Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “U.S. Democracy in Danger?” The international media claims that the US government’s reaction to the release of documents by WikiLeaks is a greater threat to democracy than any information revealed. We hear of intolerable censorship and unconstitutional conduct. What is going on in America? Do we really have to fear for our individual liberties and freedom?

A new German sermon as posted on the Web, titled, “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 4” [“The World of Angels, Part 4”].

Would you please explain Mark 2:27-28? In what way is Jesus “Lord of the Sabbath?” Since man was not made for the Sabbath, can we therefore work on the Sabbath?

(Español: ¿Podría explicar Marcos 2:27-28? ¿De qué manera es Jesús el “Señor del sábado”? Ya que el hombre no fue creado para el sábado, ¿podemos por lo tanto trabajar en el sábado?)

To answer these and related questions, it is important to explain some of the background and to look at the context of the Scripture.

Jesus said that He did not come to do away with the Law of God (Matthew 5:17). He told a young ruler that he was required to keep the commandments of God if he wanted to enter into eternal life (Matthew 19:16-17). He then listed many of the Ten Commandments, so that there could be no doubt what “Law” he was referring to (verses 18-19). James, half-brother of Jesus Christ, later stated that we are a transgressor of the entire Law of God, if we violate just one of His commandments (James 2:10). He clearly identified the “Law” as the Ten Commandments, quoting two of the Ten (verse 11). In the letter to the Hebrews, we find the express confirmation of the ongoing validity of the Sabbath commandment, when we read: “It is therefore the duty of the people of God to keep the Sabbath” (Hebrews 4:9, Lamsa Bible).

Whatever the meaning of Mark 2:27-28 may be, we can already safely state from this overview that Jesus did not teach the abolishment of the Sabbath—the fourth of the Ten Commandments.

Since Christ said that He did not come to abolish, but to fulfill the Law, He did not at the same time come to abolish the rules and regulations defining how to keep the Sabbath. The Fourth Commandment says very clearly that we are not to do servile or customary work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). As God rested on the seventh day from His ordinary work of creating plants, animals and men, so we are to rest from our ordinary labor and to be spiritually refreshed on the Sabbath.

Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. It was God’s gift to man. It was not supposed to be a burden, but a blessing. As God blessed and sanctified for holy use the seventh day (Genesis 2:3), He did so for man, so man will be blessed when he properly keeps and enjoys the seventh day.

However, the Pharisees at the time of Jesus Christ had made a burden out of the Sabbath. Their motives might have been good, but the result was catastrophic. They remembered that the Assyrians and Babylonians had enslaved the ancient houses of Israel and Judah because of their idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. They wanted to make sure that the people would not again break the Sabbath. In trying to accomplish this, they added many rules and restrictions to God’s Sabbath commandment, reasoning that one had to break first those restrictions, before reaching the core of the Sabbath Law, and that it would be very difficult to peel off the layers of their man-made rules to ever reach the substance of the Law.

They felt that these additional man-made rules constituted a “fence” to protect the substance of the Sabbath. They reasoned that no one would violate the heart and core of the Sabbath Law if they were prevented from breaking certain provisions that “fenced in,” and thereby “protected,” the Fourth Commandment. As stated, their motives might have been laudable, but they had in effect placed a yoke on the people which they were not able to bear.

To give you a better understanding as to the nature of these burdensome pharisaical rules and regulations, we are quoting a brief excerpt from our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days”:

“The Pharisees totally misinterpreted the prohibition against carrying burdens on the Sabbath. They decreed that a person was guilty of breaking the Sabbath if he carried a sheet of paper, or any food that weighed as much as a dried fig, or if he carried more than one swallow of milk, or enough oil to anoint a small part of the body. If a fire broke out in a person’s home on the Sabbath, he could carry out only the necessary food to be consumed on the Sabbath. This meant that if the fire broke out at the beginning of the Sabbath—right after sunset—the person could take out enough food for three meals; but if the fire broke out on the afternoon of the Sabbath, he could only take out enough food for one meal. The rest could not be carried out and had to be left behind, to burn with the building. Further, only necessary clothes could be taken out of a burning house on the Sabbath.”

