Exodus 12:40-42.
Now the
length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the vary day,
all of the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.
Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on
this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for
generations to come. TNIV
Some of us
do not feel the need to minimize the biblical record as given to us in Exodus. The people were in Egypt 430 years. However, their conditions while in captivity
leaves some room for flexibility.
Whether there were 430 years of Charlton Heston slouching around in the
mud mixing brick mortar for the pyramids or at times a more comfortable existence
as the herds of livestock leaving Egypt would indicate. In any event, these were desperate times for
the people under Egyptian domination. At
all times and under every circumstance, freedom was not to be had and the promise
of a home of their own seemed dashed.
The people
should celebrate the freedom that God eventually provided when God sent his messenger
to command Pharaoh to "let my people go"!
That was the freedom march of all time.
But what of the people that did not live to see the miraculous
exodus? At least four to ten generations
of peoples died in Egypt. Why did God wait 430 years? Did the people suddenly become righteous
enough for God to act? There is no biblical record of such a revival
happening. The exodus timing was all God’s
doing. Understanding this, what do the missing generations have to teach us
about God?
G. Goslaw
Landers, CA
