One person that seems to have got 'Walking with God' right is Enoch, the 7th generation from God. Genesis 5 states that he 'walked with God' and that God took Him and then in Hebrews 11, the infamous chapter of the Bible’s Heros of Faith, God explains that this was because he had 'pleased God' and that He did not want him to see death:

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took -- him. Genesis 5:24

And

⁵ By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:5-6

So clearly 'walking with God' is a big deal and amazingly we get our first clue about this in connection with Jacob, who embodies this idea from both a physiological and a spiritual perspective.

It is actually through Jacob, who sought to 'walk with God', that we will see a link between God’s promises (the reward for walking with Him) and the end-times that I found intriguing, as it ties so many aspects of God’s plan of Redemption and his 'end-time' calendar together and really demonstrates that it is out of God's desire to walk and dwell with us that His promises flow.

The Significance of Jacob’s Name

To begin to understand this connection, we firstly need to delve into the straight-forward meaning of Jacob's name, which originates from the Hebrew root עקב ('aqab), that means "heel". Importantly, the verb form of this word עָקַב ('aqab) also carries the following meanings:

• “to supplant” or overreach (as in taking someone's place or deceiving);
• ”heel-grabber” or to "seize by the heel”, or to betray
• “to circumvent, or to restrain",
• and sometimes it implies “craftiness or again deception”.

So, the name Jacob, which is Ya'akov (יַעֲקֹב) in Hebrew, primarily carries connotations of 'supplanting' and 'deception' by grasping at someone’s 'heel', which aligns with Jacob's early life narrative.

This is first seen in the biblical account of Jacob’s birth, where he grasped his twin brother Esau's heel (Genesis 25:26), in a foreshadow of his desire to have his brother’s Birthright and Blessings. Later he would use circumstances and deception to obtain both. This would cause Esau to say later to Isaac their father:

³⁶ And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away -- my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? Genesis 27:36

As “supplanting” is not a common English word, it helps to see the Collins English Dictionary description below:

supplant (sǝˈplɑːnt) vb tr to take the place of, often by trickery or force he easily supplanted his rival [c13: via Old French from Latin supplantāre to trip up, from sub- from below + planta sole of the foot] > supplantation (ˌsʌplɑːnˈteɪʃǝn) n supˈplanter n^[1]

vb verb

tr transitive

c century

> derived word

n noun

n noun

^[1] Collins English Dictionary. (Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006).

Here “to supplant” is clarified as meaning to “take the place of” someone that the Supplanter sees as a Rival and this is often done through trickery, perhaps better described as Deception (manipulation and cunning).

Significantly, this dictionary description also hints at the biblical sense that is emphasized by the meaning of Jacob's name in that to supplant is also seen here as being related to tripping up, from below (sub) + sole of the foot (planta). Here the foot aligns with the biblical meaning of the “heel” that is the rear-most part of the foot.

Jacob’s Genesis Counterpart(s)

Amazingly, the preceding is an exact description of the intent and methods of the Serpent / Satan, who was originally known as Lucifer, with the following scripture in Isaiah 14 describing his attempt to both exalt himself above God (“the most High”) and to essentially 'replace' or 'supplant' the one that he essentially now saw as his rival:

¹² “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:12-14

God also reveals that this change in Satan’s heart was the result of pride:

¹⁷ Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezekiel 28:17

Here the word for Lifted up in Hebrew is גָּבַ֤הּ (g̱âḇah) which, as shown below, means ‘to be Proud’. It was his Pride that corrupted him and led to his 'Fall':

This reminds us of the Scripture in Matthew 16:25 that shows us that God's Kingdom is counter-intuitive to our flesh:

²⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25

Amazingly, the very first time that the term "the day of the LORD", which has become synonymous with the start of the Tribulation and the Rapture, appears in Scripture is in Isaiah 2:12.  Here, as the following shows, it is against everything that is Proud and that is "lifted Up"

¹² For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up— and it shall be brought low. Isaiah 2:12

So, just as Lucifer fell due to pride, we need to repent of our own pride unless we too become lost. As Jesus stated in Luke 21:36 we must pray that we may be counted worthy to stand before the 'Son of Man' when the Rapture occurs:

³⁶ Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36

Interestingly, when looking in scripture for this specific term "the day of the Lord" we find exactly 25 instances of it in 23 verses (for more info on the significance of 25 click here and for 23 click here), as per below.

Verses containing the words "day of the Lord":

Notably, 25 is a number connected to Promises of God and while we are also going to be looking in this article at the number 47 in relation to Promises, it is important to make a distinction.

As will be seen, the Promises connected to 47 will more specifically be related to those that were given to Jacob, who became Israel. As such, they are connected with his life and walk with God that ultimately acts as a template for all believers and can uniquely provide some latter-day timing clues. On the other hand, while the number 25 is also connected to Promises of God (see more info on 25 here), these are promises that predate Jacob and as will be seen are directly related to the life of Abraham, who only received the Promise of the nation of Israel and did not like Jacob see it with his own eyes (in genesis form) when he and his sons all went to Egypt.

Interestingly, given that 25 is the number for God's general promises and 22 (see more information on it here and here) is the unique number for Israel then it is a consistent use of the biblical meaning of numbers to see that 25 + 22 = 47 that as stated relates uniquely to Promises attributed to Israel through Jacob, who became Israel after wrestling with God.

Understanding the Enemy of Our Promises

So, understanding that the 'day of the Lord' is primarily against all that is Proud and 'Lifted up', just as Lucifer was described as being in Ezekiel 28, it is important to see that the same chapter also confirms Lucifer's presence in the Garden of Eden, where he would attempt to supplant God by replacing God's Word with his own, to tempt and deceive Eve, causing the 'Fall of Man':

¹³ Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Ezekiel 28:13

As such, he is the enemy of the LORD's promises to us, and we need to understand how he works. To this end, Revelation 20 connects all of the different names that were applied to him, so there can be no confusion as to his identity, before describing part of his destiny:

² And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, ³ And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. Revelation 20:2-3

Notably, there is a principle in Biblical interpretation that states that “the Genius is in the Order”. In other words, the order of the Words or Names in the bible can often be very revealing. In this respect, the order of the names applied to our enemy in Revelation 20 is – Dragon, Serpent, Devil and Satan and this gives us some insight into how our enemy works:

The following provides the etymology of the words to clarify the core meanings of the names, and to help explain their functions:

Putting this together we can see that when God allowed Lucifer, after his Fall, into the Garden of Eden, Lucifer initially watched to see where the greatest vulnerability in Mankind existed:

Dragon - This was in keeping with his nature as the Dragon, who is also described in 1 Peter 5:8 as the one who "... walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." This verse shows his strategic and predatory nature— he is always watching for an opportunity; and other verses, such as 2 Corinthians 11:3 and Genesis 3:1, describe him as 'crafty' and 'cunning' respectively. Basically, he was created as an 'Angel of Light' and so he was full of 'wisdom and power' until he fell (2 Corinthians 11:14):

¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15

Serpent - After identifying that Eve did not truly know God’s words to humanity, in regard to the trees in the Garden, that included both the ‘Tree of Life’ and the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’, he entered the Serpent that God described in Gen 3:1 as being “more cunning than any beast of the field” for the purpose of deceiving Eve. Paul warns believers about the enemy's intellectual manipulation and subtle tactics in 2 Corinthians 11:3: 

³ But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

Devil - Then once Adam had listened to his wife and mankind had fallen, Lucifer began to function as the Devil, in an attempt to separate us from God’s Grace by slandering and accusing us before the throne of God. Even though the specific word 'Devil' is not used in the Old Testament, there is some crossover with this name and the name of 'Satan', and we do see his actions as the 'Devil' or 'the Accuser' of the brethren in a number of situations, such as in relation to Joshua 'the High Priest', following the Babylonian Exile:

¹ And he showed me -- Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
² And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Zechariah 3:1-2

Importantly here, Jesus, in a pre-incarnate appearance as the 'Angel of the Lord', didn't deny the enemy's charges against Joshua rather because of Joshua's faith in God, He declares him as a 'Brand plucked from the Fire', a descriptor that can equally be applied to all of us, who have put our faith in the finished work of Christ.

Later in the New Testament - the Greek term διάβολος (diábolos), commonly translated as "devil," also means "slanderer" or "false accuser", and shares a similar accusatory role. Notably Revelation 12:10 states, in relation to the Devil and Satan:

¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:10

Satan - When all this fails to separate us from God's Grace, Lucifer operates as Satan, the great Adversary of God’s people. Significantly, in this regard, he currently still has access to Heaven, as seen in the book of Job, and he delights to put stumbling blocks into our lives, in an attempt to completely destroy us.

³ And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. ⁴ And Satan answered -- the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. ⁵ But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and -- his flesh, and he will -- curse thee to thy face. ⁶ And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save -- his life. ⁷ So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote -- Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job 2:3-7

Therefore, this is where the need to walk with God continually comes in because when we do so, the bible states that we have an advocate who intercedes for us to the Father:

​¹ My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1

And

³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Romans 8:34

So, Satan who began life as Lucifer (the Light Bearer), the most powerful creature God had made, became the original 'Supplanter and Heel Grabber', and because these terms originate from the same word, they refer to the same concept. That is, they describe a method of trying to trip someone up by grabbing their foot or heel, whether in a physical or spiritual sense and they often involve acts of deception, with the intent to replace the recipient.

In this way, we can now understand that the Holy Spirit is revealing to us that the Serpent / Satan was the original Supplanter / Heel Grabber in God’s perfect creation, when he entered the Garden of Eden and deceived Eve and replaced God’s word with his own. He knew He could not directly deceive God, so he chose Eve, who had not directly been given the command about the 'Tree of Life', in his attempt to supplant God.   Ultimately, he desired to be worshipped like God, as was evident when he later said the following to Jesus, in the wilderness:

⁸ Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; ⁹ And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Matthew 4:8-9

Interestingly, he also said

⁶ And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Matthew 4:6

Here there is a reference to the possibility of Jesus dashing his foot, which is a related term to the discussion about a 'supplanter' grabbing a foot or 'heel'. He is trying to trip Jesus up spiritually under the guise of protecting Him physically.

Ultimately though, all of this reminds us of the key events in the Garden that followed Satan’s attempt to supplant God’s authority and position with Man, who was made in God’s image.

Connection to Genesis 3:15

After Satan had deceived Eve and Adam had heeded Eve’s voice, which resulted in Mankind’s 'Fall from Grace', God declares three judgements upon the actions of Satan / Eve / and Adam in the reverse order of his questions to Adam / Eve / Satan, to reveal what had occurred. This is in keeping with Scripture's revelation of Him as the 'God who reverses the Curse'. As God is Omniscient, He knows everything, so this revelation is for our benefit, so that we can both Trust His Power to Redeem us (Justification), as well as His Heart to Restore us (Sanctification).

However, in His mercy, amongst the words of Judgement, that He pronounced upon the Serpent, God spoke the prophetic words that are often referred to as the “protoevangelium”, or the “First Gospel” in Genesis 3:15:

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

This is both a prophecy and a promise of God’s solution for mankind in the “Seed of the Woman”, whereby God declared enmity between the Serpent and the Woman's offspring.

Amazingly, this passage is actually foreshadowing the struggle between good and evil. As such the "heel" in this verse not only symbolizes both the vulnerability of the 'Woman’s Seed', who would be the Messianic Saviour in Yeshua HaMashiach / Jesus, who would 'lay down His life' for those who would 'trust Him', but it actually foreshadows the ongoing battle between Humanity and Sin, by emphasizing how Mankind needs to 'Walk with God' to obtain righteousness because, as will be seen, the 'Heel' is the physiological key to mankind's ability to walk.

Clearly, Salvation is a free gift, but it requires Repentance, which is a turning from Sin and is a desire to walk in Righteousness with our God. Jacob's name, meaning "heel-grabber," can now be seen as a reflection of this struggle—his life was marked by wrestling, both physically and spiritually (Genesis 32:24-30). As such, his story is meant to connect readers of Genesis to God's Promises and encourage us to be like Jacob and seek only the things of God, crying out that we will not let Him go, unless He Blesses us (symbolic of Salvation).

Notably Jesus’ favorite title for himself, in the Gospels, was the 'Son of Man' because it confirms that He was fulfilling this prophecy, first given in the Garden (Genesis 3:15), being 'the Son of Man', born of a woman, the literal fulfilment of the 'Seed of the Woman'.

Promise and Prophecy - what's the difference

At this point, it is worth just briefly noting the difference between a Promise and a Prophecy for while they both ultimately point to God’s sovereignty, character, and intention to Bless and Redeem, they also can be distinct in tone and function – for example a Prophecy can be conditional and may not come to pass:

Jonah and Nineveh - conditional prophecy

• Prophecy: Jonah declared, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).

• Outcome: The people of Nineveh repented, and God relented from the destruction He had threatened (Jonah 3:10).

• Why it’s not a promise: The prophecy was a warning, not a guaranteed outcome. Their repentance changed the result.

This shows that Prophecy can be a call to action, not a fixed future. It’s like God saying, “This is what’s coming—unless you change course.”

However, a Promise is a divine commitment that God will always fulfill, often regardless of human action. In this way, there can be both conditional and unconditional elements to it that link them to God’s Covenants, which are essentially God's invitation to participate in His Promises of Blessing. For example:

God's Unconditional Promise /Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:1-18)

• Setting: God appears to Abram in a vision, reassuring him of protection and reward (v.1)

• Promise of Descendants: God promises Abram a biological heir and countless descendants, like the stars (vv.4–5)

• Abram’s Faith: Abram believes God, and it is credited to him as righteousness (v.6)

• Request for Assurance: Abram asks, “How can I know I will possess it?” (v.8)

• Covenant Ceremony Begins: God instructs Abram to prepare animals for a traditional covenant ritual (vv.9–10)

• Abram Put to Sleep:    A deep sleep and “dreadful darkness” fall on Abram—he is passive, not a participant (v.12)

• Prophetic Revelation: God foretells the future of Abram’s descendants: slavery, deliverance, and inheritance (vv.13–16)

• God Alone Passes Through:   A smoking firepot and blazing torch (symbols of God’s presence) pass between the carcasses—Abram does not (v.17)

• Covenant Established: God declares: “To your descendants I give this land…” (v.18)

This Is Unconditional because:

• Abram is asleep: He contributes nothing to the ritual, showing that the covenant depends solely on God.

