So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. Matthew 1:17

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“Therefore, all the generations from Abraham until David, generations fourteen. And from David until the Babylon deportation, generations fourteen. And from the Babylon deportation until the Christ, generations fourteen” (CG).

The previous verse noted the birth of Jesus, who is called Christ. With that noted, Matthew now sums up his genealogical listing, beginning with, “Therefore, all the generations from Abraham until David, generations fourteen.”

The listings of generations, as noted purposefully omit some names. Matthew is setting forth a memory technique by listing the three triads in set intervals of fourteen generations each. These triads set forth the proposition that Jesus is the great Son of David, prophesied in 2 Samuel 7, a passage known to be messianic in nature –

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. ¹⁵ But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16

The listing begins with Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people. The genealogies to David are fourteen, upon which the listing pivots. The name of David in Hebrew is Χ“Χ•Χ“ (DVD/daleth vav daleth). The letter daleth represents the number 4. The letter vav represents the number 6. Thus, it equates to 4+6+4 = 14.

This is the key upon which Matthew is setting forth his listing. The list then continues, saying, “And from David until the Babylon deportation, generations fourteen.”

Jeconiah (aka Coniah) was the king deported to Babylon. Of him, the Lord, through Jeremiah, said –

“‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; ²⁵ and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans.’” Jeremiah 22:24, 25

David’s kingly line in Judah was cut in Coniah, represented by the plucking off of the signet. And yet, the line remained in Babylon. From there, Matthew next says, “And from the Babylon deportation until the Christ, generations fourteen.”

No king reigned from the time of the Babylonian exile. However, the line of the signet in Judah was restored in Zerubbabel, a returnee from Babylon –

“‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:23

It is this anticipation of the restored kingly line of David that was anticipated in the coming of the Messiah. Matthew is indicating that the promised eternal kingdom is fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. Of the number fourteen, E.W. Bullinger says –

“FOURTEEN being a multiple of seven, partakes of its significance; and, being double that number, implies a double measure of spiritual perfection. The number two with which it is combined (2×7) may, however, bring its own significance into its meaning, as in Matthew 1, where the genealogy of Jesus Christ is divided up and given in sets of 14 (2×7) generations, two being the number associated with incarnation.”

As there are three triads, Bullinger notes that “three points us to what is real, essential, perfect, substantial, complete, and Divine.”

We are being given numerical hints of the perfection of what God has done in Christ through the manner in which the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to complete this genealogical listing.

Interestingly, the total number of generations is forty-two. It is defined by Bullinger, saying that it “is a number connected with Antichrist. An important part of his career is to last for 42 months (Rev 11:2, 13:5), and thus this number is fixed upon him. … Being a multiple of seven, it might be supposed that it would be connected with spiritual perfection. But it is the product of six times seven. Six, therefore, being the number of Man, and man’s opposition to God, forty-two becomes significant of the working out of man’s opposition to God.”

Jesus is shown to be the Christ in the two genealogies submitted by Matthew and Luke. However, there cannot be an antichrist if there is no Christ. Thus, at the coming of Christ, there also came the spirit of antichrist. The four uses of the term in Scripture come from the hand of John –

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” 1 John 2:18

“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22

“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” 1 John 4:2, 3

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 1:7

John specifically reveals that the incarnation of God in Christ is the central point upon which the spirit of the antichrist is revealed. Thus, to deny the deity of Jesus Christ is the spirit of antichrist. To deny Jesus is God incarnate is to then deny the Father. This is why Paul says –

“…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.” Romans 10:9

The point of the forty-two named generations, then, is that they stand as a witness to what God has done in the incarnation of Christ. To deny what they proclaim reveals the spirit of the antichrist.

To proclaim Jesus is Lord is to proclaim that He is Yehovah incarnate. When one proclaims this, he has overcome the spirit of the antichrist. Jesus alone is the dividing line for who can be saved. Upon which side will you stand?

Life application: Jesus Christ is the defining figure in all of human history. Adam was created, and from him all people descend. However, in his fall, all men fell because all sinned in Adam. Death is the wages of sin and so all die. However, Jesus came to restore life. As all die in Adam, all in Christ live. This is carefully explained by Paul in the book of Romans.

John shows us that those who deny the incarnation of God in Christ have no connection to God the Father. The only way to overcome this spirit of the antichrist is to accept that God alone, through the incarnation of Christ, has done everything necessary for man to be saved.

Who is Jesus to you? What does grace mean to you? How do you perceive your relationship with the Law of Moses? If you are trying to merit God’s favor through law observance, you cannot be pleasing to God. This is because if Jesus is God, then He has done everything necessary to satisfy what He promised He would satisfy in the coming of the Messiah.

How can you do more than God to reconcile yourself to Him? You cannot. Therefore, law observance, after the coming of Christ, is the spirit of the antichrist, denying the Father/Son relationship. Think it through, put away your self-righteousness. Yield yourself to God’s grace through accepting that He has done it all through Jesus.

Lord God Almighty, Thank You for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.