that prison. But these two men remained right where they were and calmly maintained order. In spite of all that had been done to them, they radiated and demonstrated love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control that transcended anything the jailer had ever known.

That's when something pierced the jailer's heart. He knew these men spoke the truth. He knew they had something he didn't have. He felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and he knew that he was a sinner spiritually separated from God, and in need of the salvation—the forgiveness of sin, the reconciliation to God—that these two men spoke of with boldness, power, and authority that was unlike anything he had ever heard.

And in his darkest moment of despair, instead of taking his own life, this Roman jailer—the one who was really in prison—came to Paul and Silas and fell trembling to his knees, and humbly asked them one question:

"What must I do to be saved?"

And they were ready with the answer:

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

That's the Ultimate Question, and the Ultimate Answer.

And it's not 42.

Greg Lauer — JUN '14

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