In this era of artificial intelligence and quantum chip supercomputers it is assumed that there is no mathematical solution that cannot be solved.  In fact there is a proposed supercomputer that will be six billion times faster than a Cray-1.  So, could the birth of Jesus Christ have been calculated?  Could the event of His birth be mathematically simulated?  Just how precise is God?

There is a mathematical hint given to us in Matthew 1:17,

“ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”

What we find is there is a watermark of God in Scripture, and it is…..a seal of 7.

In the Bible you will find over 600 passages with 7’s in it.  Some are overt, others are structural, and others are hidden.  What was first discovered by Dr. Ivan Panin (1885-1942) in the early 1900s and is now universally accepted is that there is a heptadic structure that is found in the Bible in both testaments when analyzing the Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek.  What does heptadic mean?  It refers to a heptad or seven-fold basis or structural foundation….a numeric structure found in the text of the entire Bible.  Does this work with any other books written in Hebrew or Greek?  No.

Also interesting: Greek and Hebrew are the only two languages that have a numeric value assigned to each letter.

Given the current season, the most poignant and obvious example to consider is that of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ almost 2,000 years ago.  Let us consider the genealogy of Christ found in Matthew 1:1-17 which I encourage you to review in your Bible.

Do you think it would be possible to simulate the genealogy of Jesus from “scratch” using the same parameters found in Scripture?  How would we go about creating a genealogy that would match the variables found in His?

Let’s start. Here is the formula:

The total number of words in this genealogy must be divisible by 7, evenly.  That is, with no remainders.

The number of letters must also be divisible by 7, evenly.  A little more difficult.

One rule of 7 is that you have only one chance of winning and six chances of failure.

But if you have two rules that is one chance in 7 squared or 49 chances.  That is, by randomness you have one chance in 49 that it comes out in the solution desired.  Do you see where this is going?

Also, bear in mind this has to be composed in Greek!  And the Greek language is a highly inflective language.  Every Greek word has to meet or communicate five conditions.  It is much more constructive than our English language and with much greater range and latitude in its meaning.  In other words, Greek has properties inherent to it that make it almost unsimulatable even with the aid of a computer. To simulate something means to imitate the appearance or character of.

Let’s keep going

The number of vowels and number of consonants must both be divisible by 7.

The number of words that begin with a vowel must be divisible by 7.

The number of words that begin with a consonant must be divisible by 7.

The number of words that occur more than once must be divisible by 7.

The number of words that occur in more than one form must be divisible by 7.

Those words that occur in only one form must be divisible by 7.

The number of nouns shall be divisible by 7.

Only 7 words shall not be nouns.

The number of names shall be divisible by 7.

Only 7 other kinds of nouns are permitted.

The number of male names shall be divisible by 7.

The number of generations shall be divisible by 7.

And this is the genealogy of Jesus Christ as found in Matthew 1:1-17.  These 16 verses meet all of these rules in the Greek New Testament.

You can’t imagine composing this by yourself, right? Especially in Greek which is so rigid.

The chances of this happening by statistical accident are phenomenal or that is, highly unlikely.

For 2  7² =  (7X7)                           49

For 3  7³ =  (7X7X7)                     343

For 4  7³  =  (7X7X7X7), etc      2,401

For 5  7⁵ =                                  16,807

For 6  7⁶  =                               117,649

For 7  7⁷  =                               823,543

For 8  7⁸ =                             5,764,801

For 9  7⁹  =                           40,353,607

Once you understand the statistical behavior, the more rules there are, the more unlikely that it will come about except by deliberate design.

How could you meet the challenge of simulating a solution using these rules?  Let’s consider your time needed to meet this challenge and use this to summarize your effort:

8 hours/day, 40 hours/week, 50 weeks/year = 2000 hours/year, or 120,000 minutes/year.

7⁹ chances = 40,353,607 attempts @ average of 10 minutes/attempt=

403,536,070 minutes or 3,362 years!

But it gets worse!  Were there just nine variables represented in the passages?  No!