Jesus came to make God’s Law great and honorable (Isaiah 42:21) —to show the spiritual intent of the Law. He confronted the Pharisees on many occasions regarding their restrictive interpretations of the Sabbath command. He chided them for transgressing the Law of God to uphold their own traditions (Mark 7:8-9). As stated, God intended the Sabbath to be a blessing for man, not a curse or a burden. In light of this understanding, Christ healed many sick people on the Sabbath—but the Pharisees condemned Him for that, claiming that He should heal them during the six days of the week, but not on the Sabbath. Their idea was that a sick man could not be freed from illness on the Sabbath—preventing him from really enjoying the intent of the Sabbath Law. But Jesus declared to them powerfully and unequivocally: “… it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12).

At the same time, the Pharisees’ interpretation and practices lacked in consequential teaching and application. They would allow a baby to be circumcised on the Sabbath—if the eighth day after birth fell on the Sabbath–but they would not allow a sick person to be healed on the Sabbath. They would also allow an ox which had fallen into the pit to be rescued on the Sabbath, or to water their animals on the Sabbath, but they would not allow the healing of a human being on the Sabbath, who was created in the image of God.

In addition, they criticized the disciples of Christ for plucking the heads of grain on the Sabbath, to satisfy their hunger (Mark 2:23-24; Matthew 12:1-2). It was their position that they should rather go hungry than to pluck a few heads of grain, falsely interpreting such conduct as prohibited “harvesting.”

It was this kind of environment and philosophy that Jesus was addressing, when He made the profound statements in Mark 2:27-28: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

In the parallel account of Matthew 12, He adds the following: “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (verses 6-8). As an aside, the word “even” is not in the original Greek and was added by the translator.

Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man—the One greater than the Temple—the Lord of the Sabbath. As we have seen in a previous Q&A [“Did Jesus Exist Prior to His Human Birth?”] it was He who created the Sabbath. We read that God the Father created everything through and by Jesus Christ—and that includes man and the Sabbath. Jesus created the Sabbath for man, and as the Lord of the Sabbath, He can tell us with authority how to keep it. The discussion did not evolve around whether or not to keep it—Jesus kept the Sabbath, as was His custom (Luke 4:16). Later, Paul kept the Sabbath, as was his custom (Acts 17:2), and he told Gentile converts in Corinth to follow or imitate him as he followed Christ (compare 1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1). Christ never allowed or authorized man to change the Sabbath to Sunday. In fact, He condemns this kind of religious worship (compare Matthew 5:19). Those who think they can worship God the Father and Jesus Christ on Sunday, instead of the Sabbath—thereby upholding their own traditions, while transgressing and abolishing the commandments of God—are engaging in a kind of worship which is NOT acceptable to God (Matthew 15:7-9, 13-14).

Christ placed mercy over strict pharisaical restrictions, pointing out that David ate from the showbread of the temple, when he was hungry, although it was not “lawful” for him to eat it (Matthew 12:3-4). But Christ did not condemn David for this. He also taught that the priests in the temple had to fulfill their responsibilities on the Sabbath, which—according to pharisaical consequential reasoning–would have been tantamount to “breaking” or “profaning” the Sabbath, but Christ said they were “blameless” in doing so (Matthew 12:5). When today God’s ministers “work” on the Sabbath in preparing and delivering sermons, they are equally blameless and guiltless.

On the other hand, Christ did not teach that we can violate God’s Sabbath by just trampling it under foot—by working in our jobs to earn a living and by pursuing our own pleasures and hobbies. Isaiah 58:13 states to you (according to the New International Version) that you are to “keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day” and to “call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable” and to “honor it by not doing as you please or speaking idle words.” The Living Bible clarifies that “doing as you please” refers to “your own fun and business.”

