The second question in my current Bible Study was a doozy: “Why do we hesitate to push through to freedom and abundant life?” (1) What a loaded question! After thinking a bit, I jotted down: because life hurts, because we are broken, because it is so easy to give up, because our perspective isn’t right.
As it is said, perspective is everything. One perspective regarding freedom that greatly challenged my thinking was regarding the interpretation of Israel being in slavery for 430 years. 430 years is a long time. It almost feels… well, hopeless. When I consider that amount of time, it seems to me like somehow God forgot about the children of Israel. It can paint a picture of distrust for God. But, in fact, Israel was not in slavery for 430 years, contrary to popular belief.
I wonder if thinking that Israel was in slavery for 430 affects our ability to seek out freedom in our own lives. Do we subconsciously think to ourselves, “See, God doesn’t care that much. He isn’t really interested in my problems. I’ll probably never get over this.”?
Let’s spend some time outlining the facts of what actually took place during those 430 years. I enjoy digging out details like these because they teach a story. In this case, one of freedom and God’s love. When I get the Biblical facts straight, it helps me to sort out difficult things in my own life and builds up a foundation of trust in God, especially during those times when circumstances make it difficult for me to trust Him.
• Both in the Hebrew and the Apostolic Scriptures, 430 years is stated as the time Israel lived in Egypt. (2) This statement, taken at face value, without leaving room for interpretation, presents several mathematical problems.
• The infamous covenant between God and Abraham occurred 430 years before the Exodus from Egypt. God said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 yrs.” (3) This is where interpretation of the Scriptures comes into play. The 400 years referred to in this verse included time of exile, persecutions and servitude, but not necessarily all of them at the same time or in the same place, i.e. Egypt.
• The 400 years began with the birth of Isaac. Isaac was born on the 15th of Nissan, ie. Passover. At the end of the prescribed time, exactly 400 years later, on Passover, Israel was liberated.
• The actual time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was 210 years. Because:
– Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born.
– Jacob was 130 when he came to Egypt.
– Thus, 190 of the 400 years passed before Jacob went to Egypt, leaving 210 years.
• If we go a step further, the 210 years of possible slavery drops even more. Joseph lived 110 years. Jacob came to Egypt when Joseph was 39. If we subtract the remaining years of Joseph’s life in Egypt (71) from the 210 years, we end up with 139. (4)
• The Scriptures tell us slavery began when a new Pharaoh, who didn’t know Joseph, became fearful. (5) This information leads to much guessing. How many years, then, are between Joseph’s death and slavery? We don’t know.
• What we do know was that Moses was 80 when the Exodus occurred. If we subtract 80 from the 139, we are left with a maximum of 59 years. (36 years if we follow the reckoning from Levi’s death. See footnote 4.) What this information tells us is that within that first generation of slaves, God heard their prayers and answered, with the birth of Moses.
Whew! All of that to get to this point: The birth of Moses within that first generation of slaves teaches us that God heard their groaning, and He answered quickly. 350 years of ruthless slavery did not go by before God finally heard them! (6) The first 80 years of Moses’ life teaches us that though it may take some years for the maturity of deliverance to come, it will come.
Exodus 12:41 says, “At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” The words “on that very day,” teaches us a couple of things. God is very purposeful about life changing events occurring on His calendar, at His appointed times; in this case, Passover. Secondly, God did not deter them from leaving “for even the time of the blink of an eye.” (7) God isn’t wasting time. He isn’t twiddling His thumbs. Nor is He surprised by events that happen. He is anxiously watching, and at the precise moment He says, “Enough! The time of this suffering is over!”
It might be tempting to ask, “What’s the big deal about all these facts?” Before I learned what the 430 years meant, it wouldn’t have seemed like a big deal to me. After my study though, I realized I had harbored some niggling doubts about God. I realized that I was subconsciously suspicious of God being able to work in my life, all because I had the wrong impression.
Having a wrong impression, interpretation or perception of God might be one reason why we hesitate to push through to abundant living. Distrusting God, just a little bit, might be why we consider “freedom a hopeless notion and therefore stop trying to experience it.” (8)
The truth about freedom is: God is deeply invested in our struggles. He sees the years. He hears our groaning. He answers our prayers.
We can trust God because He has those 430 years all figured out.
[line]
1. Priscilla Shirer, One in a million (Nashville, TN: LifeWay Church Publishing, 2009), 9.
2. See Exodus 12:40-41 and Galatians 3:17.
3. Genesis 15:13
4. Another rendering puts the total years of enslavement at 116 years. Levi was 43 when he came to Egypt and lived 137 years. He lived in Egypt a total of 94 years. It is said, when Levi died, the enslavement began and lasted a total of 116 years. See Rashi, The Sapirstein Edition Rashi (NewYork: Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,1999) 62.
5. See Exodus 1:8-14.
6. If you subtract Moses’ 80 years from 430, you get 350.
7. Rashi, The Sapirstein Edition Rashi, Shemot (NewYork: Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,1999) 131.
8. Priscilla Shirer, One in a million (Nashville, TN: LifeWay Church Publishing, 2009), 14.
[line]
photo(s) courtesy of Stock.XCHNG (http://www.sxc.hu)
Recent Comments