From Time To Time - Part Six Sep 24, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T021_20230924.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. We will continue to look at what is taught from this parable in Matthew Chapter 12. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 24th 2023 From Time to Time – Part 6 1). Mt 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Last time we had seen through the parable that the Lord gave to the Jews following the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, earlier in Matthew Chapter 12, and in conjunction with the account of Cain and Abel, what would be the inevitable outcome for Israel in having rejected and killed their Messiah. Through the metaphor of the unclean spirit going out of a man that the Lord used in this parable, we saw a word picture of Israel’s departure from the land and the end of their national status when the Romans destroyed the city and the temple in AD70. A series of events that marked the end of Israel as a nation in the land but not the end of Israel as a nation. a). Israel, as a nation in the land under God’s direction, cannot appear again, following their being set aside that led to their dispersion in AD70, until after the conclusion of Daniel’s seventieth week – Isa 66:7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. And the absence and then reappearance of Israel that shows the nation being set aside and then dealt with again at a later date, has been foreshadowed through events in the accounts of the lives of Joseph and Moses, both of whom are a type of Christ. b). From the time that Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, where he then took a Gentile bride, until the time of the seven years of famine, Joseph’s brothers are not seen. But during the seven years of famine, they are seen again and Joseph deals with them a second time. But we will note that Joseph’s dealings with his brothers only happens after he had married Asenath, his Gentile bride. And when he does deal with his brothers again, Asenath is not with him. And for Moses, from the time he fled from Egypt and went to Midian, where he then took a Gentile bride, until God sent him back to Egypt a second time, the Jewish people are not seen. But upon Moses return, the Jewish people become the sole focus. And again, we will note that Moses dealing with his brothers a second time only happened after he had married Zipporah and Zipporah did not return to Egypt with him. c). So then, once the seven years of famine began, and once Moses had encountered the burning bush, so Joseph’s brothers, the Jewish people take center stage again for the specific purpose of deliverance and restoration with rulership in view – Ge 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Ex 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. And what we will learn from these types is that from the time the Lord returned to the farthest recesses of the North at His ascension, where He will take a Bride, primarily from the Gentile nations, to the opening of the first seal on the seven-sealed scroll, the Jewish people are not dealt with, and Israel, the nation with God in their midst, cannot exist until the end of the tribulation. Until the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. God always works within the set times that He has established to fulfill His purpose. And He remains faithful to His Word. And He had promised this to Jacob – Ge 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” And as Jacob, then called Israel, was dying, he said this to Joseph – Ge 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And we see that Joseph had placed the children of Israel under ‘a solemn oath’, that they would take his bones with them when they were delivered from Egypt – Ex 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” And Joseph’s assurance of God visiting His people to enact Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and to bring about the people’s return to the land of their fathers, that gave rise to the solemn oath concerning his bones, was founded on the promise that God had given, that which God had said about a specific time, a time that Isaac and Jacob would have known also- Ge 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Acts 7:6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. Abraham’s descendants then, beginning with Isaac, would dwell as strangers in a land not theirs – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And ultimately Abraham’s descendants would go to Egypt and there they would be taken into bondage, and this complete period of time, for Abraham’s descendants, beginning with the birth of Isaac, would be four hundred years. And at the end of the four hundred years God’s promise was, ‘they shall come out with great possessions’ – Ex 12:35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. And the precision of God’s timing with respect to this is clearly stated a few verses later – Ex 12:40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Before we deal with the difference in the numbers here, let’s take very particular note that it was ‘on that very same day’. On the very day that brought to conclusion the time God had set in place, four hundred and thirty years for the sojourn of the children of Israel, that Israel was delivered from Egypt. Not the day before nor the day after, but ‘that very same day.’ d). So, why is there a difference in the numbers, four hundred and four hundred and thirty? Simply this, the four hundred years was for Abraham’s descendants, and these four hundred years began with the birth of Isaac, the first of Abraham’s descendants, when Abraham was one hundred years old. But the promise concerning the land was given to Abraham thirty years before this, before he left Ur of the Chaldeans. Verses we will be very familiar with – Ge 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Israel is ‘the great nation’ God promised to make from Abraham. At the time of the promise though there was still another thirty years until Isaac was born and even more time until Jacob, and the twelve sons. So, how can we account for the ‘sojourn’ of the children of Israel at a time before even Isaac was born? Again, this is quite simple to see if we follow the Scriptures. Look at what we find in - Heb 7:5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; [where did the children of Israel come from? The loins of Abraham] 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. [where was Levi, one of the children of Israel when Abraham met Melchizedek? In the loins of Abraham] And so, from what we see here in Hebrews Chapter 7, where would the children of Israel have been when God gave the promise to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12? In the loins of their father, Abraham. From God’s perspective then, the children of Israel existed in the loins of Abraham and were subsequently brought forth through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons. e). To tie all this together then, from the time God gave the promise to Abraham, extending to Israel in his loins, in Genesis Chapter 12, until the Exodus, was four hundred and thirty years. From the time of Isaac’s birth, the first of Abraham’s descendants, to the Exodus was four hundred years. And in both periods of time, the same people, the children of Israel, Abraham’s descendants, are in view, and the same terminal point is in view, deliverance from Egypt – Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, [than the promise in Genesis Chapter 12] cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. And the four hundred and thirty years of the sojourn of the children of Israel encompasses the time Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in the land of Canaan – Ex 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And it includes the time they ‘lived’ in Egypt before Joseph’s death - Ge 50:22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. And included the time they lived in Egypt following Joseph’s death when their persecution began – Ex 1:6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. We are not told how much time elapsed between the death of Joseph and the new Assyrian Pharaoh, but we do know that the persecution existed at the time of Moses’ birth, and that Moses was eighty years of age at the time of the Exodus. The one thing for us to be clear on here, so as to escape any Laodicean leftovers, is that the time Israel spent in bondage in Egypt is a small proportion of the four hundred and thirty years referenced in Exodus Chapter 12. f). And as we consider God’s precise timing for the Exodus, perhaps it will shed light on a statement made by Stephen in Acts Chapter 7 concerning Moses – Acts 7:25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. We had seen in Genesis Chapter 15 that God had told Abraham of the four hundred years for his descendants, and how at the end of this time they would be afflicted and then delivered. And we would have to assume that Abraham’s descendants knew this, including Moses. This would parallel the situation at the Lord’s first Advent when the Jewish people would have known through Daniel that there were four hundred and eighty-three years between the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah would be cut off. God’s timings are neither hidden nor obscured. And although there was no written record of what God had said to Abraham, we can know that these things were shared with those who are the heirs of the same promise, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons. g). And for the Jewish people in Egypt, even though they may have known of God’s timing, life continued. Conditions got worse for them, but their lives carried on as they had done for generations. And it remained this way until Moses returned from Midian, then things changed for them very rapidly. h). And what about ourselves, today? We are certainly not ignorant of God’s timings, but our lives continue as they have done for generations. And although things around us continue to deteriorate, our life goes on as it always has. What will we choose to do with God’s timing? When the Lord comes a second time, nothing for us will be the same again. i). Let’s return to the first generation of Israel who left Egypt on the very same day that the four hundred and thirty years came to an end, taking Joseph’s bones with them, because in this we find a picture of that future Day at the full end of the four hundred and ninety years, when the Jewish people who survive the tribulation, along with the resurrected OT saints, seen in Joseph’s bones, and will include Joseph, will be delivered from the Gentile nations to be returned to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in accordance with the promise given to Abraham, following judgment in the wilderness of the peoples. j). And before the second generation to come out of Egypt, still the descendants of Abraham, finally entered the land, God had told them again De 30:1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And once again, the fulfillment of that seen in these verses can only be brought to pass at the end of the four hundred and ninety years that God has specifically set in place to accomplish this, four hundred and ninety years that were revealed to Daniel at the end of the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. Four hundred and ninety years that were put on hold, with the final seven years remaining. k). And again, we see the same thing through the prophets, the descendants of Abraham, concerning captivity past and future – Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. The seventy years in Babylon, foreshadowing the conclusion of the four hundred and ninety years, bringing an end to the final worldwide captivity of the Jews – Zeph 3:19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, And gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame In every land where they were put to shame. 20 At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the LORD. By now, we will realize that God resuming His dealings with Israel once again, and their eventual return to the land after being delivered and restored is not at some random time yet future, but at the conclusion of an exact time – Da 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. God has been very clear in what He has said. He will gather His people from their captivity, and He will return them to their land. And there is a specific time, just as there was for the Exodus and the end of the Babylonian captivity, in which this will be accomplished. There is no doubt concerning this. And the final seven years of this specific time are just around the corner. The end of four hundred and ninety years, the end of the two days of the dispensation for Israel, the end of the six days given to mankind. The completion of the time that God had set in place in the foundation, exactly. 2). And if we now go back to the parable, we began with in Matthew Chapter 12, where we see the Jews returning to their land, which a remnant did in 1948, it is now very obvious that this return was apart from God’s timing and apart from His direction and not in fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures we have looked at. a). And as we think about what took place in 1948, we might find a somewhat parallel situation to one that had existed much earlier in Israel’s history – 1 Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. Israel’s desire to have a king ‘like all the nations’, recorded here in 1 Samuel Chapter 8, shows a desire to be no different from the Gentile nations of the world. Those who wanted this king wanted to be just like all the rest. And the remnant of Jews in the land today, who began returning in 1948, have desired to have a nation, ‘like all the nations.’ A desire to be assimilated into the geopolitical community, to find acceptance and influence for themselves within the kingdom of this world. And implicit in this choice, just as it was for those who wanted a king, is the rejection of the God of their fathers to reign over them. But contrary to their desire to be like all the nations, this is something that is completely impossible for them to accomplish, because of that which God has said – Nu 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations. Israel can never be reckoned among the nations as they are the only nation adopted as a firstborn son, the only nation with a God, even though estranged from Him at present. And the remnant having returned to the land in 1948 after this fashion can never find their God given place within the kingdom of this world and their actions in trying to do so in their own strength, without their Messiah, in conjunction with having returned before the ‘death of the High Priest’, not only portrays the lowest depths of spiritual bankruptcy to which they have fallen, as they continue to ignore God’s Word and engage in harlotry, but also places all Jews, not just the remnant in the land, in the gravest of dangers – Nu 35:26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. And on top of this there is an even greater depth of spiritual bankruptcy into which the Jews will descend in the near future as they make their covenant with the Antichrist, as Daniel’s seventieth week begins, a counterfeit of the new covenant that God will make with them, a covenant made with a counterfeit messiah – Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many [in Israel] for one week……. Jn 5:43 I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, [this is the Antichrist] him you will receive. Re 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. I hope we can appreciate the enormity of what it means for God’s covenant people to enter into a covenant with Satan’s son – Isa 28:15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” And the consequences for doing so – Isa 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. 17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. 19 As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report.” 20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. 21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon— That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act. 22 Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Six Sep 24, 2023 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T021_20230924.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. We will continue to look at what is taught from this parable in Matthew Chapter 12. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 24th 2023 From Time to Time – Part 6 1). Mt 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Last time we had seen through the parable that the Lord gave to the Jews following the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, earlier in Matthew Chapter 12, and in conjunction with the account of Cain and Abel, what would be the inevitable outcome for Israel in having rejected and killed their Messiah. Through the metaphor of the unclean spirit going out of a man that the Lord used in this parable, we saw a word picture of Israel’s departure from the land and the end of their national status when the Romans destroyed the city and the temple in AD70. A series of events that marked the end of Israel as a nation in the land but not the end of Israel as a nation. a). Israel, as a nation in the land under God’s direction, cannot appear again, following their being set aside that led to their dispersion in AD70, until after the conclusion of Daniel’s seventieth week – Isa 66:7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. And the absence and then reappearance of Israel that shows the nation being set aside and then dealt with again at a later date, has been foreshadowed through events in the accounts of the lives of Joseph and Moses, both of whom are a type of Christ. b). From the time that Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, where he then took a Gentile bride, until the time of the seven years of famine, Joseph’s brothers are not seen. But during the seven years of famine, they are seen again and Joseph deals with them a second time. But we will note that Joseph’s dealings with his brothers only happens after he had married Asenath, his Gentile bride. And when he does deal with his brothers again, Asenath is not with him. And for Moses, from the time he fled from Egypt and went to Midian, where he then took a Gentile bride, until God sent him back to Egypt a second time, the Jewish people are not seen. But upon Moses return, the Jewish people become the sole focus. And again, we will note that Moses dealing with his brothers a second time only happened after he had married Zipporah and Zipporah did not return to Egypt with him. c). So then, once the seven years of famine began, and once Moses had encountered the burning bush, so Joseph’s brothers, the Jewish people take center stage again for the specific purpose of deliverance and restoration with rulership in view – Ge 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Ex 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. And what we will learn from these types is that from the time the Lord returned to the farthest recesses of the North at His ascension, where He will take a Bride, primarily from the Gentile nations, to the opening of the first seal on the seven-sealed scroll, the Jewish people are not dealt with, and Israel, the nation with God in their midst, cannot exist until the end of the tribulation. Until the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. God