How to Arrive at 430 Years

From Abraham's calling at age 85 to the long awaited birth of Isaac 15 years later
and Isaac's age (15) when offered to God

Fred R. Coulter—February 20, 2021

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! Today we are going to look at another apparent contradiction, and one that is not easy to figure out! It looks like that there's a mistake in the Bible. So, how can that be?

Exo. 12 has to do with the Night to Be Observed unto the Lord. Some adversaries say that was a night that Herbert Armstrong invented. NO! That was a night that God invented! Here we are, so let's review a little bit:

The Passover lamb was slain right after sunset of the 13th day of the 1st month, and that brings us to the beginning of the 14th. When the sun goes down that is between the two evenings. The sun going down is 'ba erev,' which is about 5 minutes; when the sun is down it begins 'ben ha arbayim,' which is an entirely different word. It's most difficult to figure out that word if you look it up in Strong's Concordance.

Sidebar: When you look at all the definitions in Strong's Concordance, you will see some of them are so broad that you don't know what it means. That makes it difficult to try and figure things out.

It's very, very difficult to find the word 'ben ha arbayim' in Strong's. In all the years that I've been going through this, only one man figured it out, and I forgot where I placed it. But it's very difficult.

One other thing I want to tell you, when you look at the verbs and participles, and you look at the base word, stem or root word, you will see that in the Greek it ends with what looks like a 'w'; but it's not, it's an 'omega.'

When you get into the Greek itself in the New Testament, rarely is the base verb used, because it is first person, singular: masculine, feminine or neuter. Every verb has a lot of meaning, and it's spelled differently. So, if you use a Strong's Concordance you're never going to find out.

So, we did put that on our online Bible that you can download.

There's one other thing that is good, and that's A Parsing Guide. A Parsing Guide will help you a little more, because it will tell you, for example: first person plural: nominative case, genitive case, dative case, accusative case and vocative case.

When it brings up the base word, you still don't know what that word looks like, because every single verb, apart from the base verb, root verb, is spelled differently. There are 1200 variations of Greek verbs.

So when you use it, it will help you a little bit, but it's not going to help you definitively, to make a definitive understanding of doctrine.

For the Passover, we are told that the Passover Sacrifice was for the protection of the firstborn of the children of Israel and of their animals, the livestock. It was not for the forgiveness of sin, though it was a type of Christ, because every sacrifice is a type of Christ.

If you don't have the book The Law of Offerings by Andrew John Jukes, you need to get that because that will help you really understand a whole lot of things about them.

So then, thy were to stay in their houses until sunrise, Exodus 12:22: "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood that is in the bowl, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood in the bowl. And none of you… [absolutely no one] …shall go out of the door of his house until sunrise."

The King James says 'morning,' but the 'scholars' like to take that translation and wrap it around and say that 'morning could be right after the death angel passed.' NO! It couldn't be! Is it dark at midnight? Yes! Back then, that was not morning. Sunrise is the proper translation.

Verse 24: "And you shall observe this thing as a law to you and to your children forever. And it shall be when you have come to the land, which the LORD will give you, according as He has promised that you shall keep this service. And it will be, when your children shall say to you, 'What does this service mean to you?' Then you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses'" (vs 24-27).

Verse 28: "And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. And the children of Israel went away and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did" (vs 28-29).

No one, not even Moses—which is another little study—and Aaron went out after midnight when Pharaoh said that he would let them (the children of Israel) go. Moses sent a message to Pharaoh, because if they went out before sunrise they would have broken the command of God to 'not go out of the door of their houses until sunrise.'

Some other things we need to review so that we have the all down; remember what we saw in Lev. 23:32 that you shall observed your Sabbaths from sunset to sunset.' And it says of the 10th day that 'on the 9th day of the month at sunset you shall observe your Sabbath from sunset to sunset.' This tells us that when the 9th day ends—at sunset—that begins the 10th day, which goes to the next sunset. This is where a lot of confusion comes.

Verse 17: "And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for in this very same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall keep this day in your generations as a law forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month… [this is where everybody gets really off, because the KJV says 'at even'] …at sunset…" (vs 17-18). So, the 14th at sunset—which is 'ba erev':

• What day does that designate?
• What time of the day?

From the 9th day of the month—sunset to sunset—is the 10th day and you shall keep your Sabbath. Here it is from the 14th day at sunset, meaning this ends the 14th.

• What follows the 14th? The 15th!

Verse 18: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at sunset, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at sunset." And for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, etc.!

