In the studies of Genesis 15:13-16 and Exodus 12:40-41 it was clearly shown that the idea of the short sojourn (Israel being in Egypt for just 215 years) falls apart under scrutiny, and in fact, the traditionally held long sojourn view (that Israel was in Egypt for exactly 430 years, to the very day) was vindicated. But now let's review the key verses that have been used to teach the short sojourn view:
Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
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.
Here we find that Galatians 3:17 is essentially saying "the law came 430 years after the covenant was confirmed". Now the assumption made by the short sojourn view is that the "confirming" of the covenant occurred when Abraham first came into the land of Canaan (in Genesis 12). Now there are 2 problems with this idea: first, God didn't made a covenant with Abraham until Genesis 15, almost 10 years after Abraham came into Canaan. Second, they assume that "made" a covenant is the same as "confirming" a covenant. We will proceed to review both these points to see why these assumptions are faulty. To begin, consider the following from Genesis 12:
Genesis 12:1 And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out from your land and from your kindred, and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you.
Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great; and you will be a blessing.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, and curse the one despising you. And in you all families of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 12:4 And Abram went out, even as Jehovah had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of seventy five years when he went out from Haran.
Genesis 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, and his brother's son, Lot, and all their substance that they had gained, and the persons they had gotten in Haran. And they went out to go into the land of Canaan. And they came into the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:6 And Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Genesis 12:7 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your seed. And he built an altar there to Jehovah, who appeared to him.
In this account, God tells Abraham to collect his family and leave the land of Haran and go to the land of Canaan. We also find that God gives several promises to Abraham: to make him a great nation, to make his name great, to bless him and all the earth (verses 2-3). Now it must be noted that God's giving of these promises to Abraham is not the same as making a covenant. Further, these promises were given to Abraham while he was still in Haran, before he came to Canaan. Now after Abraham came into Canaan, God again appeared to Abraham and gave another promise, to give Canaan to Abraham's seed (verse 7). But again, notice this is a promise, and no mention is found in Genesis 12 of a covenant being made. Now in the rest of Genesis 12 we find the account of Abraham leaving Canaan to go to Egypt due to a famine. Following this, in Genesis 13, we find that Abraham returns from Egypt to Canaan (after some unspecified period of time). But upon his return there is strife between Abraham and Lot's headsmen, so much so that they were forced to separate and live in different lands. And even as Abraham offered to give Lot the land of his choice, God caused Lot to choose Jordan so that Abraham could remain in the land of Canaan. Therefore following this God reminds Abraham again:
Genesis 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Genesis 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Genesis 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Genesis 13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
So after Abraham returns to Canaan from Egypt and Lot chooses to occupy Jordan, God reiterates the promises made earlier: that God will give him and his seed the land of Canaan, and that God will make Abraham's seed innumerable, like the dust of the earth (verses 15-16), but again, the covenant was not yet made. Next, in Genesis 14 we find the account of Abraham rescuing Lot from the four kings of Genesis 14:1, and when returning home Abraham gives tithes to Melchizedek. So again, nothing about a covenant being made in Genesis 14 either. Finally we come to Genesis 15, where God assures Abraham he will have an heir (verse 4), at which time God again reiterates His promise to make Abraham's seed innumerable, like the stars of heaven (verse 5). At this point Abraham essentially asks for proof, that is, he wants to be sure God will do these things (verse 8). So God tells Abraham to prepare a sacrifice of five animals (verse 9), which Abraham does. Then in that night, as Abraham fell asleep, God spoke to Abraham:
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:
Here in verse 18 we finally come to the point where God makes a covenant with Abraham, making official God's promise to give the land of Canaan to his seed. Now following this, in Genesis 16, we learn that Abraham's wife Sarah decides to give her handmaid Hagar to Abraham, hoping to get a son for Abraham, and thus the heir that they were promised by God. This event occurred after Abraham had lived in Canaan for 10 years (Genesis 16:3), making him 85 years old. This is also about the same time that God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. This makes sense given that after Abraham came to Canaan at 75 years old he was first diverted into Egypt to escape a famine in Canaan, then later he returns to Canaan with Lot, then Abraham and Lot agree to separate and Lot leaves and settles toward Sodom, then four kings war against Sodom and capture Lot, then Abraham goes to fight these kings and recovers Lot. It is all these events that consume as much as 10 years time prior to God making a covenant with Abraham. Yet the short sojourn view teaches that God made a covenant with Abraham immediately after coming from Haran to Canaan when he was 75 years old, not 85 years old. But as evidenced by all the events of Genesis 12-14, the covenant was not made until Abraham had been in Canaan for some time. This is the first problem with how the short sojourn view reads Galatians 3:17.
