40 Days

Lent lasts for 40 days [not counting Sundays]. The number 40, in the Bible, often signifies initiation, preparation and purification. For example, there is...

• Noah in Genesis 7:4-17;
  
• the Israelites in Exodus 16;
  
• Moses in Exodus 24:15-18, Deuteronomy 2:7;
  
• the spies in Numbers 13:21-15;
  
• the induction of the kingdom in 1 Samuel 2:11;
  
• the preparation of Ninevah in Jonah 3:4-5;
  
• Jesus in the wilderness in Mark 1:9-13;
  
• Jesus between the Resurrection and the Ascension in Acts 1:3.