For in actuality there are a total of 34 variables of 7-fold solutions within these 16 verses.  What does that look like?

For 10 7¹⁰ =                                                            282,475,249

For 11  7¹¹ =                                                          1,977,326,743

For 12  7¹² =                                                        13,841,287,201

For 13  7¹³ =                                                        96,889,010,047

For 14  7¹⁴ =                                                     678,223,072,849

For 15  7¹⁵ =                                                    4,747,561,509,943

For 16 7¹⁶ =                                                  33,232,930,569,601

For 17  7¹⁷ =                                                232,630,513,987,207

For 18  7¹⁸ =                                              1,628,413,597,910,449

For 19  7¹⁹ =                                             11,398,895,185,373,143

For 20  7²⁰ =                                            79,792,266,297,612,001

For 21  7²¹ =                                           558,545,864,083,284,007

For 22 7²²  =                                        3,909,821,048,582,988,049

For 23  7²³ =                                       27,368,747,340,080,916,343

For 24  7²⁴ =                                      191,581,231,380,566,414,401

For 25  7²⁵ =                                  1,341,068,619,663,964,900,807

For 26  7²⁶ =                                  9,387,480,337,647,754,305,649

For 27  7²⁷ =                                65,712,362,363,534,280,139,543

For 28  7²⁸  =                              459,986,536,544,739,960,976,801

For 29  7²⁹  =                             3,219,905,755,813,179,726,837,607

For 30  7³⁰  =                          22,539,340,290,692,258,087,863,249

For 31  7³¹  =                         157,775,382,034,845,806,615,042,743

For 32  7³² =                        1,104,427,674,243,920,646,305,299,201

For 33  7³³ =                         7,730,993,719,707,444,524,137,094,407

For 34  7³⁴ =                       54,116,956,037,952,111,668,959,660,849

For those with mathematical minds it looks like this:

7³⁴ = ~5.4 X 10²⁸ tries would be needed.

There are ~3.15 X 10⁷ seconds/year

If with the aid of a supercomputer you attempted 400 million tries per second?

At 4 X 10⁸ tries/second, it would still take about

4.3 X 10¹² computer years:  which in simpler terms,

=1,000,000 supercomputers for 4,300,000 years to achieve this statistical outcome.

In other words, this genealogy as it is written, could not happen by randomness.  And the entire Bible, all 66 books, are composed with this heptadic structure in the original Hebrew and Greek.

This tells us that not only did God give Moses the Torah, but He gave it to him letter by letter.

If you pull one letter or “jot or tittle” out of the equation, the heptadic structure fails mathematically.

“Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:164)

The recurrence of the number (7)-seven – or an exact multiple of sevens – is found throughout the Bible and is widely recognized by Bible Scholars world-wide. Seven is also the number of completion.  The Sabbath on the 7th day; the 7-years of plenty and the 7-years of famine in Egypt; the 7-priests and 7-trumpets marching around Jericho for 6-days but on the 7th-day, they marched 7-times around the same wall; the Sabbath Year (the 7th) of the land are well-known examples. Also, Solomon’s building the Temple for 7-years, Naaman’s washing in the river 7-times, and the 7-churches, 7-lamp stands, 7-seals, 7-trumpets, 7-bowls, 7-stars, and so on in the Book of Revelation, all show the consistent use of the number (7)-seven, from Genesis to Revelation. But why? And most importantly, How?

You ever hear the phrase, “you can’t make this up?”  Well it definitely applies to your Bible!

What we find is that the amazing numerical properties of the Biblical texts – both in the Greek of the New Testament and in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, are not only intriguing to discover, they also demonstrate an intricacy of design, a web, if you will of mathematical tapestry, which testifies to a supernatural origin, inspiration and design by the will of a Divine Author.

The numeric text, that is the signature of God, proves beyond doubt that the Bible is supernatural.  The Word of God is an immeasurable blessing to us, and there is absolutely nothing random about the Word!