Yet, in emergencies, we can and should take care of our personal needs, but this does not mean that we should create emergencies in the first place, so that we can then “break” the Sabbath in order to take care of them. We are not to throw a sheep into the ditch on Friday so that we can rescue it on the Sabbath day.

Jesus is the LORD of the Sabbath. He tells us with authority that we must keep it—and how to do so. Jesus made the Sabbath for MAN (not just the Jew), to be a blessing for man. The Sabbath was not made to be a curse or a burden for us. Man was not made for the Sabbath, to be under a cruel and merciless pharisaical yoke. The Pharisees, through their legalistic approach, had placed undue restrictions on the Sabbath, teaching in effect that man was made for the Sabbath. But Jesus came to show that the Sabbath was made FOR man, to be joyfully observed and to be called “a delight.” In keeping the Sabbath properly, we draw closer to God and are reminded of His great love for us, who created us in the first place with the potential of entering His very Family. See our recent Q&A, “Why was man created?”

None of His commandments are to be viewed as a burden for us (1 John 5:3). Rather, God’s love in us enables us to keep all of His commandments properly and from the heart (2 John 6). God’s entire Law is an expression of His love, and God IS love (1 John 4:8).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Today’s News in Bible Prophecy.” During a widely-published insightful interview, former influential German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt placed the world on notice as to what will transpire soon in important news developments. Amazingly, many of his predictions match biblical prophecy. But is the world listening? 

Norbert Link’s new sermon, “Rome’s Revivals,” was posted on the web.

A new German sermon was posted on the Web, titled “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 3” [“The World of Angels, Part 3”].

Why was man created?

In previous Q&As, we discussed the nature of God—that God is a ruling and governing Family—the “Kingdom of God”—consisting of two Spirit beings, the Father and the Son. We also learned that the Holy Spirit is not God or a Person, but the power of God, emanating from both the Father and the Son. Please see for further information:

“Was Jesus an Angel?”

“Did Jesus Exist Prior to His Human Birth?”

“Who Was Jesus?”

“Two Gods?”

“Is the Holy Spirit God?”

In this Q&A, we want to explain the fact that God is a GROWING Family. He wants to enlarge His Family by bringing many sons and daughters into His Family. When God gives His Holy Spirit to His followers, they become BEGOTTEN members of His Family. Those who are called to salvation in this day and age will be BORN into His Family—thereby becoming Spirit beings and full-fledged God beings—at the time of Christ’s return.

We need to begin our discussion on the destiny of man by briefly addressing first the “born again” question.

Most professing Christians and even some members of the true Church of God are confused about this vital question of “being born again.” They sincerely believe that they are already born again today. But they are sincerely wrong. The Bible does not teach this. Our free booklet, “Are You Already Born Again?”, explains in much detail from the Bible WHEN true Christians become “born again.” For space limitations, we can only quote a few excerpts from this booklet, but we strongly recommend that you read or re-read it in its entirety:

“In John 3, Jesus Christ explained… that no human being could be IN the Kingdom of God, and that in order to enter God’s Kingdom, one had to become a Spirit being—a member of the God Family… Jesus answered Nicodemus in John 3:3, 5–6, 8: ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit… The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit’…

“Christ could not possibly have spoken about a ‘born again’ experience in this physical life. Notice it again: One who is born of the Spirit IS spirit. He is like the wind which cannot be seen but can be felt—like a powerful hurricane or tornado. Christ also said that unless one is born again, he could not see nor enter the Kingdom of God. In other words, as long as someone is flesh and blood—not spirit—he cannot see or enter God’s Kingdom…

“Although we will be born again at the time of our resurrection or our change to immortality, something else must happen first so that we CAN become born again. The Bible describes this prior event as spiritual conception or ‘begettal.’ Simply put, before we can be born again, we must be begotten again—a spiritual begettal. This spiritual begettal takes place at the time of our baptism, after repentance, and after coming to an understanding of, and belief in, Christ’s sacrifice and the gospel of the Kingdom of God. At the time of baptism we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands, as a down payment—a guarantee (Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:5)— of our ultimate new birth at our resurrection to spirit…