always works within the set times that He has established to fulfill His purpose. And He remains faithful to His Word. And He had promised this to Jacob – Ge 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” And as Jacob, then called Israel, was dying, he said this to Joseph – Ge 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And we see that Joseph had placed the children of Israel under ‘a solemn oath’, that they would take his bones with them when they were delivered from Egypt – Ex 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” And Joseph’s assurance of God visiting His people to enact Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and to bring about the people’s return to the land of their fathers, that gave rise to the solemn oath concerning his bones, was founded on the promise that God had given, that which God had said about a specific time, a time that Isaac and Jacob would have known also- Ge 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Acts 7:6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. Abraham’s descendants then, beginning with Isaac, would dwell as strangers in a land not theirs – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And ultimately Abraham’s descendants would go to Egypt and there they would be taken into bondage, and this complete period of time, for Abraham’s descendants, beginning with the birth of Isaac, would be four hundred years. And at the end of the four hundred years God’s promise was, ‘they shall come out with great possessions’ – Ex 12:35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. And the precision of God’s timing with respect to this is clearly stated a few verses later – Ex 12:40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Before we deal with the difference in the numbers here, let’s take very particular note that it was ‘on that very same day’. On the very day that brought to conclusion the time God had set in place, four hundred and thirty years for the sojourn of the children of Israel, that Israel was delivered from Egypt. Not the day before nor the day after, but ‘that very same day.’ d). So, why is there a difference in the numbers, four hundred and four hundred and thirty? Simply this, the four hundred years was for Abraham’s descendants, and these four hundred years began with the birth of Isaac, the first of Abraham’s descendants, when Abraham was one hundred years old. But the promise concerning the land was given to Abraham thirty years before this, before he left Ur of the Chaldeans. Verses we will be very familiar with – Ge 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Israel is ‘the great nation’ God promised to make from Abraham. At the time of the promise though there was still another thirty years until Isaac was born and even more time until Jacob, and the twelve sons. So, how can we account for the ‘sojourn’ of the children of Israel at a time before even Isaac was born? Again, this is quite simple to see if we follow the Scriptures. Look at what we find in - Heb 7:5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; [where did the children of Israel come from? The loins of Abraham] 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. [where was Levi, one of the children of Israel when Abraham met Melchizedek? In the loins of Abraham] And so, from what we see here in Hebrews Chapter 7, where would the children of Israel have been when God gave the promise to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12? In the loins of their father, Abraham. From God’s perspective then, the children of Israel existed in the loins of Abraham and were subsequently brought forth through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons. e). To tie all this together then, from the time God gave the promise to Abraham, extending to Israel in his loins, in Genesis Chapter 12, until the Exodus, was four hundred and thirty years. From the time of Isaac’s birth, the first of Abraham’s descendants, to the Exodus was four hundred years. And in both periods of time, the same people, the children of Israel, Abraham’s descendants, are in view, and the same terminal point is in view, deliverance from Egypt – Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, [than the promise in Genesis Chapter 12] cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. And the four hundred and thirty years of the sojourn of the children of Israel encompasses the time Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in the land of Canaan – Ex 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And it includes the time they ‘lived’ in Egypt before Joseph’s death - Ge 50:22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. And included the time they lived in Egypt following Joseph’s death when their persecution began – Ex 1:6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. We are not told how much time elapsed between the death of Joseph and the new Assyrian Pharaoh, but we do know that the persecution existed at the time of Moses’ birth, and that Moses was eighty years of age at the time of the Exodus. The one thing for us to be clear on here, so as to escape any Laodicean leftovers, is that the time Israel spent in bondage in Egypt is a small proportion of the four hundred and thirty years referenced in Exodus Chapter 12. f). And as we consider God’s precise timing for the Exodus, perhaps it will shed light on a statement made by Stephen in Acts Chapter 7 concerning Moses – Acts 7:25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. We had seen in Genesis Chapter 15 that God had told Abraham of the four hundred years for his descendants, and how at the end of this time they would be afflicted and then delivered. And we would have to assume that Abraham’s descendants knew this, including Moses. This would parallel the situation at the Lord’s first Advent when the Jewish people would have known through Daniel that there were four hundred and eighty-three years between the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah would be cut off. God’s timings are neither hidden nor obscured. And although there was no written record of what God had said to Abraham, we can know that these things were shared with those who are the heirs of the same promise, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons. g). And for the Jewish people in Egypt, even though they may have known of God’s timing, life continued. Conditions got worse for them, but their lives carried on as they had done for generations. And it remained