• God alone walks through the pieces: In ancient Near Eastern culture, both parties would walk through to seal a mutual agreement. Here, God walks alone—He binds Himself to fulfill the promise.

• No “if” clauses: The language is declarative, not conditional. God says “I will,” not “if you.”

• Symbolism of fire: The smoking firepot and torch echo divine appearances (e.g., burning bush, pillar of fire), reinforcing that this is God’s sovereign act.

This all serves to show that God’s Promises can be unconditional involving:

• Grace over merit: Abram’s future obedience or failure won’t nullify the covenant.

• Foreshadowing redemption: Just as God alone secures this promise, He will later secure salvation through Christ—without human contribution.

• Foundation for Israel’s identity: This covenant becomes the bedrock of God’s relationship with the nation.

When a Promise becomes Conditional

However, God's unconditional Covenant was all to establish 'Salvation' and a 'Future Hope' for ALL People, "if" they will put their trust in God and will call upon His name, which since the Cross is that of Jesus / Yeshua.

In this way, the Promise becomes 'conditional' for as Romans 10:9 – 13 states,

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13

So, here the fulfilment is dependent upon a person confessing 'Jesus as Lord' and having 'faith in God' such that they 'believe in their heart' that God has raised him from the dead. The reference to 'Believing' here is not about a head-knowledge, rather it is a condition of the heart that seeks to be obedient to His commands exactly because Jesus has been raised and is sitting at the right-hand of the Father. It is part of the process of being born-again, where the Holy Spirit lives within you and changes you from the inside out.

With this understanding, we will now continue to consider how God reveals the outworking of His Promises through Jacob, who ultimately 'wrestles with God', but has faith in Him for all of his blessings.

 Significantly while Jacob's name, means "heel-grabber," and "supplanter" his striving, or wrestling with God reveals the difference between Jacob and his counterpart Satan in that Jacob was not seeking to replace God, on the macro level of his life, rather he understood who 'God Almighty' (El Shaddai) was and sought His blessings. Thus, while he did supplant Esau, it was only because in his heart, he valued the things of God, while Esau was described by God as a fornicator and profane person, who despised his birthright:

¹⁶ lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. Hebrews 12:16

This would result in God stating:

³ As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” Romans 9:13

Ultimately, Jacob's deep desire to be blessed by God lays the foundation for the next section that details how his life connects to walking with God.

Jacob’s Connection to Walking with God

With the preceding laying the foundation for understanding the nature of Jacob and his connection to the ways of Satan, we will now consider all of this in relation to God’s solution for Mankind, as reflected in his name change to Israel, and the idea of  ‘Walking with God’, which again is two-fold, having both a physical and a spiritual aspect.

The Physical

 From a purely physiological perspective, the 'heel' is the rearmost point of a person’s foot and defines a person's stride or step. When an individual begins to walk from a standing position, the initial action always involves ‘lifting the heel’. Subsequently, the entire foot is raised, followed by shifting their body weight forward, then placing the heel of the raised foot down, and continuing to lower the rest of the foot. The step is completed by transferring their full body weight onto this foot. In this way, each step taken, when walking, is literally determined by the 'raising and lowering' of the heel.

The Spiritual

So, it is no coincidence that God chose the “heel” to define both those that would walk with Him and those who would reject Him, choosing their own path. As such, the ‘heel’ is both a global truth about the overarching spiritual battle that would result in Jesus, as the ‘Seed of the Woman’, having ‘His heel’ bruised by the Serpent / Satan; and an individual reality such as when John 13:18 uses it in reference to Judas, whose betrayal of Jesus is described as lifting up his heel:

¹⁸ “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ John 13:18

 Ultimately, there is no battle between God and Satan because they are not equals, Satan is only a created Being who fell from Grace and chose to use Mankind (whom he hates because they were made in God’s image), to further his ambitions by either destroying them, or by tempting them to believe his word instead of GOD’s WORD. This latter plan does not require many people to be alive, Satan just desires that those who do live to worship him, as shown in his temptation of Jesus:

⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” Luke 4:5-7

This quest to supplant Jesus, the Son of God, will reach its ultimate conclusion during the Tribulation when as Revelation 13:4 states:

⁴ So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Revelation 13:4

However, this will be short lived because a short 3.5 years after the events being described in Revelation 13, the Dragon / Satan will be cast into the Bottomless Pit for precisely 1,000 years:

​¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ² He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. Revelation 20:1-3

Then, as Revelation 20 shows, after one last opportunity to deceive people, he will be forever removed from Gods kingdom and cast into the 'Lake of Fire', never to deceive or harm God's people again:

⁷ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:7-10

Worthy of Worship

All this shows that there is only one worthy of our worship and that is the one true God יְהוָֹה Yehovah (Jehovah) or Yahweh, as many like to say these days, and Jesus / Yeshua יְשׁוּעָה, who created everything and then took on flesh and humbled Himself, dying on a Cross in our place, for our Sins, in an amazing act of Grace and Love.

Scripture actually goes to considerable lengths, in Revelation chapter 4 and 5, to ensure that this is understood. In Chapter 4, John relays his vision of the Throne room of Heaven with God the Father (referred to as the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:13), seated on the Throne:

⁹ And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever,¹⁰ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:9-11

Here the Father is described as "Worthy" to receive glory, honor and power. However, in chapter 5, when it comes to the Sealed Scroll that the Father was holding in His right hand, that is connected with the unleashing of God's Judgements upon the Earth, John states that no one in heaven, which means not even the Father, was worthy to open it - and this caused him to weep much:

​¹ And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ² Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. ⁴ So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. Revelation 5:1-4

BUT, then it declares the arrival of JESUS, the LAMB OF GOD (clearly aligning His arrival with Daniel 7:13, which gives us a view of heaven at the time of Jesus' Ascension), and announces that HE IS WORTHY to open the Scroll because HE was slain shedding His Blood for our Redemption:

⁵ 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. Worthy Is the Lamb ⁸ 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 5:5-10

Significantly, the words "worthy" and "worship" are deeply intertwined, through their shared linguistic roots in Old English. In English they both originate from an Old English word 'weorþ' that carries the core meaning of "Worth". As such, Worthy means "having value"; "deserving"; and "honorable", while Worship is essentially the 'act of recognizing or declaring someone as worthy'.

So while God the Father, as 'God Almighty' who Sent His only Begotten Son (John 3:16),  is worthy of all glory and honour  (Revelation 4:11) and as such is worthy of our worship, Jesus as the 'Son of God', who laid down His life and sacrificed His blood for us, is the only one worthy to open the Scroll and is therefore the only one who like the Father is worthy of our worship, remembering that Jesus also said in John 10:30 that:

" ³⁰ I and my Father are one." John 10:30

Clearly, Satan as a created being is not God and he did not lay his life down for anyone and so is not 'Worthy" on any count, and thereby does not qualify to be worshipped. In a sense WORSHIP is a 'divine exchange', wherein the God who sacrificially gave ALL of HIMSELF to us, holding nothing back, is simply desiring for us to give Him ALL of our Heart, by forsaking our sin and turning to Him. That way, He can credit our Faith in Jesus' finished work on the Cross as Righteousness. making it possible for us to dwell in His presence. Therefore, to have life, we also need to participate in this Divine exchange and walk humbly with our God, who is worthy of worship:

⁸ He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8

Walking with God

Importantly God takes this understanding of our need to Walk with Him and reveals its connection with the Life of Jacob whose name, as detailed above, includes the meaning of “Heel” and “Heel-Grabber”. In essence, Jacob is the epitome of every person who at some point in their lives need to wrestle with God and either let Him go, or receive the ultimate blessing of Salvation. This is reflected in the following verses:

²⁶ And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” ²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:26-28

In verse 26, God gave Jacob the choice to let Him go, but Jacob always yearned for God’s blessings and said “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”. This was a picture of every believer calling on God for Salvation and just like God changed Jacob’s name to ISRAEL, to reflect that he had prevailed with God and Man, all believers (Jew and Gentile) are described in Romans 11: 17-24 as being grafted into the Olive Tree, which is ISRAEL.

¹⁷ And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷ For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” Romans 11:17-27

So, in the end we will all be a part of ISRAEL!!!

Does the Church Replace ISRAEL?

In no way though, does the Church replace the physical nation of Israel, to whom God gave eternal promises, rather God in His Mercy and Grace offered for all Believers, both Jew and Gentile, to share in the same blessings to come, as Ephesians 3 states:

⁵ Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁷ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Galatians 3:5-9

While Jacob’s encounter was a physical one and ours is a spiritual one, the principle is the same. It is all about God building a family in the image of His Son, who He equated with Israel. This is seen in Matthew 2:15, which references Hosea 11, but here it is applied to Jesus, to draw a parallel between Israel and Jesus Christ:

¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Matthew 2:15

Jesus is the true Israel, that both the physical nation and the spiritual body (the Church) point to, and those that are in Jesus or in Christ are those, who like Jacob have turned from their old ways, and are no longer ‘grabbing at the heel’ supplanting their own Will for God’s in their life, rather they are now Walking with Him and are part of Spiritual Israel.

Jacob-Israel-Jesus and 22

Notably, in the Messianic Seed Line (from Adam to Jesus), Jacob who became Israel was the 22^nd Generation from Adam. In this way, 22 is the number that is consistently associated with Israel, which in turn is associated with 'God’s solution' for Mankind’s fall in the “Seed of the Woman”, the “Son of Man”, the Messiah.

This is why Jesus’ last words on the Cross were quoted from Psalm 22. Numerically, it shows His connection with Israel, revealing that as God’s perfect Son, He WAS and IS the fulfilment of ISRAEL that one day All believers Jew and Gentile will be grafted into.

As such, Jesus was also the fulfilment of the prophetic promise concealed in Jacob’s Life to overcome and prevail with God and Man. On the Cross He defeated the enemy by overcoming Sin (fulfilling the Law perfectly) and Death (by raising to life after 3 days). And in so doing He ‘Crushed’ the head of the Serpent fulfilling Genesis 3:15. 

With this understanding, we can now see that Jacob, whose name means “heel” or ‘heel-grabber”, is directly connected to the Spiritual struggle described by God in the first part of Genesis 3:15.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; …” Genesis 3:15a

While Jesus, as God’s perfect Son Israel, whose name in Hebrew ישֵׁוּעַ (Yeshua) means ‘Jehovah saves those who call for Help’ is reflected in the second part of the verse because this struggle between the Serpent and the ‘Seed of the Woman’ was ultimately between Satan and Jesus:

“…He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15b

Essentially, because of Jesus, we like Jacob are no longer ‘heel-grabbers’, but are part of Israel, such that we lift our ‘heel’ only to follow or walk with God, not to supplant Him.

Jacob’s Connection to God’s Promises

So, Jacob’s life was central to the idea of walking with God and his destiny was intimately connected to God’s Promises. In this respect there were promises that were first given to Abraham and then Isaac before being passed on to Jacob:

Promises Given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

1. To become a Great Nation and a Blessing to All Nations – God promised Abraham that if he would leave his family and go to a Land that He would show him, he would become a great nation and that through his descendants, all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3).

​¹ Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: ² And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ³ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:1-3

He reiterated this to Isaac (Genesis 26:3-4):

³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give -- all these countries, and I will perform -- the oath which I swore 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; Genesis 26:3-4

And confirmed it to Jacob (Genesis 28:14):

¹⁴ And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 28:13-14

2. To possess the Land of Canaan – God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham (Genesis 17:8):

⁸ And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, -- the land wherein thou art a stranger, -- all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Genesis 17:8

Reaffirmed it to Isaac (Genesis 26:3):

³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give -- all these countries, and I will perform -- the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father; Genesis 26:3

And then to Jacob (Genesis 28:13):

¹³ And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; Genesis 28:13

3. God’s Presence and Protection – God assured Abraham that He would be with him and protect him (Genesis 15:1):

¹ After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1

He reiterated this to Isaac (Genesis 26:24):

²⁴ And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply -- thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. Genesis 26:24

 And again to Jacob (Genesis 28:15):

¹⁵ … for I will not leave thee, until I have done -- that which I have spoken to thee of. Genesis 28:15

Then there were promises that were uniquely given to Jacob and clearly his connection to the name of ISRAEL was huge, as we have been discussing, but not only due to it spiritual aspects, but because the physical nation, that includes the modern state of Israel, owes their very existence to Jacob, who personally became Israel, due to his faith in God, and to his sons:

Promises Unique to Jacob:

1. Return to the Promised Land – Unlike Abraham and Isaac, Jacob was specifically promised that he would return to the land of Canaan after his journey (Genesis 28:15):

¹⁵ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done -- that which I have spoken to thee of. Genesis 28:15

2. Name Change to Israel – God renamed Jacob as Israel, signifying his role as the father of the twelve tribes (Genesis 35:10):

¹⁰ And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called -- his name Israel. Genesis 35:10

3. A Nation and Kings from His Lineage – God told Jacob that a nation and a company of nations would come from him, and that kings would descend from him (Genesis 35:11):

¹¹ And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; Genesis 35:11

These promises shaped Jacob’s life and the future of Israel.

Clearly, these were all Foundational Promises that were about establishing the Nation of Israel, through whom God would bring the Bible and the ‘Seed of the Woman’, the Messiah / Saviour of the World promised in Genesis 3:15.

In this respect, for a Nation to exist, it must be comprised of three things:

1. A Land with Borders

2. A People

3. Laws that govern the people.

Promises fulfilled after a long time

So, this is what God established through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

After promising Abraham a Land that He would show him and then giving Jacob 12 Sons, who would multiply to become a nation; God then changed his name to Israel, to identify that nation who would become God's people, when He gave them the Law at Mount Sinai, under the leadership of Moses.

Significantly, many of the promises given in relation to ensuring the establishment; security and prosperity of the Nation would be long term in nature, demonstrating God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises regardless of how long it takes. The following are some examples:

1.“The Covenant with Abraham” – God promised Abraham that he would become the father of a great nation and that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-3). This promise took generations to fully unfold, culminating in the establishment of Israel.

2. “The Exodus” – God assured the Israelites that He would deliver them from slavery in Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land (Exodus 3:7-8). Though they endured hardships and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, the promise was ultimately fulfilled when their descendants entered Canaan.

