In most places in the Word, "ten" represents "all," or in some cases "many" or "much." The Ten Commandments represent all the guidance we get from the Lord in life; the ten horns on the beast of Revelation represent all power of falsity; the ten virgins with lamps in Matthew 25 represent all people of the church.

Yet in other places, ten, or especially a "tenth," signifies representing remnants, or tiny scraps of goodness preserved for the future. These can be the remnants of a church -- a few good people that can be built up into a new church. Or they can be tiny subconscious memories of love and joy which the Lord stores in each of us in early childhood, feelings He can use later to draw us toward a life of goodness and affection.

These two meanings seem nearly opposite, but they're actually not. Love is whole and indivisible, so that the tiniest feeling buried inside someone contains all the elements of the love it can become. In a similar way, a remnant of a church that has preserved that church's knowledge has everything it needs to grow into a new church. In a sense, then, those remnants are indeed "all," they're just a version of "all" that is still in a state of potential.

Title: Omniscience

Topic: Trinity

Summary: We look at biblical teachings about God's omniscience, and how that affects us. Does God really know everything about us, including our future?

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Genesis 3:5; 16:10, 13
2 Samuel 14:17, 20; 18:13
1 Kings 8:38-39
1 Chronicles 28:9
Job 24:1
Psalms 139:1
Isaiah 7:14; 11:1
Jeremiah 18:23
Ezekiel 11:5
Daniel 2:20
Matthew 5:32
John 1:45-end
John 2:24-25; 4:16, 25, 29; 16:30; 18:4; 21:17
Acts of the Apostles 1:24; 15:18
Colossians 2:1-3
1 John 3:18
Luke 22:43-46
John 19:8
2 Kings 4:27; 6:8-12
Isaiah 11:9
Daniel 1:4, 17
John 16:13
Romans 15:14
1 Corinthians 1:5; 13:2
Colossians 1:9, 28; 3:16
1 John 2:20