“if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise” ” (Gal 3:29, KJV)
One of the amazing characteristics of the Bible is the fact that it always presents the same truth in various ways. Each truth is communicated in different ways, and each says the same thing, but in a different manner. The previous two teachings could for instance also be explained solely from Ps 89, a psalm of Ethan.
In this psalm the psalmist describes “the deplorable condition of the family of David at this time” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary). Despite the terrible decay of the house of David at that point the speaker refers back to the covenant which God had made with David (verse 3) in which He promised “Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.” (verse 4). In verses 26-27 the consequences of this covenant through the subsequent generations are spelled out, up until this point – “He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.’ Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”!
This line of descendants then also becomes the basis of the genealogy of Jesus in Matt 1. Verse 1 highlights the three foundational cores of the genealogy – “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Then, in verse 2 the genealogy is drawn from Abraham, through David, up until Jesus.
Very interesting however is that verse 17 explains to us that this genealogy is ordered in a very specific manner; there is a mathematical pattern embedded in this presentation – “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” The mathematician in me had on first reading this immediately gone to test its validity – from Abraham to David was indeed fourteen generations (verses 2 to 6a); from Solomon to the Babylonian exile was indeed fourteen generations (verses 6b to 11), and from Shealtiel up until Jesus (verses 12 to 16a) were only … THIRTEEN generations! I counted again, and again, and realized that God as a brilliant Mathematician would not allow such a simple calculation mistake.
The answer to this mystery is profound. Read verse 16 again, especially the last part – “And Jacob [11th in the third measure of fourteen] begot Joseph [12th in the third measure of fourteen] the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus [13th in the third measure of fourteen] who is called Christ.” Thus – thirteen.
But read the end of verse 17 again – “from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations”. There the mystery is found – Christ. Jesus the historical figure, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, was thirteenth; Christ, the Anointed One, is the 14th generation! From Daniel’s timeline we learnt that everything had built up toward the coming of the “Anointed One”, the appointed Head to the anointed Body (Eph 4:7-16) – which is us (1 John 2:20 & 27)! Jesus and Christ cannot be separated, but it is critical that we distinguish between them.
14 + 14 + 14 = brings us to the 42nd generation. This generation carries the bloodline of Jesus the Christ in the flesh.
The secular book by Douglas Adams, The hitchhikers’s guide to the galaxy is based on this question – “What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything?” You and I must have both have known the answer to this – 42.
- Sela: Try and explain to someone the difference between Jesus and Christ.
- Read: Num 36; Obad 1; Ezek 26
- Memorize: Obad 1:21 (of great importance for this teaching)
