The ability of Christ's lineage to form a sentence is not a new discovery. The early nineteen century theologians such as Joseph A. Seiss and later E.W. Bullinger were very familiar with this fact. In our day, credit goes to Dr. Chuck Missler who promoted its re-discovery. Since then, other high-profile preachers and teachers have joined the band wagon such as D. James Kennedy.
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The chart below is a quick review of Christ's ancestors who lived before the flood that starts with Adam and ends with Noah. (Gen. 5:1-24). Beside each name, the last column in the chart also lists the corresponding Hebrew meaning of each name. Once translated in English, the names form a complete sentence that is evangelical in nature.
No. Hebrew English*
01 Adam Man
02 Seth Appointed
03 Enosh Mortal
04 Kenan Sorrow
05 Mahalalel The Blessed God
06 Jared Shall come down
07 Enoch Teaching (Dedicated/Instruction/Disciplined )
08 Methuselah His death shall bring
09 Lamech The Despairing
10 Noah Rest, or comfort
*Collective, general, and/or contextual meaning key sources: The Scripture Lexicon, or a Dictionary of Above Four Thousand Proper Names of Persons and Places (1797); Abarim Publications, Meaning and Etymology of the Names (2011); BDB Lexicon, (1906); Strong’s Concordance (1890); The Complete Word Study Dictionary (1992); and Jones' Dictionary (1990). However, the most publicly recognized rendering is used herein, being popularized by Chuck Missler and his ministry, Koinonia House, Inc., which generally follows the entries from The Scripture Lexicon (1797), except for Seth and Kenan, in which case Abarim Publications offers additional insight.
Christ-line's Pre-Flood Summary Statement:
“Man [is] Appointed Mortal Sorrow; [but] The Blessed God Shall Come Down Teaching [that] 'His Death Shall Bring' the Despairing Rest.”
It is remarkable to think that the original meanings of each name can form an actual sentence as illustrated in the Summary Statement above. Even more remarkable is how the sum of the whole Bible has been hidden within the names of the first ten members of the Blessed-line. And true to Biblical form, this is not just any message, but it is an evangelical proclamation to those that are addressed as “the Despairing.” This immediately assumes that there is a special class of people within the whole human race that will obtain the promised “rest” just by simply receiving the “dedicated instruction and teaching about the death of the Blessed God.”
Now, before we can continue with our review of the Christ-line’s message and its meaning, we need to quickly go over a list of numbers and their meanings as defined by their use in scripture so we can learn their technical meanings. For this, we look to E. W. Bullinger’s classic work, Numbers in Scripture. His book traces every number in the Bible in order to observe if there is a consistent and predominant pattern that emerges by that number’s use in scripture as a whole. His study, along with others, thereafter, proves that each number does indeed have its own unique contextual theme and meaning. This, then, can be used as a tool when studying and interpreting the Bible.
NUMBER TYPOLOGY CHART
No. Basic Meaning
1 Singleness, uniqueness, and unification
2 Adequate witness, testimony
3 The number of the Godhead, completion, and unity
4 Relates to the earth and creation
5 Relates to grace and unmerited favor.
6 The number of man and human weakness, the evils of Satan and manifestation of sin
7 The number of divine perfection and/or completeness
8 Relates to new beginnings
9 Holy Spirit’s completeness, fullness, and judgment
10 Signifies world system and a complete global cycle
12 Relates to divine government
13 Relates to rebellion, apostasy, defection, corruption, disintegration, and revolution
14 Deliverance and double blessing
40 Relates to testing, judgment, and trials
50 The number of jubilee or deliverance
666 The number of the beast
Sources: Numbers in Scripture by E.W. Bullinger (1967) Kregel Publications. Available online at http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/number01.htm, Book of Bible Lists by H.L. Willmington, Tyndale Bible Dictionary.
While we are familiar with the idea of how “a picture is worth a thousand words,” we are not as familiar with scripture's alternative use of numbers. As you can see from the numbers chart above, each number has a specific topological or technical association, which can now be applied to the fuller story of HIS-Story. For example, the number “ten" on the chart indicates God working on a worldwide basis. Because there are ten members listed on the Christ-line in the pre-flood generation, we should expect to see how HIS-Story through HIS-Bloodline will have a global address to the world.
Note too, how the number ten also signifies the completion (or an “end”) of a global cycle. This would explain why Jehovah-God deemed Noah as righteous in the tenth generation of Adam. Noah's flood then, represents a global judgment cycle. That whole event foreshadows a future day of how the world is going to end...yet to begin again. Like before, Jehovah will save another righteous remnant to face a future final, worldwide judgment to begin anew. (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1-2).
But, we are getting ahead of the story. For now, we are concerned with the summary statement produced by the first ten members of the Christ-line. From their message, we learn that “man is born in mortal sorrow,” while the Genesis record tells us this was due to the fall of Adam that occurred in the Garden of Eden. Even more peculiar, note how the Genesis record lists two genealogies in this time period. Prior to the blessed line, which traces from Christ back to Seth, Adam's third son, Genesis is careful to include Cain and his line, which is Adam’s firstborn. It is only through Noah that these two lines of Adam become one again only to be divided a second time in Israel’s day.
So, the question becomes, “What happened to the Cain-line before and after the flood and why is scripture so careful to include him if he and his line is not essential to the overall plan of salvation?” At this point, more questions come to mind....
What is the Cain-line's purpose?
Does Cain’s genealogy have the same ability to form a sentence as the Christ-line?
If this so-called “ungodly and competing” line surprises us with another evangelical sentence, then the question becomes: Is the Cain-line really as “ungodly” as we have presupposed?
If the Cain-line proves to produce a statement like the Blessed-Line (Adam's third son, Seth, whose line ends with Christ), then this is sure to force a re-evaluation of Cain and his line’s role in Biblical typology and to HIS-Story that we are tracing. Stay tuned to The HIS-Story Channel for the surprising answers in our next article.
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