In the Bible, the number 22 is associated with spiritual knowledge, light, insight, and revelation. The first time the word Òlove,Ó for example, occurs in any of its forms in the Bible is in Genesis 22.

 

ÒIn Genesis 22 happens to be one of, if not THE greatest, macro codes on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in the Bible,Ó says Jordan. ÒGod tells Abraham to take Isaac. GodÕs not authorizing human sacrifice here, HeÕs laying out a pattern and a type and itÕs one of the most complete ones.Ó

 

Genesis 22:2 reads, ÒAnd he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.Ó

 

Jordan explains, ÒWe know ÔGod so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.Õ When He said that to Abraham, Abraham had another son but Ishmael wasnÕt the seed line. He had only one son that God recognized. But it was more than that, because when He says, ÔThy son, thine only son whom thou lovest,Õ itÕs sort of like saying HeÕs the apple of his eye. HeÕs the one whom his father set his love upon as he set it upon no one else. God said about the Lord Jesus Christ, ÔHereÕs my beloved Son in whom IÕm well-pleased.Õ

 

ÒBy the way, if you were to go to Genesis 23:1 and check the age, youÕll find that Isaac at this point is 33 years old. Just another one of those little ÔAhas!Õ as you read through here.

 

ÒAbrahamÕs going to go out to a mountain in Moriah, which became known as Mount Moriah. Later on in the Bible, if you know the history of this mountain, it was the place where Onan had the threshing floor that David purchased from him as the site for the Solomon to build the temple.

 

ÒIf you come down through history a little further, youÕll find that it was that little mount that had a little peak on it that becomes known as the place called Golgotha. All this happens in Genesis where nobody knew anything about the crucifixion of Christ.Ó

 

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Genesis 22:4 reports, ÒThen on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.Ó

 

Jordan says, ÒHe sees it and when he saw it, it isnÕt just that he sees the place, you know, just physically seeing it, but it gets to be pretty clear here that Abraham understands thereÕs something more going on than just the event.

 

ÒYou notice it is on the third day that Abraham lifted up his eyes? AbrahamÕs had that boy, theyÕve gone two days and on the third day, hereÕs the place where heÕs going to go and sacrifice him. In AbrahamÕs mind, the boyÕs been dead two days, three days. Jesus Christ is dead for how long? Three days.

 

ÒBut also in the Bible, a day sometimes represents how long? A thousand years. So after two thousand years, these events take place. And if you look at the top of a reference Bible, youÕll see that Abraham at this time—this is about two thousand years before the time of Christ so thereÕs all these little straws in the wind flying by here.Ó

 

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In Genesis 22:5, Abraham says to the young men, ÒAbide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.Ó

 

Jordan explains, ÒNow when he says heÕs going to come again to them, obviously Abraham believed he was going to go up there on that mountain, sacrifice his son and God was going to raise him up and then heÕd bring him back down and theyÕd all go to go home. So Abraham understands somethingÕs going on here bigger than just the events.

 

ÒVerse 14 says Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh Ôas it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.Õ ItÕs like Abe understood when he saw that place that thereÕs some prophetic things going on because he gives the name of the place a prophetic label like he knew he was acting out a prophecy. Certainly he knew he was acting out the prophecy of the resurrection. He believed that his seed would be resurrected and thatÕs exactly whatÕs happening there.

 

ÒOver in John 8, when Jesus said Abraham Ôrejoiced to see my day: and he saw it,Õ this is what heÕs talking about. The day there is the day of resurrection. So, when you go through this, Isaac gets edited out of the picture here. You read nothing about Isaac coming back with Abraham.

 

ÒIn the text of Scripture, the Holy Spirit just edits him out until you get over to chapter 24, and the next time you see Isaac is when he receives his bride. ThereÕs a lot of typology going on here.

 

ÒAbraham said, ÔMy son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.Õ Now Abraham didnÕt know what he was saying in the context we think about it but we know things he didnÕt know. We can go back and look at that and say, ÔWhew, isnÕt it interesting how God put that in His Word and what you see here is God already had some things planned. You can see those kinds of things in a typology like this.Ó

 

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Psalm 22 is all about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is, in fact, the mental conversation Christ has with God the Father while HeÕs on the Cross. In the very first verse, He says, ÔMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Õ

 

Jordan says, ÒThereÕs a point in the darkness on the Cross where those words actually come out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ and you know whatÕs in His mind because you hear what comes out of His mouth and HeÕs crying exactly what this text is saying.

 

ÒAt the point where he cries this in the darkness, verse 6, the Lord Jesus Christ, at that moment, was suffering in his soul the transformation that the Bible calls the second death. It was the death of our inner man that Jesus Christ was experiencing personally for you and me on the Cross, and one of the great testimonies to that is what you read when you hear him cry the words, ÔMy God why hast thou forsaken?Õ and you see in the text things that no one could have understood until after the events.

 

ÒIn verse 22 he begins to talk about the resurrection and the glory of the kingdom thatÕs going to come and so forth. Oftentimes, the No. 22 gets associated with things in which the spiritual light and knowledge isnÕt necessarily right on the surface but will be there in the text under the surface waiting to be illuminated later.

 

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Psalm 119 is divided in verse markings and there are 22 sections. In verse one is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and each paragraph begins with one of the letters. In other words, there are 22 sections of eight verses that match the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

 

WhatÕs fascinating is the word Òletter,Ó either singular or plural, occurs in the New Testament 22 times. Also, there are 22 ÒlettersÓ in the New Testament once you subtract out the Gospels and the Book of Acts.

 

Jordan explains, ÒIn the New Testament, itÕs the epistles that begin to give light and revelation and knowledge and understanding to the events, whether itÕs for the Body of Christ or for the tribulation saints.Ó

 

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In Psalm 119, there are 10 terms for the Scripture and they occur in all but three verses. The Book of Lamentations does very much what Psalm 119 does and in chapter 1 and 2 of Lamentations, there are 22 verses. Then you notice chapter 4 and 5 have 22 verses. This is because each one of the verses in Chapters 1-5 begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

 

ÒChapter 3 has 66 verses so if you divide 22 into 66 you get three so 66 is three times 22,Ó says Jordan. ÒWhat happens in Lamentations 3 is every third verse begins with the next Hebrew letter.Ó

 

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In Exodus 25, talking about the Tabernacle, it says itÕs made of layer after layer of animal skins and is pitch black dark inside. There arenÕt any windows, thereÕs no illumination except for this candlestick.

 

ÒThe thing that gives physical light in the tabernacle is that candlestick because itÕs got bowls of fuel oil in it,Ó says Jordan. ÒIn Scripture, oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. The light the Holy Spirit gives; the illumination, the knowledge, the wisdom, the understanding, and, by the way, on that table of shewbread are 12 loaves of bread. And there are six on one side and six on the other. The BibleÕs called Ôthe bread of lifeÕ and it just happens to have 66 books in it.

 

ÒVerse 34 says that in the candlestick Ôshall be four bowls made like unto almondsThatÕs three branches on each side; each branch has three bowls that come out of it. Three times six is 18. IÕve got 18 bowls. How many did he say were in the shaft?

 

ÒIn the candlestick shall be four bowls. In the shaft of the candlestick, youÕre going to have four bowls. So, if IÕve got 18 in the branches and four in the shaft, how many bowls are there? 22. WhatÕs that candlestick doing? ItÕs giving light. The oil is giving illumination to the bread of life so the prayers of the saints can apply the bread of life to the details of their lives and it just happens to be 22 bowls.Ó