WBC-05-From Abram to the Death of Joseph

From Abram to the Death of Joseph THE FATHERS OF ISRAEL
FROM THE BIRTH OF ABRAM TO THE DEATH OF JOSEPH Our previous tables have carried the sacred chronology from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abram, which was in the year 2008. We come now to the exceedingly interesting and important period of the fathers of Israel, a period that is immensely rich in instruction for the household of faith.

We have observed that the first eleven chapters of the Bible cover a great stretch of time, almost exactly equal, in fact, to that covered by the rest of the Bible. The history which God has given us of the first 2000 years of our race is composed mainly of the two elements genealogy and chronology. But now, with the calling of Abram from out of the idolatries into which the entire race had plunged, the working out of the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, enters upon a distinctly new phase. From this point onward that purpose is to be identified with that solitary individual, whom God thus called and separated unto Himself. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah concerning this call of Abraham, God said: "For I called him alone" (Isaiah 51:2). And in order that the new work which was to be done through Abraham and his seed might be manifestly all of God, that patriarch is permitted to advance to a childless old age, to an age so far advanced that both he and his wife were "as good as dead." Thus we have in Abraham, as it were, a new beginning; not the creation of a race of men out of the dust of the ground, but the bringing forth of a people from one who was virtually dead. This new work of God proclaims by a type or shadow the great Gospel-truth of Resurrection; that is, that God would procure a people for Himself by resurrection of the dead. From this may be clearly seen the great importance bf the period upon which we are now entering. No character of Scripture or of secular history is more important than Abraham. He is the pattern man of faith, of whom it is written that "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Hence all they, whether Jews or Gentiles, who are "of faith," are counted as the spiritual seed of Abraham, so that they become the heirs of all the promises, as it is written, "Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7); and again, "And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).

Manifestly, nothing can be of more vital concern to the perishing children of Adam than the knowledge of what is stated in the foregoing Scriptures; for the promises of "blessing" are definitely limited to "Abraham and his seed." Hence, there is salvation only for the children of Abraham; and this being true, it is supremely important for everyone to know that all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who believe in Jesus Christ, are the "children" of Abraham. Therefore, we quote also the following clear passage from the Word of God: "Therefore it (the promise) is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that which is of the law only, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16). The quality of Abraham’s faith appeared in this, that he believed in God "Who quickeneth the dead" (Romans 4:17). Hence saving faith is faith in the risen Christ, as saith the Scripture:

"Now it was not written for his sake alone that it (righteousness) was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it will be imputed, if we believe on Him That raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:23-25). And again the Scripture speaks of "the Word of faith," namely, "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord, Jesus (i.e. Jesus as LORD) and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:8-9). In the present volume we must needs confine ourselves to brief references to the lives of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, with whom the remaining chapters of Genesis are occupied; but we shall seek to notice all the events which are dated, and to give the connected chronology to the death of Joseph.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran and came into Canaan (Genesis 11:32; Genesis 12:4). Hence, adding 75 to the year of Abram’s birth, 2008, we derive the year 2083 as the date of his entrance into the land of Canaan. The next dated event is Abram’s marriage with Hagar, at the instigation of Sarah. This was "after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan" (Genesis 16:1-3). Hence this was in the year 2093. Abram and Sarah had waited ten years, and there was as yet no sign of die fulfillment of God’s promise to make Abram’s offspring like the stars of heaven for multitude. Still he was childless, and the possibility of offspring had become even more desperately hopeless. So we are permitted to see that even Abram’s faith needed to be perfected. For he, like Adam, "hearkened to the voice of his wife." But God’s time had not yet come; and this was not God’s way of fulfilling His promise. The result of the expedient suggested by Sarah was "Ishmael " "the wild ass man, representative of that which "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).

Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16), year 2094; "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine" (year 2107) God made with Abram the "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:1-21); at which time He appointed circumcision as the sign thereof, changed his name to Abraham, and promised him a son by Sarah, through which son the "everlasting covenant" was to be carried out.

Between this promise (that Sarah should bear a son) and the record of its fulfillment (Genesis 21:1-3) we find the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), and also that of Abraham’s journey into the country of the Philistines, where Sarah was exposed to danger. Those events evidently occurred in 2107 or 2108, the latter being the year of the birth of Isaac, at which epoch the age of Abraham was 100 years (Genesis 21:5).

Isaac and Jacob

Thus far all has been plain and easy. But we come now to events in the lives of Isaac and Jacob, the dates whereof can be ascertained only by careful computations and deductions from certain statements of Scripture, to which attention has been drawn by Ussher and later chronologers.

