TWO HUNDRED (200) IN THE BIBLE

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Number TWO HUNDRED in the Bible

a) Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them. (John 6:7)

b) Since twenty is the number of expectancy, then the expectancy is tenfold with the number two hundred. The significance of two hundred is suggested by the above scripture when Philip announced two hundred pennyworth of bread amounting to six months' wages was NOT SUFFICIENT for feeding the multitude who had followed Jesus to the desert.
 
c) Therefore, two hundred is not only the number of expectancy, but it is also the number associated with insufficiency. The miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand is based on God's sufficiency and not on the insufficiency that Philip saw with his natural eyes.

d) Other examples of two hundred being a number of insufficiency appear several times in the Bible.

• Achan's 200 shekels were "not sufficient" to save him from the consequences of his sin (Joshua 7:21).
• Psalm 49:7-9 shows us the insufficiency of money.
• Absalom's 200 shekels weight of hair were "not sufficient" to save him, but rather caused his destruction (2 Samuel 14:26, 18:9). This shows us the insufficiency of beauty.
• Micah's graven image was purchased for 200 shekels (Judges 17:4 and 18), and led to the introduction of idolatry into Israel and the blotting out of the tribes of Dan and Ephraim, showing us the insufficiency of idolatry.
• Ezra's 200 singing men and women (Ezra 2:65) were "not sufficient" to produce peace with God, true spiritual worship, or joy in the Lord.

e) There will always be insufficiency when we try to worship God with external things.

f) There is no tenfold expectancy when we love, honor and give God the glory. There is no insufficiency on our part when we worship God in spirit and in truth. There is definitely no insufficiency on God's part because "God's grace is SUFFICIENT." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The End ...