3. “The Davidic Covenant” – God promised King David that his throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16). This promise will find its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the Son of David and whose kingdom is eternal.

4. “The Prophecy of Egypt’s Defeat” – In Isaiah 20:3-4, God declared that Egypt and Cush would be conquered by Assyria within three years. This was to ensure the people of God’s protection from their enemies, which speaks to the nation’s continued survival and prosperity, laying the groundwork for even more significant promises to be fulfilled such as the following.

5. “The Coming of the Messiah” – Throughout the Old Testament, God promised a Savior who would redeem humanity. Prophecies like Isaiah 7:14 and Micah 5:2 foretold Jesus' birth, centuries before He arrived.

6. “The New Covenant” – God promised a new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), which was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, offering salvation and reconciliation to all believers.

Promises fulfilled in a very short time

However, there are numerous instances of where God’s Promises were given and fulfilled in a very short time – often within a year or less. Some examples include:

1. “The Restoration of Job” – In Job 42:10-12, after enduring immense suffering, God restored Job’s fortunes, doubling what he had lost. While the exact timeframe isn’t specified, the restoration appears to have happened relatively quickly.

2. “The Birth of Isaac” – In Genesis 18:10, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son within a year, despite their old age. True to His word, Isaac was born in Genesis 21:1-2.

3. “The Fall of Jericho” – In Joshua 6, God promised Joshua that Jericho would be delivered into Israel’s hands. Within a short time, after following God's instructions, the walls of Jericho fell, fulfilling the promise.

4. “The Birth of Samson” – In Judges 13:3-24, an angel appeared to Manoah’s wife, promising that she would bear a son who would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Within a year, Samson was born.

5. “Hannah’s Prayer for a Son” – In 1 Samuel 1:17-20, Eli the priest assured Hannah that God would grant her request for a child. Within a year, she conceived and gave birth to Samuel.

6. “Elisha’s Promise to the Shunammite Woman” – In 2 Kings 4:16-17, Elisha told a barren woman that she would have a son by the same time the following year. The promise was fulfilled exactly as he had said.

7. “The Prophecy of Nineveh’s Destruction” – In Jonah 3:4, Jonah proclaimed that Nineveh would be overthrown in 40 days unless they repented. Though the people repented and God spared them, the prophecy was initially set to be fulfilled within a short time.

8. “The Healing of King Hezekiah” – In 2 Kings 20:1-11, God told Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah that he would recover from his illness and live for 15 more years. Within three days, Hezekiah was healed, and the promise was fulfilled.

9. “The Restoration of Israel After Babylonian Captivity” – In Ezra 1:1-4, King Cyrus of Persia proclaimed that the Israelites could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Within a year, the first group of exiles returned to begin the restoration.

10. “The Birth of John the Baptist” – In Luke 1:13-20, the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son, despite her old age. About a year later, John the Baptist was born (Luke 1:57-64).

11. “The Birth of Jesus” – In Luke 1:26-38, the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. This miraculous promise was fulfilled within a year when Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-7).

These are the type of promises each of us, in our own lifetime, can grab a hold of. Additionally, I believe that as we approach the 'last of the last days', in terms of Bible prophecy, we are beginning to see both a convergence of the 'long range prophecies' that promise the Return of Jesus and an increase in the number of short range prophecies / promises, such that the statement made by Jesus in Luke 21:28 is about to become an existential reality:

⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28

The Nature of a Promise

Now, while all of these promises absolutely do play an important part in the Redemption of humanity, I would like at this point to consider the actual nature of a promise, not just the content of it.

According to Wikipedia, Lewis Smedes was “…a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition” who described a promise as follows:

“When we make promises, we reach into tomorrow’s oceans of uncertainty and create islands of security.”^[1] 

I believe this is the heart of it and that this understanding could be restated as:

‘Promises are tomorrow’s reality experienced today’.

This is certainly the aspect that I would like to focus on now, as it will ultimately lead us to some fascinating end-time clues. Essentially, this idea involves a recognition that when God states what our future will look like, this is so certain that we can actually begin to enjoy and celebrate the Promise from the moment it is given, not just when it is fulfilled.

Clearly, this is the case when a married couple, who desire children, become pregnant. Their excitement at conception is tangible. They do not just wait until they are holding their baby in their arms, rather they celebrate the fact that they are about to become parents and begin to plan for the changes that won’t actually happen until the birth of their child. Similarly, God’s promises have this 2-phase aspect of - Promise and Fulfilment.

So, while all of the scriptures listed above demonstrate God's Faithfulness in Fulfilling His Promises, it is the pattern of the second group, that included many that were fulfilled in a year of less, in connection with a 'Childbirth', that I wish to explore further here because I believe it points to a modern end-time clue.

Therefore, I will begin by focusing on the promise related to “The Birth of Isaac” that begins in Genesis 17 when God appears to Abram, whose name means 'Exalted Father', and who at that time was 99 years old:

​¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ² And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Genesis 17:1-2

God even changed Abram’s name to Abraham (which means 'Father of a Multitude' - predictive of all who would be grafted into ISRAEL from many nations) to mark the event:

^[1] Rick Stedman, Praying the Promises of Jesus: Seeing His Word Come True for You and Those You Love (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2016).

⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. ⁸ Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:5-8

Not believing that he was physically able to fulfil what God had just promised, Abraham responded:

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Genesis 17:17-18

But God said:

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. Genesis 17:19

And later while Abraham was still 99, God reappeared to confirm the covenant in the presence of Sarah, who would be carrying the promised child, remembering that in the ‘Garden of Eden’, Eve had been deceived easily because she did not know God’s exact words that had only been given directly to Adam. This can be seen by noting that the narrative about God's prohibition, given in Genesis 2:15-17, occurred before Eve was actually created, as described in the later verses 21-22:

¹⁵ Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17

And

²¹ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Genesis 2:21-22

However, with regard to the Promised Son - Isaac, Sarah laughed at the idea:

¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Genesis 18:11-12

God questioned her on this, and she denied laughing, but God knew that she had and said so to emphasise the connection of Laughter with Isaac:

¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” Genesis 18:15

At this point, it is worth remembering that God's conversation with Sarah, about the Promise of a Son, was the second conversation He was having about it. So it was occurring at a later time, while the Lord and the Angels were on their way to Sodom, to bring about a judgement for its wickedness. Importantly, God in his first private conversation with Abraham had already revealed that the child would be called Isaac, whose name means Laughter. This was before Sarah had heard the promise and had actually laughed (in a Mocking way).

By revealing this sequence in scripture, God is wanting the Reader to understand that He is truly Omniscient and Omnipotent and can be trusted to bring His Promises to pass. Essentially, because God is outside of time He knew Sarah would laugh in 'unbelief', about giving birth to a Son in her old age; and by naming him Isaac prior to her laughter, He was wanting to show her that he understood her doubts, but at the same time show her His Power, which could turn her spirit of 'unbelief' into true cries of 'Joy', as He fulfilled His promise, that would otherwise have been impossible in the natural.

Importantly, in relation to the Promise / Fulfilment paradigm, that we have been discussing, God gave Abraham and Sarah, who was listening, His Word that He would return to them the next year to fulfill His Promise that they would give birth to a son.

¹⁰ He said, “I will certainly return to you around this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard him from the entrance of the tent, behind him. Genesis 18:10

And true to His word, Isaac was born one-year later when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90:

​¹ And the LORD visited -- Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken -- to him. Genesis 21:1-2

The Promise / Fulfilment modern day equivalent in relation to ISRAEL and 47

Having seen this very specific 1-year Promise / Fulfilment pattern in Scripture, we will now consider it in relation to Jacob / Israel and see how this all begins to tie in with the number 47.

Firstly though, it must be understood that Jacob / Israel has an end-time connection because of the Promises that were given to him by God, as touched on above. Essentially, the life of Jacob the ‘’Supplanter’ or ‘Heel Grabber’, was a type of the spiritual and physical battle that all of fallen humanity would undergo; and then as ISRAEL (the one who prevails with God), he was the Father of the ‘nation’ that God had promised to Abraham, that would become the focus of end-time events, including the period known as either the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”, or more commonly, the Tribulation. As such, we are reminded of a modern-day ‘one year promise / fulfilment equivalent’, in relation to the rebirth of the modern state of ISRAEL, that occurred in years that ended in ‘47’ (promise) and ‘48’ (fulfilment).

At this point, it is important to consider some of the historical background to these events:

The nation first came into being following the Exodus from Egypt, led by Moses and Joshua. However, approximately 1500 years on, after this nation failed to recognize their own Messiah / Saviour, the people were scattered all over the earth. This followed the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman General Titus in 70 AD. Then in 1947, a year ending in ‘47’, the UN Resolution 181 was passed that voted for the establishment of both Jewish and Arab states, in the remaining part of the original Palestinian Mandate that had been created for this purpose following WW1.

It should be remembered that Britain, who was governing the mandated area, had already given 77% of it away to the Arab Hashemite Family (as per the table below), calling it Transjordan, which became the nation of Jordan today. Subsequently, the UN resolution subdivided the remainder of the mandated area, allocating the traditional areas of Judea and Samaria to another Arab State calling it the 'West Bank', along with the area of Gaza. This meant that Israel was only being offered 13% of the original area that had been set aside for the specific purpose of creating a homeland for the Jews, while the remaining 87% was given to the Arabs.

Summary Table

Despite Britain’s failure to equally divide the land, the UN voted in 1947 in favour of allocating this 13% of the original mandated area to a Jewish state. As small as this offer was; after being exiled from the Promised Land for nearly two-thousand years and nearly being exterminated in the Holocaust (that was perpetuated by Hitler and the Nazis), the Jewish people of the day were quick to agree to the terms. However, the Arabs were against this, and violence erupted almost immediately, leading to the 1948 Arab Israeli War, as Arab states sought to prevent the resolution’s implementation.

This delayed the fulfilment of the Promise until May 14, 1948, in a year ending in ‘48’, when in spite of the ongoing conflict the British Mandate ended and Israel declared its independence, in fulfilment of the promise by the UN, just 1 year earlier, and the modern state of ISRAEL was reborn in a day, just as prophesied by Isaiah:

⁸ Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or -- shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth -- her children. Isaiah 66:8

Jacob’s Numbers and their End-time Connections

Given Jacob / Israel’s connection to the end-times and the end-time nation that took his name, it is now worth consider the numbers that God placed on his life to see what they may point to. The following are his ages at key times:

Interestingly, if you group these numbers of Jacob / Israel starting  from the age when ‘Jacob's Time of Trouble’ began at 77 and his include his ages from when he was married (84); and when Joseph was born (91); and then add his ages for when his years of separation from his son Joseph began and ended being 108 and 130 (that indicates it was an appointed time) respectively, you get the following:

77 + 84 +91 + 108 + 130 = 490 years in total.

490 - is a number that was revealed in Daniel 9:24 that serves as a symbol of God completing and finalizing everything in relation to Forgiveness, Redemption and Prophecy. As such, we see here that Jacob who became Israel is numerically connected to the Promises of God revealed to Daniel, in relation to His people ISRAEL.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Daniel 9:24

It is also noteworthy that Jesus’ name occurs a total of 980 (490 x 2) times in the KJV Bible – 490 times in the 'Even Books' of the New Testament and 490 Times in the 'Odd Books'. This confirms the connection between Jacob / Israel and Jesus, who as discussed earlier in this article, was revealed as being God’s Son ISRAEL (in Hosea 11 and Matthew 2) the perfect fulfilment of all of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Some other important numbers involve the difference between certain ages, not the ages themselves, as follows:

17- After these 490 years, that correspond to the total of the ages of Jacob / Israel at key events in his life, up until the time that he came to Egypt and was reunited with Joseph (at the 'Appointed Time', when he was 130 years old), he lived for another 17 years before dying. Importantly, 17 is the numerical symbol of ‘Resurrection Life’ and 'new beginnings' because Jesus rose on the 17th Nisan, 3 days after His crucifixion on Passover, the 14th Nisan.  

57 - is a number that is only inferred or hinted at, but it can be determined by seeing Jacob / Israel's life as represented by the 490 years that defined it, as above, and seeing the 17 years he lived in Egypt, after being reunited with his son Joseph (a type of Jesus), as being a symbol of Israel’s new life with Christ. In this way, we have a prophetic picture that is completed by noting that 490 + 17 = 507. Then, given that in Gematria the '0' is only a place holder, you have effectively have a hidden connection to the numbers 5 and 7, or 57 that represent the number of days that Noah and his family remained in the Ark (a type of Jesus) after the flood had ended, showing that 57 is a symbol of being 'hidden with Christ'. Essentially, this is inferring that while ISRAEL would become dispersed for nearly 2,000 years, literally scattered to the 4 corners of the Earth, they never lost their identity and were always marking time until God's prophetic clock began ticking again. They were truly a nation in exile, hidden and preserved in Christ, until the appointed time in 1947.

22 – Additionally, the number 22 represents the number of years that Jacob had lost his son, as he was 108 years old when Joseph was sold into Egypt and 130 when he was reunited to him (130 -108 = 22). This is a significant period because in terms of typology it mirrors how our Heavenly Father had given His perfect Son, who He would equate with Israel, to be a sacrifice for our Redemption, remembering that 130 also represents an 'appointed time', which for our sakes was when God’s Son bore the Cross that was rightly ours. In this way, 22 becomes the number for Israel (Jacob's new name) and a pointer to the ‘Return of Jesus’ to Jerusalem and His people in Israel - see link here for further information on 22:

Israel - and the number 22 - by David Wills- 2024 / Bible Numerical Patterns | EndTime-BibleProphecy and Background on 22 - By David Wills - 2025 / Bible Numerical Patterns | EndTime-BibleProphecy

Also please note the following facts that support the understanding that 22 is the number that is specifically associated with ISRAEL as a nation:

• Jacob was the 22nd generation from Adam. His name was changed to Israel in his 98^th (49 x 2) year.

• Israel's language Hebrew has 22 letters

• Israel was reborn in 1948 and adding these numbers you get 1 + 9 + 4 + 8 = 22

• The Bible is about Man's Redemption through Gods perfect Son, that the bible equates with Israel, and then God says All ISRAEL will be saved showing all believers will be grafted into ISRAEL. So, the Bible is all about both the Physical and the Spiritual Israel and it is comprised of 66 books, which is 22 x 3.

