Study on the Number Five

Summary

God uses the number 5 in connection with both salvation and judgment.

Examples Signifying Salvation

Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread (Matthew 16:9). The five thousand people represent those who are saved by partaking of the Bread of Life, which is Christ:

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)

Five shekels were paid for those who are to be redeemed. These individuals represent those who are saved:

And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. (Numbers 18:16)

Examples Signifying Judgment

We read about the five unsaved brothers who were still under God's judgment:

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. (Luke 16:28)

The book of Revelation speaks of five months of judgment:

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. (Revelation 9:5)

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. (Revelation 9:10)

Examples Signifying Both Salvation And Judgment

The five wise virgins of Matthew 25:1-13 represent those who are ready to meet God (the saved). The five foolish virgins represent those who aren't ready to meet God (the unsaved who are still under the judgment of God).

David chose five stones when going to battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40). This signifies the judgment of God that was about to come upon Goliath (who is heading up those that oppose God's people) and it also signifies the salvation that is about to be brought to Israel.