The total of 42 generations is achieved only by omitting several names, so the choice of three sets of fourteen seems deliberate. Various explanations have been suggested: fourteen is twice seven, symbolizing perfection and covenant, and is also the gematria (numerical value) of the name David.
Reasons for the summary
The numbers may be linked to Daniel 9:24–27, which states that seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, would pass between the restoration of Jerusalem and the coming of the messiah. Since generations were commonly placed at 35 years, this means exactly 14 generations.
Fourteen Generations: 490 Years.
There were 77 generations between Adam and Jesus Christ. The basis of these calculations by Archbishop Ussher were the Book of Chronicles from Adam to Abraham, as well as the Gospel of Saint Matthew from Abraham to Jesus.
The Ten Generations (Adam – Noah)
The total of 42 generations is achieved only by omitting several names, so the choice of three sets of fourteen seems deliberate. Various explanations have been suggested: fourteen is twice seven, symbolizing perfection and covenant, and is also the gematria (numerical value) of the name David.
Native American tribes hold dear the concept of seven generations planning, that the impact of decisions should be considered out seven generations into the future, about 150 years.
So 69 weeks amount to 483 years; for, from the said year of Darius, unto the 42nd year of Augustus, in which year our Saviour Christ was born, are just and complete so many years, whereupon we reckon, that from Adam unto Christ, are 3974 years, six months, and ten days; and from the birth of Christ, unto this present ...
It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and begin to have children." In kinship terminology, it is a structural term designating the parent-child relationship.
Matthew began Jesus' lineage with Abraham and named each father in 41 generations ending in Matthew 1:16: “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Joseph descended from David through his son Solomon.
The "final generation" believers hold that God's people will cease from committing sinful acts before the "close of probation," and before the "time of trouble" (Daniel 12:1; Jeremiah 30:7; Isaiah 26:20) just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
In accordance with Theophilus' calculations, the world was from 5600 to 5700 year old. Among other dates, a younger age of 5228 years at the beginning of Christ's public life was derived by Eusebius of Caesarea, yielding about 5199 years for the Nativity.
Plugging the planet's current population into his equation, he came up with just over 32 generations, or about 900 years.
'This generation' refers to Jesus' contemporaries who would witness 'all these things' as outlined in verses 4-22 or 4-28, pointing to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and everything leading up to it.
Jesus's words simply claim that all the events described in Mark 13 must come to pass before the final apostate generation, the generation that comprises people of the present evil age, comes to an end.
Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.
Christianity. Christianity similarly uses forty to designate important time periods. Moses stays on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights (Exodus 24:18). Before his temptation, Jesus fasted "forty days and forty nights" in the Judean desert (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2).
Named after alpha, the first letter in the Greek alphabet, Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in the 21st century and the third millennium. Members of Generation Alpha are mostly children of Millennials, and older Generation Z.
Concerning the age of the Earth, the Bible's genealogical records combined with the Genesis 1 account of creation are used to estimate an age for the Earth and universe of about 6000 years, with a bit of uncertainty on the completeness of the genealogical records, allowing for a few thousand years more.
According to the Bible, dinosaurs must have been created by God on the sixth day of creation. Genesis 1:24 says, “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
The 18 unknown years
Christian tradition suggests that Jesus simply lived in Galilee during that period. Modern scholarship holds that there is little historical information to determine what happened during those years.
God is the One who decides who does or does not enter heaven. There's no place in the Bible that says they were saved. But there is no place in the Bible that indicates the couple was lost, either.
In other words, our ancestors increase exponentially the further back we look. About 20 generations (about 400 years), ago we each have about a million ancestors - and after that the numbers start to get even sillier. Forty generations ago (800 years) gives us one trillion ancestors, and fifty gives one quadrillion.
At the usually accepted value of four generations per century, ten generations would place the common ancestor only 250 years in the past, in the mid-18th century, suggesting a further search in records of that period for evidence pointing toward the relationship.
According to OECD a human generation typically ranges from 22 to 32 years, but let's assume an average of 25 years. That means 100 generations of human life takes us back 2,500 years.