(ThyBlackMan.com) Reuben had two sons by some woman, which may have been Bilhah, and not Serah. Judah begot Pharez and Zarah by Tamar, and also one surviving son by his Canaanite wife named Shuah. One son of Jacob married Dinah for a wife, which leaves 1 unnamed girl for one of the other brothers. That’s just four girls by the time Jacob died. The daughter of Judah’s wife Shuah, whom she had before marrying Judah, was sickly, and died unmarried after the trip to Goshen, and before Tamar conceived by tricking Judah.
Joseph had an Egyptian wife. Benjamin was born in 2051 BC and was only 23 when moving to Goshen. He couldn’t have had ten sons with him when coming to Egypt. None of them were identified as twins. I say that there was a mistranslation or copy error with Genesis chapter 46, and should read that there were 70 souls of Jacob in Egypt when Jacob died, in 2011 BC. Coming to Egypt, including Jacob, I count only 22 souls. Add to that the household of Joseph and his wife, I count only 26 Hebrews. Rachel died in Canaan at the age of 54, when giving birth to Benjamin. Leah later died in Canaan, before the year 2028 BC.
We go to Genesis 49:30-31
30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Rachel had to be buried in 2051 BC, at where Bethlehem would later be named. If Bilhah and Zilpah were 18 when they became handmaids to Leah and Rachel, they would be 70 if they entered Egypt. But none of Jacob’s wives and handmaids were counted in the tallying of the souls. So I surmise that they all died before Jacob entered into Egypt.
So, how long were the children of Israel in Egypt? The sojourn and enslavement were exactly 430 years, as written in Exodus 12:40-41, and Galatians 3:17. In Exodus 12:40, Moses’ usage of the word “sojourning”, should be interpreted as “temporary stay, from entrance to exit”, of the children of Jacob. Abraham and Isaac were not children of Jacob/Israel. So attributing any of the 400 years to Abraham or Isaac, is actually senseless. In Galatians 3:17, Paul is saying that the prophecy commenced when Jacob stood before the Hyksos Pharaoh, and completed 430 years later at Mt Sinai.
If speaking of the enslavement only, it was exactly 400 years to the day, as spoken by Yehovah in Genesis 15:13, and written in Acts 7:6. It was from Friday, April 25 1998 BC, to Friday, April 25 1598 BC. Wednesday April 23rd was the killing of the lambs and putting blood on the door posts for Passover. Thursday (Wednesday after Sunset) began the 7-day feast of unleavened bread. On Friday, April 25th, the children of Jacob began their march out from Egypt. On Sunday morning, April 27, was the first enactment of the Feast of First Fruits, when Israel acquired the bones of Joseph, to finally bury him in the land of Canaan 40+ years later. Concerning the word “Feast” as given to Israel, you should interpret it as “appointed time”. It is not a banquet.
It was a forty-seven day trip, ending on June 12, when Israel arrived at the base of Mt Sinai. After getting the mummy of Joseph, they went south for several days into the Eastern Desert south of Egypt. I surmise that Pharaoh’s army overtook them late Tuesday afternoon, May 8th, and Israel began the 1 ½ day crossing of the main body of the Red Sea late Tuesday evening. As Paul says in 1st Corinthians 10:2:
And they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
This was their “birth of the water”. After crossing the sea, they then came back north up the east coast to the Gulf of Aqaba, then into the interior of NW Saudi Arabia. On the third day after arriving at Mt Sinai, on Sunday June 15, 1598 BC, which was fifty days after getting the bones of Joseph, it was the first enactment of the day of Pentecost. This is when the Spirit spoke from the mountain top, and He gave Israel a new tongue, the new language of Hebrew. This was their “birth of the Spirit”. Israel subconsciously began to be able to speak in three languages. First the Canaanite language, then Egyptian, and lastly Hebrew. They lived in Canaan for 39 years, and in Egypt for 430 years. They spoke to the Canaanite harlot in Jericho without an interpreter, and became the only people to speak and write the language of Hebrew.
Yehovah had a systematic plan of salvation. He wanted to establish a national historic heritage for Yeshua to fulfil, where the people of that nation would look forward first to national deliverance, and then spiritual deliverance. The milestones of that process would be identified by the seven appointed times, known as “feasts”. Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Feast of Weeks, ending with Pentecost, are the feasts of the Spring, which Yeshua fulfilled at His first coming. On a future Day of Trumpets, Yeshua will fulfill it before His second coming, when He calls up the two witnesses. The Day of Atonement, and Feasts of Tabernacles (again), Yeshua will fulfill at His third coming. Bear in mind that the Feast of Tabernacles was fulfilled the first time at His birth.
Passover was the reminder that God passed over them after the shedding and posting of the lamb’s blood, and did smite their oppressors. Unleavened Bread was the reminder that bread was prepared and eaten in haste because they would leave their captivity in a rush. First Fruits would be a presentation to God given in thankfulness for what He had done, and a prayer for provisions in the future. The Day of Pentecost is a yearly reminder that God spoke to his people and that he has a set of rules he expected them to follow.
The Day of Trumpets is a yearly 2nd reminder of the day God shouted from the mountain, and that the day of the 2nd coming of the Messiah will come on a day that no man knows, which is the only feast that you have to wait and see when it occurs. The Day of Atonement is given as an avenue to obtain forgiveness or Judgment. Finally, the Feast of Tabernacles is the remembrance that Yehovah dwelled with Israel in the desert in the past, and Yeshua will dwell on Earth forever with all mankind in the future.
End of the series.
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Staff Writer; Herman Cummings
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