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Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times seven (70x7). Is there a time limit to forgiveness or is forgiveness a never-ending act? And what does end-time prophecy have to do with it? The answer will surprise you.
In this final episode of this 3-part video/blog series, we will wrap up our discussion of Matthew 18:21-22. So far, we have learned that Jesus extended Peter’s forgiveness model to seventy times more than the usual 7 times measure. A revised standard that traces back to the 7th generation of Adam’s firstborn line, by a man name Lamech. Yet, this same standard was also curiously applied to Israel’s prophetic timeline by the Prophet Daniel. We are now left with two pending questions:
When did or how does Israel relate to the firstborn of Adam? And how can Israel be benefactors of a supposedly New Testament concept of forgiveness in an Old Testament setting?
If you missed how we got to our two pending questions, I recommend reviewing Part 1 and 2 of this series first. Otherwise, let's get some answers!
At the end of Part 2, I gave two hints to help solve these two questions that are now before us. The first hint has to do with the legal issue of the firstborn office of the family. The second hint concerns the act of rightly dividing. I admit, the last hint is overly broad without a proper firstborn context, so let’s start with the firstborn office first.
This may surprise you but way before Jesus was born, God publicly declared Israel as His firstborn son to the nations. (Ex. 4:22). This makes a total of three sons that hold a firstborn legal office within the family of Adam that appear in the Biblical narrative. They are as follows:
SINFUL CAIN (in the pre-flood period).
SINFUL ISRAEL (in the post-flood period).
SINLESS JESUS (Firstborn replacement).
By outlining the three firstborn contenders of the family, we now must “rightly divide,” or sort out its meaning within the Bible’s given boundaries. We do this by using the flood waters of Noah as a boundary line in human history. This method may seem odd, but Peter employs the flood as a boundary line on two different levels:
The flood divides from the “old” from the “new” world (2 Pet. 2:5, 3:4-7), and
The flood is a type of baptism (1 Pet. 3:21).
Peter's Flood Divisional Overview
If we use Peter’s flood overview, we can further divide the pre and the post-flood periods in terms of the “old” and “new” generations of Adam. From this perspective, the following comparisons can be drawn:
The old, cursed ground of the pre-flood world was unfruitful: After the flood, the new generation of Adam stood on "new ground," where the “seed of the woman” (which is Christ) could be planted on new, cleansed ground in the "fulness of that time" and be fruitful. This is why God vowed after the flood, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake…While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, [etc.]…shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:21-22).
The current, new, pre-flood world will be abundantly fruitful: Like before, Noah and his sons were also told by God to be fruitful and multiply. Except now, mankind stands on a national platform in expectation of a harvest. This was not the case in Adam’s day. Due to sin, the pre-flood generation was seen as a single-family unit, which began with one family and ended with one family escaping. Talk about unfruitful territory! Based on that performance, we can say that the old world suffered due to the curse of sin. Yet after the flood, our current world looks forward to an abundant harvest because of Christ.
The accountability difference: In our new, post-flood world, capital punishment becomes law. (Gen. 9:1-7). Every man is now held personally accountable for their actions and stands on a post-judgment/post-law ground. But in the old world, the whole human race was held accountable due to sin. The whole race was deemed guilty by means of summary judgment in the form of a world-wide flood. Just as the pre-flood period is summed-up in 7 short chapters of the Bible, so it was the same manner of judgment as a matter of law. Yet, the rest of the whole Bible addresses our new, present world that will end in final judgment by fire. (2 Pet. 3:7).
If you rightly divide as Peter does, the flood represents a simplified “dispensational” overview of human history, which can be expressed by the following outline:
By using a simplified overview, we can easily picture in our minds a horizontal line as divided by the flood with the old world on the left and the new world on the right. This view immediately assumes that the flood represents God’s initial Summary Judgment rendered upon humanity collectively.
It is further understood that the old, pre-flood world stood on cursed ground due to the sin of Adam as the Federal Head of the whole human race. It is a world that stood outside of legislative and regulatory powers that had the power to personally condemn. In contrast, our present world now stands on cleansed, new ground. It is a world sanctioned to hold people accountable by national governance. It is a world that, once again, awaits another judgment cycle. Except this time, it will be a Final Judgment rendered upon individuals at the Great White Throne Judgment and final judgment upon the earth by fire.
Peter’s “Flood Overview” also helps put the firstborn legal line of the family in perspective as it relates to the extended timeline of 70 times the initial 7x mark. Especially if you consider when the flood occurred, which was in the 10th generation of Adam. Yet, Adam’s firstborn line as represented by Cain had up to 7 generations. Clearly, more time was needed to legally comply with the firstborn obligations or the eternal inheritance of mankind would be lost forever.
The 7x measure of time, which is based on God’s 7-day creation-week standard, fell short of saving mankind due to the sin issue. The only remedy for sin was to re-create by and through God’s only begotten, firstborn Son. This involved an extension of time in the old world and a follow-up final judgment at the end of the new world upon completion of Christ’s work of re-creation.
Lamech’s motion to extend the time of the firstborn line was timely because it was heard before the sevenfold deadline of Cain. Lamech’s additional time request cleared the way for Christ to complete his work of “re-creation.” More importantly, Christ’s work-week is the literal fulfillment “ONCE” on the stage of human history in compliance with the 7 “set-times of the Lord” listed in Leviticus 23.
After the flood, the firstborn office of humanity transitioned onto a national platform because Noah’s three sons became the nations of the world. (Gen. 10). Israel’s birth position, although the last to be “born” as a nation in the natural world, will be the first national body to be born-again and holds the firstborn position of the family of God.
With the sin and the firstborn issues resolved by way of summary judgment in the old, pre-flood world, Israel takes the firstborn office of Adam to new heights on new territory centuries before Christ's day. Why? Because the granting of Lamech's 70 x 7 extension plea allowed the time needed for Christ to come in our current world after the flood as the firstborn replacement (for both Cain and Israel) and to fulfill all legal obligations for heirs of the family on an eternal scale.
Christ's sinless shed-blood cancelled humanity's death sentence. He lives on to continue His "re-creation" work-week until all things are new, both nationally and personally. Why? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). Believe on Him today!
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Today’s article was inspired by a book I wrote, entitled: “His-Story Through His-Bloodline: The Genesis Pre-Flood Prophecy of the Ages.” If you liked what you read here, you will love the book because it is filled with all kinds of family connections that involve Christ’s mission to seek and to save that which was lost. The book is available in paperback or e-book formats. I recommend paperback because of all the charts. Follow the link here: https://rosedogbookstore.com/his-story-through-his-bloodline-the-genesis-pre-flood-prophecy-of-the-ages/
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