Unlocking the Numbers

Author: George M. Peacock

This book is for anyone who has wondered why, in the scriptures, everything seems to happen in forty years or forty days and why the Lord always seems to call on three witnesses. Aren't two enough?

George M. Peacock, who taught seminary and institute classes for nearly forty years, answers these and many other questions related to how and why numbers are used as symbols in the scriptures. He shows that numbers have messages that lend much to the accounts in which they are used.

George M. Peacock grew up in Orangeville, Utah. He has sought answers to scriptural questions throughout his life, beginning with his service as a full-time missionary to Independence, Missouri. His area of labor later included much of the Bible Belt. After his mission he earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in religious education, both from Brigham Young University. He began teaching in the Church Educational System in 1964, retiring in 2000. In addition to teaching seminary and institute classes, he fulfilled assignments in both administration and teacher improvement. George married Arlene Christensen of Meridian, Idaho, in 1963. They are the parents of five married children who reside near their parents in St. George, Utah. George and Arlene serve as workers in the St. George Temple.