Today is what we know as Veterans Day and is a federal holiday in our nation observed annually on November 11 to honor all miliary veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, both living and deceased, regardless of the conflict or time period of service. It originated as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War 1, marked by the armistice signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The holiday was officially renamed Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all veterans of all wars, not just World War I, following the end of World War II and the Korean War. I believe that God is calling us to consider the deeper meaning and significance of the number 11 on this date November 11, 2025, in light of its root meaning of transition, imperfection, on the brink of change, symbolizing a state of incompleteness before divine fulfillment and spiritual awakening. Therefore, it is essential that we have “eyes to see and ears to hear” what the Spirit of the Lord is saying at such a time as this. In Proverbs 20: 12, it is stated that “ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both,” affirming that these faculties are divine gifts meant to be used for understanding and discernment. Jesus frequently used the expression, “He who has ears, let him hear” to call for attentive listening and spiritual comprehension. In the Gospels, Jesus commanded His disciples, saying, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear," highlighting that spiritual insight is a blessing granted by God. Similarly, in Revelation, the repeated call "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" urges believers to pay close attention to divine messages addressed to the Church. The ability to truly see and hear spiritually is not automatic but requires openness, faith, and the companionship of the Holy Ghost, who enables individuals to perceive the Lord’s work in their lives and understand His will. This call is about a deeper, receptive heart that allows the Word of God to take root and transform the Church, our nation and each of us as a part of Christ’ body. God, grant us listening ears and a hearing heart as we study about the number 11 revealed in scriptural patterns that serve as a prophetic marker of transition, calling believers to spiritual readiness amid the unfolding of God’s plan.
Let us begin with an examination of the numerical principle in scripture that sets the stage for our study. According to a biblical reference book first published in 1947, we learn the “Strengthening to the believer’s heart is the subject of Spiritual arithmetic, as revealed in God’s Word.” The Supreme Mind of God is the author of all the books of the Bible and from Him do we seek understanding. Biblically, the number 11 is the number of disorder and imperfection. In Genesis 32:22, Jacob had been in Padan-aram and is returning to the Holy Land with his eleven sons. Benjamin is not yet born. His name, meaning, “son of sorrow,” speaks of the Lord who came from heaven to earth to suffer, and Who will come again to reign as King upon the earth. As Benjamin came to complete the house of Jacob and alter the total of sons from eleven to twelve, so the coming of Christ will change the present world disorder and disorganization into a rule of perfect peace of which the number twelve speaks. Even after the twelve sons were born, one was sold. Here again we are back to number eleven, showing the disorder in Jacob’s household. It is interesting to notice from this passage and others how number eleven points forward to the Millennial reign of Christ and end-time. To those who believe the Word, God’s midnight hour will soon strike. The number eleven foretells the disorder to come, which will usher in our Lord as the King of kings. Another scripture showing the hidden prophetic significance of 11, is found in Genesis 37:9. The eleven stars in Joseph’s dream seem to point forward to that time when the Jewish people will accept the government and rulership of the Lord Whom they once refused as their King.
God was forced to send His chosen nation into captivity because of their stubbornness, rebellion and refusal to listen to His commands. Two of the last kings each reigned eleven years. They were Zedekiah, who refused to listen to God’s Word through Jeremiah; and Jehoiakim, who tore up God’s Word. When the rule of these two wicked kings ended, the Jewish nation was cast out of the Holy Land and the times of the Gentiles began. So it was in the eleventh year of Jekoiakim, that Nebuchadnezzar began to carry away the inhabitants, and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, he finished it. In Matthew 20: 6-9 we read of laborers who were hired in the eleventh hour and were paid the same wages as those hired earlier. The eleventh-hour workers caused disorder. Jesus said, “the last will be first and the first will be last.”
Let us consider another biblical pattern of 11 concerning failure to harken to the voice of God. The journey from Horeb (Mount Sinai) to Kadesh-barnea, located on the southern border of the Promised Land, was an eleven-day journey by way of Mount Seir. (Deut. 1: 2-3) This route represented the direct path the Israelites could have taken to enter Canaan after receiving the law at Sinai. Despite the brevity of the distance, the Israelites did not enter the Promised Land immediately. Instead, due to their lack of belief, faith and disobedience after the negative report of the spies, God decreed that they would wander in the wilderness for forty years. This period of wandering was a consequence of their rebellion and failure to heed God’s command; with each day the spies spent in Canaan corresponding to a year of wandering. Only two individuals from the original generation—Joshua and Caleb—were permitted to enter the land, as they had trusted in God’s promise that “the LORD God is with thee wherever you go”. The narrative underscores that the delay was not due to geography but to the people’s unbelief and fear.