As you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior this season, be reminded that the very day, hour and moment of His birth was perfectly planned and timed.  Likewise, so shall the time of His return be a perfectly timed moment.

“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6)

Apart from Micah’s precise prophecy have you ever wondered why God chose Bethlehem as the place of entrance for His Son?  Does the Bible tell us if there were other reasons why this little village was designated to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ?  Why Bethlehem?  Why not Jerusalem? Or Hebron?

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

You may ask, “what was Ephratah?”  It was an ancient city located on the immediate outskirts of Bethlehem and more closely associated with the death of Rachel and the amazing prophecy that accompanied her burial.  For it was here that Rachel, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph, that she also gave birth to her second son Benjamin before dying in childbirth.   The midwife told her she had a son (Genesis 35:17) and she named him “Ben Oni” which means “son of my sorrows.”  Afterwards, however, Jacob renamed the boy “Ben Yamin” or Benjamin which translates, “son of my right hand.”

For it was in Bethlehem Ephratah that Jesus was born who would one day go to the Cross as our sacrificial Lamb “despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).  And upon His resurrection three days later and ascension 40 days later He now “sits at the right hand of God.” (Ephesians 2:6).  David prophesied also in Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

Bethlehem in Hebrew translates “house of bread.”  How amazing then that in John’s Gospel, Jesus also referred to Himself as the “bread of life” (John 6:48).

It is where Rachel is buried. And it was also in Bethlehem where the prophet Samuel anointed David as King (1^st Samuel 16:1-13).  But there is even more to this story involving Rachel….

“And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.  And Israel (Jacob) journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.” (Genesis 35:19-21)

It is remarkable that within these verses a location has been marked out for the future fulfillment of prophecy.  In Hebrew, the term “tower of Edar” is migdal eder. It literally means, “tower of the flock.”

“That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem was a settled conviction.  Equally so was the belief that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder; ‘the tower of the flock,’ This Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem.  A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds who watched over them were not ordinary shepherds.  The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism, on account of their necessary isolation from the religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible….”  (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pp.186-187, by Alfred Edersheim)

What most people do not know is that the fields of Bethlehem were precisely where the sacrificial lambs were raised.   These were special flocks, for they were inspected to make sure they were perfect, not having any defect, to be suitable for sacrifice by the priests at the Temple.  The Temple shepherds were drawn exclusively for this ongoing work and there are some sources who state that the “swaddling clothes” cited in Luke 2:7  were the pieces of woven material that the Temple shepherds used to wipe off the newborn lambs prior to their inspection.

Based on the Biblical account there may have been more angels in Bethlehem that blessed evening than people!  Speculation, but we can only imagine that the angelic host probably all wanted to attend the birth of their Master.  After His birth, Mary’s thoughts surely must have drifted back to that night when Gabriel told her she was chosen to give birth to God’s Son.  We can be certain that she knew she was holding Deity in her arms.

The angelic host was jubilant and quickly came upon these Temple shepherds announcing the birth of this remarkable Lamb.  For it was to these shepherds who raised the perfect unblemished sacrificial lambs, that the angels declared the One who would one day not only offer His shed blood but render the need for future animal sacrifices unnecessary.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” (Luke 2:8-18)

As suddenly as they came, the angels ascended and disappeared.  Luke tells us they went away “into heaven.”  Though startled by the heavenly visitation, the shepherds wasted no time going into the city to see the Christ child.

In addition, most Christians today are totally unaware of the connection between the Christmas story and the Book of Ruth detailing the love story of Ruth and Boaz.  What does their story have to do with the birth of Jesus?

The Book of Ruth is one of the most significant books of the Old Testament and for the Church it profiles the role of the “kinsman-redeemer.”  It is a pre-requisite in many respects for fully understanding Revelation 5.  Now, it is also the key link of Bethlehem to the line of David that is given to us by Ruth.  And it is precisely why Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem to register for the census and pay a Roman tax in the days of Augustus Caesar (see blog post dated 1/9/19).  This is yet another reason why Jesus was born in Bethlehem!

