Fax Number before Fax Machine

I called the phone company on Monday and asked about a fax line. They then informed me that the service I have includes my very own fax number and they procede to give me my fax number. *note the fax machine did not actually come until today Thursday.. 4 days after I got my fax number. So is this normal to get a fax number before the actual fax machine? Well really long before that, I changed my sevice bundle about six months ago. URRRGH!