“With the receipt of God’s Spirit, we acquire God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), but there is still another step in the process. Just as an embryo must grow and develop, we must also grow spiritually and develop the fruit of the Spirit—the actual character of God. God considers those who have received His Spirit as being His children (2 Corinthians 6:17–18). Finally, Spirit-begotten children become SEPARATE SPIRIT BEINGS upon being born again—at their resurrection and change to immortality…

“Notice Luke 20:35–36: ‘But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, BEING SONS OF THE RESURRECTION.’ We will be born-again children of God when we have been resurrected—not before then. Christ calls us the ‘sons of the resurrection’ for a reason!”

Many claim, erroneously, that the Greek word, translated “born,” refers to a BIRTH prior to Christ’s return. However, they are mistaken. The Greek word is “gennao” and means, “born” or “begotten”—depending on the context—and it can even describe the process from “begotten” to “being born”—the process of the entire “pregnancy,” lasting from conception until delivery. It is strictly the translator’s choice to use the word “born” or “begotten,” when translating the Greek word, “gennao,” but when the word “birth” is used for and applied to the “pregnancy” prior to the actual time of the “delivery,” then the translator made the wrong choice. In every such case, the expressions for “begotten” should have been used.

What will actually happen to true Spirit-BEGOTTEN Christians, when they will be BORN AGAIN or BORN ANEW at the time of Christ’s return? What is their destiny? Why was man created in the first place, and why were Christians begotten with the Holy Spirit?

Please note the following quotes from chapter 8 of our free booklet, “The Mysteries of the Bible”:

“1 John 3:1–2 tells us: ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’

“God’s Word says that we will be LIKE Him. Many translations… state that we will be ‘equal with Him.’ To most people, the very concept that we can be ‘like’ or ‘equal with’ God is a great mystery! But Colossians 1:15 explains to us that Christ ‘is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.’ The Greek word for ‘image’ is ‘eikon.’ It means, ‘likeness, representation, profile.’ Christ said that he who sees Him sees the Father.

“As Christ is the image of God the Father, so we are to become the image of Christ. Romans 8:29 says: ‘For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.’… Paul elaborates further on the fantastic future change of man in 2 Corinthians 3:18: ‘But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord’…

“We will actually become God, that is, a God being—a full and total image of God the Father and Jesus Christ, much like a physical child is often recognized as being an image of his or her parents. Those who are called and chosen in this day and age are already [begotten] children of God, awaiting their change to a full Spirit being at the return of Christ.”

Our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God,” explains in much more detail what is in store for true Christians at the time of Christ’s return:

“Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15:50: ‘Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.’ Are you still human? If so, you cannot inherit the Kingdom of God as you are. So then, how can we enter the Kingdom?… Paul explains in verses 51 and 52: ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery…we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ That is, how we can enter the Kingdom of God. Our human bodies need to be changed. But changed to what?

“Verses 42-49: ‘So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…(verse 47) The first man [Adam] was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man [Jesus Christ] is the Lord from heaven…(verse 49) And as we have borne the image of the man of dust [human], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [spirit].’

“… the Bible is very clear that whoever is in the Kingdom of God must actually be God. We must become God beings, sharing in Christ’s glory, the firstborn of many brethren. That is indeed a mystery that only very few understand today—that God is a Family, consisting presently of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, but that God is enlarging His Family. We are already called His children, but we have not been glorified yet. And when we are glorified at the time of our resurrection to eternal life, we will be entering the Kingdom of God, as literal God beings, as glorified sons and daughters of God, made immortal… God the Father tells Jesus Christ in Genesis 1:26, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’ God is a Family, and when He created man, He began His awesome work of adding to His Family…That we are to become members of the God Family, or God beings, is clearly taught…

“In Psalm 17:15, we read about man’s potential: ‘As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.’ David understood that we will look like God when we are resurrected. Also [Philippians] 3:20-21: ‘For our citizenship is in heaven… [Our names are written in heaven, where God is. We belong to Him, we are His children. We belong to a different country, a heavenly government, which will come down to this earth when Christ returns.]…from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.’ We already read that we shall bear the image of Christ, we will look like He does, in His glorified state.