• Israel in its history had 22 kings – the next King will be JESUS, as the fulfilment of all that went before Him.

27 – In relation to Jacob / Israel’s life it is significant to note that Jacob / Israel was 108 (4 X 27), a multiple of 27, when his favourite son Joseph (a type of Jesus) was lost or separated from him. Then as ISRAEL, Joseph was restored to him 22 years later. In this way, 22 and 27 are connected and 27 (and its multiples) become end-time numbers, or pointers to prophetic events that are leading to the 'return of Jesus'.

Some intriguing examples of how multiples of 27 actually link many end-time events. that are connected to modern ISRAEL (the nation that Jacob fathered), are as follows:

1867 - Mark Twain in Holy Land (fulfils prophecy in Deuteronomy 28) + 81 (27 x 3) = 1948 - Birth of modern Israel

1897 - First Zionist Congress (to plan for a homeland) + 135 (27 x 5) = 2032 - possible year of 2nd coming, being 2,000 years, or 2 symbolic days (a thousand years as a day) since Jesus' crucifixion, which many academics agree occurred in AD 32.

1917 - Balfour Declaration and Liberation of Jerusalem + 108 (27 x 4) = 2025 - possible year of Rapture being 7 years earlier than 2032 the possible second coming.

See the following link for an analysis of 7 reasons that support 2025’s possible connection to a Rapture, noting that if Jesus delays, it is only because He does not want any to perish and at the very least 2025 onwards is a very real possibility for this event to occur.

7 Clues to the TIMING OF the TRIBULATION - By David Wills - 2025 / Blog | EndTime-BibleProphecy  

Following this pattern to its ultimate conclusion, it seems that since 27 and 22 are thematically connected to Jacob / ISRAEL, as both the patriarch and as the nation, that survived through God’s providence, through one of its 12 founding sons Joseph, then it could be significant to multiply these two numbers together.

However, before we do this and analyze the product of these two numbers (22 and 27), it is important to note that the connection between these two numbers, that reflect the events between Jacob and his favored Son Joseph, was done in such a way that the life of Joseph is actually shown to parallel that of Jesus in numerous ways.

You can read about this on many sites, but for information, I have copied a good comparative table created by JD Farag (see below) because the parallels between Jesus and Joseph, who is connected to Jacob / ISRAEL, are so significant.

please note it is also available at the following link on JD’s website: Joseph_type_of_Jesus, or you can copy the PDF file here as a straight download:

JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST AND THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE

Jacob's numbers continued - 22 and 27

I have stressed the importance of the connection between Joseph and Jesus because it also emphasizes the connection of Jacob / Israel to Jesus and the importance of the numbers of his life, as a pointer to the Latter days that will see the return of Jesus.

 So, with this foundational understanding, we will now multiply the two numbers 22 (Israel) and 27 (the Nation of Israel’s End-Time Multiplier) that we were discussing above and get the following:

                22 x 27 = 594

At first 594 does not appear to be a significant number, but if we keep looking, we will note that the bible also shows the following key events, which as will be seen all play a part in revealing the number’s significance:

Abraham was born 1948 years after Adam

Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old and

Isaac was 60 years old when his twin boys Esau and Jacob were born

So, if you now consider these numbers (1948, 100 and 60) in relation to a perspective about God's Promises you will note that while Abraham was 100 when Isaac (a type of God the Father giving His Son in Jesus) was born, he was actually 99 when God gave him the promise of his son Isaac.

​¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. ² Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” ³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. Genesis 17:1-5

While this was discussed previously, it is important to emphasize here that Isaac was also conceived when Abraham was 99. As such, we can see here a link between God's Promises and Conception in that a Promise given is essentially equivalent to the Conception of a child, who when born will be the Fulfilment of the Promise.

Significantly, this pattern continued with Jacob / Israel, who was conceived 60 years later, recalling that Israel (Jacob and his sons) were the fulfilment of the Promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12, where God promised him that he would become the Father of a great nation.

 Importantly, in Hebrew thinking, a father is any ancestor, including a grandfather; a great grandfather, etc, it is not just limited to the immediate ancestor. So, you can now add the relevant numbers (taken directly from the genealogies in the bible) to get a number of years from the creation of Adam to the conception or promise of Israel (in Jacob):

1948 (Adam to Abraham) + 99 (Age of Abraham at conception of Isaac) + 60 (years to the conception of Jacob / Israel) = 2107 years

Finally, you can now add the number 594 that came as a result of two numbers (22 and 27) that uniquely represent Israel’s birth as a nation and its destiny as a nation in the End-Times, remembering that both occurred at key times in Jacob / Israel’s life and play a part in modern Israel (1948 = 1+9+2+8= 22; and 1867 + 81 (27 x 3) = 1948). In this way you get:

2107 + 594 = 2701

Some people may recognize this number already. Either way, I find this an amazing occurrence because the numbers that are related to Jacob / Israel's conception (the promise of his birth), as a fulfilment of prophecy, and some of the key numbers associated with his life literally add to 2701, which is the numerical value of Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew.

Hebrew Text of Genesis 1:1

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Gematria Breakdown by Word

Total Gematria Calculation

913 (בראשית)

+ 203 (ברא)

+ 86 (אלהים)

+ 401 (את)

+ 395 (השמים)

+ 407 (ואת)

+ 296 (הארץ)

= 2701

This means that God who is outside of Time deliberately encoded a numerical pointer to the nation of Israel in Genesis 1:1, while at the same time He put His personal stamp of 37 on all of creation because 2701 is also 37 x 73 – the 12^th and the 21^st Prime numbers respectively.

37 - God’s Personal Number

In this regard, just as an amazing aside on this number, without being side-tracked off our primary point of discussion, the following table is a chart taken from information originally sourced at http://www.biblemaths.com/ which is a site created by Peter Bluer who has a PHD in mathematics. What it represents is the Atomic weight of the 20 Amino Acids that program for every Protein that creates every Cell in your Body. Arranged in this (5 x 4) Row and Column format reveals something amazing. If you add each or the Atomic Weights listed in the Chart with 4 decimal points of accuracy by totaling each row and column to produce a total for each row (highlighted in Green) and a total for each column (highlighted in yellow), you will find a strange mathematical anomaly in that both the total of the Rows and the total of the Columns add to the same number, which is 2738.0169. Then if you round this number to the nearest integer, you get 2738:

The Mathematical connection to our DNA

The amazing thing about this is that this number 2738 is literally 2701 + 37 or 37 x 73 + 37.

That is, our very DNA that codes for 20 Amino acids that form every Protein and every Cell of our body is literally numerically equivalent to the value of Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew plus 37, Gods Unique number.

So notably, Genesis 1:1 is both pointing to the DNA of every human ever born and is uniquely related to the numbers on the life of Jacob who became ISRAEL, by pointing to the number of years after Adam that his conception would occur in conjunction with two key numbers on his life that point to the nation of Israel – Seriously God is in control of this Universe of ours and can be trusted with our lives.

Further to this, the Mitochondria which are organelles within each Cell in the body contain their own DNA (mtDNA) and RNA, which set them apart from the Nuclear DNA found in the chromosomes of a cell. The function of  mtDNA, that is inherited exclusively from the mother (Seed of the Woman) as opposed to Nuclear DNA that comes from both parents, is primarily to encodes genes that help generate ATP (the energy currency of the cell) through oxidative phosphorylation, while Nuclear DNA is responsible for coding the majority of the proteins that build and regulate the body.

In another stamp of our creator the Mitochondrial DNA literally contains 37 genes and the number 37 can be analyzed numerically by considering its Additive Components, such as 13 + 22 + 2 = 37. Incredibly, these numbers literally define a scientific breakdown of how these 37 genes function within the Mitochondrial DNA:

• 13 genes code for proteins involved in the electron transport chain (which helps produce energy).

• 22 genes code for transfer RNA (tRNA), essential for protein synthesis.

• 2 genes code for ribosomal RNA (rRNA), which is involved in mitochondrial protein synthesis.

If we then assign biblical meanings to these numbers that are consistently applied throughout scripture we get:

• 13 (Rebellion and Redemption) 

• 22 (Israel)

• 2 (Son of God) 

So here we have encoded in our Mitochondrial DNA, that is in nearly every cell of our body, a message:

Mankind Rebelled (13), but the God who reverses the Curse offers Redemption (13) to him through ISRAEL (22), the perfect Son of God (2).

As an aside, while we have discussed the specific connection between Jacob / Israel’s life and the number 594 and its connection to Genesis 1:1, it is also worth noting the full factors that comprise 594 being the numbers:

 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 18, 22, 27, 33, 54, 66, 99, 198, 297, 594

Essentially the factors of a number are numbers that when multiplied together result in the actual number. In this way:

594 x 1 = 594

297 x 2 = 594

198 x 3 = 594

99 x 6 = 594

66 x 9 = 594

54 x 11 = 594

33 x 18 = 594

27 x 22 = 594

There is so much meaning contained in each of these specific numbers, but just to highlight a few aspects of some of the numbers without even considering them in combination we can see the richness of the numbers that were on Jacob / Israel’s life:

1 – God the Father who sent His Son

2 - God the Son who willingly came to lay down His life.

3 – God the Holy Spirit who brought about the conception of Jesus and empowered Him in His ministry and raised Him from the Dead at the Resurrection.

6 - Mankind who Jesus came to Save, as the 'Son of Man'

9 – Redemption – Hour of Crucifixion (3^rd hour of Day or 9 am) and Hour of Death (9^th hour or 3 pm)

11 – Sin and 'Man of Sin'

18 (666) - Antichrist

22 – Israel, Gods vehicle of Redemption with Jesus fulfilling ISRAEL’s purpose as God’s perfect Son.

27 –multiplier related to Israel and God’s end-time calendar. It’s connection to the last things is seen in it occuring 3 times in the flood of Noah, being the end of the Rain; the end of God's wrath, as symbolised by the Dove returning with a leaf from an Olive branch; and the end of the Flood. All of these occurred on the 27^th day of the month. Additionally, Jesus said He was the first and the last and so not only did Noah’s flood begin and end on the 17^th and 27^th days of the month respectively, but 17 and 27 are encoded into the first and last verse of the King James Version bible with both verses having a pattern of 17 vowels and  27 consonants.

33 – Jesus age at His death.

99 – represents the Redeemed that Jesus left to find the one lost sheep.

Jacob / Israel's age at Death

With that said it is important to note that these connections, that are based upon the numbers associated with Jacob / Israel’s life, do not end there because it is important to consider that Genesis 1:1 is literally God's promise of all that would come later, in that the creation of the world is like the conception or promise of the life that would follow, as God filled His Creation.

In this way, we can see something fascinating by looking at another number associated with Jacob’s life - that of 147. This was his age when he died, after his life's mission was complete and he went home to be with the Lord. As per previous studies on biblical numbers, this can be understood as 100 + 47, which carries the following meaning:

100 - represents the fallen generation, as it was the age of Adam, when Cain and Able were born.

47 - as this is clearly a distinctive number associated with Jacob / Israel, and as we can see that his life was about the fulfilment of God's promises, then we can venture to say that both 147 and 47 are also numbers that are associated with Promises that are connected to the nation of Israel.

I have already highlighted the connection between Jacob / Israel and the promise / fulfillment connected to the nation that he fathered and the numbers 47 and 48. So this is just further support of the number 47 being connected to promises.

Notably, there are 5 books of the Bible that have 47 chapters (Genesis; Psalms; Isaiah; Jeremiah; and Ezekiel), and the numbers associated with them are very interesting, as summarized in the table below:

In one of the quirkiest connections I have seen in a while, if you consider the pattern of these 5 books as being numerically structured with a central book (Isaiah) such that it acts to separate the remaining 4 books into two halves (2 pairs), like book ends, and you add the numbers accordingly you get the following:

Book Numbers

20 (the 2 left book numbers – 1+19) and 50 (the 2 right book numbers – 24+26)

Total is 20 + 50 = 70

And if you then add the number of verses in each of the Chapter 47's in each of these books, you get:

Verse Numbers

40 (the 2 left book verse numbers – 31+9) and 30 (the 2 right book verse numbers – 7+23)

Total is 40 + 30 = 70

As we have already seen above, Jacob already has a 490 connected to his life that comes about by the addition of his key ages and now, in the books that contain a 47^th  chapter (that is related to his age at death), we see another related connection with 70 x 70 = 4900 (490 x 10) that arises with the Book Numbers, counting from Genesis, and the Number of Verses in each of those chapters.

Clearly this relies on ignoring the central book of Isaiah, so we need to see if there is any reason numerically that this could be considered as a valid approach of dividing the numbers into a pattern. Interestingly, it is because if you now add the remaining Book Number of Isaiah, which is the 23^rd book from Genesis to the total of 70 for the first two books preceding Isaiah you get:

70 + 23 = 93.

At first this might not appear significant until you realize that all these numbers are associated with Jacob, who becomes Israel, and that the nation that was formed from his sons has two summaries, in relation to its history, that are provided in Scripture, as follows:

1) History of Israel recorded in 1 Kings 6:1 – this first summary states that starting with the Exodus from Egypt until the beginning of the 4^th Year of King Solomon’s reign, there were 480 years:

​¹ And it came to pass in the four hundred -- and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 1 Kings 6:1

This is the time in Scripture when Solomon is accredited with having built the Temple and it aligns with 966 BC.

2) History of Israel recorded in Acts 13:16-23 – this second summary states that the same period involved 40 years (wilderness) + 450 years (period of Judges) + 40 years (reign of King Saul) + 40 years (reign of King David – implied, but stated elsewhere) + 3 years (to the beginning of King Solomon’s 4^th year) = 40+450+40+40+3 = 573 years in total:

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. ¹⁷ The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them out of it. ¹⁸ And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. ²⁰ And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.   ²² And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. ²³ Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus: Acts 13:16-23

Seemingly there appears to be a discrepancy of 573 – 480 = 93 years, the exact number you get by adding the 'book numbers' (the position number of each book when counting from Genesis) of the books of the bible that are associated with Jacob / Israel, through the connection of the number 47, that is itself connected to his life span of 147.

