RESPONSE TO ASSERTION #3 of Metaphorical Mephisto

 

The following is an extract from the article “Metaphorical Mephisto” (http://www.nabion.org/html/metaphorical_mephisto.html)

that is critiquing the Biblical Calendar:

   Camping’s desire to conform his genealogies to his Codex Leningradis reading of “430 years in Egypt” is a prime example of his unschooled foundation. Historically, and biblically, “430 years in Egypt” cannot be regarded as being the original and unchallenged reading. The Septuagint, the bible of the New Testament era, read and still reads “430 years were they in the land of Canaan and Egypt.” This reading appears to be the accepted reading even by Paul, for in Galatians he says: “That the law which came 430 after cannot disannul . . .” He regarded Horeb as coming 430 years after the promise given to Abraham upon entering Canaan. Camping is aware of this Galatians reading, of course, but it confounds him only briefly. He assumes there must have been a reiteration of the promise to Abraham before entering Egypt. Pure imagination.

The assertion made above is:

 

The KJV translation is inaccurate when it states that Israel spent 430 years in Egypt because the covenant made with Abraham was given 430 years before the Law was given on Sinai (Horeb) (Gal 3:17) and so the 430 years must have included the time that Abraham received the covenant through Israel’s leaving Egypt in 1447 BC when the law was given. Thus the stay in Egypt was much less than 430 years.

 

 

The verses in question are:

 

Ex 12:40  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

Ex 12:41  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

Ga 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

 

When was the covenant mentioned in Gal 3:17 first given?

 

 

 

When Abraham was 99 years old in 2068 BC:

 

Ge 17:7  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Ge 17:8  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. {wherein…: Heb. of thy sojournings}

 

See Biblical Calendar page 13

 

When was the covenant next reiterated?

 

It was given to Abraham’s seed –Isaac when he was 40 years old in 2027 BC:

 

Gen 26:1  And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

2  And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

3  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

4  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

5  Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

 

See Biblical Calendar page 13

 

 

 

When was the covenant reiterated once more?

 

It was reiterated to Jacob just after his 100th birthday in 1907 BC in Bethel (Luz) just after Jacob returned to Canaan from his uncle Laban:

 

Ge 35: 9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

14  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

 

Ge 48: 3  And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

4  And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

 

See Biblical Calendar page 14

 

 

 

What was the final reiteration before the giving of the Law?

 

It was made again to Jacob (Israel) as he was 130 years old when he was about to come into Egypt in 1877 BC:

 

Ge 46: 1  And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

2  And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

3  And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

4  I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

 

 See Biblical Calendar page 14

 

 

So the last reiteration of the Abrahamic covenant was made to Israel (Jacob), the grandson of Abraham via Isaac (God having given all three fathers of faith the promise) in 1877 BC exactly 430 years before the law was given on Horeb/Sinai in 1447 BC! Thus the Bible is true and we can depend on it. These truths are known through the calendar and only the calendar and so we know that the Septuagint and the writer of the article are in gross error in this matter.

 

THE END

Click here for Home

Click here for Personal Studies