In this chapter you can see that there are a good number of difficulties that need to be investigated in order to understand it correctly.

We'll cover a little later why the Jews say that the Passover pictures their leaving Egypt. When they do that—of course that was a later interpretation—they leave off the 14th day entirely, but say that the lamb slain at the temple was late in the afternoon, which was counted as 'evening.' They're fudging, because they don't give the proper definition of at sunset.

So, you're going to keep it seven days. The 14th ends at sunset and begins the 15th, so you have 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st—seven days.

Let's look at the other problem; Verse 40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

We understand that, but how does this agree with Gen. 15, which is one of the most important chapters in the whole Bible. Gen. 15 is where God makes His covenant with Abraham. God called Abraham and his family when he was 75-years-old. In Gen. 15 Abraham is 85-years-old.

Referring to Chart (done by Roger Tointon):

This shows Abraham's calling. Right at the top is shows Gen. 15; that's the covenant. One thing you need to know about God is that He is a covenant God.

• What is the difference between a covenant and a testament?
• Why is testament different from a covenant?
  • a testament can be changed at any time
  • a covenant cannot be changed
    • Why? Because a covenant requires a sacrifice, a special sacrifice called a maledictory oath!

That maledictory oath signifies—by the one who undertakes it—that if he or she does not keep that covenant they will die.

Gen. 15—what we will see here is a two-day sequence. That's important, because this two-day sequence matches Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread, later on given to the children of Israel. It was given on those two days that God dealt with Abraham.

Genesis 15:4: "And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man… [Eliezer Abraham's servant ] …shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir.'"

Keep that in mind because that is very important. This is the promise of physical seed. This the promise specifically of Isaac.

Verse 5: And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.'…. [obviously night; you can't see the stars in the daytime] …And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.'"

We will see that there are two parts to this covenant that He is making:

• physical seed
• spiritual seed

Later we'll look at some Scriptures in the New Testament that connect Abraham to the whole thing.

Verse 6: "And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness."

Then the next morning here is what happened; v 7: "And He said to him, 'I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?'" (vs 7-8).

Here's the offering, a special offering. God had Abraham set this offering up for Him, and it was this maledictory oath. The only other place that we find that it is given is in Jer. 34, which was sort of a 'last ditch' attempt of the children of Judah to avoid being sent off into captivity. Let's see what they promised with a maledictory oath, which is if you do not perform what you have sworn to, you die!

Jeremiah 34:8: "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, that each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave—if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman—go free, that none should enslave a Jew, his brother among them. And all the rulers obeyed… [ so these are the rulers] …and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that not any should be enslaved among them anymore; and they obeyed and let them go" (vs 8-10).

How long did that last? Not very long!

Verse 11: "But afterward they turned and took back the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had set free and enslaved them again as male slaves and female slaves. So, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 'At the end of seven years each man should let go free his brother, a Hebrew, who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.' But your fathers did not hearken to Me, nor incline their ears. And you had turned today, and had done right in My sight to call for liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you had made a covenant before Me in the house, which is called by My name"'" (vs 11-15).

So, they did this right at the temple!

Verse 16: "But you turned back and defiled My name, and each of you has taken back his male slave and his female slave whom you had set free to do as they pleased. But you forced them again to become your male and your female slaves."

Verse 17: Thus says the LORD, 'You have not hearkened to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I proclaim freedom for you,' says the LORD…"

Here's the liberty; this is a way of saying, 'You proclaim liberty, I'm [God] taking it from you!'

"…'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have sinned against My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant which they made before Me when they divided the calf in two and passed between its parts'" (vs 17-18).

The maledictory oath requires that you are to cut the animal down the middle, spread the parts apart, cut down the spine and put one part on the left and one part on the right, then you were to walk through this bloody mess! This would be your oath, that if you did not fulfill this covenant that you made you would die, just like this calf that was cut in two and you walked between. That's why God said that 'this is your liberty.'

Verse 19: "The rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the officials, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth" (vs 19-20).

That's how a covenant is! We'll talk about the more full ramifications of this.

Genesis 15:9: "And He [God] said to him [Abraham], 'Take Me a 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.' And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle, and laid each piece opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds" (vs 9-10).

This was done in the daytime, after God took Abraham out and showed him the stars of heaven, and also before that proclaim that Abraham would have seed from himself.

This is the sacrifice and this was by God alone; Abraham did not walk through it. This is God's pledge that He would do it.

