More on 17 as the changemaker

In Genesis 17, God changes Abram’s name by inserting the 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet into it to make Abraham.

“He takes that same 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing death to the old life and grace for the new life, and inserts grace into Sarai’s name,” explains Jordan. “This is where, in verse 17, He formalizes His covenant with the nation Israel.

“Here’s God’s new seed line in the earth right here. Now when you have a name change in the Bible, there’s something prophetic about it.

“In Isaiah 62:1, you see a name change associated with Israel’s kingdom: ‘For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.’

“Zion appears only one time in your Bible in the possessive. Every other time it’s just Zion. It occurs 152 times in the singular and one time in the possessive plural. That equals 153.

“You understand you can’t do this with anything but a King James Bible. God is called the God of Israel 203 times in the KJB. You ought to divide that by 17 and see what you come up with.

“Psalm 69:35 says, ‘For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.’

“God’s intention is to take Zion, that part of the city of Jerusalem where the temple was, and make it ‘the city of the great king.’

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“When God ratified the covenant with Abraham He put Abraham asleep and they cut the sacrifices up.

“Genesis 15:12 says, ‘And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.’

“The smoking furnace in Deuteronomy 4 is described as the captivity. The burning lamp . . . all through the horror of great darkness they have a guide who takes them to the glory on the other end in the promise of God’s Word to them.

“So when you come back to Isaiah 62, the salvation of Israel is going to be ‘as a lamp that burneth.’ That’s talking about the Abrahamic covenant and God’s salvation to Israel through His promise to Abraham.

“Isaiah 62:2 says, ‘And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.’

“That’s exactly what He does with the Abrahamic covenant. He gives Abraham a new name. This new name is associated with the nation Israel during the tribulation period.

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“Revelation 2:17 says, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’

“One of the rewards for the overcoming ‘believing remnant’ is that new name. Now, what verse is that in? Verse 17. Just coincidence, I understand, but fascinating it’s the right verse!

“If you’re looking for another one, go to Acts 2. When the Holy Spirit comes on the apostles here, verse 5 says they were ‘dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.’ They all were heard speaking in their own language and are listed in verses 8-12. Do you know there are 17 different groups listed there?

“Look at verse 17: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’

“What was it we discovered back in Genesis 8? There’s the dove associated with Israel and Israel’s salvation taking them into the kingdom when they have this spiritual status restored through the new covenant and His Spirit put into them.

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“You can just keep going and going with this. Seventeen in the Scripture is a number associated with transition from old to new; change from the old to the new. Numerology wise, the numbers 7, 8, 9 and 17 are associated with the number 153.

“With the 9 and the 17, you’ve got that transformation of Israel into that fruit-bearing nation God intended. By the way, 9 is the number of fruit-bearing. In Ephesians 5, Paul says ‘the fruit of the Spirit is . . .’ and proceeds to list how many fruit? Nine.

“In I Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’ That term ‘planted’ is used nine times in your Bible.

“Did you know Titus is the 17^th book in the New Testament? Titus 2:13 says, [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“You know what three times 17 is? 51. I Corinthians 15:51 says, [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

“You know what I Thessalonians 4:17 says? [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

“When you’re caught up together with Him that CHANGE has taken place and the reality of that blessed hope is there, not just a prospect.”