Genesis

[Angel]

Hello all,

Why did God place the Israelites under captivity for 400 years? Is it because Abram did not sacrifice all the animals that he was asked to? I feel I am missing something here, but I cannot put my finger on it.

Genesis 15: 7-16 (KJV)

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

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;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

[Jeanne]

This was discussed somewhat in the last forum that is now, unfortunately, lost.

Israel was not in Egypt for 400 years; God said that Abraham's descendants would be strangers in a land not theirs and they would be afflicted 400 years. (Verse 13 of the passage you just quoted.)

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all treated badly at one time or another by the people of the land they dwelt in. If you read the timeline in Genesis and Exodus carefully, you'll find that it was approximately 400 years (430 years according to Exodus):

Exodus 12:40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

from the time this promise was made to Abraham until the Exodus.

The children of Israel sojourned (were not settled) and they dwelt in Egypt but they didn't spend the whole time of their sojourning in Egypt.

Kohath was one of the sons of Levi who went to Egypt along with Jacob and the rest of his family, meaning he was already born before they moved down there. Kohath had a son named Amram and a sister named Jochobed. Amram and Jochobed were the parents of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.

Exodus 6:16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father

[TheChickenWhisperer]

Good explanation Jeanne!  Thanks for remembering what was said.

[Jeanne]

I just noticed that a lot of what I said was cut off, too. The rest of verse 20 reads:

Exodus 6:20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father

[Angel]

This was discussed somewhat in the last forum that is now, unfortunately, lost.

Israel was not in Egypt for 400 years; God said that Abraham's descendants would be strangers in a land not theirs and they would be afflicted 400 years. (Verse 13 of the passage you just quoted.)

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all treated badly at one time or another by the people of the land they dwelt in. If you read the timeline in Genesis and Exodus carefully, you'll find that it was approximately 400 years (430 years according to Exodus):

Exodus 12:40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

from the time this promise was made to Abraham until the Exodus.

The children of Israel sojourned (were not settled) and they dwelt in Egypt but they didn't spend the whole time of their sojourning in Egypt.

Kohath was one of the sons of Levi who went to Egypt along with Jacob and the rest of his family, meaning he was already born before they moved down there. Kohath had a son named Amram and a sister named Jochobed. Amram and Jochobed were the parents of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.

Exodus 6:16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father

Thanks Jeanne for taking the time to explain it to me. I'm wondering why they had been afflicted. Did Abram do something to provoke this from God? I know God really loved him.

[Jeanne]

I don't know why my post keeps cutting off. It showed okay in the preview, so let's try this again.

Exodus 6:20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

The reason for the wait is stated in the last verse you quoted:

Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

God, in His mercy, was allowing the Amorites and other Canaanites time to repent before using Israel to destroy them.

God allows affliction and many times, it has nothing to do with disobedience. Look at Job. Or even Jesus, for that matter. Just think about what would have happened if the Israelites had never been afflicted in Egypt. They would have been comfortable and not wanted to leave. That's just human nature. We have to get to the point that we are uncomfortable enough to want make a change. People who are comfortable want things to stay the way they are and that is often not what God wants.

[Angel]

Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

God, in His mercy, was allowing the Amorites and other Canaanites time to repent before using Israel to destroy them.

God allows affliction and many times, it has nothing to do with disobedience. Look at Job. Or even Jesus, for that matter. Just think about what would have happened if the Israelites had never been afflicted in Egypt. They would have been comfortable and not wanted to leave. That's just human nature. We have to get to the point that we are uncomfortable enough to want make a change. People who are comfortable want things to stay the way they are and that is often not what God wants.

Thanks Jeanne.. I did not see it that way at all. God truly and indeed is so merciful to the point that He would let those He loves suffer to give everyone else a chance to repent. What an awesome and loving God we serve.

[Severius Brandusa]

Oh, and just a side note: Abraham had still made an offering of the birds although he divided them not. This was a precursor to the Law and made known by the Law because in the Book of Leviticus the birds were not to be divided in their midst but simply to have their heads wrung off in order to sacrifice them. An interesting parallel.

[Jeanne]

Yes, it's very interesting that Abraham knew God's law ahead of time. But then, even Abel knew he had to sacrifice an animal in order to please God. That's why his sacrifice was accepted and Cain's offering of grains was not.

I think God's people pretty much always knew what God required of them but after spending so much time in Egypt, the Israelites kind of forgot what they were supposed to do. I think they started worshiping the same gods the Egyptians did so they needed to be reminded of the law after they left there.

[Suelong88]

Jeanne, I had never thought of it that way.  I'd never imagined that they would have worshiped the Egyptian gods.  Puts a new perspective on it for me.  And might also explain why they initially wanted to go back to Egypt.

[Jeanne]

It also explains why they were so quick to turn to idolatry when Moses spent so much time on Mt Sinai and had Aaron make the golden calf. It also explains why God did so many miracles for them. He had to show them who He was. They might have had some memory of the God that their fathers worshipped, but had no experience of Him and didn't KNOW Him.

Also, look at how quick they were to turn to the gods of the Canaanites after the death of Joshua. That's what the book of Judges is all about. So it's not really a stretch to believe they would have worshipped the gods of the Egyptians while they were there, either.

I should add that there are also parts of the law that were not in place before Leviticus, such as the prohibition against marrying close relatives. I believe that by this point in time, enough DNA degradation and genetic mutations had infused the gene pool that it was no longer healthy to marry anyone too close. Before then, it was not a problem. All of Adam and Eve's children had to marry either their siblings or nieces and nephews because there WAS no one else. Abraham married his half sister (Genesis 20:12), Isaac married his uncle's (Nahor was Abraham's brother) granddaughter and Jacob married two of his first cousins. And we have already seen that Amram married his aunt (his father's sister) to produce Moses and Aaron. All of these close marriages became prohibited when God gave Moses the law, however.