“Thy Son, Thy Only Son”
When you hear these words who or what do they make you think of? During this time of year many of you probably are reminded of John 3:16:
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The apostle John also described Yeshua (Jesus) as “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Yeshua himself, the night before His death, kept the Passover with His disciples and explained to them that the Passover supper was in fact a symbol of His atonement for the sins of mankind.
Matthew 26:26-28
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
The author of Hebrews in chapter 10 was even more specific when he described the sacrificial rites of the law as but a “shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things…”
Indeed, the New Testament witness is clear and unequivocal that the sacrificial redemptive rites of the Torah were but examples of the one and only sacrifice worthy to cover the sins of Israel and mankind. That sacrifice was Yeshua.
Hebrews 9:28 – 10:12
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 10:1
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect…..
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
This being the Passover week when nearly 2000 years ago Yeshua, offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, I think it is important to remember the congruency with which the Torah and its sacrificial redemptive rites pointed us to the Messiah. In the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, the apostle Matthew represented Yeshua as the 13th and 14th generation from Abraham.
To a Jewish reader steeped in the Torah, this symbolism would have reminded them of the sacrificial rites of the Torah. This representation of Yeshua as both the 13th and 14th generation also congruently symbolized the Old Testament description of the Messiah as both a suffering servant (sacrificial rites of 13) and the kingship of David (David is the 14th generation in Matthew 1 and his name has the numerical value of 14).
This symbolism is especially exemplified in the celebration of Passover. Did you know that the sacrificial redemptive rites of Passover as described in Numbers 28 highlighted 13 & 14 sacrifices? In fact, during this Passover week in ancient Israel, 13 sacrifices were required for each day of the feast. On the first day, though 13 sacrifices were offered, 14 were consumed.
You see, the Passover lamb was slain on the 14th of Nisan and then consumed that evening which began the 15th. So in other words, while the corporate priesthood was required to offer 13 sacrifices on the first day of Unleavened Bread, that day beginning at sundown, the 14th sacrifice (The Passover lamb) was consumed by all Israel.
The Binding of Isaac
While the words “Thy Son, Thy only Son” remind many of us of Yeshua and His death and resurrection on Passover, this week I wanted to take you back nearly 2000 years earlier than Yeshua’s death and resurrection to when these words were actually spoken in one of the first shadow pictures of YHWH’s redemptive plan for mankind.
Along the way, I will show you how, long before the sacrificial rites of 13 and 14 were given in the Torah, these numbers were encoded in another story of a father and son and their sacrifice. In the passage I’m going to share, the numbers 13 and 14 lay in wait as integral part of the numerical structure of this prophetic story. I personally believe this was done in order that one day they might show the congruency of YHWH’s redemptive plan for mankind through Yeshua of Nazareth.
You see the words “thy son, thy only son” come from Genesis 22 and one of the most moving stories of faith in the Bible. The Jewish people know this story as the Akedah (Binding) – the Binding of Isaac when Abraham was testing with task of sacrificing his son Isaac.
To really appreciate these words and their meaning to Abraham, we need a bit more back story. A decade or so earlier Abraham and Sarah could not conceive a child. Abraham at nearly 100 years old and Sarah at 90 years of age were past the normal age of bearing children. But YHWH had a plan for Abraham and made it clear that the following year, at what the Bible describes as the “set time” (mow’ed) they would have a son, they were to call his name Isaac, and he not Ishmael would be the promised seed.
Genesis 17:15-19, 21
15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him….
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time [mow’ed] in the next year.
Genesis 18:17-19
17 And YHWH said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of YHWH to do justice and judgment; that YHWH may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Isaac the Promised Seed and His “Resurrection”
Isaac was born the following year at the “set time” appointed by YHWH. Indeed, as I’ve shown in my book The Jubilee Code: Prophetic Milestones in Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan, Isaac’s birth came right on time in the 43rd Jubilee from Adam. (For the significance of this please see my book The Jubilee Code – Free Book Download.)
Keep in mind that Isaac was living proof of YHWH’s promise to Abraham that through his “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed. Yet, here we are in Genesis 22, and YHWH is testing Abraham’s faith by asking him to take Isaac and sacrifice him on the mountains of Moriah.
Can you imagine what must have been going through Abraham’s mind? His precious son, his only son of Sarah and him, the very son that Yahweh had promised him in his old age, he was now being told take and offer as a sacrifice. Here is an excerpt of that poignant story:
Genesis 22:1-24
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of YHWH called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of YHWH it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of YHWH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn [shaba], saith YHWH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Abraham is a wonderful example of faith and obedience. You see because of Abraham’s faith and obedience YHWH used him in an amazing way to bring about a critical part of His redemptive plan for mankind. Abraham’s willingness to obey YHWH and offer Isaac as a sacrifice was born out of a faith forged in obedience.