However, the obvious question is, why does this discrepancy of 93 years exist?

A search of the book of Judges reveals the answer because we can see that Israel was punished 5 times (just like the pattern of 5 books) for sin between the Exodus and Solomon's reign, as follows:

• 8 years under the king of Mesopotamia -- Judges 3:8

• 18 years under the king of Moab -- Judges 3:14

• 20 years under the king of Canaan -- Judges 4:2-3                        

• 7 years under the Midianites -- Judges 6:1

• 40 years under the Philistines -- Judges 13:1

This totals the 93 years, which are not factored into the period stated in 1^st Kings.

In this way, God is demonstrating in scripture that He employs a principle that when His prophetic nation of Israel is in disobedience towards Him, His prophetic end-time clock can sometimes stop. As such, the number 93 becomes a symbol of a time period that is not reckoned with or counted. In relation to the history of Israel the idealized 480 years in 1 Kings 6:1 is what scholars accept as the actual period because it places the building of Solomon's Temple in 966BC, which is verified in other ways as well. Therefore, the longer period of 573 years, as described in Acts 13, is then considered to be symbolic showing what it could have been and how it could have stopped the prophetic clock except for God's mercy, in this instance. Effectively this affirms that while God's plans may be delayed, due to our disobedience, they will never change - all of His promises will come to fruition at the appointed time.

All of this is very revealing because it clearly reflects the same principle as revealed in Daniel’s 490 years, or 70 Weeks (sevens), or 70 x 7 prophecy. This prophecy about the nation of Israel affirms that God’s prophetic clock actually did stop when Israel, as a nation, failed to recognize the time of their visitation and rejected Jesus as their Messiah. As a nation, this has left them out of fellowship with God since the time of Jesus' Crucifixion, which based upon scholarly analysis of Daniel 9:27 means that the Messiah was cut off after the 483 years that followed the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuilt Jerusalem in 445 BC. This places Jesus' death around 32 AD, which means Believers have been waiting for the final 7 years for nearly two thousand years.

So amazingly, the 93 associated with the middle book Isaiah, in the table of the Book numbers that have a chapter 47, does appear to be a valid way of separating the numbers because it symbolically represents a time that is not reckoned with. It is essentially a time that is not counted in God's endtime calendar.

Further to this, Isaiah is actually a very special and unique book that is often called a mini-bible because its structure mirrors that of the whole bible. For example, it has 66 chapters, just like the bible, with two main sections. The first is comprised of 39 chapters that mirror the 39 books of the Old Testament, while the second has 27 chapters that mirror the 27 books of the New Testament. Notably, the first section of Isaiah covers the history and sinfulness of Israel, as does the Old Testament; and the second section covers the person and ministry of the Messiah (such as Isaiah 53 etc.), as does the New Testament and significantly both Isaiah and the Bible end with descriptions of the new heavens and earth.

Therefore, when we consider Jacob's life again, we can now understand that here are two hidden instances of a period of 490. The first relates to the total of his ages at key times in his life (including his 'Time of Trouble') and the second is the '490 x 10 (4900)' number, in connection with the Books that have a 47^th Chapter, with 47 being an end-time number associated with the time when Jacob / Israel died or went to be with the Lord.  In this way, this hidden structure could also be suggesting that just like the 490 revealed in Daniel, that is a symbol of the finality of God's plans of Redemption, then the hidden 4900 because of its connection to Israel's promises and the number 47 (that was the year in the 19th century that God effectively gave them the promise of the nation's rebirth, through the UN) could be confirming that the 'Time of Jacob's Trouble' will occur in conjunction with the number 47.

This would mean that 47 is also connected with an allotted or appointed period of time to "...finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy", as detailed in Daniel 9:24. It is this idea that I will explore further in the next section below, that deals with "Joshua entering the promised land".

Importantly, I do not believe that these patterns are random or contrived. Further support comes from looking at Genesis, the first book with a chapter 47 and amazingly we see the following passage in chapter 47:

²⁷ And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty -- and seven years. Genesis 47:27-28

Here, the first of the 5 books with a chapter number 47, that is associated with Jacob / Israel’s life, actually mentions Jacob / Israel in a specific connection with that number.

The next of the 5 books continues its unique association with the nation of Israel because of a connection that was first discovered by J.R.Church, one of the original hosts of a TV program called ‘Prophecy in the News’. He has since gone home to be with the Lord, but further information can be found by clicking on the following link: The Bible's Secret Calendar - Hidden Prophecies in the Psalms - The Open Scroll

The main thrust of the theory is that each Psalm corresponds to a year in modern history starting with Psalm 1 matching the year 1900. So, by this theory Psalm 47 matches 1947, the very year that we have already spoken about in relation to the UN voting in the affirmative for a new state to be created for the nation of Israel. This is the very connection that the 5 books with a chapter 47 seem to be making.

Then, while  remembering this historic event that occurred in a year ending in ‘47’, we read in Psalm 47 (see below) that the Lord is King over all the earth, and that He will subdue the nations (as represented by the UN) and choose Israel’s inheritance (voting for the 1947 plan of partition of the Land giving Israel their portion):

​¹ Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! ² For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. ³ He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. ⁴ He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah ⁵ God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet. ⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! ⁷ For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. ⁸ God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. ⁹ The princes of the people have gathered together, The people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted. Psalms 47

It is very clear from the content of Psalm 47 that it could be a hidden reference to the Israel being created out of the nations, whom God subdues to ensure that His people have their inheritance, the land He promised as an eternal possession, restored to them.  

Notably, from the Table above, we see that these first two books (Genesis and Psalms) of the five books that have a chapter 47 have a combined total of their 'book numbers' of 20 (Genesis -1st book and Psalms -19th book - 1+19 = 20). This is significant because 20 and above was the age of the people that had to die out because they had not trusted the Lord when they came out of Egypt. Everyone else (apart from Caleb and Joshua) who were under 20 got to go into the land 40 years later, which also corresponds to the total of the Verse numbers of these first two chapter 47’s that is shown in the Table above - so, there is a striking correspondence.

Then briefly, if we consider the number 50 that represents the total of the book numbers that are associated with the last two of the five books (being Jeremiah (24) + Ezekiel (26)), we see a number connected to the Jubilee year, which is all about the restoration of possessions and everything that has been lost in relation to the Land.

In this respect, Jeremiah chapter 47 is about the 'preservation' of the nation of Israel, in the Face of its enemies, and Ezekiel 47 is about a 'future allotment' of the land to the various tribes of Israel, during the Millennial reign of Christ. So again, we have a correspondence that supports the prophetic nature of the number 47, in connection to God’s promises to His people and the Land of Israel.

 While much more could be analyzed here, it is more important to make the final prophetic connection that includes an end-time timing prediction. However, before I can do that, I need one last diversion to briefly lay the final foundation for understanding the prophetic connection in the next section.

Joshua entering the Promised Land

When Moses died at 120, signaling a shift to the end-times (see further information here on 120 and its foundational connection to 98), Joshua (in Hebrew יְהוֹשׁוּעַ  - Yehoshua), whose name in Hebrew is the same as for Jesus, was appointed by God to take His people into the Promised Land. As such, 'Joshua entering the Promised Land' is a type of the Rapture, a foreshadowing of Jesus taking God’s people into the greater Promised Land, that of Heaven, as stated in John 14:

​¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3

As stated above, of all the people that had come out of Egypt, only those under 20 years of age, along with Joshua and Caleb, got to enter the land. All the rest died in the wilderness because they had not trusted that the LORD would deliver them a victory since the land was full of giants:

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” ³² And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:30-33

So, it was now 40 years later and the people were about to enter the Promised Land, beginning first with the destruction of Jericho. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, page 1118, states the following in relation to the meaning of the name:

“Jericho. The name “Jericho” may be connected to the ancient name of the Canaanite moon god. The Hebrew words for moon, month, or new moon, and Jericho are very similar. Others associate it with the word for spirit or smell, assuming that the pleasant fragrances of the fruits and spices which grew in this oasis occasioned the name of the place.”

The important thing to note here are the connections to the “New Moon” and “Pleasant Fragrance”. Many other sources affirm these meanings that create a connection with the Feast of Trumpets, which is the only Feast of the LORD that occurs in conjunction with a ‘new moon’ and is widely acknowledged by many scholars as being connected to the Rapture event, an occurrence that could definitely be described in spiritual terms as a 'Pleasant Fragrance'. Significantly, the capture and destruction of Jericho, in another parallel to the Feast of Trumpets, is also described in connection with the 'blowing of Trumpets' over a 7-day period, which is arguably symbolic of the 7-year Tribulation period, that culminates in the 'Second Coming of Christ'.

At first all appears to go well with the Israelites entering the Land and destroying Jericho, in obedience to the Command of the Lord, who was bringing a judgement upon the people there, with the exception of Rahab the Prostitute, who was saved because of her 'belief in the God of the Israelites' and her help with the Spies when they were spying out the Land. Not only was Rahab saved, but she also ultimately became a part of the messianic line, after becoming the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, another gentile bride who would ultimately become the great-great-grandmother of King David.

However, the next city identified to be captured, as part of taking possession of the “Promised Land’, was AI, and while it was much smaller and was not as well defended, causing Joshua to send a smaller troop of men into it, they were massacred. Joshua, like all of the Israelites, was shocked at this defeat and he both tore his clothes and fell upon his face before the Lord, pleading to know why this had happened. The Lord then explained that Israel had sinned by keeping some of the accursed things, both stealing and being deceitful and hiding some of the goods from Jericho within their own possessions. Except for the Gold and Silver, which was to be consecrated to the Lord, everything else was meant to be destroyed. Ultimately, God got Joshua to bring the people before Him and He began a process of selection to identify the offender, firstly identifying the Tribe of Judah and then the family of the Zarhites and then Zabdi who brought his household man by man until Achan the grandson of Zerah was chosen.

Amazingly, in another hint to the Rapture, Zerah was the child of Judah and Terah. He was originally born into the Messianic Seed Line from Adam to Jesus, but after putting his arm out of the womb, allowing the mid-wife to tie a scarlet thread around his hand, he pulled his hand back in and Perez his twin brother was born first to take the birth-right in the genealogical line to Christ. In the same article, linked to above, and here Hidden End -Time Clues in the Messianic Line from Adam to Jesus - By David Wills - 2025 / Blog | EndTime-BibleProphecy , I have presented an argument that I believe supports the idea that Zerah (whose name means 'rising of light') symbolically represents all those who will one day 'rise to the light' in the Rapture, being saved in this hidden event, just as Rahab who placed a scarlet thread outside her window in Jericho.

In any event, Achan, the grandson of Zerah, had disregarded God’s instructions in relation to the taking of Jericho and had taken some of the accursed things for himself and by so doing had brought Trouble on all of ISRAEL, with many dying when they were attempting to capture the next city of AI. So Joshua instructed that Achan be taken to the 'valley of Achor' and be stoned to death before having his body burnt with fire. The 'Valley of Achor' appears to have received its name as a direct result of these events involving Achan and the Israelites near Jericho.

Essentially Achan’s name in Hebrew is עָכָ֛ן which comes from an unused root word meaning “To Trouble”. In fact, 2 Chronicles 7:20 calls him the 'Troubler of Israel':

⁷ The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing; 1 Chronicles 2:7

Then the name "Achor" in Hebrew עָכוֹר֒ means "trouble" or "disturbance" being given to the valley "in consequence of the trouble that was occasioned to the Israelites by the sin of Achan. The name "Achor" is also derived from the Hebrew verb עָכַר ‘âḵar; which relates to the concept of trouble.

With this background we can now fast forward approximately 3,283 years from 1406 BC, the year that the Israelites were entering the Promised Land, to the year 1878 AD. The connection between these 2 dates is Hosea 2:14 - 15 which states:

¹⁴ “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. ¹⁵ And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. Hosea 2:14-15

The context of the book of Hosea is the unfaithfulness of Israel to God. Hosea’s own marriage to Gomer, a woman who is unfaithful to him, mirrors Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. Just as Hosea continues to pursue and love Gomer, despite her betrayal, God expresses a relentless love for Israel, even as the nation turns to other gods. As such, it is a book of both Judgement and Hope and that is exactly what we see in the scripture above.

Starting at Hosea 2:1 we see the beginning of a shift from God’s Judgement of His unfaithful people to Him pleading with them through Hosea to put away their whoring and return to him:

​¹ Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.” ² “Plead with your mother, plead—for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband—that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; ³ lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. Hosea 2:1-3

By Hosea 2:14–15 we see God, who always precisely reverses the curse, making a promise that He will restore the fortunes of His people and the Land by making the Valley of Achor, that for thousands of years had been associated with the 'Troubling of Israel', become a 'Door of Hope' (in Hebrew פֶ֣תַח תִּקְוָ֑ה – Petah Tikva).

The following verses confirms this as a latter-day prophecy – for context see the full passage below

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
¹⁵ And I will give her -- her vineyards from thence, and -- the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. ¹⁷ For I will take away -- the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. ¹⁸ And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. ¹⁹ And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. ²⁰ I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know -- the LORD. ²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear -- the heavens, and they shall hear -- the earth; ²² And the earth shall hear -- the corn, and -- the wine, and -- the oil; and they shall hear -- Jezreel. ²³ And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon -- her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. Hosea 2:14-23

The Vally of Achor – Jacob and Israel Connection

Now this is where we can begin to tie this all back into Jacob and the end-time prophecies for Israel.

Essentially, prior to 1948, before the modern rebirth of the nation of Israel, some Jewish settlers from Europe came to the Holy Land, that was at that time controlled by the Ottomans. Their intention was to establish a new settlement in the Achor Valley near Jericho, believing that this would be a fulfilment of Hosea 2:15, and so they purchased land there. However, when the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II heard about it, he cancelled the purchase and they had to relocate to land northeast of Jaffa that was owned by two Christian businessmen, Antoine Bishara Tayan and Selim Qassar.

Significantly though, they retained the name Petah Tikva for “Door of Hope” and they were able to officially purchase and establish the community in 1878. Numerous articles including one from Wikipedia here confirm it is officially recognized as the first Jewish settlement in the Promised Land, "in modern times".