Now let's fast-forward clear to the crucifixion of Christ. Concerning the children of Israel: When Abraham died, that covenant to the children of Israel was superseded by the New Covenant through the death of Christ. This foreshadowed Christ's death on the cross.

Verse 11: "And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses…"

Whenever there's a dead carcass all opened up—blood, guts and gore hanging out—vultures, eagles, ravens come.

"…Abram drove them away. And it came to pass, as the sun was going down…" (vs 11-12).

It had not yet gone down. When it goes down it will end the day that began with the promise of seed.

"…that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!" (v 12).

What happened when Jesus was on the cross? There was darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour! He died at the ninth hour, so this is a symbolic death that Abraham experienced, which would tell him that God was going to fulfill His promise.

Verse 13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them and they shall afflict them) four hundred years.'"

Why do we read 430 in Exo. 12? Here it says 400 years!

Verse 14: "And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (vs 14-16).

Here's the seal of this covenant that God made; this is God's part to the covenant. Remember, both parties must become part of the covenant in order to make it sure. When the sacrifice has been given, which it is here, it can't be changed. Other details will come from the initial promise, but it can't be changed. Here's what occurred:

Verse 17: "And it came to pass—when the sun went down and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces."

• Why a smoking furnace?
• What do you think the smoking furnace did to the sacrifice?
• Why a burning lamp?
  • the smoking furnace burned up the sacrifice, so that when Abraham woke up, it was just a pile of ashes
  • the burning lamp showed that was God walking between the parts

As God walked between them, it would be burned up! A complete expression that God would for sure do it.

Verse 18: "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates." Then it lists all the tribes they would take over!

How do we justify, or figure out the difference between 400 years and 430 years?

I want to show you something that we need to consider in how God looks at the children of Israel. This is talking about Melchisedec, and He was the Lord God, High Priest of the Most High.

Hebrews 7:1: "For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, Priest of the Most High God, Who met Abraham as he was returning from his slaughter of the kings, and blessed him."

Abraham is involved. This becomes important.

Verse 2: "And to Whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all; on the one hand, being interpreted King of Righteousness; and on the other hand, King of Salem, which is King of Peace."

Notice why we know that this is the One Who became Jesus Christ:

Verse 3: "Without father, without mother… [that was before Christ came] …without genealogy…"

We find that for Christ in the flesh genealogy, but we don't find any genealogy for Melchisedec!

"…having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but having been made like the Son of God, remains a Priest forever. But consider how great this One was to Whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. For on the one hand, those from among the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood are commanded by the law to collect tithes from the people—that is, from their brethren—even though they are all descended from Abraham. But on the other hand, He Who was not descended from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises" (vs 3-6).

Verse 9: "And in one sense… [in a figure] …Levi who receives tithes, also gave tithes through Abraham; for he was still in his forefather's loins when Melchisedec met him" (vs 9-10).

You need to understand that, because who else was in the loins of Abraham? If Levi was there, then we go back and we have Isaac and Jacob. If Levi was there then we also have the 12 tribes. God looks at it this way, and this will answer a very important question. If Abraham is walking around, or Isaac and Jacob are walking around, with these offspring still in their loins, what would that say in a figure? They were sojourning, though they had not yet been born!

That's how God looks at things. We will see that in a bit, and I hope you grasp that. It's an important part to remember.

Exo 12:40—this is on the late part of the Passover Day, the day portion, because they stayed in their houses all night, left their houses and assembled at Rameses so the exodus could begin. They were to leave under the watchful eye of God! He was in the cloud and the pillar of fire.

Exodus 12:40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

That was not a literal statement! That includes the children of Israel while they were still in the loins of Abraham.

• How so? It says 400 years in Gen. 15!
• How did we come up with 430 years?

The chart will lay it out; look at the sequence of Scriptures first:

• Abraham was 75-years-old when God called him and gave him the promises
• Gen. 15:1-21—10 years later God establishes a covenant with Abraham and ratifies His part
• Gen. 21:1-5—15 years later Isaac was born

Abraham received the promise through this maledictory oath by God that he would have his own seed. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years-old. That's 15 years right there.

• Gen. 22:1-18—Abraham was tested by God and told to sacrifice his son Isaac, and this was his part of the ratification of the covenant. the promises are restated and this starts the 400-year covenant

That means that in Gen. 22 Isaac was 15-years-old!Then from the chart:

• Abraham's calling—85 years old
• Isaac born—15 years after and the second part given

How do we know it was 15 years? We have to deduce it from the facts!

