The word that sealed our move, from Belfast to Minneapolis 27 years ago, was delivered by our 3 year old Gilbert, who at that time went by his first given name, Joshua.
Not to be outdone by his brothers and sisters he too had ‘a word’ as we sought the Lord as a family about the prophecy we’d received a few months earlier, ‘God is going to move you to a different continent.’
“This is my verse Daddy’ Joshua said, presenting his bible to me.
I read the passage where it had fallen open. It was Deuteronomy chapter 9.
“Hear O Israel, you are about to cross the Jordan to enter a land with cities whose walls reach up to the sky……..I go before you as a consuming fire.”
These words were spoken originally to God’s people by another Joshua. For us the Atlantic Ocean was to be our ‘Jordan’, which we were now ‘to cross’
Last month we were lead ‘to cross’ our Jordan again. We got a clear message from Dad through details of the trip, that were completely outside our control.
We had two flights to Ireland. On the first flight from Minneapolis to Chicago we were called to the podium to be told our seats assignment had been changed. We were now both in row 25.
Then waiting to board the flight to Dublin, once again were called to the podium and once again we were told our seats had been changed.
Our new seats were once again …….in row 25.
What are the chances?
in “The Biblical Meaning of Numbers” by Dr Stephen Jones we read,
Twenty-Five (kaph-hey)
Blessing
The Hebrew number 25 consists of two Hebrew letters, kaph and hey. Kaph is an open palm, the act of giving or covering. Hey means inspiration, or the breath of God, and generally has to do with the Holy Spirit. Thus, 25 has to do with laying on of hands to bless people with the Holy Spirit.
Twenty-five is the number of blessing. It is five squared, and so twenty-five is related to five, the number of grace. Blessing is based upon the idea of grace.
The 25th time that Noah’s name is mentioned is in Gen. 8:6, which speaks of Noah opening the window of the ark to let in the fresh breeze that signified the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was then that He sent first the raven (unclean spirit) to demonstrate the fact that the flood had not resolved the problem of unclean spirits yet. Then he sent out the three doves to signify the solution to this problem. The doves indicate the three historic occasions by which the Holy Spirit would be poured out in Passover Age, the Pentecostal Age, and the Tabernacles Age.
The 25th time that Isaac’s name is mentioned is in Gen. 25:11, where we read,
11 And it came about after the death of Abraham, that God BLESSED his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
The 25th time that Jacob’s name is mentioned is in Gen. 28:1,
1 So Isaac called Jacob and BLESSED him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
The 25th time that Israel’s name appears is in Gen. 48:8 when he calls Joseph to his bed side to BLESS his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
The 25th time Abraham’s name is mentioned is in Gen. 19:29, where God is said to have brought Lot out of Sodom before its destruction. That was certain a blessing for both Lot and Abraham.
The 25th time that Joseph’s name is mentioned is in Gen. 39:6, where Potiphar put all of his belongings under the authority of Joseph. He was blessing Joseph with authority.
The 25th time that Joshua’s name is mentioned is in Deut. 31:23, where Moses confers authority upon him:
23 Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.
Moses was blessing Joshua with authority and the presence of God, even as Potiphar had blessed Joseph in Gen. 39:6.
Thus, the number 25 signifies blessing, specifically by conferring the Holy Spirit and the authority to fulfill the calling that the Holy Spirit equips us to do.
I believe the fact that we were given seat 25 four times, pointed to the Blessing that God intended and intends for his people as the time comes for them ‘to cross’ over into ‘the promised land‘
4 x 25 = 100 representing ‘the children of promise’
25+25=50 which represents Jubilee. So we were also given a double Jubilee!
As if this wasn’t clear enough we had an equally remarkable experience with our seating when it came time ‘to cross’ our Jordan on our return trip from Ireland to the USA.
Again we had been given seats in different rows far apart. Our reassignment this time on the first flight was together in row 42.
Hilary was assigned 42 H(ilary) and I was in 42 K(yle)
The significance of the #42 was not lost on us for when we moved to the US, our first home was on 42nd Ave.
42 also points to crossing over. The 42nd encampment of the children of Israel (listed in Numbers ch. 33) was when they crossed over into ‘the promised land’ to receive their inheritance.
In Matthew chapter 1 where the generations from Abraham to Jesus are numbered, the text says there are 42 generations to the Christ. However if you count them you will find there are only 41. This indicates how Jesus Christ, the head, is incomplete apart from His ‘body’. The 42nd generation points to the day when the body of Overcomers who have died are raised, and those who are still alive are ‘changed’ to be joined with their ‘Head’ (1Thess.4:13-18)
On the fourth and final leg of the pilgrimage, we were assigned the last two free seats together. This time the two of us found ourselves in row 21.
I realized 21 + 21 = 42.
When I took this photo I happened to notice the time overlying screen saver photo of Hilary pictured at the top.
42 yet again, prefaced with another gracious 5! and the phone is 50% charged…..a third Jubilee!
Thus, I believe we were given a very clear message on this trip across our ‘Jordan’.
The believer’s ‘hope‘ of ‘Jubilee’ ,with a third outpouring of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the Fall Feasts, as we cross over into our ‘promised land’ receiving again our ‘inheritance’ lost in Adam, but restored in Jesus,
…….is indeed, immanent!