With just 4 chapters the Book of Ruth details how a Moabitess (Ruth) refuses to leave her Jewish mother-in-law (Naomi) after the death of her husband. They return to Judah and begin to work and sustain themselves by the harvest gleanings in the fields of Boaz.  The climax occurs when Ruth approaches Boaz in the middle of the night on the threshing floor when she asks him to redeem her and become her husband by covering her with his shul, or hem.  The next day Boaz fulfills his role as kinsman-redeemer in the city gate in Bethlehem concluding with his redemption of the land as well his Gentile bride.  Boaz confronts the “nearer kinsman” who is willing to redeem the property but is not willing to take Ruth as bride, so he yields his shoe as a customary practice to relieve the obligation.  Boaz step up and purchases the land for Naomi and “purchases” Ruth as his bride.

The prophetic symbolism is undeniable.  In Hebrew a “kinsman-redeemer” is a Goel. He must be a kinsman, must be able to perform legally and financially, must be willing to assume all of the obligations of the transaction.  Boaz, as a type of Christ, symbolizes The Lord of the Harvest and The Kinsman-Redeemer.  Naomi symbolizes Israel and Ruth is the Gentile Bride.  Now consider the implications:

In order to bring Ruth to Naomi, Naomi had to be exiled from her land.  What the Law could not do, Grace did.  Ruth does not replace Naomi.  Ruth learns of Boaz’s ways through Naomi.  Naomi meets Boaz through Ruth.  No matter how much Boaz loved Ruth, he had to await her move.  Boaz, not Ruth, confronts the “Nearer Kinsman.”

That this event took place in Bethlehem is not by happenstance. For the Temple shepherds raised their sacrificial lambs most assuredly in the same fields that once belonged to Ruth and Boaz.  There is nothing random about Bethlehem being the selected birthplace for our Savior and Kinsman Redeemer.

Merry Christmas!

Most of us appreciate the tease of a good riddle.  As an example, “Jim’s father has three sons: Snap, Crackle and ____? “ (See answer below.) Sometimes the answer is veiled within a set of facts, and in some cases their answer contains the solution for yet another riddle that lingers behind.  Within the Bible there are riddles (i.e. the inscription prophecy of Zechariah 3:8-10) and other times we might view a matter as veiled, when the answer may be right in front of us.

(Answer: Jim)

The question becomes, who are the twenty-four elders found in the Book of Revelation?  Who or what do they symbolize?  This has produced various views and interpretations over time.  One of the most interesting things about the Book of Revelation is that it has a total of 404 verses and within them are almost 800 allusions or references (not illusions) found in the Old Testament.  In other words, these different elements/symbols found in Revelation are explained somewhere else in Scripture.  Many have said, you can’t understand Revelation unless you understand the Old Testament!

In fact, John would have expected his readers to know the Old Testament.

So what are the implications of 24?  Where do we find this in the Old Testament? Or in the New Testament?  Conjecture by some suggest the 24 elders are angels and others believe they represent the 12 Tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles, or the convenience of 12+12=24.  But Scripture does not seemingly support either of these conclusions.

How is the number 24 related to Christ’s rule?  It is interesting to note that Psalm 72 lists 24 things that Jesus Christ, as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, will do when He sits upon His throne and rules as King and Priest during His Millennial reign.

But the first major event surrounding the number 24 is found accordingly in 1^st Chronicles 24.  It is here in verses 1-19 that King David divides the Aaronic priesthood into 24 courses or 24 separate offices in order to conduct the house of God.  The Chronicler denotes the division of Aaron’s sons for the priesthood but it is not to be confused with the Levitical priesthood that supports them.  Aaron’s first two sons, Nadab and Abihu, died prematurely and had no sons.  Therefore, his two remaining sons Eleazer and Ithamar were called to execute the priest’s office.  King David divides the priesthood by lots among the 16 sons of Eleazer and 8 sons of Ithamar to govern the duties inside the Tabernacle or sanctuary of God.  Among these 24 courses it is interesting to note that the eighth is that of Abijah or Abia, which is mentioned (Luke 1:5) as the course which Zechariah was of, the father of John the Baptist.