“But more than that—we will actually BE GOD BEINGS…Those of you who are familiar with us know that we have been preaching this truth for a long time. Herbert W. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Church of God in the 20th century, wrote a book entitled, ‘Mystery of the Ages.’ On page 170, he wrote: ‘Consider why God created mankind in the first place. God is reproducing Himself through man. He is creating in Man God’s own perfect holy and righteous spiritual character. And that, in turn, is purposed to restore the government of God over all the earth. And further, to create BILLIONS OF GOD BEINGS …’

“This knowledge that it is man’s potential to become God has also been understood by several Christian authors over the centuries. In her book, ‘A History of God,’ former Catholic nun Karen Armstrong [not related to Herbert Armstrong], quotes several early professing Christian writers who believed and taught this truth. She writes on page 98: ‘Clement [of Alexandria, ca. 150-215 A.D.] also believed that Jesus was God… If Christians imitated Christ, they too would become deified: divine, incorruptible and impassable. Indeed, Christ had been the divine logos, who had become man, “so that you might learn from a man how to become God.”’

“She also quotes, on page 129, Maximus the Confessor, who lived from ca. 580-662, as saying, ‘The word was made flesh in order that “the whole human being would become God, deified by the grace of God become man.”’

“Theophilus (A.D. 115-181) wrote: ‘A man, by keeping the directions of God, may receive from Him immortality…and become God.’

“Further, the most recent Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, which was published in 1994 under the auspices of Pope John Paul II, states that the official Catholic position is, that man is to become God. Now this might not be very well known even among Catholics, but here are some quotes from the Catechism: “…For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods”’(pp. 128-129, Section 460. The last quote is attributed to Thomas of Aquinas.).”

The Bible reveals that God IS a Family, and that man has the potential to enter the God Family—the Kingdom of God—as born again members and Spirit beings. It is man’s potential to become God—to become, in that sense, “equal” with God. This is a great mystery which has been hidden from the overwhelming majority of non-Christians and professing Christians alike, but from time to time, certain aspects of this knowledge were understood and communicated.

Today, the true Church of God is preaching and proclaiming this tremendous understanding in all the world as a witness to all nations. True converted Christians, who are still alive at the time of Christ’s return, will be changed from physical beings to immortal God beings. They will become born-again members of the very Family of God. The same is true for those who died in Christ and who will be resurrected from the dead, when Christ returns. They will also enter the Family of God as immortal God beings at that time.

Those who have lived and died before Christ’s return, without ever having had an opportunity to accept Christ as their personal Savior and to receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, will be given such an opportunity at a later time—during the Second Resurrection or the “Great White Throne Judgment” period (compare Revelation 20:11-12). At that time, they can also fulfill their potential—if they make the right choice—to become immortal God beings in the Family of God. THAT IS why God created all of mankind—to become GOD–born-again members of the FAMILY OF GOD.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A memorial service for Lois Bargar will be held on January 16, 2011, commencing at 1:00 pm, at the Ramona Women’s Club. For further information, please contact Johanna Link (Johanna.Link@cox.net; 760-788-8033).

The member letter for December was sent out this week. In the letter, Norbert Link addresses the unchristian nature of Christmas and some of the reasons why true Christmas don’t participate in Christmas celebrations, but he also raises the question of how many times we might be engaging in other unchristian conduct, perhaps without realizing it.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Trust in the USA Gone.” The release of secret diplomatic memos by Wikileaks caused incalculable damage for the USA. Notwithstanding some nice lip services from embarrassed politicians, the overall consensus in the European media is that the revelations are “a disaster for America,” “hugely damaging” and “a political meltdown for US foreign policy”; and that they “expose the superpower’s weaknesses” and “create a crisis for German-American relations” with “unpredictable consequences.” One German paper wrote that “America’s reserve of trust is empty” and those documents are “like a weapon of mass destruction on the last traces of trust.” Why is all of this happening? The answer, even though VERY clear, might surprise you.

