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The 430 Years of
Galatians 3:17
and Exodus 12:40
There appears to be a conflict in the prophecy that God gave to Abraham
concerning the length of time of four hundred years stated in Genesis 15:13
and its fulfillment of four hundred thirty-six years as found in Exodus
12:40. This has also caused some confusion as to how long the children
of Israel were enslaved in Egypt.
Exodus
12:40 records that the sojourning of the
children of Israel before the Exodus spanned a period of four hundred and
thirty years:
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was
four hundred and thirty years.
In Galatians 3:17, Paul reveals that the
four hundred and thirty years of sojourning extended from the year that God
established His covenant with Abraham while he was sojourning in Canaan to
the year of the release of his descendants from bondage in Egypt and the
giving of the law at Mt. Sinai:
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
Paul argues in Galatians 3:17 that the
covenant made with Israel at Mt.
Sinai four hundred and thirty years after the covenant made with Abraham
could not nullify the promises made to Abraham. One of the promises
was that of a seed raised up to Abraham (Gen. 15:5). The physical
aspect of that promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac (Gen. 17:19;
21:1-3). Thirty years after the covenant was established, the promises
were confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 22:16-18). Another of the promises of
the Abramic Covenant was the promise of land. This promise was
partially fulfilled in 1446 BC with the entry of the children of Israel into
Palestine in the month of Nisan.
When God established His covenant with
Abraham, He foretold a period of four hundred years of sojourning for his
descendants before He would begin to fulfill His promises for them inherit
the promised land. This prophecy is recorded in Genesis 15:13:
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict
them four hundred years.
Both the period of four hundred years and
the period of four hundred and thirty years ended in 1486 BC when the
children of Israel marched out of
Egypt on the night of Nisan 15. Counting backward four hundred and
thirty years from 1486 BC, we arrive at 1916 BC and the establishment of the
Abramic covenant (Gen. 15:13). Counting backward four hundred years
from 1486 BC takes us to 1886 BC and the confirmation of the covenant to
Abraham’s seed through Isaac (Gen. 22). The establishing of the
covenant with Abraham in 1916 BC, its confirmation to Isaac in 1886 BC and
the fulfillment of God’s promise to their descendants in 1486 BC all took
place on the “selfsame day” or the very same day—Nisan 15.
We know that the affliction of the children
of Israel in Egypt did not begin
until more than two hundred and fifty years had passed after the
establishment of the covenant with Abraham in 1916 BC. Scripture
informs us that it was after the death of Joseph (around 1654 BC) that
persecution set in, which led to their enslavement. Thus their
affliction could not have lasted four hundred years.
How then are we to explain the wording of
Genesis 15:13? The answer lies in understanding that the phrase “and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them” is a parenthetical thought.
The four hundred years applies only to the sojourning in a strange land.
Remove the parenthetical thought and the verse reads “And He said unto
Abram, ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is
not theirs…four hundred years.”
In the Companion Bible, Bullinger has
inserted parentheses in Genesis 15:13 to separate the main thought from the
parenthetical thought. He notes the parenthetical thought as a figure
of speech known as Epitrechen and refers the reader to Appendix 6,
which defines this term:
Epitrechen A sentence not complete in itself, thrown in
as an explanatory remark. A form of Parenthesis.
The Scriptural chronology enables us to
estimate the approximate length of the servitude of the children of
Israel. The Scriptures record that the
affliction of the children of Israel in Egypt did not begin until sometime
after the death of Joseph (Ex. 1:6-11). Joseph died in the mid-1600’s
BC, which was less than 200 years before the Exodus. Allowing twenty
or thirty years (one generation) for the memory of Joseph to fade, the
period of servitude to the Egyptians was not more than 150 years.
When God delivered the children of
Israel from bondage in Egypt, they entered
into covenant with God to obey Him or suffer the consequences, which would
ultimately mean a return to bondage in a strange land. The Old
Testament records the story of their years of disobedience and final
deportation beginning with the ten tribes of Israel in 721 BC and the tribe
of Judah in 609 BC. The story of the return of Judah and the
restoration of the temple is detailed in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah,
Haggai, Zephaniah and Zechariah and Daniel. The seventy-weeks prophecy
is recorded in Daniel 9. This return from captivity was essential to
the fulfillment of the Abramic promise of a spiritual seed.
Carl D. Franklin
2005 ©
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