See the map below for help to visualize the exact locations, noting that the 'Valley of Achor' has been traditionally identified with the area around Wadi Qelt or Wadi al Qilt  (on the right-hand end of the map below), South of Jericho, while Petah Tikva on the other hand, is a city in central Israel, about 10.6 km east of Tel Aviv, roughly 60 to 70 miles away, depending upon which route you take.

That God sees this as the fulfilment of Hosea 2:15, I do not believe is in doubt, when one looks at the numbers associated with it.

In this respect, Israel was finally scattered to the ends of the earth in AD70 when the Roman emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple after the death and resurrection of Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem as He knew of the destruction that was coming because His people did not know the time of their visitation, by their Messiah:

⁴¹ Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41-44

Then, as discussed above, the first official Jewish settlement in modern times was in established in 1878… It was a book-end to the promise of a nation to Abraham that saw the fulfilment begin with Joshua’s entry into the Land in 1406 BC, and after a scattering of 3283 years, saw the first-fruit of a national revival when the community known as Petah Tikvah (Door of Hope) was established in accordance with the prophecy of Hosea 2:15.

This can be summarized as follows:

70 AD – Jews begin to be scattered to the ends of the earth – the diaspora of the Jews begins.

1878 AD – Jews begin to return to Land in the ‘Last Days’ and establish the first officially recognized Jewish Community - Petah Tikvah (Door of Hope) in modern times.

So, if Petah Tikvah is truly like the first fruit of the Promise to be fulfilled in the latter days, then the number 1878 that it is associated with should also be seen to be significant. This is exactly what we find when we add 1878, the number that is a symbol of the promise to restore the nation, with 70 AD the year of its collapse following its rejection of their Messiah:

70 + 1878 = 1948 – the year the nation was reborn.

So not only was Petah Tikvah a prophecy of the restoration of the nation, whose trouble began when Joshua and the Israelites were first entering the Promised Land, but its establishment in 1878 (that was a fulfilment of Hosea 2:15), became a pointer to the exact year ISRAEL as a nation, would be reborn - God truly is the God of History!

All of this lays the foundation for the last connection that I believe is a prediction of something significant that is yet to occur this year, in relation to ISRAEL and God’s Prophetic End-Time Plans.

Essentially, we have seen there is a great significance in all of the Numbers that God put on Jacob / Israel’s life with the last one being when he went home to be with the Lord, when he died at the age of 147. Given as shown above that the nation’s scattering was reversed by the God who always reverses the Curse and 70 AD became 1948, exactly 1878 years later, the exact year of Israel’s first birth pang, then it seems likely that 1878 and 147 could also be deliberately connected in God’s Prophetic Calendar, as follows:

1878 + 147 = 2025

Here we have the year that the first modern community of Israel was established (1878) linked by the number of years (147) that would pass before Jacob / Israel would go to be with the Lord and that could possibly align with the start of the period known as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble", which is for all of God's people who do not yet know Him (represented by Jacob), but will come to Him through this period, such that by its end, the scripture that states "ALL ISRAEL will be saved" will be fulfilled"

²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: Romans 11:26

Rapture and Ezekiel 38

Now, as I have shown in a number of other articles on this website, many of God’s numbers keep pointing to 2025. This can either be just an avalanche of coincidences, or as is more likely, it is confirmation of the significance of all that is currently happening in this world that I believe is soon to produce the circumstances (either a temporary peace, or simply a confidence in their security) that Israel needs to be in to fulfil the conditions in both 1 Thessalonians and Ezekiel 38, which I believe are both about the Day of the Lord:

​¹ Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

And

¹⁰ “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. ¹¹ You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people —all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. Ezekiel 38:10-11

In relation to the description in these verses, that clearly seems to be speaking about Israel 'living in Peace', it should be noted that the reference in Thessalonians is actually what the World is saying, not what God is saying, which is captured better in Zechariah 12:

​¹ The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. ² Behold, I will make -- Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. ³ And -- in that day will I make -- Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:1-3

Clearly, prior to the end-time attack that is described in Ezekiel 38, God says that the world will be obsessed with Jerusalem in the lead up to a siege against it. So, we are not really looking for a true Peace. Additionally, another obvious snag seems to be the reference to “…all of them living without walls and without gates and bars” when Israel is famous for its 708 KM or 450 mile wall around much of the land, that is primarily in the areas identified as contentious, near Northern Israel, due to Hezbollah; Golan Heights (due to Islamic Jihadis in Syria); West Bank and Gaza (due to the Arab so called 'Palestinians').

However, I believe the answer to these seeming contradictions could be two-fold:

First Possible Solution

Firstly, it should be noted that the context of Ezekiel 28:10–11 is that an 'evil thought', which Gog will have, will be the basis for the attack; it is not what God is declaring will happen:

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: ¹¹ And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, Ezekiel 38:10-11

Clearly, as Ezekiel 38 shows, God's fury is going to come up in His face when the nations come against His people:

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. Ezekiel 38:18

So the fact that God is prophesying that Gog will think an evil thought, prior to his destruction, this could be another example of what happened in relation to King Ahab, when a spirit in heaven responded to the Lord's request for someone to persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth-Gilead, where as a judgement of God, he would die in battle. This spirit offered to be a 'lying spirit' to persuade Ahab to go to meet his fate: 

²⁰ And the LORD said, Who shall persuade -- Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. ²¹ And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. ²² And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 1 Kings 22:20-22

Therefore, I believe that Ezekiel 38:10ff is hinting that another 'lying spirit' is going to get Gog to think an 'evil thought' that will result in him committing to a plan that will be crushed by God and that will end in Gog's defeat, as the following shows:

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. ¹⁹ For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; ²⁰ So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. ²¹ And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. ²² And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Ezekiel 38:10-22

In connection with this 'evil thought', that leads to the destruction of Gog's invasion by God, we should also note that God is saying in the following scripture that when this occurs Israel will be living "safely", not necessarily in Peace:

⁸ After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Ezekiel 38:8

Importantly, the word translated here as "safely" does not insist on Israel being in a state of Peace, as it is the Hebrew word (Strongs H983) בֶּטַח (beṭaḥ): that Strong's Concordance states is "A masculine noun or adjective meaning security. As a noun, it primarily means security or calm assurance (Gen. 34:25; Isa. 32:17). As an adjective, it means assurance or confidence. It is primarily a positive term: to dwell in safety because of God’s protection (Lev. 25:18); to lie down safely or in security (Hos. 2:18[20]); to walk securely or assuredly (Prov. 10:9)."

Significantly, in other instances, it can also be a negative term, meaning to be "too self-assured or careless", such as in Ezekiel 30:9 and Ezekiel 39:6:

⁹ In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make -- the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh. Ezekiel 30:9

And 

⁶ And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 39:6

As such, by using this specific word, God could be suggesting in Scripture that His people will be living with a Confidence that the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob' is protecting them, not that they are living in Peace without any threat of Conflict. Prior to Oct 7, 2023, in spite of the constant barrage of missiles by their enemies, it was often stated that Israelis in general felt secure. It is perhaps 'in part' this level of 'self-assured confidence' that made them vulnerable to the attack. Fast forward nearly 2 years, God has given Israel many victories in the face of all of the attacks by Iran and its Proxies. As such, it could arguably be true to say again that right now many in Israel are again living with a confidence that God is on their side, as evidenced by Him giving them a strong IDF, along with the support of America, still the world's most powerful nation, under President Trump; along with other changes that have recently seen such things as them praying on the Temple Mount (previously prohibited) etc. Thereby it could be argued that being the resilient people that they are, they again see themselves, in general, as "dwelling safely", as defined by the Hebrew word בֶּטַח (Betah) - see a screenshot of the Logos Word Study of this word below:

In light of this, all that seemingly needs to happen is for the World to be saying "Peace and Security".

In stunning recent events, the UN has been scheduling and staging some Summits that seek to promote exactly that, via the UN's proposal for a 2 state solution for Palestine and their Pact for the Future:

UN Summit on the Two-State Solution - 3 meetings scheduled

• Event: High-Level International Conference stated as being for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution

• Date meeting (1): The first of these was already held on 28–30 July 2025

• Date meeting (2): 6th September (tentative)

• Date meeting (3): 16th September

• Location: UN Headquarters, New York

• Purpose: To advance practical steps toward a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine

• Outcome: The New York Declaration was adopted at the first meeting in July. It outlined a phased plan for peace that includes calling on Israel to commit to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The second meeting is for the purpose of formally adopting the New York Declaration and to finalize endorsements from member states, while the third meeting will be to achieve broader diplomatic engagement in the plan, including recognition of Palestinian statehood by several countries.

• Participation: Over 125 countries attended; Israel and the U.S. boycotted the event

• Next Steps: Countries have until early September to endorse the outcome document

UN Pact for the Future

• This is not the same event. The Pact for the Future is a separate initiative tied to the upcoming Summit of the Future, scheduled for September 22-23, 2025.

• The Pact is not specifically focused on the Israel-Palestine conflict, rather will address broader global governance reforms, such as sustainable development, and digital cooperation (that is effectively discussing things related to the Beast System - that will be ultimately utilised for administering the Mark of the Beast). However, it is also expected to deal with World issues related to Peace and Security 

 Summary

Significantly, they have begun these in July and will literally finish them on the Eve of Rosh HaShanah or Feast of Trumpets 2025, which occurs on the 23rd and 24th September 2025.

• So, in the lead up to Feast of Trumpets, the world will literally be talking about 'Peace and Security', which is one of the identifiers for the Rapture as indicated in 1 Thessalonians:

³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3

• The Orthodox Jewish Community still have a viable 'Red Heifer' ready for sacrifice, ready for the Priests to serve in a third Temple. Some are even saying now that the real sacrifice has already taken place - based upon a post by Byron Stinson stating that the sacrifice of one of the Red Heifers that was being touted by the Temple Institute as a rehearsal was actually a perfect sacrifice with a perfect priest and a perfect Red Heifer. Additionally, they have already created all the articles to be installed in the Temple and have even been preparing the Stones to build it since 2022. While the Temple is not a requirement for Christians, Scripture states that the Antichrist will stand in the Jewish temple during the Tribulation and declare himself to be God and so all of this needed to occur for prophecy to be fulfilled.
• Interestingly, there is also to be a blood moon on the 7th - 8th in September that will be visible from Jerusalem.
• So, while it is NOT a certainty, it is definitely POSSIBLE that Jesus will be coming back this year (2025) and possibly on the Feast of Trumpets. However, if it does not occur this year, then from all of the signs, we can be sure it is going to be soon and people need to get ready and draw closer to the LORD.

Second Possible Solution

Secondly, in relation to understanding whether Ezekiel 38 describes Israel's current living status, such that the Rapture, which I have shown in other articles aligns with it, further understanding can be understood by examining the phrase that precedes the statement about them "living without walls; gates; and bars". That is, the phrase that states “… I will invade a land of unwalled villages;”.

In this context, the scripture is not talking about the whole land, just the villages and so this is arguably juxtaposing the Jewish settlements in the time of Ezekiel to that of what it will be in the Latter days. In this respect, while ancient Israel had large villages, or city complexes, such as Jericho; Jerusalem and others, that were all obviously built with large defensive walls around them, the summary below shows that these walls became less and less about the defense of individual villages. In fact, many of cities or towns in Israel could today be described as unwalled. The security walls and fencing are more about security for the political boundaries (that are currently being contested) of the land as a whole, than about the villages mentioned in Ezekiel:

Early Israelite Period (Entering the Promised Land)

• Walled cities were very common during the conquest of Canaan (circa 13th–12th century BCE).
• Cities like Jericho, Ai, and Hazor were fortified and often targeted in military campaigns (e.g. Joshua 6).
• Walls were essential for defense against raiders and rival kingdoms.
• Archaeological evidence shows many Canaanite and Israelite cities had substantial fortifications during the Iron Age.

New Testament Times (1st Century CE)

• By this period, most people lived in unwalled villages or rural areas.
• Major cities like Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Sepphoris had walls, but these were exceptions.
• Roman rule brought relative stability, so walls were less about defense and more about status or administrative control.
• According to historical sources, 90% of the population lived outside walled cities, often farming or herding in open countryside2.

Modern Times (Arab–Jewish Conflict)

• Walls today are largely tied to security and political boundaries, not traditional city defense.
• The Israeli West Bank barrier is the most prominent example—built to prevent attacks, but controversial for its impact on Palestinian communities.
• In some mixed cities within Israel, physical barriers or embankments have been constructed to separate Arab and Jewish neighborhoods.
• The Western Wall in Jerusalem remains a religious and symbolic structure, not a defensive one, being the remains of the Temple Mount.

As such, it is possible that despite the current walls in many areas of Israel today, this verse of Ezekiel 38 could have already been fulfilled, simply because of the historical shift from Israel being an ancient land comprised of walled villages to a modern state with 'security walls' on its borders.

If this is so, then for the Rapture to happen, we could again simply be waiting for either Israel to be dwelling in some sort of Temporary Peace, or at least as outlined above, living with a sense of Confidence; Hope and Security, such that the world will proclaim a time of “Peace and Security”, following all of its summits designed for this purpose.

There is no doubt that this time is fast approaching because Ezekiel 38, which all scholars agree is still future, but imminent, seems to describe this scenario because all of Iran's Proxies in Hamas; Hezbollah; the Houthis; and the Islamic Jihadis in Syria have been given major setbacks, along with Iran. However, this also means that the level of peace that has been achieved so far will definitely only be temporary because this passage also shows Persia / Iran, currently still Israel's greatest antagonist, as one of the members of the alliance that comes against them. As such, this tells us that nothing, that is currently going on in Iran, is going to result in a change in Iran’s attitude toward Israel, other than the rhetoric may be toned down, such that it won’t be about 'Death to Israel' (at least not publicly) because in Ezekiel 38 the nation’s watching on will simply ask  - are you coming to take ‘Plunder and Booty’:

¹³ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Ezekiel 38:13

 Therefore, it is unlikely for there to be a Regime change in the coming months, rather Iran’s capacity to attack Israel will simply remain diminished to the point that they are just one of the allied nations that assist Gog of the Land of Magog in his quest to capture some of Israel’s resources, such as natural gas fields under Israel’s control in the Mediterranean, known as the Leviathan and Tamar fields.

Leviathan Gas Field

• Located in the Levantine Basin, about 130 km west of Haifa.

