Toongabbie Christian College

40 IS A SPECIAL NUMBER AKRAM ZAKI Teacher 2018-Present

In the Bible, the number 40 comes up again and again in different stories and in different ways. But there’s always something in common. For 40 days and nights it rained upon the earth in the day of Noah. For 400 years God’s people were in slavery and cried out for help in Egypt. For 40 years God’s people wandered around in the desert. In the book of Judges, God’s enemies oppressed His people for 40 years. For 40 days Goliath, the horrible giant, came and threatened God’s chosen people. For 40 days the people of Nineveh wondered if God would forgive their evil deeds or punish them. And then after the book of Malachi, God was silent for 400 years. So, 40 sounds like a bad number, doesn’t it? Well, let’s see what happens after the 40. After 40 years of wandering, God led His people into their promised land. After 40 years, God raised up Samson to push back and destroy God’s enemies. After 40 days, a young boy called David came and God helped him defeat Goliath. After 40 days of waiting, God showed Ninevah that He had forgiven them. And after 400 years of silence, God spoke. As a human baby crying in the dark. So you see, 40 is a special number after all. The number 40 is a reminder, in the Bible, to show us that even when things are hard, When you are afraid, That God is faithful, And that He will get you through. But not only is 40 a number where God reveals His faithfulness to us, it is a time where we are called to respond. After the flood, Noah and his family were called to live a new way and make a new world that would obey God’s words. After Moses came, the Israelites were called to trust and follow God through the wilderness to their home. After wandering for 40 years, God’s people were called to enter into their Promise Land and take it back from God’s enemies. Only by trusting and obeying Him would they succeed. After Samson, the Israelites were called to return to God and obey Him again. After David killed Goliath, God’s people were called to not be afraid of any other giant because God is always bigger. After God forgave them, the Ninevites were called to continue to obey and trust in God. And after those 400 years of silence, we are called to trust and obey the voice of God, spoken by His Son, Jesus. As we celebrate 40 years of Toongabbie Christian College, I hope you can see that God has been faithful. In the good times and the hard. In easy days and difficult ones. And I really wish that this gives you hope for the future. 40 is only the beginning. The rain stopped after 40 days and Noah and his family were safe. After 400 years God sent a saviour, Moses, to free His people. When you have dark days, When there is a struggle,

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