The 7-Eleven Mystery

Have you ever looked really closely at the sign on your local 7-Eleven store?

If you haven’t, I’ve provided a picture of one in my town for your convenience. (It is, after all, a convenience store.) All of the letters in the word “eleven” are upper case, except for the last one. For some reason, the final “N” is lower case.

It’s 7-ELEVEn.

Now that you’ve seen it, you’ll never be able to UNsee it. You’re welcome.

It’s not unlike some of the details you’ve always thought were in the Bible, but aren’t. Quick: where did Noah’s ark come to rest after the flood? Mount Ararat? Nope. That’s not what the Bible says. According to Genesis 8:4, it landed on “the mountains of Ararat.” It’s plural. It might be Mount Ararat (they’ve been searching for it for generations), or it might be any mountain near Ararat, or it might be … just about anywhere.

Speaking of Noah, how many of each animal did he take into the ark? Two? That’s only partially correct. Genesis 7:2 tells us that God instructed him to take seven of each “clean” animal into the ark, revealing that the distinction between clean and unclean animals actually predates Moses and Mount Sinai by centuries.

Something else not found in the Bible: any mention of human beings living in heaven forever. Sure, we go there: Jesus makes it clear in John 14 that He went somewhere else (“My Father’s House”) to prepare a place for us. But finish reading the Bible and it’s obvious (see Revelation 21) that we ultimately end up living here, on a renovated Planet Earth. Compared with eternity on Earth, our stopover in heaven is a short, 1,000-year layover.

Also not in the Bible? Any mention of the Sabbath changing from Saturday to Sunday. Go ahead: read the Bible from cover to cover. You won’t find it … because it’s not there. And once you’ve seen that, you’ll never be able to UNsee it.

Enjoy your Bible study. 🙂

This commentary appeared on the Voice of Prophecy website.