Biblical Numerology recognizes 12 (much like 3, 7, 10, 50 and 100) as a number of authority and divine order signifying the indefectible governmental foundation of God and His power over creation. As the product of the numbers 3 and 4 where 3 represents the Holy Trinity and 4 the four quarters of the world, the number 12 denotes a harmonious blend of the heavenly and the earthly spheres.
If I may cite a few references;
1. There were 12 tribes of Israel (Gen 49:28).
2. The breastplate of Aaron – the first High Priest – had twelve stones (Ex 28:21).
3. Moses discovered 12 springs of water in Elim after experiencing the bitter waters of Marah (Ex 15:27).
4. Moses sent 12 spies to Canaan to scout the potential of the land (Num 13:1-3).
5. After receiving the Law, Moses erected twelve pillars at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex 24:4).
6. Solomon appointed 12 officers over Israel (1 Kings 4:7).
7. Jesus addressed God 𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘢 at the age of 12 (Lk 2:42).
8. Jesus chose 12 apostles (Matt 10: 1-4).
9. The wall of the New Jerusalem has 12 foundation stones each bearing the name of an apostle (Rev 21:14).
10. The woman clothed with the sun had a crown with 12 stars (Rev 12:1).
I could go on…
The Liturgy of the Church as well upholds the solemnity of the number 12. The 𝘌𝘲𝘣𝘰 of Thursday Night Vigil remarks;
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦.”
Furthermore, the Sedro of the Vespers of the Feast of the Holy Apostles mentions;
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩.”
The fact that the Holy Apostles are likened to pillars is because – along with the prophets and the martyrs – they form the foundation of the Holy Church as is made evident in the 𝘘𝘰𝘭𝘰 of Tuesday Vespers;
“𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺.”
It is quite intriguing to note that the Ecumenical Councils chose to place the qualifiers of the Church viz. One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic in the same section as that of the Holy Spirit. This is probably because – as Metropolitan John Zizioulas observed – although Christ instituted the Church it is the Holy Spirit that constitutes it for He is the Life-giving Lord of all. No wonder Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Church.
We need to take cognizance of the fact that when we speak of the apostolicity of the Church we are actually referring not to the mere episcopal succession but more vividly to the apostolic kerygma. Therefore, if we are to honour the apostolicity of the Church we must proclaim not our own eccentric faith but the faith of the apostles taught and traditioned by our Lord Jesus Christ strongly bearing in mind the digression of the world from the True Faith as forewarned by St Paul;
“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘴.” (2 𝘛𝘪𝘮 4:3-4).
Festal Greetings !
~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥
Urho, The Way 