• Discovered in 2010, began production in 2019.

• Estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

• Operated by Chevron, with partners including Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil Exploration.

• As of 2024, 90% of its production is exported to Egypt and Jordan.

Tamar Gas Field

• Discovered earlier, in 2009, and lies northeast of Leviathan.

• Also, a major contributor to Israel’s domestic energy supply.

• Together with Leviathan, it helped Israel achieve energy independence and become a regional energy exporter.

In this respect, one has to ask whether all the UN Summits will actually embolden the Ezekiel 38 nations, causing them to come against Israel to attain some of its resources.

The Tabernacle - God Dwelling with Man

In the Introduction, I said I was going to show some connections between God’s desire to Walk with man, and this was done through the life and numbers associated with Jacob. Further to that, I stated how God also wanted to Tabernacle or Dwell with us and interestingly I believe there is an implied connection here also to the number 47 that as above is linked with His Promises and the End Times.

To outline how this is so, we first need to note that there were two expressions in the bible of a dwelling place for God amongst His people – a Tabernacle and a Temple.

1) Tabernacle - the first was the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. This was a portable structure that was erected whenever the Israelites who had come out of Egypt settled in an area, remembering that they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Then, whenever they moved, it was disassembled and transported to the new location, before being erected again. In this way, God was able to dwell and walk amongst His people:

¹² I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. ¹³ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright. Leviticus 26:12-13

And

⁶ For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 2 Samuel 7:6

2) Temple – the second was the Temple, a permanent structure, that was ultimately built by Solomon on Mount Moriah in the 4^th year of his reign, described as being 480 years after the Exodus.

​¹ And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 1 Kings 6:1

48 and the Tabernacle 

Now regarding the Tabernacle, it is important to note that it was comprised of two Sections:

1) An outer court, that contained the 'Brazen Altar' for the Sacrifices and a 'Bronze Laver' containing Living Water for cleansing purposes.

2) An inner sanctuary, that contained two rooms separated by a Curtain or Veil. These were known as the 'Holy Place' and the 'Holy of Holies', with the latter containing the Ark of the Covenant, above which was God’s Holy Presence, in the form of a Pillar of Cloud during the day and a Pillar of Fire at night.

³⁸ For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. Exodus 40:38

Very specific instructions were given to Moses to enable its construction and in relation to our discussion these included details about the Acacia Wood Boards that would be used to construct the Inner Sanctury. Ultimately, the following passage shows that it was to be built with a total of 48 boards on three sides (North, South, and West). The East side was to remain open to mirror how Adam and Eve had gone out of the Garden of Eden to the East after they had fallen, but because of the atoning death of the ‘Seed of the Woman’, who would be fulfilled in Yeshua or Jesus, they would one day be able to return from the East to again worship the Father – it was all symbolic of returning to the Garden of Eden:

¹⁵ “And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. ¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. ¹⁷ Two tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. ¹⁸ And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ¹⁹ You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. ²⁰ And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards ²¹ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. ²² For the far side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. ²³ And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁴ They shall be coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners. Exodus 26:15-24

Importantly, because the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle was comprised of 48 boards, the number 48 itself becomes a symbol of God’s Presence. This is why when Israel was reborn in the 48^th year of the 19th century, it was a symbol of God both calling His people home and God Himself seeking to dwell with them again as a nation.

This is also why later, when the Temple the 'permanent dwelling of God' with His people was being built, 1 Kings 6:1 records it as occurring in the 480^th year (48 x 10) after Israel came out of Egypt. 48 and its multiples are all about God’s presence with His people.

Intriguingly, there is also a hint of God blessing the nations in Genesis Chapter 48 when Joseph (a type of Jesus) brought his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim before Jacob / Israel to be blessed as the following passage shows:

¹³ And Joseph took -- them both, -- Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and -- Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. ¹⁴ And Israel stretched out -- his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and -- his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ And he blessed -- Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed -- me all my life long unto this day, ¹⁶ The Angel which redeemed -- me from all evil, bless -- the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. ¹⁷ And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove -- it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. ¹⁹ And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. ²⁰ And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set -- Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. Genesis 48:13-22

Significantly, as Exodus 19 shows, Gods intention for Israel was for them to be a kingdom of Priests, a holy nation that would reveal Him to the nations of the World:

⁵ Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep -- my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶ And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Exodus 19:5-6

Notably also, Jacob / Israel stated that he had given Joseph, a type of Jesus, one more portion above his brethren that collectively formed the nation of Israel. This is a hidden reference to the gentiles that would one day be spiritually grafted into ISRAEL. So, the gentiles are the portion, that was above the nation of Israel, that was given to Joseph in chapter number (48), that is reflecting God’s presence with His people. Like all the people, that existed outside of the nation formed from the promises given to Abraham; Isaac and Jacob, who would bring us the Messiah and the Bible, God’s heart was to save all the sons of Adam; and going forward Ephraim would come to represent all these people who would be joined to the blessings established through the physical nation of Israel.

I have written about this aspect in another article - See the Link here: Numeric Patterns in Scripture that support end-time clues - David Wills - 2025 / Blog | EndTime-BibleProphecy#EphraimandManasseh

46 and the Temple

The two Columns

Importantly when Solomon constructed the Temple, in line with God’s wishes, he constructed it with a very important addition that involved '2 Columns of Bronze', that framed the entrance to the 'Inner Sanctuaries', being the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. These are described in 1 Kings: as being 18 cubits high:

¹⁵ And he cast two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each. 1 Kings 7:15

Then on top of them he made two Capitals that were each 5 cubits in height:

 ⁶ Then he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 1 Kings 7:16

These numbers are very revealing with firstly the Columns themselves each being 18 cubits high or:

18 = 6 + 6 + 6

So here we have a representation of the Sin of Man that has to be dealt with before he can enter the Holy Place within the Temple Sanctuary area.

Then we see that each of these 18-cubit high columns is covered, or comes underneath, a Capital that is 5 cubits high, which is a number that symbolizes the Grace of God. This gives us a total of 23 (18 + 5) cubits in height for each column and because there are 2 columns, we effectively get 23 pairs of cubits, for a total of 46.

Amazingly, because the Temple is a symbolic picture of Jesus Himself and we note in the Gospels that Jesus' favorite title (being the one that He most frequently used) for Himself was ‘Son of Man’, this number immediately reminds us of His connection to mankind with these columns being symbolic of the 23 pairs of Chromosomes, for a total of 46 Chromosomes in our DNA, that uniquely make man who He is, amongst all of the other living Creatures.

In this respect, Jesus says in John 14:6 that “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. So, these two columns were placed either side of the entrance to the Inner Temple Sanctuary, reminding us that all who come to 'God the Father' must pass between them (symbolically through Jesus) before they could enter the Sanctuary to have fellowship with God.

Importantly, the first area within the Temple that one came to, after passing between the columns, was the Holy Place. This contained the Table of Shewbread and the Menorah, which were symbols that would later remind the people of who Jesus was when He claimed to be the Bread of Life and the Light of the World - He was effectively confirming that He was God incarnate, the Word or Logos of God made flesh. These articles, that were both a part of the Tabernacle and the Temple, would then ultimately become a pointer to the end-of-days when God, as stated by John the Revelator, would dwell with mankind forever because the former things (the Curse of Sin and Death), by then, will have all passed away:

³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4

The Ark of the Covenant

Then there was the 'Ark of the Covenant', that was located in the 'Holy of Holies', the inner most area that was separated from the 'Holy Place' by a heavy Veil, until it was torn from top to bottom, while Jesus was dying on the Cross, atoning for the 'Sin of Mankind'.

On the Veil there were images of the Cherubim that had been placed at the entrance to the 'Garden of Eden', after man’s fall, to prevent him from having access to the 'Tree of Life' and eating its fruit and being forever lost in his fallen sinful state. However, by Jesus paying the price for our sin, the way to God and the Father was restored and so the symbolism of the Cherubim blocking the way to the Tree of Life and to God the Father was also ended, for man could now by faith in the finished work of Jesus have access to both, with scripture also showing that Jesus is the true ‘Tree of Life’ because eating from Him ‘spiritually’ brings eternal life.

Notably, the 'Ark of the Covenant' also had the 'Mercy Seat' on top of it, where the Blood of the Sacrificed Lamb was placed each year on the Day of Atonement  - Yom Kippur, in Hebrew יוֹם כִּפֻּר. It was where the presence of God rested between the two Cherubim, that were also on the lid of the Ark (being a symbol of the Cherubim that were around God’s Throne in Heaven).

So, these columns, that framed the entrance to both the 'Holy Place' and the 'Holy of Holies', not only remind us that Jesus was fully man, as well as fully God, but confirm that He truly is the only way of Salvation. In this way, He came to fulfil the ‘Seed of the Woman’ prophecy through His Death, Burial and Resurrection that would effectively crush the head of the Serpent / Satan.

Clearly, Satan did not see this coming otherwise he would not have been so keen to enter (possess) Judas at the 'Last Supper' to get him to betray Jesus, exactly on the 14th Nisan to make Him the Passover Lamb. As 3 days later, Jesus’ resurrection unleashed a new era that would see Satan and his dark kingdom dealing with millions of believers, not just the few that followed Jesus during the 3.5 years of His earthly ministry.

Significantly, if we now combine this number 46 that represents Jesus as the 'Son of Man' with the number 98, that represented the years that Mankind walked with God in righteousness before he fell at 99 (see further information on 98  here and on 99 here ), then we note something amazing as follows:

98 + 46 = 144

Here we see that the Heart of the God, who ‘reverses the Curse’ that Mankind brought upon himself, is truly to save all of Humanity.

Essentially, the 144 that arises because of the 46 of Jesus, that symbolically confirms He truly is the ‘Son of Man’, shows us what God had to do to restore Righteousness to Mankind. Additionally, we note that His Heart for all people, about which 2 Peter 3:9 states He is “…not willing that any should perish", is a truth hidden in the very fabric of Creation itself, because before Man had sinned and before any nations ever existed, God had made the world in 6 days. He could have done it in an instant, but He chose to do it in six 24-hour days, which means that the Heavens and the Earth were literally created in 6 x 24 = 144 hours. It is a number that shows that the Son of Man (46) is restoring a way to Righteousness (98) for all of 'fallen humanity', showing that God’s heart is for ALL people to be saved.

Just as Adam and Eve had a choice in the 'Garden of Eden' to Trust and Love God with all of their Heart, but failed to do so, mankind again has this very same choice, in spite of their Sins and Iniquities. If they do choose to accept God's gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus, as the 'Son of Man' on the Cross, then not only are their Sins forgiven, but they will get to eat of the fruit on the 'Tree of Life' that will be in a new Garden on a new Heaven and Earth and will live forever in the Righteoussness of Jesus that has been accredited to them by Faith. Essentially, it was a lack of Faith (that God had provided all that they need according to His riches in glory - Philippians 4:19) had separated mankind from God, but Faith in Him because of His work on the Cross restores us fully to Him, so that forever He can walk and dwell with us. 

However, people have 'Free Will' and need to choose to receive God’s gift of Grace by Faith. So, in the last of the 'last days', before Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation, we see God giving people one last chance to hear the Gospel and to receive Him. With the Church already Raptured out at this point, He sends His 'Two Witnesses', who see 144,000 (144 x 1,000) Jewish believers come to the Lord through their ministry. These are comprised of 12,000 from each of the 12 Tribes of Israel (remembering that 12 and its multiples are related to the 'Seed of the Woman' Prophecy - see more information here), which totals the symbolic 144,000 that are then sealed with God’s mark for their protection as they witness to the world for 1260 days before the Anti-Christ brings their time to an end. He does this by setting himself up in the Temple of God and declaring himself to be God and demanding that people worship him, just like Satan did when tempting Jesus – ultimately it is all about Worship, either we worship the world and the things in it, including ourselves, or we worship the Loving and Holy God who created it and then died for our Sins to make a way for us to be with Him forever .

47 - the implied Promise hidden in the Temple

It is in this context, that involves a dwelling place for God, that a meaning for number 47 can arguably be implied. For as a 'sequence of numbers' that starts at 46 and goes to 48, we see the following:

46 establishes Jesus as the one who as the ‘Son of Man’ enables access to all the promises of God and He must be received in faith to progress.

47 - then represents the promises of God for His people, as represented in Jesus in the 'Holy Place', noting that He IS the WAY to the Father, who is enthroned above the Mercy Seat that is upon the Ark of the Covenant, in the 'Holy of Holies'.

48 - represents the fulfilment of the Promises, with the ultimate fulfilment being about God’s presence in our midst; since Jesus' sacrifice as the Lamb of God resulted in the Veil between the 'Holy Place' and the 'Holy of Holies' being torn from top to bottom. This allowed us to enter into the 'Holy of Holies' into the very presence of God the Father, who we could now call 'Our Father'.

Perhaps this is why some of the additive pairs that comprise 47 confirm aspects of Jesus ministry, such as:

• 30 – Jesus begins His ministry

• 17  - After Jesus completed His ministry and after He had died and been buried, Jesus was resurrected to life again on the 17^th day of the month, exactly 3 full days and nights after He was crucified on the 14th Nisan, to begin a new era:

30 + 17 = 47

 • 33 – Age of Jesus when He died on the Cross

• 14^th Date of Passover, the day He died on the Cross for our Sins:

33 + 14 = 47

Given Jesus is the one in whom all the promises of God reside and the Bible clearly links Him to Jehovah, who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; the great I AM in Moses' Burning Bush; the appearances of the Angel of Lord (preincarnate appearances where He could interact more personally and tangibly with His people); and we see this implied 47 connection to Him in the Tabernacle / Temple (which means dwelling place), it is significant to note again the date of Abraham's calling to promise him a nation and the time that elapsed before that nation entered their PROMISED LAND. In this regard, Exodus 12 states that the exodus of the 'children of Israel' from Egypt occurred precisely 430 years after their sojourning in that foreign land began:

⁴⁰ Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred -- and thirty years. ⁴¹ And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred -- and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41

Then Galatians 3:17-18 clarifies that this period of 430 years began with the 'covenant' and the 'promise' that God gave to Abraham:

¹⁷ And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Galatians 3:17-18

Since we know from archaeology, that that the entry into the Promised Land occurred in 1406 BC - discussed previously and explained in another article here, under a section called '490 as a Timing Clue' - we can now begin to outline some dates that show a hidden prophetic clue to 47 and Jesus as the 'promise of God', noting that Jesus said He came to fulfil the law not do away with it. As the law is represented by the number 10 (10 commandments), we will see here the number 47 completed by 10 to become 470:

1876 BC - Calling of Abram

1446 BC - Exodus, exactly 430 years later, as discussed above, with 1876-430 = 1446 BC

1406 BC - Israelites enter the Promised Land - after 40 years of Wilderness wandering (1446 - 40 = 1406).

1876 - 1406 = 470 years

So the period from the 'Calling of Abraham', to promise him a nation, until that nation is formed and is entering into their Promises in the Promised Land, we have 470 years showing that Jesus, the Tabernacle of God, who Revelation 21: 3 states will dwell with us, is the one through whom all of this is fulfilled; and He both represents the perfect Son 'Israel' (being both the embodiment of the physical nation and the spiritual body they represent) and is in Himself the promise of GOD, who fulfills all promises of GOD.

