Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

The number thirteen (“13“) is a prime number that represents “Completion” or “Super Fullness” (possibly with implications for the end of time, the “completion and super fullness of time”). It should also be noted that he number 13 is often considered “unlucky” by those who are superstitious (this phobia even has its own name: triskaidekaphobia) due to several historical and cultural associations, e.g., Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. Interestingly, although it can be shown that the number 13 should indeed be viewed as negative for all unbelievers (because the number 13 ultimately points to the end of the world on Judgment Day when Jesus returns), the number 13 should alternatively be viewed as positive for all the true Christian believers who happily anticipate Jesus’ soon return.

Note to the Reader: This post is an excerpt from another longer post entitled: Numbers in the Bible Convey Spiritual Concepts.

What Does the Bible Say About the Number 13?

• While there were twelve tribes in Israel, there were in fact thirteen. The tribe of Joseph was given a double portion divided up between his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, which created an additional 13th tribe. Genesis 48:22 (The tribe of Ephraim, because of Jacob/Israel’s Patriarchal blessing, is also known as the tribe of Joseph. Numbers 1:32)
• While there were twelve Apostles with Jesus, there were in fact thirteen because Paul was chosen by God to be the 13th Apostle (understanding that Judas Iscariot, being of the original twelve, was replaced by Matthias, as we read in Acts 1:26) See also for example, Romans 1:1 Galatians 1:1, and 1 Corinthians 9:1
• In Genesis 17:25, we read that “And Ishmael his son [was] thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.” It is also an interesting fact that in Judaism, 13 years old signifies the age at which a boy matures and becomes a Bar Mitzvah, i.e., a full member of the Jewish faith (counts as a member of Minyan).
• Have you ever realized that the walls of Jericho fell only after National Israel circumnavigated (compassed) the city thirteen times?  Joshua 6:2-5, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.“
• In Joseph’s second dream, thirteen celestial objects (the sun, moon, and eleven stars) bow down to him in Genesis 37:9&10. His brothers and father quickly interpreted the dreams to mean they would one day be under Joseph’s authority. This dream (together with the first dream in Genesis 37:6-8) effectively became reality in Genesis 42:6and Genesis 42:9 . And we should also remember that at the end of time, according to Philippians 2:10, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.“
• Seth, in the origina Hebrew (שֵׁת (šēṯ))^H8352 meaning “compensation” or “substitute”), the third son of Adam, was born to Adam when Adam was 130 years old. Genesis 5:3, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name (קָרָא (qārā’)^H7121שֵׁם (šēm)^H8034) Seth:“
• 1 Kings 7:1, “But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.” Given that king Solomon is used by God to “Typify” Jesus, and Jesus builds His house by the saving of souls throughout time, we could also say that these “thirteen years” could be indicative of the whole period of time of God’s Salvation program. It is therefore no accident or incident that, by using the Biblical calendar provided by God using patriarchal genealogies (mentioned earlier) it can be shown that it had been 11000 years from creation to the coming of Jesus. And given that it is now two thousand years since Jesus was on earth, we must be very close to it being 13000 years since creation now in our day(see note below on how this age can be determined).
• Three other verses to ponder…Why did God provide this information?  Deuteronomy 1:2, “(There are eleven days‘ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.). Remember also that Mt. Horeb is where the Law was given, but so it was in the Garden of Eden that a Law was given and Kadeshbarnea would have been the entrance to the Promised Land (Heaven). Remembering that a day to God is as a 1000 years to man 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day“. However, it was not until Joshua (“Jesus”) led the people through the flood waters of the river Jordan 40 years later where the Ark of the Covenant stayed the flood waters that the people could enter in. And remember this: Joshua 3:4, “Yet there shall be a space between you and it (the Ark of the Covenant), about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed [this] way heretofore.” Could it be that the final entering in to Heaven will be about two thousand years after Jesus returned to Heaven, for a total of about 13000 years since Creation?

A Key to the Biblical Calendar that points to Creation being 13000 years ago (as opposed to only 6000 years ago)

A key to determining the Biblical calendar of history can be found in the Books of Genesis and Exodus. The Bible tells us three times that National Israel sojourned in Egypt exactly 430 years in Exodus 12:40, Exodus 12:41, and Galatians 3:17 (and that National Israel was in bondage for 400 of those years according to Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6). [ NOTE to the Reader: This is a controversial subject given that some theologians and scholars, as far back as at least to Flavius Josephus in the first century, have claimed that the sojourn was not 430 years, but rather 215 years due to an erroneous understanding of the “fourth generation“.]

We do know in fact that there were only “four generations” living in Egypt during that 430 year period, according to the Word of God in Genesis 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full.” For the Levitical priesthood, the first generation to come into Egypt was that of Levi. Levi can be shown to have been sixty years old when he entered into Egypt during the great famine, given that Joseph was 39 years old at the time. We can know this Genesis 41:46 because Joseph was 30 years old when he foretold the following seven years of plenty and then his brothers came in during the second year of the subsequent famine (Levi can be calculated separately as having been 21 years older than Joseph), and Levi lived 137 years according to Exodus 6:16, therefore the first generation was in Egypt for 77 years. The second male in the “generational line” of the Levitical priesthood was Kohath, who lived 133 years according to Exodus 6:18. The third in this generational line was Amram, who lived 137 years according to Exodus 6:20. The fourth and last of the generational line of the Levitical priesthood to be in Egypt was Aaron. Aaron was 83 years old at the time of the Exodus according to Exodus 7:7. 77 + 133 +137 +83 = 430 years covering only four generations, exactly as God said would be the case.

But note that the generations are consecutive, and not overlapping, as would normally be expected (and what most people think when seeing the word “begat“). This is because God does not provide any evidence of a direct father-to-son relationship. Instead, each of these patriarchs were in fact distant progeny, either grandsons or great grandsons, etc., born in the same year as that of the previous patriarch’s death. A true father-to-son relationship is normally identified through the use of the Hebrew phrase “(קָרָא (qārā’)^H7121 שֵׁם (šēm)^H8034)” meaning “called his name“, and that is not the case as is provided in Exodus chapter 6. The only direct father-to-son relationships, which are incontrovertible with regard to calculating the Biblical calendar from the genealogies, are found in Genesis 5 and 11 are 1) Adam to Seth, 2) Enosh to Lamech, 3) Noah to Shem, and 4) Terah to Abraham. All of the other names recorded were patriarchal heads of families that would have followed each other chronologically in a manner consistent with what was just shown to be the case with Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Aaron. Using this methodology it is possible to arrive at about 13000 years since creation (as opposed to other calculations suggesting only 6000 years). Among the key dates derived from the 13000 year calendar include Noah’s Flood occurred in 4990 B.C. and the Exodus occurred in 1447 B.C.

The Biblical Calendar Rosetta Stone is the 430 years in Egypt conforming to four generations…NO other timeline is sufficient to explain this. And the currently generally accepted Biblical Timeline of ~6000 years since creation says that Israel’s sojourn in Egypt had to be only 215 years!!!…despite the Bible having emphatically stated 430 YEARS TOTAL IN THREE PLACES (Exodus 12:40, Exodus 12:41 , and Galatians 3:17) to the very day!!! (and 400 years in bondage/affliction…because, when Joseph reigned for the first 30 years, Israel was not in bondage).

As a result, this relatively unknown information entirely annuls all of the generally accepted Biblical Timelines claiming ~6000 years since creation (which erroneously applies only 215 years to Israel’ sojourn in Egypt) and instead shows us that it has been ~13000 years since creation (where the sojourn actually lasted 430 years, exactly, as the Bible explicitly states THREE times).  

From a geologic (“Scientific”) perspective of history, from which mankind claims that the Universe was created in a Big Bang, ~14 Billion years ago, this difference is relatively insignificant. However, it is more than double that of the current accepted thinking from a theological perspective.  And it should be noted that this newer Biblical Timeline and the “Scientific” Timeline are not irreconcilable.  When we consider that Adam, that only a few minutes after having being formed out of the dust would have likely “appeared” as though he was an adult (e.g., ~20 years old) so too does the universe “appear” to be ~14 Billion years old. Moreover, the Bible states that God created the universe by simply speaking it into existence out of nothing, which is also consistent with the Big Bang theory which states that everything came from nothing in an instant.

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