Abraham’s first recorded act of obedience was when at 75 years of age YHWH told him to pack up and leave his native home to journey to a new land which he promised him as an inheritance to him and his offspring. Then at 100 years of age, YHWH told Abraham and Sarah they’d have that son through whom all nations of the earth would be blessed. At first skeptical, Abraham found the faith to act on YHWH’s promise.
Then came the ultimate test of taking his precious son, his only son, and offering him as a sacrifice. The author of Hebrews describes it this way:
Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
But Abraham had faith. As Genesis 22 describes and the author of Hebrews, Abraham believed! He knew that Isaac was the promised seed and because he believed YHWH he knew that whatever happened up on that mountain, both he and Isaac would be returning when it was all said and done.
As Hebrews 11:19 explains, Abraham in his faith knew that YHWH was able to raise Isaac from the dead, and in fact this story of Isaac’s sacrifice was a type or shadow of resurrection.
Isaac’s Resurrection a Shadow of the Promised Redeemer
Turns out that Abraham didn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. It was just one more test of his faith. Instead of Isaac, YHWH himself provided the sacrifice. That sacrifice was a ram caught in the thicket nearby and it was that ram which was placed upon the wood of the altar instead of Isaac.
Because of Abraham’s demonstration of faith YHWH swore (shaba) an oath with him that promised in part through Abraham’s “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed. This swaring of an oath was in fact the first recorded oath that YHWH swore with any man in the Bible.
Genesis 22:1-24
15 And the angel of YHWH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn [shaba], saith YHWH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 26:3-4 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee [Isaac], and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath [shebuw’ah] which I sware[shaba] unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
Three times in Genesis 22 YHWH calls out to Abraham identifying Isaac as “thy son, thy only son”. You can almost hear those words echoing down through the centuries. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice His only son, would become a foreshadowing of YHWH’s redemptive purpose for mankind by the sacrifice of His own “only begotten son” Yeshua nearly 2000 years later.
A sacrifice that would take place on the very same mountains of Moriah. The Messianic redemptive picture of the “only son” is confirmed by the apostle John in one of the most well know New Testament Scriptures.
John 3:16-17 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 1:17-18 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
1 John 4:9-10 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This brings me back full circle to the central importance the Binding of Isaac plays in the Bible’s redemptive message, especially as it relates to the prophecy of 70 Sevens. Here are the words of Peter in Acts 3 where he describes the resurrection of Yeshua, the “son of God” and the covenant YHWH sware with Abraham, a covenant (oath) that promised, in part, that through Abraham’s “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed.
Acts 3:25-26 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
You see the covenant Peter is referring to here is the oath (shebuw’ah) that YHWH sware (shaba) with Abraham in Genesis 22:16. As I’ve exampled in many past articles and books, this “swaring of sevens” (the Hebrew word for sware can also means seven) with Abraham was the in fact the “covenant and mercy” Daniel referred to in Daniel 9:4. (For more on this please see my article Seven, 70, and Sevens: Daniel 9 and the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism)
To help you wrap your mind around the amazing congruency of this oath of the covenant, the following chart provides a visual representation of the Hebrew words Sware / Seven and its relationship to oath YHWH sware with Abraham and the prophecy of 70 Sevens. Please note the Hebrew root shaba (sware) and Sheba’ (Seven) are phonetically identical words (spelled exactly the same in Hebrew).
The Numerical Structure of the Bible’s Redemptive Message
My last article on the Numerical Structure of Daniel 9 and the 70 Sevens Prophecy showed that Daniel 9:23-27 was numerically structured to emphasize the 70 Sevens and the sacrificial redemptive symbolism of the numbers 13 & 14. This amazing prophetic passage which Daniel 9 grouped into 100 words was arranged to ensure that someday we would understand that the prophecy was not a stand- alone piece of prophetic Scripture but was undeniably part of a larger redemptive plan (and pattern) given by YHWH to mankind.
Click on Image to Enlarge
In the chart above, you can see that Daniel 9 was numerically ordered so that the 7 Sevens were the numerical center of the passage. There were 49 words before the 7 Sevens (7 Sevens = 49) and 49 words after. Those two words in the numerical center of the passage were further emphasized by the fact that they were also the 13th and 14th words of verse 25. This and other unique symbolism described in my last article the Numerical Structure of Daniel 9 shows that 13 and 14 are an integral part of the numerical structure of this passage. The Akedah or Binding of Isaac, which I’ll explore in more detail below, also shares some of the same numerical redemptive symbolism.
Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan for Mankind
As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Yeshua this week. I hope you’ll take a moment to appreciate the congruency and majesty with which Yahweh’s redemptive plan for mankind is woven into the entire Biblical record. One of the most poinant examples of that congruency is the Binding of Isaac. This wonderful story was a foreshadowing of YHWH’s redemptive plan for mankind and the numerical structure of Genesis 22:1-19 further confirms this.
Maranatha!
The Numerical Structure of Genesis 22:1-19
For those of you who would like to dig deeper into Genesis 22:1-19, here is some more information on its structure and symbolism I’ve found interesting. One could spend a lifetime exploring the many facets of just this one passage. If you notice additional gems please fell free to let me know and I’ll add them to this list.
The story of Abraham and the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19 is a passage of 307 words. It begins in verse 1 with 13 words and ends in verse 19 with 14 words. In other words it is bookended by these two messianic redemptive numbers. The exact numerical center of this passage is the word Isaac in verse 9. There are 153 words before Isaac and 153 words after. (153+1+153)
- The first word of the passage is haya (it became or to take place)
- The middle words is Isaac
- The final word of the passage is sheba/shaba (sware / seven) the very root word at the center of this wonderful redemptive message.
For what it is worth, there is only one direct mention of the number 153 in the Bible and it is found in John 21:11. According to John, after the resurrection the disciples were fishing with little success. Yeshua appears and tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. They did so and they caught exactly 153 fish in the net. Some scholars have speculated that this number symbolically represents the redeemed of mankind. In any case; its occurrence here in Genesis 22 precedes as well as follows the Hebrew words Isaac who in the passage is a picture of one condemned to death but saved at the last moment by the grace of YHWH.
Genesis 22:1-19, like Daniel 9:23-27, can also be divided into groups of 49 words. There are 6 of these 49 words groups, each with its own numerical center. The first grouping is 49+6+49. The numerical center of this group are the six Hebrew words that read: “And Isaac his son he [Abraham] split wood of the burnt offering”
The second 49 words grouping has as its center the single word “Isaac” who is the focus of this passage.
The third 49 words grouping has as its center the six Hebrew words: “for because that thou did the word”
Combined the numerical centers are a total of 13 words. (6+1+6) For fun, in the diagram below see how many combinations of 7, 13, and 14 you can find.
Some Additional Numerical Features of Genesis 22:1-19:
- The numerical center is the Hebrew word Isaac (153 words before Isaac and 153 words after)
- Opens with 13 words
- Closes with 14 words
- 280 (4×70 or 2x10x14)) words between first and last verse
- The passage is 13 + 140 words up to “Isaac” (not including Isaac)
- The Balance of the passage is 14 + 140 words from “Isaac” to the end (including Isaac)
- There are 585 letters up to and including the numerical center Isaac. (3x3x5x13)
- Including “Isaac” there are 574 words in the balance of the passage. (2x7x41 or 14×41)
- The first half of the passage letter count includes the multiple 13. (3x3x5x13)
- The second half of passage letter count includes the multiples 7 and 14. (2x7x41 or 14×41)
- The 14th verse has 13 words and it is the only verse in the passage that mentions YHWH’s name twice.
- Interestingly, the proper name of God “YHWH” appears 4 times in the 5th 49 word grouping.
- There is a symmetric arrangement to three of these divine names as the 29th, 39th, and 49th words of the grouping.
- The phrase “thy son, thy only” appears three times in the Gen. 22:1-19
- The 13th word of verse 1 is “behold”
- The 14th word of verse 19 is “sware / seven”
- One might see this the opening and closing of this passage as a reminder to “behold the swaring of sevens”.
- The remaining 280 words tell of Abraham’s faith and YHWH’s swaring of an oath (swaring of sevens) with Abraham that promised (in part) that through Abraham’s “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed. This oath of sevens was later confirmed to Daniel when he was given the prophecy of 70 Sevens.
Finally, here is a chart showing the word count for each verse of Genesis 22:1-19. I noticed something unusual when calculating the progressive sum of the number of words in each verse. 182 of course stands out because it is the multiples of 13×14 but that in and of itself I did not consider really noteworthy because it could have been a coincidence. However, when I added the progressive sum of the words starting with verse 19 and going backwards, I noticed the exact same matching pairs of numbers. It is hard to imagine a coincidence here but I’m not sure the purpose. Further, I also noted that these pairs of numbers 125+182 = 307 and 136 + 171 = 307 which is the total number of words in the entire passage. I can’t help but wonder if these pairs of numbers are markers of some sort or maybe the fact that they match and are equal to 307 is in and of itself the author’s way of showing intentional design of the passage. In any case it is fascinating to me.
The following chart is the entire passage of Genesis 22:1-19. The beginning of each verse is in Gray. Word count on the left and letter count on the right. Words by YHWH or the “Angle of the Lord” in Green.
Click on Image to Enlarge
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