³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Revelation 21:3

To complete this promise / fulfilment pattern of 47/ 48 we also have the 480 (48 x 10) years from the Exodus to the 4th year of Solomon that is recorded in 1 Kings 6:1, that we discussed above.

So amazingly, in relation to the nation of Israel, from the time the Promises were given to Abraham until the the time that the nation entered the 'Promise Land', under Joshua (whose name in Hebrew is the same as for Jesus), we have 470 (47 x 10) years; and then we have 480 (48 x 10) years from the nation's Exodus from slavery unto the 4th year of Solomon, which is when he began to build the Temple in which God's Glory would Dwell. Clearly these numbers, related to 47 and 48, that are connecting to the promises and their fulfilment validate the pattern.

Final Thoughts

So, Walking and Dwelling with God cover the whole story of Redemption that began with the 'Fall of Man'.

Prior to the Fall, Man walked in the Garden of Eden with God and in the days ahead, when the work of Redemption is fully complete, God will again Dwell and Walk with man in a new Heaven and Earth.

The book of Revelation hints of there being a new Garden because like the First Garden in Eden (עֵדֶן in Hebrew, which means Delight and Paradise), that had a river that went out of Eden (the location of God's throne on earth) to water it, and that contained the ‘Tree of Life’, Revelation also reveals that the 'new heaven and earth' will have a river flowing from God’s Throne (and the Lamb), flowing down the middle of a Broad Street in which the 'Tree of Life' will be growing on both sides of the River. It truly is a return to a place where God will walk and dwell with His people.

 To this end, I have shown that God’s desire to walk and dwell with man, after the Fall, was directly linked to the life of Jacob. This was demonstrated by seeing his how Scripture linked Jacob to both the Physiological and Spiritual aspects of walking. Notably, he 'walked with a Limp' as a sign that He had wrestled with and submitted to God. Then through Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, we see the nation of Israel (that is formed from his sons) and God declares His desire to dwell with them and so He instructs Moses to build the Tabernacle (that means dwelling) for this purpose. This dwelling place went with the Israelites throughout all of their wanderings in the Wilderness and God’s presence continually remained with them.

³⁸ For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. Exodus 40:38

 In this way, God establishes Israel as a nation and later equates its purpose with that of Jesus through the gospel of Matthew's referencing of Hosea 11. Here God is ‘calling His Son out of Egypt’, but applying it to Jesus, as was stated previously. So here we have Walking and Dwelling all connected with Jacob and Israel; and then Jacob / Israel completes his walk with God when he is 147. This introduces a connection to 47 because 147 can be understood as 100 (fallen generation of mankind, which was started with the birth of Cain and Abel) + 47 (the promises of God given to Jacob / Israel). Additionally, through the design of the Tabernacle and its later equivalent in the Temple of Solomon, we have seen that there is an implied 47 (that lies between the 46 at the entrance to God's Sanctuary and the 48 of His Presence) that is itself linked with His Promises (in Jesus) and the End-Times.

Ultimately, this is where a connection to the End-Times came in because when Israel was first taking possession of the Promised Land, they were instructed by Joshua (a type of Jesus) in relation to how God would help them capture Jericho. This founding event, that involved the incident of Achan, who desecrated God’s victory by retaining some of the spoils for himself, resulted in Israel’s first major defeat in the City of AI, and this defeat threatened to overturn all the promises of God to the nation of Israel. So, Joshua fell on his face before God, who through a process that brought all of the tribes and families of Israel before God Himself, identified that it was Achan of the Tribe of Judah.

Here we see that it was important for God to reveal that it was the Tribe of Judah that was involved in disobedience because this was the tribe from whom the Messiah would come and the events surrounding Achan were a clear attempt by the enemy to thwart the plans of God because he understood from Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49 that Judah's line would produce the 'Seed of the Woman' who would crush his head:

⁸ Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. ⁹ Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? ¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Genesis 49:8-10

So, Achan, under the tempting of Satan, brought Trouble upon the nation and because the consequence of his actions had both resulted in the significant loss of life and had undermined God and His promises to His people, Achan was judged before being taken to a valley and stoned to death. Importantly, the valley was named the ‘Valley of Achor’ (meaning 'valley of trouble') to reflect what had occurred there and about 1,000 years later, God gave another promise that was recorded in Hosea 2:15 that would reverse the trouble that had come upon Israel that day.

Essentially, He said that He would revive His people in the last days, beginning in the valley of Achor, giving it to His people as a ‘Door of Hope’ (Petah Tikvah in Hebrew), a first fruit of the full restoration to come. Then, as we noted above, Petah Tikvah became a settlement in the Promised land that is officially acknowledged as the first modern Jewish community in the Land, being founded in 1878, exactly 147 years ago, as of this writing.

So, in one last observation that relates to this restoration, that connects to Achan (called the troubler of Israel in 1 Chron 2:7 because in Hebrew the name means Trouble or Wailing) and the Valley of Achor and 47 to the rebirth of Israel, it is interesting to note the opening chapter of 2 Corinthians, which is the 47^th book of the Bible, states in verse 1:

​¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: 2 Corinthians 1:1

Importantly, Paul in this 47^th book of the Bible is writing to the saints or believers, who are in all of Achaia, and as the following screen shot of a Logos Bible Word Study shows, Achaia is directly related to Achan whose name and origin we have been discussing in connection with 147. 

This confirms again that God has reversed the curse of Achan as there are now believers in right relationship with God in a location that has a name connected to him and it is revealed in the 47th book of the Bible, in accordance with this number’s connection to God’s promises. It is all connected, and I believe God means for us to make these connections because of what they ultimately point to in Jacob's Life.

Not only that, given that we have linked the number 47 to God’s promises, the opening chapter of the 47^th Book of the bible also contains one of the most famous verses ever quoted about God’s promises, as follows:

²⁰ For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20

So structurally, God seems to hide and connect all of these things in His Word, effectively confirming and reinforcing the consistent biblical meanings of numbers that reveal things about His promises, which when they are yet to be fulfilled, are often directly related to prophecies of the end-times.

Another example of this occurred in a recent end-time event involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who went to the Kotel or Western Wall decked in a Tallit (טַלִּית), otherwise known as a 'Jewish Prayer shawl'. He did this on the eve of the strike on Iran, which occurred on the 13th of June, and he put a handwritten note into the cracks of the wall that quoted the verse Numbers 23:24, as the foundation for naming the operation against Iran as “Operation Rising Lion”. Significantly, this verse is part of the Hebrew Torah Portion called Balak, which was the reading for the 12th of July 2025 that covers the following portion of the book of Numbers: 22:2 - 25:9

²⁴ Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.” Numbers 23:24

Notably, the scripture reading itself involves two numbers 23 and 24 that when added together total 47 and the Torah Portion that the verse is taken from also involves two-chapter numbers 22 and 25 (Numbers 22:2 - 25:9), that define the extent of the reading, and that when added together result in a total of 47. While one instance of 47 could arguably be a coincidence, I don’t believe that two can be understood this way, rather it appears again to be the hand of God leading us to another end-time promise.

This is particularly significant when one considers that this is all part of a passage that involves Balaam being hired by Balak to curse Israel as they head toward the Promised Land. However, instead of cursing Israel, Balaam led by the spirit of God blesses them and in doing so makes some prophetic declarations, such as the one seen in Numbers 24:14 that refers to the latter days:

¹⁴ And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” Numbers 24:14

Here the numbers 24 and 14 add to 38, so since we are looking for God’s patterns, a logical question is:

 “Could it be that God is prophesying / promising (47) that His people will rise up like a lion to devour their enemies in the latter days (38), as described in Ezekiel 38?”

While this may seem a stretch, or possibly even a manipulation of numbers to say whatever we want them to say, it cannot be denied that there are some unique connections here, when one also considers that in Ezekiel 38:17, God is equating Gog with a significant enemy of God’s people who will be brought against Israel in the last days, as follows:

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord GOD: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? Ezekiel 38:17

 And then in the previous passages in Numbers about Balaam, exactly the same passage from which Benjamin Netanyahu was quoting from, we read the following in Numbers 24:7

⁷ He shall pour water from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. Numbers 24:7

Now from this translation, it will not be immediately obvious that there could be a link between Gog in Ezekiel 38 and Balaam’s prophecy because this King James Version Bible (based upon the Masoretic Text) seems to be comparing the Messianic Seed, who will one day reign as King, with an Amalekite King Agag. Clearly, if this was correct and the passage was simply predicting that the Messiah would be greater than Agag, this would not be of much significance. However, when we look at the translation in the Septuagint, which is widely acknowledged as being the version that the New Testament authors, including Jesus, often quoted from, then we see something entirely different:

⁷ A man will come forth from his seed and prevail over many peoples, and he will be raised up higher than the kingdom of Gog, and his kingdom will increase. [1]

 Here we see a prophetic reference to Israel’s seed (the Messianic Seed) in Jesus becoming greater, or raised higher than the kingdom of ‘Gog’, which then ties directly to Ezekiel 38:17 with Gog effectively being equated with God’s ultimate end-time adversary in the Antichrist, the one that God’s servants (the prophets, including Daniel etc.) have been prophesying about for many years.

So, if all these links between Numbers and Ezekiel are deliberate and God has hidden them for us to find, then the prophetic significance of Benjamin Netanyahu quoting from Numbers 23:24, effectively giving us a numerical 47 promise of Israel’s victory in the last days, then truly the attack on Iran can be understood as God promising His people that we have reached the Beginning of the End, not the absolute End because Ezekiel 38 and the Rapture that will usher in the Antichrist are still future, but the Beginning of the End that will ultimately result in the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. In this way, these passages that I believe have all been directly and deliberately linked to current events of our times by God, all provide more support for our belief that Jesus IS coming back soon.

^[1] Rick Brannan, Ken M. Penner et al., The Lexham English Septuagint, Second Edition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), Nu 24:7.

The link between the numbers 47; 48; and 37

Notably we have also spoken above about three numbers – 47; 48 and 37 that uniquely show God redeeming 'Fallen Mankind' through His Promises that really take the forms of Covenants and Oaths that become a part of emphasizing His faithfulness to fulfil them. For while man did not trust God’s word in the Garden of Eden and listened to the enemy, God demonstrated His Trustworthiness in another Garden (Gethsemane), where the literal Word of God (the Logos) who had taken on flesh resisted the enemy and went to the Cross to fulfill every Promise that the Father had ever given to a 'Fallen Humanity', and after 6 hours (the number of man) on the Cross, the Son of Man and the Son of God declared with His last breath that “It is Finished.

Additionally there is a special connection between the numbers as follows:

• 47 (God’s Promises);

• 48 (God’s Fulfilment and His presence); and

• 37 (God’s personal number – that reveals His Trinitarian nature (3) interacting with Creation through His Holy Spirit, who is revealed as having a (7) fold nature, and was seen in Genesis 1 as hovering above the Waters. This connection sees Genesis 1:1, about the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, have the numerical value of 37 x 73 = 2701 in Hebrew Gematria. Additionally, there are numerous structures in the bible based upon the number 37 but that is a topic for another time. It is sufficient for this article to simply recognize its connection to God’s very own nature and to understand that the number 37 is effectively like His personal Seal on many things.

Further to this it is significant to note another more direct link between Jacob and the number 37. It comes about because his favorite son Joseph (who was a type and foreshadow of Jesus) whose story is introduced in Genesis 37 , died and went to be with the Lord when he was 110 years of age. Jacob as we have also been discussing was 147 years of age when he died and went to be with the Lord. This is a difference of 37 years, which defines the climax of the lives of both Joseph and Jacob, the ones who together foreshadow both the sacrifice of God and reveal His desire to walk and dwell with us.

So, 37 is a significant number in discussing the life of Jacob and importantly this pattern, that involves an interplay between their two ages, at a key event in their lives, is seen more than once. For example, when Jacob lost Joseph, he was 108 and Joseph was 17 and when he saw Joseph again, he was 130. Therefore, at 130 years of age he is reunited with the son who had been 17 when he had been taken from him. In this sense 147, which is 130 + 17 becomes a symbolic number related to the time of God's restoration to him of the promises that had seemed to be lost. Then since 22 (130-108 = 22) years had transpired before this event took place, this becomes another symbol that Israel, whose number as a nation is 22, would be God's vehicle of Restoration in relation to all that had been lost by humanity, when it fell in the Garden of Eden. Importantly, the climax of this Restoration would be when Jesus (the perfect Son 'Israel') would quote from Psalm 22 on the Cross.  

Ultimately, with this all-in mind, we can now consider how God states that all who are saved will be part of Israel, with Jews and Gentiles both being granted into one body (see Romans 11 below) that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who as God’s perfect son fulfilled the mission of Israel on earth.

²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷ For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” Romans 11:21-27

Given all these connections, it is interesting to note how they are reflected in these three numbers – 47; 48; and 37 when we simply multiply and add them as follows:

(47 x 48) + 37 = 2,293

At first, the significance of the resulting number 2293 is not obvious, however because we are looking at God’s promises in relation to Israel something amazing occurs when we do a search for ‘Israel’ in the KJV Bible. Essentially, the name ISRAEL appears in exactly 47 Books and 2,293 verses – See the Screen shot of the KJV Bible Pure Search application below to verify this: