Covenant of Faith
Covenant of faith... happened during the life of . Happened from 2033 FC to 2463 FC (1935 BC – 1505 BC | 430 yrs).
Why we chose that time?
Israel was in Egypt for some time, and when they left Egypt, what did God say? Exodus 12:41. So that was the end of 430 years, but 430 years starting when? Exodus doesn’t say. But Paul did! Galatians 3:16-17. So Israel left Egypt 430 years, to the exact DAY, after God confirmed a spiritual covenant about Christ with Abraham.
By now, you should know immediately when that was; Genesis 15:1. The other covenant in Genesis 17 wasn’t about Christ, it was a physical covenant of circumcision. What’s more, God confirmed nothing there; Abraham did the confirming when he circumcised himself and his household.
But it’s worth examining Genesis 15 once more, because there is another layer of meaning in there. Remember that Israel left Egypt on the first night of unleavened bread, the day after they observed the Passover.
In Genesis 15:1-6, God made a spiritual promise of salvation. But what time of day was it given? We can see clearly from the text that it was done in the evening, because there were MANY stars out! Yet when did verses 7-11 take place? Fowls were coming down upon the carcasses, which makes it almost certain it was daylight since scavenger birds are not usually active at night.
But we can know for sure, because what happened in verses 12-18? So this sun going down must have happened a full day LATER, for the sun was ALREADY down when the first verses were spoken, else no stars could have been seen!
So first, God gave Abraham the promise of salvation – IF Abraham trusted Him, and of course he did. Then Abraham prepared the sacrifice the next afternoon and the next evening God came again and ACCEPTED the sacrifice, and Abraham received the CONFIRMATION of the covenant when the smoking furnace passed between the pieces!
Now consider what happened in Egypt; on one evening, they were given the promise of salvation from the death angel, IF they trusted God and put the blood on their doorposts. This was in the evening. The death angel came at midnight and killed those who didn’t believe. The next day they prepared unleavened bread and gathered their things together, and the next evening they left Egypt rejoicing, for God had ACCEPTED their sacrifice, and their freedom from Egypt was CONFIRMED!
That is why in Genesis 15:12-16 God prophesied of their bondage in Egypt AND their deliverance from Egypt! And when they left Egypt, God said it was 430 years later to THIS exact same day! Proving both the dating of the Exodus, and that Genesis 15 took place on the evenings of Passover and the Night To Be Much Observed (the beginning of ULB)!
Most chronologists date the Exodus from Genesis 17, and so all the rest of their dates are off. A few date from Genesis 12, which is quite absurd; but almost no one dates from Genesis 15.
This is one reason why I said long ago that understanding the holy days is essential to properly understanding the Bible; without them, this wouldn’t make sense; with them, it’s obvious. However, there are a few questions that if you’re paying attention have already come to your mind. In Genesis 15:13 there are a few difficult statements.
First, God said “they shall afflict them 400 years”. This is patently impossible because Israel’s entire time in Egypt from the entry of Jacob to the Exodus was about... well, use the chart and you’ll see. But Hebrew doesn’t make a distinction between cardinal numbers (10) and ordinal numbers (10th). So this could just as easily mean “until the 400th year”, thus, until the 400th year from that moment, not after 400 years spent in Egypt.
Second, why did God say 400 years (or the 400th year) when it clearly was 430? This I cannot answer. I would be embarrassed to tell you how much time I’ve spent thinking about it. The only answer I can give you, which may not satisfy you (because it doesn’t satisfy me), is that God was “rounding down”. God does do that sometimes (for instance, Exodus 12:37, Numbers 11:21, compared to Numbers 2:32). Every other solution I’ve seen breaks many more things than it fixes.
Third, God said Israel would return to the Promised Land in the 4th generation. Yet if you count the generations from the entry to the Egypt to the Exodus in, say, the line of Ephraim you find nine generations from Ephraim, who was born in Egypt, to Joshua, who left Egypt with Moses (1 Chronicles 7:20-27).
Yet God said four – and He meant four. See Exodus 6:16-20. In the line from Levi-Moses only four generations passed in Egypt. But they stretched the time out a lot more than Ephraim. Surely people thought God had forgotten His promise, since so many generations had passed in most tribes. God often makes us wait a long time, but never breaks His promise (2 Peter 3:9, Luke 18:7).
Some of the verses that was mentioned
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Genesis 15:2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:7 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.
Genesis 15:8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Genesis 15:9 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.
Genesis 15:10 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.
Genesis 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
Genesis 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
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;
Genesis 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Genesis 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Genesis 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
Genesis 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
Genesis 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 12:41 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.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Galatians 3:17 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.
