Genesis 15:13, commentary and pictures

God assured Abram in advance in vision amid a horror of great darkness that his descendants would be strangers in a land not theirs, serve its people and be afflicted four hundred years, and that afterward He would judge the nation they served and bring them out with great wealth and possessions. The four hundred years are years of sojourning and affliction, not four hundred years spent in Egypt, for the four hundred thirty years run from the call to leave Ur until the law at Sinai with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also sojourning in Canaan, the affliction beginning about thirty years later and leaving only about two hundred fifteen years actually in Egypt. It is also counted as four hundred years, or nearly four hundred years, of Egyptian servitude and grievous oppression ending with the Exodus. The delay was an act of long patience toward the Amorites, who were spared while their iniquity was not yet full until after more than four hundred years their probation ended and judgment came. God permitted the bondage because the descendants transgressed His law and turned toward idolatry, yet He did not forsake them but allowed distress to turn them back to Himself, to teach them patient trust in promised deliverance and to bring them out to be His peculiar treasure to obey His laws. At the appointed time He visited Egypt with fearful judgments, brought His people forth with silver, gold and clothing, and destroyed Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.

Promise Shown to Abraham

Know of a surety was God's sure word spoken to Abram in advance, telling him that his seed would be strangers in a land not theirs, would serve its people, and would be afflicted four hundred years. It was shown in vision amid a horror of great darkness, with the dark vision revealing their long, servile bondage before they were established in Canaan. The prophecy was given about four hundred years before its fulfillment, and its fulfillment is connected with Israel's years of bondage and departure from Egypt. It meant they would suffer before settlement and would not possess the promised land immediately.

The same revelation placed after the four hundred years God's judgment on the nation they served and their coming out with great substance. That deliverance included leaving with great wealth and possessions, with silver, gold and clothing obtained from the Egyptians. Despite Pharaoh's power God's word stood, and at the appointed time Israel came out of Egypt with great possessions, with Joseph's bones accompanying them as a reminder that the promise of deliverance had been fulfilled. The promise to judge the oppressors and bring them out with great wealth assured that the covenant was remembered and deliverance would come.

The smoking furnace pictured their affliction in Egypt, while the great darkness that fell made known the future bondage and long servile oppression in a foreign land. They were to return in the fourth generation to receive Canaan when the appointed time came. The land assigned to Abraham's descendants stretched from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.

Timing and Fulfillment

The four hundred years are years of sojourning and affliction, not four hundred years spent in Egypt. The four hundred and thirty years of sojourning run from the call to leave Ur until the giving of the law at Sinai, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also sojourned in Canaan as strangers. The four hundred years of affliction begin about thirty years later, around Ishmael's persecution of Isaac, so that the actual time in Egypt could have been only about two hundred and fifteen years.

In another reckoning the prediction is fulfilled as four hundred years of Egyptian servitude, and as nearly four hundred years of grievous oppression ending with the Exodus. The four hundred years are a fixed, predicted chronological period, told about four hundred years before its fulfillment. It is an example of a time-specific prophecy whose events were fulfilled in accordance with its prediction.

The bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh and the departure under Moses fulfill the foretold sojourn, service and affliction. The enslavement in Egypt fulfilled the setting of oppression in a foreign land that was not theirs, and the departure after years of bondage completed the history shown to Abraham in prophetic vision. That deliverance was remembered in Egypt, for the elders recalled the promise to encourage hope that God would soon break the oppressive yoke, though many seeing their suffering and the power of their oppressors doubted that God would free them. The fulfillment included judgment on the nation that enslaved them and coming out with great possessions, with silver, gold and clothing from the Egyptians.

The four hundred years of bondage ended at the appointed time by God's direct action despite Pharaoh's power, for God's word stood. He visited Egypt with fearful judgments and freed His people through a mighty display of His power, bringing them forth and destroying Pharaoh and his pursuing army in the Red Sea. They came out with great substance, wealth and possessions, and Joseph's bones went with them as a reminder that the promise of deliverance had been fulfilled. The smoking furnace had pictured their affliction, while the promise to judge their oppressors assured that God remembered His covenant. Yet even after that fulfillment, Israel on the border of the promised land dishonored God by giving way to unbelief.

Reason and Purpose

The four hundred years of strangerhood and affliction were also years of long patience toward the Amorites, whose iniquity was not yet full. They were spared while receiving evidence of the true God, and Israel was to receive Canaan in the fourth generation when the appointed time came. After more than four hundred years, when the Amorites had hardened themselves in evil and made war on God's people, their probation ended and judgment came. God keeps an exact record of guilt and offers mercy and calls to repentance until the fixed limit He has set is reached.

The bondage itself was punishment because the descendants transgressed God's law and apostatized. They lost their distinct, holy character by mingling with other nations and turning toward idolatry, becoming bondmen to an idolatrous nation. Famine had driven them to Egypt to preserve their lives, and God permitted their oppression there. Their Egyptian bondage came because of this unfaithfulness and inclination toward idolatry.

God did not forsake them in Egypt, but allowed their distress and trials to turn them back to Himself and His righteous government. They were not released without trials, but had to endure suffering and learn to trust patiently in the promised deliverance. When He brought them out they were a people newly freed from slavery and ready to be taught by Christ. He brought them out to take them to Himself as His peculiar treasure, so they could obey His laws and keep the Sabbath instituted at creation.

In bondage the elders recalled the promise to Abraham, together with Joseph's prophecy, to strengthen hope that God would soon break the oppressive yoke and bring them out of Egypt. Many Israelites, seeing their suffering and the power of their Egyptian oppressors, doubted that God would free them and lost hope. When the people humbled themselves, acknowledged God's dealings, and cried earnestly for deliverance from the yoke while promising to serve God and obey His law, their cries reached heaven. God answered in a wonderful manner by bringing Israel out of Egypt as His peculiar treasure.