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The meaning of 47--Empowered Sons

The number 47 is written in Hebrew as mem-zayin.

Mem (א) is water, signifying a flow of events over a period of time.

Zayin (ז) is a weapon in Hebrew. The perfect weapon is the Sword of the Spirit, by which spiritual warfare is accomplished, for “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Cor. 10:4). Seven is also the biblical number of completion and spiritual perfection.

The number 47 (“empowered sons”) follows naturally the number 46 (“temple”). Building God’s temple is a process of maturing the sons of God, who are the living stones in that temple. Being filled with the Spirit, these sons are also empowered by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. In other words, they hear God’s voice and know His word.

We have already seen how the children of the flesh compete with the children of promise, each claiming the birthright as the son. The number 43 means contention, and 44 means chosen people. The divine shaking (45) tests everyone to see if they can stand. Fleshly things and people collapse, while that which is truly of God’s kingdom are able to remain standing.

Likewise, the earthly temple that fleshly-minded men believe will be built in the earthly Jerusalem (which Paul calls Hagar) cannot stand in the face of the divine shaking. Neither are Hagar’s spiritual children to be given the empowerment or authority of the sons of God—at least not in the fullest sense of the word. Those who back Hagar’s claim are on the wrong side of this court case.

The 47^th time that Jesus is mentioned by name in the book of Luke is in Luke 9:46-48,

⁴⁶ An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

Here Jesus used a child to answer the disciples’ argument about their position in the Kingdom. To be great in the Kingdom, one must become “least,” even as a small child has the least authority in a family. This was not merely an issue of sonship but of empowerment or authority.

The four gospels each set forth Christ in a different way. Matthew’s theme is “Behold, the King” (Lion of Judah). Mark’s theme is “Behold, My Servant” (Ox of Joseph). Luke’s theme is “Behold, the Son of Man” (Reuben). John’s theme is “Behold, the Son of God” (Eagle of Dan). These four animals were portrayed on the standards (flags) of the four leading tribes camped around Moses’ tabernacle, each portraying an aspect of Christ’s power and calling.

In the gospel of Matthew, there are 47 people that King Jesus blessed. Because 47 is the number of the Empowered Sons, it presents prophetically His blessing on the Sons of God.

The 47^th time that Joseph’s name appears in Scripture is in Genesis 41:41,

⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

Joseph, the designated birthright holder, was the son that Pharaoh empowered to rule Egypt. In this prophetic type, Joseph played the role of Christ, while Pharaoh played the role of God. To bow to Joseph was to bow to Pharaoh as well, and if anyone refused to acknowledge Joseph, he also opposed Pharaoh himself.

Joseph’s mother was Rachel. Her name appears 47 times in Scripture, 46 times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament (Matthew 2:18).

The 47^th time that David’s name appears in Scripture is in 1 Samuel 18:4,

⁴ Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.

Though Jonathan was of the house of Saul, whom God had rejected to be king, he loved David and recognized his anointing. No doubt David had shared his secret, how Samuel had anointed him king ten years earlier when David was just eight years old. Jonathan received David, not only as a beloved friend but also as the heir to throne of Israel. Jonathan set the example for the church today, which ought to receive the overcoming sons of God.

Jonathan’s act acknowledged that David had “the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11), including the sword of the Spirit and the bow (rainbow, New Covenant promise). The bow shoots arrows, which picture the sons of God. I wrote about the spiritual significance of the bow and arrow in my commentary on Ephesians, the Epistle of Ascension, chapter 30.

Jonathan also recognized that God had given David the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14), so he prophesied this by giving him his own belt. All of this points to Jonathan’s recognition that David was an empowered son.

David’s father was Jesse, whose name appears 47 times in Scripture. The 47^th time his name appears is where Paul quotes Isaiah 11:10, saying in Romans 15:12,

¹² Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles [ethnos, “nations”], in Him shall the Gentiles [ethnos] hope.”

David is often called “the son of Jesse,” as if to emphasize Jesse’s prophetic role. Jesse’s name in Hebrew is pronounced as Yeesha’ee, which is quite similar to Yeshua (Joshua). Jesse, in Hebrew, is spelled yod (10), shin (300), yod (10), and has a numeric value of 320, or 32 x 10. The number 32 is the biblical number of covenant. In this case, it suggests that the earthly father of David was a prophetic type of Jesus’ heavenly Father who brought forth the Mediator of the New Covenant.

