The Numerical Structure of Scripture

The Numerical Structure of Scripture

Though F. W. Grant's spoken and written ministry has influenced untold numbers of Christians only a small percentage of the persons helped by him knew him personally. He had little of the magnetism considered essential in a speaker or leader--and when he spoke, he himself was lost sight of in the precious truths he unfolded. Mr. Grant was born in London in 1834 and converted through the reading of the Word, apart from the instrumentality of any other person. After completing his education at King's College School he traveled to Toronto, then to the United States, living in Brooklyn, New York and later in Plainfield, New Jersey. For years Mr. Grant was a diligent student of the book of the Psalms. He was engrossed not only by their content, but also by the form in which they were written--their division into a Pentateuch; their relation to one another in these various groups; and the alphabetical arrangement of many. All these factors impressed him with the fact that God had written these according to a distinct plan in which the numerical significance of each psalm and group of palms has its clearly marked place. And if the Psalms were written in this way, why not all Scripture? He continued studying until he found the same Divine harmony throughout the Bible--and with unlimited patience wrote the six volumes of the Numerical Bible, his best-known work. The one passion of Mr. Grant's life was to make Christ more precious and His Word more loved, more read, and more studies. Shortly before his death, propped in his chair with the Word of God open before him, he said with great feeling, ""Oh, the Book, the Book, the BOOK!"" As if to say, ""What a fullness is there; how little I have grasped it; how feebly I have expressed its thoughts."" On July 25, 1902, on his 68th birthday, F. W. Grant went Home to be with the Lord, whose Word he so cherished.