41 Generations to the Messiah

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Fibonacci Sequence

One of my favorite prophetic passages in the Bible is found in Isaiah 46:9-10. It’s a statement by YHWH, the living God of the Bible, that He is God and there is none like Him. In this wonderful passage, YHWH is talking to Israel contrasting Himself with the Babylonian gods, Bel and Nebo, which had been unable to save ancient Babylon and its inhabitants from captivity.

To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?…

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isaiah 46:5, 9-10

Did you catch that? The first evidence YHWH uses to prove to Israel that Bel and Nebo are not His equals is the fact that He tells the end from the beginning. In other words He knows the future. This foreknowledge of the future is one way YHWH sets Himself apart from other gods and elevates the Bible above other religious texts.

Declaring the End from the Beginning
Everywhere we look in the world around us shows the glory of YHWH. No matter how high you look into the heavens or how deep you look into the microscopic world of atoms you see the hand of a master designer of infinite genius. Every corner of this amazing world shows purpose and order.

Here’s a question. If the natural world around us reflects the creative genius of YHWH then might not we expect to see a similar purpose and order reflected in His word? Consider Isaiah 46:10 once again. This passage tells us that YHWH declares the end from the beginning and the ancient things which are not yet done. This means we can rest confident in YHWH’s purpose for His creation. Remember the words of Paul to the Romans? He reminds them that YHWH’s character and purpose is reflected in the created world around us so that even the wicked are without excuse before Him.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20 

Or how about the words of Kind David:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19:1-4

First Century Jewish Context
But our search today takes us not into the infinite number of natural mysteries YHWH has given us to explore. Instead I want to look at an example of purpose and design that is often overlooked in the Biblical record.

Our exploration begins in the first chapter and book of the New Testament. Here in Matthew chapter 1 we have a fascinating arrangement of the Messiah Yeshua’s lineage. I say fascinating because the list is arranged by the Apostle Matthew in a peculiar way unique to the Biblical record.

For context’s sake keep in mind that the gospel of Matthew was written to the first century Jewish believers. Many scholars acknowledge the distinctly Jewish symbolism and metaphor woven into this gospel account. It is believed by some that the gospel of Matthew was actually written in Hebrew and then later translated into Greek. In any case this first gospel of the New Testament was written in such a way as to emphasis to the early Jewish readers that Yeshua was Messiah which was prophesied of in the Hebrew Scriptures.

41 Generations
We need go no further than the first seventeen verses of this fascinating gospel account. Here Matthew sets out Yeshua’s lineage into three sets of 14 generations, thus emphasizing the names relative to three generational groupings.

Matthew1_List_aBut then we find that Matthew purposely leaves out 4 Old Testament kings from Yeshua’s lineage giving us only 41 generations instead of the 45. All it takes is one look at this list as arranged by Matthew for us to realize its special nature. Here take a look at the chart on the left:

Today I won’t go into all fascinating details of why I believe Matthew left out four kings or why the list was arranged into three groups of 14 generations because today I want to take a step back in time and look at the bigger picture. I want to look at an aspect of this list which helps us bridge the Biblical generations and see how YHWH declares the “end from the beginning.”

When all the controversial dust settles on Matthew’s intriguing account of Yeshua’s lineage it is at its most basic level simply a list of 41 generations from Abraham to Yeshua. So what’s the big deal, you might be wondering? Well, those 41 names take on amazing significance when you consider them in terms of the Bible’s overreaching chronological record. You see according to the Old Testament chronology, Abraham was born in the 2008th year from Adam. This places Abraham’s birth in the 41st Jubilee cycle from Adam. Coincidence? Hardly, here’s why:

You see if you divide the number of years between Adam and Abraham you’ll find that Abraham was born at the very end of the 41st Jubilee cycle. If you then count the years from Abraham to Yeshua you’ll discover that Yeshua was born during the 41st Jubilee cycle from Abraham. In other words the 41 generations between Abraham and Yeshua, as given in Matthew 1, are equal to 41 Jubilee cycles in actual Biblical chronology. How neat is that? Matthew purposely arranged Yeshua’s lineage to emphasis the fact that He (the Messiah) came 41 jubilee cycles after Abraham. The very same Abraham who himself came 41 jubilee cycles after Adam.

How is that for purpose and order!

41 Generations Messiah

 

 

As an aside, for those of you who appreciate the order and design of numbers, note that the number 41 is the 13th prime number. Considering Matthew presented Yeshua as the 13th generation in the third grouping of names this appears to be more than a coincidence. In any case, Yeshua, according to Matthew’s intentional arrangement is represented as both the 13th and 41st generation.

 

 

 

Now we understand at least in part why Matthew arranged Yeshua’s lineage to show 41 generations. By leaving out four names from Yeshua’s lineage Matthew purposely drew his reader’s attention to an ancient Biblical chronological fact that Yeshua’s first coming was equal to the length of time from Adam to Abraham, thus confirming the significance of the Messiah’s first coming in terms of YHWH’s past Biblical history.

