Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Plucking the Eagle's Wings

promising him that a great nation would come from his son. This covenant promise marked the birth of the nation of Israel. The evidence (token) of the covenant between God and Israel was circumcision (Genesis 17:11-13). Matthew's Gospel lists the names in the lineage of Jesus. Matthew wrote, "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations and all the generations from David to Babylon are fourteen generations and all the generations from Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations" (Matthew 1:17). Matthew began his list with Abraham, not Adam. This is because Abraham was the first man to make a covenant with God symbolized by circumcision. The reason Abraham, David, Babylon and Christ are listed is because each name signifies a major covenant event, or a promise. Abraham was the father of the covenant because he was the first man to covenant with God by faith; therefore, covenant time began with him. God promised Abraham the land that became Israel. Fourteen generations later, God made a covenant with David concerning the city of Jerusalem, which became the eternal capital of Israel. Fourteen generations later, Israel went into Babylonian captivity because they broke the commandments of God and judgment came upon the land. After repenting, the Jews were delivered from Babylon and returned to repossess Israel and rebuild Jerusalem. From Babylon to Christ was fourteen generations, because Jesus Christ established another covenant. Christ's covenant produced a new nation (the Christian church), with a new city (a heavenly Jerusalem), and a new people (the followers of Christ)! There are three sets of fourteen generations mentioned in Matthew 1:17. When adding up the three sets of generations, there are forty-two in all. From Abraham to Christ, there are a total of forty-two generations. There are fourteen people between each major person or event. This is clearly a pattern. The first Biblical reference to the number fourteen is found in the story of Jacob, who later was named Israel. Jacob worked fourteen years before he received Rachel, the woman he desired to marry (Genesis 31:41). The second Biblical reference to the number fourteen concerns the number of children born to Rachel and her maids: "These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen." (Genesis 46:22 )

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