The Promise

Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. [Genesis 48.21]

As the story goes, we know that the return to Canaan was not soon forthcoming. However, from Jacob's words, it sounds like he believed it could be soon.. Did he not know what God told Abram in Genesis 15.13 that Israel would be oppressed 400 years by the Egyptians?

Well, that raises and excellent question!

Even though we are reading these events with some chronological order, we must remember that the one who penned most of these stories to this point (Moses) had not even been born yet! So, Jacob did not have any written record of Abram (Abraham) - he could not say, "it is written" at this point in history simply because it had not yet been written!

This is very important to understand when it comes to Genesis 15.13:

Then the LORD said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. [Genesis 15.13]

Mind you, Genesis 15.13 was not actually recorded (written) until after the event prophesied therein took place (very unlike prophecies in Isaiah, Psalms, and other books that provided actual written manuscripts prophesying the birth of Messiah long before His Advent). 

Moses transposed into written word what had only been orally transferred up to that point. Moses' writing was at least 400+ years later than God's encounter and promise to Abram, that we know as Genesis 15.13.

Why is this important? It is important because Moses could easily have injected "400 years" into the prophecy based on his historical knowledge that it actually took 400+ years instead of what God actually said. It does not take away from the reliability of the Scriptures to consider this conclusion because the Bible (as we know it) is literally full of dates, numbers and names that don't quite add up but have no effect whatsoever on the character and nature of God. It might be seen then that this brilliantly displays the magnificent work of the Holy Spirit in passing on the infallible nature and character of God through the pens of fallible men. 

Why does this matter? This matters in the case of the Egyptian captivity because it matters whether or not God doled out 400+ years (likened to a sentence of judgment) mercilessly leaving no chance for Israel to cry out to Him in less than 400 years!

On the other hand, God is indeed God, and just as easily could have told Abram "400 years" not as a sentence, but purely as a fact that only He Himself could have known in advance.

I am fine with either understanding because I know that God is good and only does good (Psalm 119.68). I also know that God sees time as one snapshot where we see it as millenniums, centuries, decades, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. There is a SIGNIFCANT difference and therefore a SIGNIFICANT difference of understanding! We should never presume that we think at all like God!

My personal conclusion will align me with the second understanding above - that God knew it would take Israel 400 years to finally cry out to Him. I also believe that, as the Holy Spirit inspired Moses, He did so with accuracy.

The main thing to remain focused on is God's Promise. Ultimately, that Promise is Jesus. While there may be many academic arguments about the Bible, all is vanity that does not come to Jesus! Jesus IS the Promise!

Father, I don't know that anything I have said here is worth even reading - except that Jesus is the Promise. May my opinions be few but Your Truth prevail. So be it.