41 Jubilee Cycles from the Messiah
It might surprise some of you to learn that today you and I are living in the 41st Jubilee cycle from the Messiah Yeshua. Once again an ancient and important Biblical cycle is drawing to a close and in light of its significance in past Biblical history it bears watching. Only YHWH knows what, if any, significance this 41st Jubilee cycle will have in the years ahead, but it behooves all of us to remember the words of Yeshua to the church of Sardis:PrimeNumbersNumericalOrder

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.  Revelation 3:2-3

I sincerely believe that now is the time to be vigilant for the return of Yeshua. But as we watch, keep in mind that the prophecies and patterns of the Bible are not there for us to use to predict the future but so we may have confidence that the future is in YHWH’s hands because he does indeed declare the “end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.”

Maranatha!

Book 1
Book I - Description

The 13th Enumeration
"A book that will change how you look at the Bible's Messianic Symbolism."

Book 2
Book 2 - Description

Daniel's 70 Weeks -
"A book that will forever change how you understand the Bible's greatest Messianic prophecy."

Book 3
Book 3 - Description

The Jubilee Code -
"A book that will show you real Biblical evidence for Yahweh's guiding in hand history bringing about His redemptive plan for mankind."

 

5 thoughts on “41 Generations to the Messiah

  1. Christopher Savarimuthu

    It is awesome to know that we live in the 41st jubilee cycle from Messiah. There is anticipation in the air. The current state of world affairs is showing signs of critical mass, waiting for a trigger to explode. Let’s be ready for His imminent return.

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Gog & Magog in the Latter Years | The 13th Enumeration

  3. John G Gassaway MD

    You allude to a reason for the missing kings of the line of Solomon to Jesus and may cover this somewhere else. I am a new reader. God cursed the line of Ahab and the prophet Elisha made a pact with Jehu to eradicate all of the line of Ahab. The three missing in Matthew 1:8 are:Ahaziah, [2nd Kings 8:25],Joash (Jehoash), 2nd Kings 12:1] and Amaziah [2nd Kings 14:1], having been cursed of God as descendants of Ahab (through the marriage of Jehoram to a “daughter of Omri” [or Ahab? BOTH! by common practice). The son of Jehoram, Ahaziah was 50% of the house of Ahab.
    Why the missing kings of Judah? If we read the book of Kings we find that Jehoshaphat longed for the reunification of Israel and Judah and aided Ahab in wars between Israel and Ben-Hadid and Hazael. This was far from what God wanted. Jehoshaphat was gone so much from Jerusalem, his son Jehoram was the defacto king of Judah or co-regent. The close alliance of Jehoshaphat to Ahab led to the marriage of Jehoram to Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab [2nd Kings 8:18]. The son of Jehoram and Athaliah, Ahaziah then was 50% of the House of Ahab and totally unacceptable to God to sit on the throne of Solomon. His name is the first left out of Matthew’s lineage of Christ and continues from Azariah to Joash to Amaziah. [2nd Kings 8:26] The infant son of Ahaziah, Joash was hidden during the usurpation by Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, and began to reign when he was 7 years old. He carried the line of Ahab through the father (son of Athaliah) and shared the curse. His mother, was not Athaliah but named “:seed royal” [ 2nd Kings11:2], his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba [2nd Kings 12:1]. Thus, the dilution of the bloodline of Ahab and Omri to less than 50% with blood of from a wife of Juda. Joash begat Amaziah through Jehoaddan of Jerusalem [2nd Kings 14:2] reported b y some historians as a princess of the “House of David.” The bloodline then was further cleansed by blood of the mother, the royal bloodline of David. The son Amaziah now begat Uzziah (Azariah) and Ozias in Matthew 1:8,9. The bloodline of Ahab and Omri was now decreased to an acceptable degree. So the gap in Matthew 1 with the removal of three kings after Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat. Those three had an unacceptable blood lineage to the hated House of Omri and Ahab. The king Uzziah (Azariah) carried some small lineage to Ahab but acceptable as marriages to wives of Juda by two kings resulted in the amount of the blood line being small.
    The listings of the high priests of that period of the three kings are likewise left out of the listing of high priests in Ezra 7:1-5. The Bible is the best dictionary and history of THE BIBLE! docjgg

    Reply
    1. William Struse Post author

      Hi John,

      Thank you for you comments. I discuss in more dept why Matthew arranged Yeshua’s lineage in the manner he did in my book: The 13th Enumeration: Key to the Bible’s Messianic symbolism. Subscribers to me blog can download it and all my other Prophecy and Patterns books for free from this blog. You can also find my books for free from most digital retailers.

      Warm regards,
      William

      Reply
  4. John G Gassaway MD

    correction: The sentence that includes “Azariah to Joash to Amaziah”, should read Ahaziah to Joash to Amaziah”.docjgg

    Reply

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