What is the significance of this Old Testament event?  How does this apply to the Church?

What is notable is that every one of the 24 sons were assigned a specific duty within the priesthood.  No one was excluded and it is the first time we see 24 impaneled or governing senior leaders ruling or governing within the house of God.

Likewise, as Christian believers we know that the distribution of gifts by the Holy Spirit enables each of us to minister within the Body of Christ, and that by the diversity of these gifts there is not only a division of labor but unity in the Body.  No one is excluded, no one is dispensable.  Thus, we are all called into a royal priesthood: “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1^st Peter 2:5,9)

Okay, but how does this connect to the twenty-four elders found in Revelation?

 “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” (Revelation 4:4)

The word for “seats” is the Greek word “thronos” (Strongs G#2362) and it means “seats assigned to kings or judges, a stately seat or throne, seat of power.”  From this word is derived “throne.”

Thus, what is being depicted is that these elders are to some degree in a position of ruling.  As you read further in Revelation, we discover that these elders are not just observing.

As we are thrust into the throne room of Heaven with John, we are introduced to these elders and they appear to be a completed group.  The elders represent leadership of the Church.

What we understand they CANNOT BE are Tribulation believers.  How do we know that?  Because based on Revelation 7:13-14 they are positioned to explain who the Tribulation believers are to John the Apostle.  In effect, one of the 24 elders answers his own question in providing the explanation:

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

And from chapter 7 we also learn they CANNOT BE angels:

“And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God,” (Revelation 7:11)

So it is clear from this passage that the 24 elders are distinct from “all the angels.”

Nor can the 24 elders represent the Nation of Israel based on Revelation 7 & 12.

WHAT ARE THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE 24 ELDERS?

• They sit on thrones or seats of power. (Revelation 3:21; 4:4)
• They are clothed in white raiment (Revelation 3:5, 4:4)
• They are wearing crowns of gold. (Revelation 2:10; 3:11; 4:4)
• They sing the Song of the Redeemed (Revelation 5:8-10)
• They are called “Elders; Kings & Priests” (Revelation 5:10)

I encourage you to review these verses.  All of these characteristics are ones that we as Christian believers can identify with.

It is interesting to note that in the Bible there are only two “Kings and Priests”: Melchizedek and the Lord Jesus Christ who rules in the “order of Melchizedek.” (Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews 7, 5:5-6).  And now we learn in verse 10 that these elders are made kings and priests as well.

“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
¹⁰ And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:8-10)

Now, take a look at verses 9,10.  Who has God redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?  US!  From where? From EVERY tribe, tongue, people and nation.  US!  That is what these 24 elders are singing in the Song of the Redeemed.

So, who are they?  THEY represent US, the REDEEMED.  The 24 Elders represent the complete CHURCH.

Now that is really interesting.  And it helps clarify what it means that “we will rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ during His Millennial Reign.”   But you said earlier sometimes an answer to a question or riddle can lead to the solution of another riddle.  What did you mean by that?

To conclude that the 24 Elders of Revelation represents the Church, the Bride of Christ it is important to understand that this leads to additional conclusions.  For one, we know that before the Seven Year Tribulation begins the 7 seal judgments, 7 trumpet judgments, and 7 bowl judgments have to commence in their order.  Before any of this happens, the scroll with seven seals must be opened first.

The scroll with seven seals is not opened until the Lamb of God receives it.

Where are the 24 Elders when Jesus receives the scroll?

^“But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

⁶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” (Revelation 5:5-7)

The Redeemed are already in Heaven, in the presence of the Lamb as He opens the scrolls with seven seals.  The Church has already gone before the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ and has received their crowns and bowing before Him casts their crowns before His throne. (Revelation 4:10) Thus, within these verses what we find is that the Rapture is a pre-Tribulation event.