You have 100 years and 15 years. We know that; we can figure that very easily. How do we get the other 15 years?

(break)

The sojourning of the children of Israel includes even the time that they were still in the loins of Abraham, and then later Isaac, and later Jacob. Four hundred and thirty years is arrived this way:

• the covenant was confirmed by God to Abraham when he was 85-years-old
• when he was 99-years-old[transcriber's correction] (we don't have this on the chart) we and extension of that part of the covenant in:

Genesis 17:1: "And when Abram was ninety-nine years old…"

That's 14 years after the covenant was confirmed by God that He would do it. Then God gives the promise of the physical seed. This is quite a promise, because later we read in Rom. 4 that the real fullness of the promise was the world!

Genesis 17:1: "And when Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly'" (vs 1-2).

This is carrying out the covenant that He established. It's like a lot of things in the Bible, it gives a summary of what's going to happen, and later it comes what it is that's going to happen. Let's see what that means:

Exodus 19:3: "And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel.'"

Here is the proposal; He's going to extend the covenant. When He extends that to the physical seed, all the children of Israel, they've got to have all the laws, ordinances, everything! That is not given in the promise. That is an extension of the promise when the proper times comes and it's necessary.

Verse 4: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed…" (vs 4-5).

• What does that tell us?
• Does that limit anything?
• Does it define anything?

It defines the major thing: "…obey My voice…" meaning whatever I tell you!

"'…and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (vs 5-6).

That's a description of what God was going to do when He brought them into the Holy Land, and everything that He gave to Moses for them to do.

What did it start out with? With the Ten Commandments, God Himself speaking to the people! "…obey My voice…"

But what did the people say to Moses after they heard it? Oh, don't let the Lord speak to us anymore lest we die! Of course, they wouldn't die! You, Moses, speak to us and we will hear an obey!

• What happens? Every time you put a man between God and you, it never works. even though God gave them all opportunities!
• What are some of the things that He told them?
  • look at the blessings
  • look at the cursings
  • look at all the instructions and laws

That's all included in this introductory proposal, right here! "…obey My voice…" means anything I henceforth tell you to do!

• What is it that you find in the Prophets?
• Why did they go so much trouble, pain and exile?
• Because they didn't "…obey My voice…"

Jesus said virtually the same thing, but different words. He said, 'The one who hears My words and practices them, I will liken to a man who built his house on a Rock.' That doesn't define which words Jesus said. That means any words that He said!

I want you to understand that God does this over and over again in defining the outline and then fills in the details. The filling in of the details is not adding anything to it, but is part of it that had not yet been revealed.

Genesis 17:1—let's see what He told Abraham: "…'I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.'…. [that's all of his seed] …And Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations" (vs 1-4)

The children of Israel didn't stay a little clan. They became a great multitude and became many nations.Part of the blessings for the end-time were not given until Jacob gave them in Gen. 49. All of that is an extension of the details of the covenant. Here's where God called Abraham:

Genesis 12:1: And the LORD said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you.'"

• that doesn't tell you where
• that doesn't tell you how close
• that doesn't tell you how far

Verse 2: "And I will make of you a great nation…."

• that doesn't tell you when

actually it goes on down through

• all the children of Israel
• all the Church
• all the Millennium
• all the Great White Throne Judgment

But it doesn't tell you this here:

"…And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed" (vs 2-3).

Compare that with Luke 14; he had to leave his father's house, he had go to what God said. Jesus said that 'the one who comes to Me must love Me more than father, mother, brother, sister, lands and everything. Same requirement; little different words.

Genesis 17:6: "And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you…. [a lot of them] …And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you" (vs 6-7).

That carries on down to today! That's why we have the Bible! That's part of it. It's just like taking a seed and plant it. When it's starts growing it's very little. If you put in a Redwood seed or a Sequoia seed they're really very small, but look at how tall the Sequoia trees are in the Sequoia National Park here in California. Some of them are 2,000-years-old. So, the promises of God are just like a tree! They go out and expand and expand because the covenant is made to include all of it. All of these are general instructions.

Verse 8: "And I will give the land to you in which you are a sojourner, and to your seed after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God."

God told Abraham in another place to look out to the north, the south, the east and the west. How far does this extend? Forever! Now there may be other people temporarily living there because of sin, but it still belongs to the ones whom God gave it to.