One important statement for this purpose is that of Exodus 12:40-41 : "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self same day, it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." This period of the "sojourning" of the people of God is reckoned from Abraham’s entrance into Canaan, for then they (Abram and Sarah, the beginnings of the family) became strangers and pilgrims (Hebrews 11:8-13). This is confirmed by Galatians 3:17, where the same period of 430 years is mentioned: "The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, could not disannul." Here we see that the 430 years began with God’s promise to Abram, made at the time he entered into Canaan at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:1-4), and ended with the giving of the law, which was the same year as the Exodus.

Thus we place the Exodus as follows:

But, in addition to this period of 430 years, there is another of 400 years, which also ended at the Exodus. Thus, in Genesis 15:13 we have God’s word to Abraham, "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." And again we have, in Acts 7:6, the words of Stephen, "And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and they should bring them into bondage and entreat them evil, four hundred years." The period of 430 years includes the sojourn of Abram and Sarah. That of 400, however, begins with the experience of Abram’s "seed." This refers, of course, to Isaac in the first place; for in Isaac the promised "seed" was to be "called"; but the era is not that of the birth of Isaac, but that when he was acknow­ledged the "seed" and "heir" by the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael. That took place at the time of the "great feast" which Abraham made the day Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21:8-10). This is an important event in the annals of God’s people, because of its deep spiritual significance, as appears by the reference to it in Galatians 4:29-30. From the foregoing Scriptures we are able to arrive at the date when Isaac was weaned and Ishmael was cast out (whereby Isaac became the acknowledged "seed" and "heir "). For there is a difference of thirty years between the two periods. But we have already found that there were twenty-five years from the call of Abraham (and God’s "covenant" with him) to the birth of Isaac. Hence, deducting 25 from 30 gives us 5 years as the age of Isaac when Ishmael was cast out.

There is no need to give at greater length the proofs concerning the 400-year period, and the 430-year period, for all chronologers of repute, from Ussher down to the present day, are agreed as to the chronological significance of those proofs. By one and all the date of the Exodus is given as An. Hom. 2513. With the help of the foregoing explanations we can now construct a table of the lives of Abraham and Isaac down to the death of Abraham, and the marriage of Esau.

Jacob’s Hegira, Vision and Marriage

We must interrupt the table at this point in order to make the investigations and computations which are needed in order to arrive at the date of Jacob’s departure to Padan Aram, and that of his marriage. Those dates are not stated in the Scripture, but they can be determined by statements made in later chapters of Genesis. Thus, we learn that Joseph was 30 years of age when he stood before Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46). Hence at the end of the seven years of plenty he was 37, and after two years of famine, when Jacob himself was 130 (Genesis 47:9), he (Joseph) was 39 years of age. Therefore, since Joseph was 39 when his father Jacob was 130, the latter was 91 at the birth of Joseph. Now Jacob had served Laban 14 years when Joseph was born (Genesis 30:25). Therefore, Jacob was 77 (91-14) when he came to Padan Aram and entered the service of Laban. With this information we can now proceed with our table.

This completes the chronology of the Book of Genesis, which is seen to contain a perfect and connected system of dates from the creation of Adam to the death of Joseph. It begins with Adam, a living soul in the garden of Eden, and ends with the bones of Joseph in a coffin in Egypt.

Jacob’s Family in Egypt

Concerning the number of persons who came into Egypt with Jacob there are three separate statements, each of which gives a different number.

1. In Genesis 46:26 we read, "All the souls which came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six" (66 persons). This excludes Jacob himself, and his wives, and the wives of his sons. It excludes also Joseph and his two sons, who were already in Egypt. It specifies only those who "came with Jacob" and who came out of his loins."

2. In the next verse (Genesis 46:27) we read, "All the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt were threescore and ten (70 persons). It is evident that this difference of four persons is made up by adding to the 66 of verse 26 Jacob, Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. This agrees with what Moses said in Deuteronomy 10:22, "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons."

3. In Acts 7:14 Stephen said, "Then sent Joseph and called Jacob to him and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls" (75 persons). The apostles and other Jews of their day used the Septuagint version, fr6m which version Stephen was evidently quoting, for that version adds two sons of Manasseh and three sons of Ephraim (see Numb. 26:28-37 and 1 Chronicles 7:20) who are not included in the Hebrew text. The expression used by Stephen "and all his kindred" is broad enough to include these five additional persons.