Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn (John 21:11).
After 28 years of reading and studying the Scriptures, I am convinced that every word, phrase and number in the Bible is divinely positioned. At times a prophetic clue is hidden within the Scriptures, and must be researched by comparing verse with verse. Such an example is John 21.
In this narrative, Christ had risen from the dead and was with His disciples on the shores of Galilee. The disciples had caught a huge number of fish in a net. They were amazed that the net did not break . . . as had happened on other occasions (see Luke 5:6).
Nowhere in Scripture do we find that fish were counted, except on this occasion. Could a prophetic meaning be hidden within this event, a meaning that could speak to us today?
The Net and the Fish
When searching for Biblical insight, we must always allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves. Jesus told His disciples He would make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). In Scripture, the net and the sea can represent the nations of the world. This truth is alluded to in the parable of Matthew 13:47-49:
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous (Matthew 13:47-49).
In this parable, the net and the fish represent the nations of the world that will be separated, the good from the bad, at the end of the age. Saint Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel 47, stated that there were 153 different species of fish. He assumed that the 153 fish in John 21 referred to going into the entire world and preaching the gospel to all nations.
On the other hand, Augustine said that 153 is the sum of the numbers 1 through 17. Seventeen is 10 plus 7.
There were 10 sayings that created the world.
There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah.
There were 10 generations from Noah to Abraham.
Further, by taking 153 and breaking down its three primary numbers, we have:
100 (which alludes to the fullness of the Gentiles)
50 (which alludes to the fullness of Israel’s rest)
3 (which alludes to the fullness of the Trinity)
As you can see, 153 is a number that alludes to completeness, or fullness!
Hebrew Gematria
One of the laws of hermeneutics (interpreting the Scripture) among Jewish rabbis is called gematria. It is the root word from which we get the word geometry. Using Hebrew gematria, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have a numerical value. The alphabet can be interchanged for numbers, and the numbers can be interchanged for the alphabet. This is also true of the Greek alphabet.
In the early church, the fish became a symbol of Christianity. In fact, the fish was probably used long before the Roman emblem of a cross. This fish emblem was called the ICHTHUS. These letters form an acrostic for the words, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The abbreviation is IXO, and has a numerical value of 153!
With this knowledge, we can see that Jesus was letting them know that He was God’s Son!
The 153 Nations
If we compare Scripture with Scripture, the sea is the world and the fish can allude to the nations of the world. In the parable, a net is cast and the fish are caught. Soon, a separation occurs as the good is separated from the bad.
Could it be that there will be a total of 153 nations at the very end of the age? It is true that the number of nations fluctuate with political movements and as a result of wars. At the conclusion of World War I, the world began to divide into various nations as Russia annexed surrounding countries under the control of the Soviet Union. At that time there were just over 100 nations in the world.
After the conclusion of World War II, divisions among the nations continued. In the late 1980s, Robert Vandermaten contacted someone at the United Nations in order to pinpoint exactly how many nations existed at the time. Imagine his amazement when he discovered there were 153 nations recognized in the world!
Presently, there are well over that number. The United Nations currently recognizes 191 nations. Again, political shifts and amalgamations affect the number. For example, Yugoslavia was once a single nation. Since the fall of Communism in Yugoslavia, the country has been divided into five nations recognized by the U.N.: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
It is important to remember that during the Tribulation, nations will fall under the control of the Antichrist. This will create another shakeup among the nations of the world.
It could be that the 153 fish were a hidden clue, revealing that 153 nations would exist at the end of the age. This seems possible, considering the fact that the primary numbers composing 153 (100, 50, and 3) can allude to Gentile fullness, Israel’s fullness and spiritual fullness.
This is an interesting idea to consider.
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