Our new booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians,” has entered the finalization stage.

A new AufPostenStehen program was posted on the Web, titled, “Kein Euro Crash” (“No Euro Crash”) 

A new German sermon was posted on the Web, titled, “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 2” (“The World of Angels, Part 2).”

The Best Candidate

by Shelly Bruno

Through the years, I’ve had friends and family members who I felt would be great additions to God’s family. A close friend who is extremely zealous for God, a coworker who has admirable Christian dedication, or the family member I simply want to share the truth with. I could reason and justify why they would make good candidates, because they seem to possess godly character. Their positive qualities appear so plain to see—so why doesn’t God see those characteristics?

Pray as I might for others to come to the Truth, the fact is that God calls whom He wants, according to His timeframe. And I’ve realized I must be thankful for this fact. I see only the outward person—which is not as reliable as the way God sees the inward person.

I wonder if other true Christians look at me as a good candidate for God’s family. Am I exhibiting the characteristics they would deem worthy? I need to make sure that I, too, am a good candidate for God’s family, by living up to His expectations for my calling.

I’ll continue praying for those I hope will be called today, but I can also take comfort in the fact that soon, every person will be given an opportunity to have the same precious gift that I have been given—an understanding of God’s truth.

How long were the Israelites in Egypt before beginning their journey to the promised land of Canaan? I have heard several numbers such as 210, 215, 400 and 430 years. What can be proven from the Bible?

To best answer this, we want to look first at a more general time frame, by reviewing both Old and New Testament Scriptures. In Galatians 3:16-17, we read, “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. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.”

Many believe that this should be reckoned from the first time that God expressed His intentions to Abram when he was 75 years old (compare Genesis 12:1-4). But there are two important points that we can glean from Paul in the Scripture above that will show that this may not be the case.

Firstly, he uses the name “Abraham” and not “Abram.” Abram was his name at the time God first talked to him in Genesis 12 as well as through the next 24 years of his life. This means that the first two covenants that God made with this man were during the time he was called Abram. In Genesis 15:18 we find the first covenant or agreement, and the second one is mentioned at the beginning of Genesis 17. Interestingly enough, in the first four verses of this chapter God makes the covenant with Abram and then in the very next verse He changes Abram’s name to Abraham (verse 5). Technically then, Galatians 3 is not citing one of the first two agreements with Abram, but rather referencing one of the subsequent covenants with Abraham.

(For further information on the covenants which God made with Abram or Abraham, please read our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound…”).

Secondly, the context of Galatians 3:16-17 was the covenant confirmed in “THE SEED”—Jesus Christ. This would therefore rule out the covenants God made with Abraham in Genesis 17, which included merely physical blessings for the SEEDS or descendants of Abraham, as well as the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:10; Acts 7:8). This is in no way related to what Paul was talking about. However, when we come to the final covenant in Genesis 22:18, we find something that was not previously promised, THE Seed. The verse reads, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Acts 3:25-26 refers to this statement specifically as a covenant: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” It also clarifies that the Seed that would truly do all the blessing would be Christ.

This brings us back to Galatians 3:16-17 where Paul has reiterated the fact that the Seed is Christ. Therefore, when he writes “the covenant that was confirmed before by God IN CHRIST,” it seems obvious that it can only refer to the FINAL Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 22. This then gives us a starting point for the 430 years.

The 430 years in Galatians 3 are an allusion to Exodus 12:40-41 which states, “Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 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.”

The problem that some often have with this passage is that they assume this is stating that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years. What it is actually saying is that the Israelites, the off-spring of Abraham, who had lived in Egypt, sojourned 430 years; they temporarily dwelt in several areas, and only one of them was Egypt.

