Scripture: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham…
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.…” (Matthew 1:1, 17; context: 1:1-17)
Observation: Numbers are an interesting thing in the Bible. Ancient people, no less than moderns, were both excellent mathematicians and fascinated by the properties of numbers. No less than moderns, ancient people attached symbolic value to numbers.
Working with numbers in the Bible can go sideways very quickly because we don’t always know how or when they were using numbers symbolically versus literally. Several factors guide how we can faithfully interpret numbers in the Bible: the genre or type of literature, the immediate context of the passage, ancient Middle Eastern literary conventions vs. modern Western conventions, and more.
In this case we can make some fairly well-grounded inferences because we’re not trying to predict the future using Biblical numbers (tricky territory indeed!). Instead we’re observing how Matthew is using numbers about the past to make a theological declaration about the present—the coming of Jesus the Messiah in his day.
OT genealogical sources reveal that Matthew has skipped some generations in order to get the numbers to work out, which suggests he’s working within a cultural convention of his time. So the question is, why has he done it this way? What is his point?
Matthew has worked out three sets of fourteen generations along major historical plot points of theological significance: Abraham, David, Exile, Messiah. Fourteen is two times seven. Three sets make six sevens. Jesus the Messiah, therefore, stands at the beginning—following Matthew’s pattern—of a seventh seven. It’s like Matthew is expecting us to do something akin to one of my favorite nerd jokes: “There are two types of people in the world. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete information…” ;)
The Sabbath from Genesis 1 happens the seventh day, the pinnacle of creation, on which the Lord rests from all His work of creating. Being tired after a lot of work has nothing to do with it. The King is taking a seat on the throne to enjoy the satisfaction of what He has accomplished, like my wife and I stepping back to appreciate getting the raised bed cleared and the spring vegetables planted, mulched, and watered. It was work and now we get to sit in our lawn chairs to enjoy it.
In good time, the Lord accomplished His work of creation. In good time, the Lord is bringing His work of redemption. That’s what Matthew is signaling with some numerological literary flair—God’s timing is here. The seventh seven—a “week of sevens.” The Messiah has arrived at the perfect time in God’s salvation story, and His name is Jesus.
Application:
When have you experienced God’s timing working out better than your timing?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you have the whole story in view, so help me to trust your timing. Thank you for sending Jesus at just the right time—into the world and into my life. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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When have you experienced God’s timing working out better than your timing?
I has taken me many years to wait for God’s timing rather than being impulsive. It always works out better. Asking, through prayer, for perfect timing gives my life balance and peace as well as making better decisions.
After googling the relevance of the number 7 in the Bible, maybe I should pay more attention to the correlation in my life, my rhythm!