Can we think of a dispute that has been ongoing since 1948 of that very thing? The Jews coming back to Palestine and the dispute between the Jews and the Palestinians as to who owns the land! The Jews say that their ancestors were here before your ancestors. They said 'we kicked you out and we own it.' Well, God says that it belongs to the Jews.

Let's see how Paul understood this, referring to the promises of Abraham. If all the nations and families are going to be blessed through Abraham, does that not include the whole world? Think of that!

Romans 4:13: "For the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world was not given through law; rather, it was through the righteousness of faith."

So, you can see how that extends out. It's just like when you first come to the point that you want to know God, and God:

• puts it upon your heart
• He's drawing you and calling you
• wanting you to repent and come to Him
• then you get baptized

After you're baptized, you're now starting to learn everything about God. You don't know hardly anything at all. You have to learn it; likewise with this.

Genesis 17:9: "And God said to Abraham, 'And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you in their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised" (vs 9-10). That also went to all the descendants of Ishmael!

Verse 20: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation…. [Did that happen? Yes, indeed!] …But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time in the next year" (vs 20-21). So, Abraham was 100-years-old when Isaac was born!

Both parties to a covenant must give a sacrifice. I want you think on that in relationship to you being baptized. We've covered Gen. 22 before, but this will help you to understand it even more. These things in the book of Genesis, when you take them all the way out through the whole plan of God, are really tremendous promises. Great things will happen!

Genesis 22:1: "And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac…'" (vs 1-2).

Ishmael was a son of Abraham through Hagar the handmaiden, but not of the promise! Isaac was, in fact, Abraham's only son because it was the only child of Sarah! She didn't have any other children.

"'…whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell you.' And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son…. [let's see what happened]: …And he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy…'" (vs 2-5).

This means he was under 20-years-old. We will determine what his age was in just a minute.

"'…will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.' And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son…." (vs 5-6).

When you come to Galatians, Paul says we are of Isaac. Isaac in this case is a type of the coming Christ. So, in carrying the wood, it's a type of Jesus carrying part of His cross.

"…And he took the firepot in his hand…" (v 6). The KJV says that took fire in his hand. Try that sometime and see how long you can hold it. You'll be in the hospital emergency! It has to be a firepot of coals.

"…and a knife. And they both went together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.' So, they both went on together" (vs 6-8). Isaac had to believe, as well as Abraham!

Verse 9: "And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there… [an altar of whole stone] …and laid the wood in order. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood, upon the altar. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son" (vs 9-10).

Then God intervened. Why was Abraham willing to do that?

Sidebar: There was a movie where they showed when God told Abraham to take it out, and he got all mad and beat his fist on the rock. Poor definition of it!

Let's see what Abraham was willing to do this. Let's see how that reflects his faith, and helps us understand what kind of faith that we are to have. Very important.

When you read all of Heb. 11 you will see that it talks more about Abraham than any of the other patriarchs.

Hebrews 11:17: "By faith Abraham, when he was being tried, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said, 'In Isaac shall your Seed be called'; because he reckoned that God was able to raise him even from among the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative way" (vs 17-19).

You find that in Rom. 4, by faith, even though he was reproductively dead at that time. So, here he is at this time 115-years-old!

Genesis 22:11: "And the angel of the LORD called to him from the heavens and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad… [again, not an adult] …nor do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me'" (vs 11-12).

What type was this? A type of God the Father Who gave His only Begotten Son! Let's figure what we have in the timing so far—refer to chart:

• we have Isaac born 15 years after Gen. 15
• we have 400 years already in Gen. 15
• add 400 years and 15 years we have 415 years

Where do we get the other 15 years? We have deduce comes from Isaac, who must have been 15-years-old at the time! That's how we come up with the 430 years:

• 15 years until Isaac was born
• 15 years until the offering of Isaac

30 years; added to

• 400 years of sojourning

430 years!

Even though it says that the children of Israel were 430 years in Egypt, that's counting the whole time from the promise that was given in Gen. 15 until the offering of Isaac plus 400 years.

That's how you solve difficult Scriptures. You have to get into all the facts, look at all the Scriptures, and put it together.

The promises extend into the New Covenant, as well:

Luke 13:23: "And one said to Him, 'Lord, are those who are being saved few?' Then He said to them."

This is typical of Jesus; He doesn't answer the question specifically:

Verse 24: "Strive with your whole being to enter in through the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, but shall not be able."

• Why? It gets back to one of the things we first covered with Israel in Exo. 19.
• Why? Because they didn't obey the voice of God or Christ!