this way until Moses returned from Midian, then things changed for them very rapidly. h). And what about ourselves, today? We are certainly not ignorant of God’s timings, but our lives continue as they have done for generations. And although things around us continue to deteriorate, our life goes on as it always has. What will we choose to do with God’s timing? When the Lord comes a second time, nothing for us will be the same again. i). Let’s return to the first generation of Israel who left Egypt on the very same day that the four hundred and thirty years came to an end, taking Joseph’s bones with them, because in this we find a picture of that future Day at the full end of the four hundred and ninety years, when the Jewish people who survive the tribulation, along with the resurrected OT saints, seen in Joseph’s bones, and will include Joseph, will be delivered from the Gentile nations to be returned to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in accordance with the promise given to Abraham, following judgment in the wilderness of the peoples. j). And before the second generation to come out of Egypt, still the descendants of Abraham, finally entered the land, God had told them again De 30:1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And once again, the fulfillment of that seen in these verses can only be brought to pass at the end of the four hundred and ninety years that God has specifically set in place to accomplish this, four hundred and ninety years that were revealed to Daniel at the end of the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. Four hundred and ninety years that were put on hold, with the final seven years remaining. k). And again, we see the same thing through the prophets, the descendants of Abraham, concerning captivity past and future – Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. The seventy years in Babylon, foreshadowing the conclusion of the four hundred and ninety years, bringing an end to the final worldwide captivity of the Jews – Zeph 3:19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, And gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame In every land where they were put to shame. 20 At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the LORD. By now, we will realize that God resuming His dealings with Israel once again, and their eventual return to the land after being delivered and restored is not at some random time yet future, but at the conclusion of an exact time – Da 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. God has been very clear in what He has said. He will gather His people from their captivity, and He will return them to their land. And there is a specific time, just as there was for the Exodus and the end of the Babylonian captivity, in which this will be accomplished. There is no doubt concerning this. And the final seven years of this specific time are just around the corner. The end of four hundred and ninety years, the end of the two days of the dispensation for Israel, the end of the six days given to mankind. The completion of the time that God had set in place in the foundation, exactly. 2). And if we now go back to the parable, we began with in Matthew Chapter 12, where we see the Jews returning to their land, which a remnant did in 1948, it is now very obvious that this return was apart from God’s timing and apart from His direction and not in fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures we have looked at. a). And as we think about what took place in 1948, we might find a somewhat parallel situation to one that had existed much earlier in Israel’s history – 1 Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. Israel’s desire to have a king ‘like all the nations’, recorded here in 1 Samuel Chapter 8, shows a desire to be no different from the Gentile nations of the world. Those who wanted this king wanted to be just like all the rest. And the remnant of Jews in the land today, who began returning in 1948, have desired to have a nation, ‘like all the nations.’ A desire to be assimilated into the geopolitical community, to find acceptance and influence for themselves within the kingdom of this world. And implicit in this choice, just as it was for those who wanted a king, is the rejection of the God of their fathers to reign over them. But contrary to their desire to be like all the nations, this is something that is completely impossible for them to accomplish, because of that which God has said – Nu 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations. Israel can never be reckoned among the nations as they are the only nation adopted as a firstborn son, the only nation with a God, even though estranged from Him at present. And the remnant having returned to the land in 1948 after this fashion can never find their God given place within the kingdom of this world and their actions in trying to do so in their own strength, without their Messiah, in conjunction with having returned before the ‘death of the High Priest’, not only portrays the lowest depths of spiritual bankruptcy to which they have fallen, as they continue to ignore God’s Word and engage in harlotry, but also places all Jews, not just the remnant in the land, in the gravest of dangers – Nu 35:26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. And on top of this there is an even greater depth of spiritual bankruptcy into which the Jews will descend in the near future as they make their covenant with the Antichrist, as Daniel’s seventieth week begins, a counterfeit of the new covenant that God will make with them, a covenant made with a counterfeit messiah – Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many [in Israel] for one week……. Jn 5:43 I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, [this is the Antichrist] him you will receive. Re 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. I hope we can appreciate the enormity of what it means for God’s covenant people to enter into a covenant with Satan’s son – Isa 28:15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” And the consequences for doing so – Isa 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. 17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. 19 As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report.” 20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. 21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon— That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act. 22 Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.