The 47^th time that Jesus’ name is mentioned in the gospel of Matthew is in Matthew 11:25, which we will quote in its context:

²⁵ At that time, Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²⁷ All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

The “infants” in this case represent the same group as the “child” in Luke 9:47. Jesus revealed the will of His Father who had chosen to reveal these great truths to the least of these disciples—to infants and young children, who were given little respect by the average adult. So also, the 47^th time that Jesus’ name is mentioned in the gospel of Mark is in Mark 10:27,

²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

When we compare each example in the three gospels where Jesus is mentioned for the 47^th time, we are given a narrative that is usually overlooked.

The 47^th time Jesus’ name is mentioned in the gospel of John is in John 5:6, where Jesus encountered the man at the sheep gate who had been lame for 38 years. Psalm 100:3 says, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” More importantly, Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice.” In other words, biological Israelites are called to be sheep, but most of them are not sheep by Christ’s definition. “Many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).

The Israelites had failed to hear God’s voice at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:18-20) and again when the twelve spies gave their report in Numbers 14:1-4. For this reason, Israel spent an additional 38 years in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 2:14) in a state of spiritual illness. The man at the Sheep Gate represented the nation of Israel in the wilderness in such a state. We should read John 5:6 with this in mind in order to understand it fully:

⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?”

If Jesus had been speaking to the Israelites after they had ended their 38 years of wandering, we would understand this as meaning: Do you now want to cross the Jordan under Joshua? The Jordan River signified death and resurrection (baptism). Did the Israelites want to be healed of their lack of faith at Kadesh-barnea? Were they finally able to hear the voice of Joshua (Yeshua-Jesus) and enter the Promised Land? The answer is seen not only in John 5:8, 9, where Jesus healed the man at the Sheep Gate, but also in Joshua 4:10, where we find the 47^th time that Joshua’s name appears in Scripture:

¹⁰ For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua (46) to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua (47). And the people hurried and crossed.

Joshua, of course, was a type of Christ who leads His people into the Promised Land. So the story of our New Testament Joshua (Yeshua-Jesus) was set forth when He healed and empowered the man who had been ill for 38 years. Jesus asked him the question, “Do you wish to get well?” in order to show us that the “bad report” in Numbers 13:32 had to be reversed by those who now stand on the bank of our own Jordan River. Those who hear His voice are the true sheep who are led by Jesus Christ into the Kingdom as empowered sons of God.

We also have some negative examples provided by the children of the flesh, who are not yet qualified to be empowered as sons of God. The 47^th time that Abram is mentioned is in Genesis 16:3, 4

³ After Abram [47] had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s [48] wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram [49] as his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived…

Abram was the name of his flesh, given to him by his natural father (Terah). As such, he represented a believer who was yet fleshly. His natural seed was both mortal (or “perishable”) and corruptible (1 Peter 1:23), begetting a child of the flesh which they named Ishmael. Later, of course, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, inserting the Hebrew letter hey (ה) in the middle of his name, which indicates the Holy Spirit’s inspiration or revelation. In this case, it signifies the begetting of the new creation man, which gave Abram a new identity as Abraham.

The point is that Abram, the fleshly believer, was unable to bring forth the promised son when we read the 47^th time that his name was mentioned.

A second example is found in the 47^th time that Jerusalem is mentioned. It is found when Solomon sentenced Shimei to remain in the earthly Jerusalem for the rest of his life in order to avoid being executed for his support for Absalom against David (2 Samuel 16:5-8). We read in 1 Kings 2:36, 37

³⁶ Now the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.”

We know from Galatians 4:25 that the earthly Jerusalem was “Hagar,” whose children were in bondage through the Old Covenant. Shimei, who opposed David, was sentenced to live with his spiritual mother—Jerusalem—and this identified him as a spiritual Ishmaelite. He was not to be an empowered son of God. Such is the case with all who identify with the earthly Jerusalem as their spiritual mother and who support her claim to be the mother (capital) of the Kingdom.