Now the second issue with the short sojourn view is they equate God "confirming" the covenant in Galatians 3:17 to be the same as God "making" the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:18. But is this really true? Consider these verses from Psalm 105:
Psalm 105:6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
Psalm 105:7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
Psalm 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
Psalm 105:9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
Psalm 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
Psalm 105:11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:
In Psalm 105:9 we find that God "made" a covenant with Abraham, just like we read in Genesis 15:18. But notice in verse 10, that it is Jacob with whom God "confirmed" the covenant! And just to be sure everyone is on the same page, in verse 11 we are reminded what covenant is being spoken of, i.e., the one to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed. Now compare Psalm 105:10 with Galatians 3:17,
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
Now we can clearly see from Psalm 105:10 that God confirmed the covenant with Jacob, and from Galatians 3:17 we see that this confirmation occurred 430 years prior to the giving of the law to Moses after the Exodus. It is important to notice that Galatians 3:17 doesn't say "430 years after God made the covenant", but "430 years after God confirmed the covenant". Now the question is, do we have any idea when God confirmed the covenant with Jacob? In Genesis 46 we find:
Genesis 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
Genesis 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Genesis 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Genesis 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
In the verses of Genesis 46 above, Jacob is just about to leave the land of Canaan and enter into Egypt with all his family and all his possessions. One can imagine this would have been a difficult thing for Jacob, given that God had promised to give the land of Canaan to him and his descendants. But now they are in this situation where they must leave! However, as we see here, God comes to Jacob and tells him not to fear to go to Egypt for God will make him a great nation there (verse 3), and God promises to go with him and to bring him back again (verse 4). Now it was this confirming of the covenant to Jacob on the cusp of entering into Egypt that was all the assurance he needed to assuage his troubled mind. Thus, we can see that this is the confirmation of the covenant that Galatians 3:17 must be referring to, a confirmation that occurred exactly 430 years before Moses was given the law on Mount Sinai.
Appendix - The Promises and Covenant from Abraham to Joshua
It is interesting to follow the promises and covenant God gave to Abraham and those that followed him, and in the circumstances they were frequently given. Firstly, recall in Genesis 12 that even as Abraham left Haran and came to the land of Canaan, he didn't stay there too long before having to leave for Egypt, in order to survive a severe famine in Canaan. But before Abraham travels south to Egypt, God tells Abraham:
Genesis 12:7 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your seed. And he built an altar there to Jehovah, who appeared to him.
One can see why this would be necessary, as Abraham might already be wondering, if this land is really mine then why do I have to leave for Egypt! Thus, God gives this assurance to Abraham, so that he can proceed to Egypt without worry. And when Abraham returns from Egypt God reminds him again:
Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Of course following this God made a covenant with Abraham regarding these promises:
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:
After this Abraham and Sarah became concerned about where this seed would come from, and worked out their own plan using Hagar to give Abraham a son. But following this God promised to give Abraham an heir by Sarah:
Genesis 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
And soon after Isaac was born. What is interesting about Isaac is that he lived his entire life in the land of Canaan (as opposed to Abraham, who was born in Ur of Chaldea, moved to Haran, then to Canaan, but left to Egypt, then returned to Canaan). We know at one point Isaac, because of a famine, apparently considered going to Egypt, just like his father had done, but God tells Isaac to remain in Canaan:
Genesis 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
Genesis 26:2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Genesis 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
Even more interesting is that when the time came for Isaac to get a wife, Abraham didn't allow Isaac to go to the land of Haran (where Abraham's relatives lived), but instead sent his servant:
Genesis 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Genesis 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Genesis 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Genesis 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
So it would seem that Isaac wasn't being allowed to leave Canaan, and that God was already fulfilling His promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed (Genesis 12:7), starting with his son Isaac. Now continuing on, we next find that Isaac has a son Jacob, who lived with him in the land of Canaan. However a strange thing happened following the incident in which Jacob stole the blessing from Isaac meant for Esau, and that was that Isaac and Rebekah advised Jacob to leave Canaan and go to the land of Haran to seek a wife! Why would they do this if Canaan was their land? Of course there were reasons, first Esau wanted to kill Jacob for stealing his blessing, and secondly because Jacob's parents did not want him to marry a Canaanite woman. But an interesting point to remember is that as Jacob was heading to Haran, he left his fathers home in Beersheba and headed north, and spent the night in Bethel (Luz). There we find that God appears to Jacob and speaks to him:
Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Genesis 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Here God reiterates His covenant to give the land of Canaan to Jacob and his seed. So even though Jacob is leaving Canaan, God intervenes to assure Jacob that He is giving this land to Jacob and that God will bring him back from Haran. Thus, Jacob could be sure the covenant promises were still in force, they were not being annulled, nor were they being changed (Galatians 3:15). And even upon Jacob's return from Haran, God met him and again spoke to him to reiterate His promise to give him the land of Canaan:
Genesis 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Genesis 35:12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
So even though Jacob was gone from Canaan for 40 years, that long period of time did not in any way affect the covenant, it was still in force, just as if Jacob had never left! And so for the next 33 years Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, along with his many sons. But another strange thing was about to happen, one that started with his son Joseph being sold to the Egyptians. And unknown to Jacob, Joseph would be raised to a great position of authority in Egypt, but as far as Jacob knew his son Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. But in time, when Jacob was 128 years old, a great famine came upon Canaan and Egypt. In order to survive Jacob sent his sons into Egypt to purchase food, and over the next 2 years Jacob was to learn that Joseph was alive and well in Egypt, and in fact his son was a ruler in Egypt and in charge of selling Egypt's supply of food. So at the end of the second year of famine, Joseph, with Pharaoh's permission and support, told Jacob to come to Egypt and bring his entire family. One can imagine that Jacob would again have been much troubled at the idea of leaving the land of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham's descendants, and for a second time. But not only this, unlike the first time when Jacob left Canaan for Haran, this time Isaac was dead, so if Jacob left Canaan with all his family, then not a single descendant of Abraham through Isaac would be left in Canaan! Nonetheless, the famine was severe, and Jacob agreed. But just before he left Canaan God once again appears to him and speaks to him:
Genesis 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
Genesis 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Genesis 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Genesis 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
So just as Jacob was going to leave the land of Canaan and go into Egypt, God appears to him and reiterates His covenant, and promises to go with him into Egypt and to bring him back. So once again God is assuring Jacob that the covenant promises were still in force, they were not being annulled, nor were they being changed (Galatians 3:15). Of course the big difference this time is that Jacob would die in Egypt and his descendants would be in Egypt for a very long time, 430 years (Galatians 3:17)! But just as in the prior case with Jacob going to Haran, when he was gone from Canaan for 40 years, the covenant was not altered nor annulled, so too in this case, after 430 years in Egypt, the covenant would not be altered nor annulled. In regard to Jacob's death, it should be noted that Jacob reiterates the promise to his son Joseph:
Genesis 48:21 And Israel [Jacob] said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Jacob sees that he will soon die and passes on the promise of God to Joseph, saying God will bring him back to the land of Canaan. And even as Jacob died, God's promise to him bring him back to Canaan did not fail, for Jacob's sons brought him back to Canaan and buried him in Mamre, in the land of Canaan (Genesis 49:28-33). In turn, when Joseph was dying, he passes the promise of return to the land of Canaan on to the sons of Israel:
Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Genesis 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
And we know that Moses did bring the bones of Joseph with him in the Exodus (Exodus 13:19), and that later the children of Israel buried them in Shechem (Joshua 24:32), in the land of Canaan. In all these things we can see how God continued to remind Israel that His covenant, to give them the land of Canaan, was still in force, despite various circumstances that might have caused them to think it had been annulled or that it was being changed in some way. And in the days of Joshua we know this covenant with the nation of Israel was finished and completed:
Joshua 21:43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Joshua 21:45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Thus, not one thing which God promised to the nation of Israel was left undone, everything that God promised to them had come to pass. It should not escape notice how important this is, for if somehow God had failed to keep His physical promise to Abraham and the sons of Israel, how then could the nations (Jews and Gentiles) trust that God would also keep his spiritual promise of salvation to Abraham's seed, Christ!
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