Verse 25: "Once the Master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside the door and knock, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us'; then shall He answer and say to you, 'I do not know you or where you are from.' And you shall begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You have taught in our streets.' And He shall say, 'I tell you, I do not know you or where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness'" (vs 25-27).

• it's not that you can profess the name of Jesus
• it's not that you can say that sweet little prayer

You have got to believe and your whole life then is committed to God!

Verse 28: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves are cast out." That's going to be quite a time!

Verse 29: "Then they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God. And behold, there are the last who shall be first, and the first who shall be last."

Everything doesn't work out the way a lot of people think. Let's see what Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees. Do you understand why they hated Jesus so much? Because He didn't come and join them! He didn't become a Pharisee!

Matthew 21:40: "Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?'…. [the ones who killed them and beat them] …They said to Him, 'Evil men! He will utterly destroy them, and he will lease his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons'" (vs 40-41).

Notice again the way Jesus answered. He didn't say that they had spoken correctly. They did speak correctly, but they were the ones who were doing the offense.

Verse 42: "Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures…'"

• How many times does He say that to them?
• Haven't you read…?
• Didn't you read…?
• Don't you read your Bible?

I imagine you could do that with a lot of Protestants; have you never read…?

"'…"The Stone that the builders rejected, this has become the Head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes"? Because of this, I say to you…'" (vs 42-43)—directly to them, because they figured they were going to be the leaders in the Kingdom of God!

"…the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and it shall be given to a nation that produces the fruits of it" (v 43).

We've read that we are called a Holy nation! Not yet completely formed, but when the resurrection takes place there we will be! We will be the nation of the Kingdom of God to rule the world! Here He's talking about it.

In order to understand a lot of things in the Bible, you've got to go through the whole Bible and put it all together properly. You can't depend on commentaries. Commentaries may have some good information, but they can't give very much spiritual understanding.

Galatians 3:12: "Now then, the Law is not based on faith; but, 'The man who practices these things shall live in them.'"

That shows that the Law of God is good, and you live in them. Nothing wrong with that, but Christ came to cover sins.

Verse 13: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law…" He has not redeemed us from the Law that is a curse!That's the way the Protestants read it. He has redeemed from the curse of the Law. What is the curse of the Law? You are cut off from God because of sin! Christ redeems us from sin! When we're living in sin, we're living in a curse; it automatic!

"…having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree')" (v 13).

That's why Christ died! That's why in Gen. 15, when He walked between those animal parts, and they were burned up, that showed that He was also prophesying of His future death. See how the Bible is big whole, and you've got to put it all together.

Verse 14: "In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Remember that the New Covenant relationship is that you believe God, and when you believe you act upon it, and you keep believing on God! It's not just a one time thing.

Everything that we have in our body functions, we have something that's very important. We have good things go in—we eat it and so forth—and likewise into our mind, the Word of God is good going into our mind. Just as our food ha to process and digest and get rid of the waste, so the Holy Spirit in our mind has to help us cleanse our mind by using the Word of God and the Truth of God to get rid of the garbage in our mind! That is a lifelong process! That's the blessing of the Spirit!

Verse 15: "Brethren (I am speaking from a human perspective), even when a man's covenant has been ratified, no one nullifies it, or adds a codicil to it."

Who is the only One Who can change it? Can't be changed during his lifetime, because he will die. So, Christ died so He could bring the New Covenant. He could not bring the New Covenant until He died. But He prophesied of His death in Gen. 15.

I know we covered a lot of ground today, but all of this is important as we're leading up to the Passover. So that we know what kind of covenant that we are in.

• What is God doing?
• When did He begin it?
• What are the things we need to do?

So that we will be able to grow in grace and knowledge and enter into the Kingdom of God!

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 12:22, 24-29, 17-18, 40
• Genesis 15:4-8
• Jeremiah 34:8-20
• Genesis 15:9-18
• Hebrews 7:1-6, 9-10
• Exodus 12:40
• Genesis 17:1-2
• Exodus 19:3-6
• Genesis 17:1-3
• Genesis 12:1-3
• Genesis 17:6-9
• Romans 4:13
• Genesis 17:9-10, 20-21
• Genesis 22:1-10
• Hebrews 11:17-19
• Genesis 22:11-12
• Luke 13:23-30
• Matthew 21:40-43
• Galatians 3:12-15

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23:32
• Genesis 22; 49
• Luke 14
• Exodus 19

Also referenced: Book The Law of Offerings
                                                      by Andrew John Jukes

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 2/24/21

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