Deuteronomy is the account of Moses restating the law of God before Israel entered the Promised Land. But he is not speaking to the generation set free from Egypt. That entire generation faded in a 40-year journey to nowhere when they failed to trust God, shying away from entering the Promised Land. The result was that forward movement towards spiritual maturity and obedience gave way to a wandering, aimless existence. Numbers 13-14 gives the account of God taking care of them in the wilderness. They were still His people, but they lost everything associated with the promises of God…and those losses were real. Joshua and Caleb led the way for a new generation that would have ears to hear and move into the Promised Land—"be strong and of a good courage, do not be afraid.” (Joshua 1:9)
Just like that generation in the wilderness, any generation that consistently rejects a life of active faith—trusting God as He leads, step by step listening to His voice and following His direction—is losing the life God intended for them…a life of wonder at the mighty acts of a living God. Love Worth Finding continues the ministry of Dr. Adrian Rogers sharing his sermons and this week one of his messages was entitled, “A Churchy World and a Worldly Church” which was a part of his last sermon series on grace on March 6, 2005. He said, “A worldly Christian really is a contradiction in terms. The world has become so churchy, and the church has become so worldly, that people don’t really understand the principle of biblical separation. The word translated as world is the Greek word cosmos. It means an order of things or philosophy. We speak of the world of sports, the world of business, or the world of fashion. You cannot love this world’s system and love God Almighty at the same time. Don’t get caught into the way of the world saying, ‘That’s just how things work.’ Dare to believe God and trust the better way He has given you through Jesus. It is the way of extraordinary love and sacrificial service.” We hear the word “contemporary” a lot today which is marked by characteristics of the present period—what is modern and current. Paul in Romans 12:2 warns against being conformed to the pattern of this world, urging believers instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds by the Word of God that does not change. This transformation enables us to discern and approve God’s will, which is described as good, pleasing and perfect. The contemporary prevailing system of values, desires, and principles are often influences of Satan, the god of this world. Dr. Rogers gives us these truths to be our guide each day: 1. Resist the pull of the world. 2. Refuse the persuasion of the world. 3. Realize the pollution of the world. 4. Remember the price of the world. The process begins with presenting oneself as a living sacrifice to God through worship, study of His Word and prayer, which are the foundation for hearing His voice and allowing the Holy Spirit to renew our mind. Dr. Roger’s last words were: “I am what I am by the grace of God, and we as a Church what we are by the grace of God.”
Today, the Gospel is more widely available than ever before; yet, most people do not listen. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us ears to hear, but it our responsibility to act upon that gift. Chapter 3 of Hebrews connects the generation that came out of Egypt to the Church. God is speaking to us—the Church—the Body of Christ today in verses 7-15: “Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”
God is bringing His remnant of the Church back into a Great Transitional Time. In the days, months, and years ahead, the number 11 will be a marker of God’s great rescue plan for our times. “God is destroying the church that man built.” He is bringing back His remnant from the places of captivity in systems of demonic governance to yet again establish His fame throughout the earth! God is raising up a new guard of gatekeepers for future generations who will function with the anointing of Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” The Lord is reviving the wisdom of the ancients to wage war against the spiritual wickedness in high places. As God’s people we must learn a new spiritual “art of war” that will obtain and manifest God’s promises. It will be a new day that will revive faith in God’s Word. Our Lord hates religious and moral compromise. He calls His people to live differently. Jesus desires purity among His people. We need to attentively listen to what He is saying “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” 1. Ephesus (Rev. 2: 1-7)—whoever truly listens, pays attention and obeys does not forsake its first love. 2. Smyrna (Rev. 2: 8-11)—be faithful in the presence of persecution listening to the Holy Spirit’s direction. 3. Pergamum (Rev. 2: 12-17)—repent. 4. Thyatira (Rev. 2: 18-29)—remove the Jezebel spirit of witchcraft, sexual immorality and child sacrifice. 5. Sardis (Rev. 3: 1-6)—wake up, start paying attention to the need of salvation, be alert and listen to the Lord. 6. Philadelphia (Rev. 3: 7-13)—remain faithful in trials. 7. Laodicea (Rev. 3: 14-22)—avoid the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things to come in and choke the Word making it unfruitful. Let’s pray for ears to hear and for God’s perfect will be done on earth as it is in heaven!