Good morning…
Do you know the root word for quarantine?
Quarantine is derived from the Latin quadraginta, meaning “forty.” Similarly in Italian, quarantine comes from quaranta meaning “forty,” which goes on to form the phrase quaranta giorni, which literally means “space of forty days.” We have been at this quarantine routine for more than forty days, and as we consider gradually reopening our everyday lives, we lean into the deeper biblical meaning of the number forty. Forty in the Bible represents an important period of trial or testing, a crucial period extending for “a really long time” or “as long as it takes.”
The great flood Noah weathered lasted “forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:12). We are told that Moses lived forty years in Egypt before he tried to first lead his people (Acts 7:23). With his worst flaws exposed, he hid out for another forty years until God spoke to him from a burning bush (Acts 7:30), and when the time was right Moses was equipped by God to lead His people out of captivity (Acts 7:36). Then the Jewish people wandered in the desert for forty years (Deuteronomy 8:2), and, after exploring a foreign land for forty days, their fears got the best of them (Numbers 13:25). So the Israelites were forced to wander in the wildness for another forty years before their hearts were prepared to follow the LORD’s lead into the Promised Land (Numbers 32:13). When Moses was waiting to receive the Ten Commandments, he stayed fasting on the holy mountain “forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:18, Exodus 34:28). Similarly, facing fierce temptation before stepping into his public ministry, Jesus fasted “forty days and forty nights” in the Judean desert (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2). Before ascending to our Father, Jesus appeared to his disciples and other eyewitnesses for forty days after his resurrection from the dead (Acts 1:3). In the Bible, the number forty seems to have immense, transformative significance.
Now think about our own daily lives. The standard American workweek includes forty hours. The perfect nap is described as “forty winks.” A typical pregnancy lasts forty weeks. The number forty can represent a full generation. The self-reflective season of Lent marks the forty days leading up to Easter. From biblical times up through today, forty can feel like a “really long time” set aside for God’s refining purposes.
During these wee, dark hours, I am drawn to more deeply equate this quarantine experience with the number forty, a number which represents a crucial time of trial or testing, extending for “as long as it takes.” As we prayerfully look back over this quarantine time, symbolically “a space of forty days,” how might God be transforming us individually and collectively, preparing us to listen for His lead?
He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3, AMP).
…Sue…
