This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
From Sinai to Canaan
So after two weeks, we are finally picking up where we left off in this series on time. In case I hadn’t mentioned it previously, I think it’s pertinent for you to understand that my personal study on this topic began with a deep and sincere desire to pinpoint the timing of the conquest of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. Having said that, know that we will absolutely be correlating the date we’ve been calculating, that is Anno Mundi, with the Gregorian Calendar in use today ~ I think you’ll find the resulting connotations to be of great interest.
Now when we left off we had calculated that Abraham entered into Egypt at about 75 years of age and in the year 2084 AM. This is where I contend that we should begin the 430 year count, and I have a bit more on that front to shore up any reservations one might have with the assertion.
First, I’ve personally heard many sermons over the years regarding Abraham’s entry into Egypt and honestly, most have been unfairly critical. Let’s take a look:
There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay for a while because the famine was severe. As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.”
When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh, and he did treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.
Genesis 12:10 – 20
So let’s “unpack” this a bit… First, look at the circumstances under which Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house; it is stated after we learn that Sarai was taken that Abraham “was treated well” on account of her. Nowhere is it indicated that such arrangements were made in advance – which is what would have been appropriate.
This portion of the text indicates to me that this was an afterthought. No bride price was negotiated and nothing indicates that anyone sought Abraham’s consent. Given that, even as her brother (which he was by the way), he would have been viewed as her guardian, agreements should have been made up front – not doing so is an egregious act of disrespect. What comes next strikes me as an attempt to rectify what would have been an obvious slight to everyone involved.
Moreover, we have more details about the arrangements made to secure Sarah’s tomb (Genesis 23) than we do about any arrangements made prior to her being taken from Abraham’s house. The crux of this, as the text states is that Sarai was taken, and no amount of “treating Abraham well” after this changes that fact. Furthermore, the context of the entire encounter shows me that Abraham was right. Given what’s revealed here, I have every reason to believe that they absolutely would have killed him and taken her.
Now, to me the proof of this, the idea that Sarai’s departure is an egregious act without garnering the consent of her guardian is God’s response. God isn’t being petty here. Yes Abraham did act deceitfully (for good reason), but Pharaoh’s response is very, very telling. He sends her back and ejects them from Egypt. I submit that Pharaoh knew he’d handled the whole matter improperly and been disrespectful to Abraham from the start… else Abraham would have probably been killed for his lie.
Think it through.
Last point on the matter; as a Chaldean, raised in and around the various cultures of the region and a citizen of the times in which he lived, Abraham makes a far better judge of circumstance and necessity than you or I. You can eye the story critically, but that’s foolish – you are more than 3,400 years removed chronologically, likely hundreds to thousands of miles removed geographically and infinitely removed culturally…
Moving on.
Now, we could go on and calculate the dates of the births of Isaac and Jacob (2109 & 2169 AM respectively), but the fact is that we have what we need to continue our calculation even without this. You see, we’ll encounter a break in the record that will require us to look elsewhere in scripture in order to pick up the timeline. In this case, since we are counting from Abram’s entry into Egypt, we move forward based on the year 2083 AM.
Our next major milestone would be the Exodus from Egypt:
Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:40 – 41
What I am saying is this: The law that came 430 years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise.
Galatians 3:17
Okay, so we have a pretty straight forward addition here: 2083 + 430 = 2513. And now we have the precise Year of the World in which the Exodus occurred, 2513 AM (or 2,512 Years from Creation).
Now we could hang out here and discuss the details of the Exodus, God’s judgement on Egypt and all of her gods, the Lord’s provision and faithfulness throughout the wandering in the wilderness and more… but that’s not in our scope presently. These would all be worthy topics of study, but for now, we will stay focused on the reconciliation of God’s time.
We know that 430 years, to the day, Israel left Egypt. We likewise know that Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness prior to entering into, and conquering the land of the promise:
Indeed, for 40 years the Israelites traveled through the wilderness until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn by oath to their ancestors to give them, a land rich in milk and honey. He replaced them with their sons, whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. When all the men had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal even to this day.
Joshua 5:6 – 9
So, simple addition again: 2513 + 40 = 2553 AM … but wait! There’s one more detail we need to plug in here before we continue:
The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
Joshua 3:19
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with God’s calendar, I would recommend having a look at the articles The Creator’s Calendar – Part One and Two. The point here is that the text tells us that it is a new year, as it explicitly tells us that this occurs on the tenth day of the first month. What that means for our purposes, is that we need to add one and we know this because forty years is forty years, not thirty-nine years and ten days. You follow?
This tells us that Israel entered into the, then land of Canaan and established Gilgal in the year 2554 AM. In fact, we’re given far more chronological information in the text than we realize. We know that Israel crossed on the tenth day, and that they observed Passover on the fourteenth day (Joshua 5:10). Honestly, we can extrapolate from this a great deal of information regarding the timing of the conquest… but again, that’s not the point. Just know that Joshua is my jam and I find this topic of study intensely, even obsessively fascinating.
We’re going to stop here for now, as once again, I don’t desire to inundate you with more information than can be digested at a time. Additionally, this stage in our study marks a bit of a “jumping off” point, as surprisingly, it provides us with what we need to reconcile the one big burning question I’m sure everyone reading has asked… what year is it now?
We’ll get to that and why it’s so important next week… barring, of course, any further divine interjections.
Until next time,
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You