This is the latest entry to the series “It’s the 21st Year!” There are only a few more left.
21 and the End of the Time of Trouble
When twenty-one is used in terms of time (as in 21 years), it is the number of trouble or distress (tsarah).
When twenty-one is used as a number in itself, it speaks of the end of the distress. Thus, it speaks of the blessing at the end.
Jacob’s times of distress ended after twenty-one years. At the end of this distress, he went to Bethel and “called on the name of the Lord.”
The Law of First Mention
In Biblical Hermeneutics, there is a thing called the Law of First Mention. When something is initially identified in the Bible, then it is noted to follow that pattern throughout. Similarly, when something is mentioned for the twenty-first time, it is also significant.
For example, the 21st time Abram is mentioned is in Gen. 13:3, he returned to Bethel after being in distress in Egypt, and verse 4 says that there he “called on the name of the Lord.”
The 21st time Isaac is mentioned is in Gen. 24:67 after Eliezer has returned from finding a wife (Rachel) for his master.
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and she became his wife, and he loved her; Thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
We know that these prophecies speak of the time when the Bride of Christ will be joined with Him. Prophetically speaking, the believer’s time of distress and tribulation ends with the day Christ meets His Bride. Likewise, this day is foreshadowed at David’s coronation in Jerusalem, for which Psalm 21 was written.
The 21st time Jacob is mentioned is in Gen. 27:41,
So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Jacob’s attitude brought him into this period of distress, and at the end of this time, God changed his name to Israel. The 21st time Jacob gets a new name.
“It’s the 21st Year!”
Believe God for His prophetic word that this is the year in which He ends our trouble and gives us a new name.
Read previous posts from this series:
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