According to the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary, the Septuagint renders it thus: “The sojourning of the children and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt.” This naturally makes it clearer that the 430 years include time leading up to the beginning of the residency of the Israelites in Egypt. This can be further substantiated by the fact that the time between the commencement of the covenant until Jacob (who became Israel) and his family moved into Egypt was spent in many different places in the land of Canaan:

Immediately after the final covenant of Genesis 22, Abraham returned to Beersheba (Genesis 22:19); 37 years after the birth of Isaac, Sarah died and was buried in the land of Canaan (Genesis 23:1-2); Abraham was buried in Machpelah (Genesis 25:9) with Sarah (Genesis 49:31), and shortly thereafter Isaac moved to Beer Lahai Roi (Genesis 25:11), which, according to John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, was near the wilderness of Beersheba and Paran. In fact, we read in Genesis 26:1-6 that Isaac was specifically told not to go down to Egypt, but rather remain in Gerar. After a conflict with the locals, Isaac returned to Beersheba (Genesis 26:23). Years later, Jacob fled from Esau and went to Haran (Genesis 28:13), which was in Syria, the opposite direction of Egypt (Hosea 12:12).

After his time there, Jacob and his family (the Israelites) returned to his homeland of Canaan (Genesis 31:13, 18; 33:18). After the incident with his daughter Dinah, God directed Jacob to Bethel, still in the land of Canaan (Genesis 35:1). After moving around in that immediate area (Genesis 35:16, 21), Jacob later caught up with his father at Mamre or Kirjath Arba, where Sarah had died (Genesis 35:27). We read in Genesis 37:1 that at the time when Joseph was being sold into slavery, Jacob was still in the land of Canaan. This is also the area from where Joseph’s ten brothers came, when a famine affected them, forcing them to seek food in Egypt and eventually move there.

How do we understand Genesis 15:13 which quotes God as saying 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.”

Most commentaries agree that the time span of 400 years does NOT refer to the sojourning of Israel IN EGYPT.

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible states:

“Four hundred years are to elapse before the seed of Abram shall actually proceed to take possession of the land. This interval can only commence when the seed is born; that is, at the birth of Isaac [that is, it cannot begin prior to that; but does not have to necessarily begin at that time, see our comments below] … During this interval they are to be, ‘first, strangers in a land not theirs’…; and then for the remaining… years in Egypt: at first, servants, with considerable privilege and position; and at last, afflicted serfs, under a hard and cruel bondage.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible adds:

“…this term ‘four hundred years’ is not to be joined either with the word ‘afflict’ or ‘serve’; for their hard servitude and severe affliction did not last [that] long…; but with the phrase, ‘a stranger in a land not theirs’; and the rest is to be included in a parenthesis thus, and ‘thy seed shall be a stranger in the land not theirs (and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years’; so long they should be strangers and sojourners, as they were partly in the land of Canaan, and partly in the land of Egypt, neither of which were in their own land, however not in possession; within which space of time they would be in a state of subjection and servitude, and be greatly afflicted and oppressed, as they were particularly by the Egyptians before their deliverance from them…”

We have seen, then, that it is very well documented that before the Israelites moved to Egypt, they had sojourned in and around the land of Canaan. The other significant fact in Exodus 12 is that the 430 years ended on the same day that the Exodus began. By examining these preceding two sets of Scriptures in Galatians 3 and Exodus 12, it appears that the 430 years refer to the time span between the execution of the final covenant with Abraham (in Genesis 22) and the moment when the Israelites left the enslavement of Egypt.

In this context, we need to discuss the ages, as they are recorded in the Bible, since they formulate a significant length of time. We know that the age of Jacob, when he and his family entered Egypt, was 130 (Genesis 47:9). Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born. How old was Isaac at the time of Genesis 22 when Abraham was about to offer him as a sacrifice and God subsequently made a final covenant with Abraham?

The Bible does not give enough information to pin down Isaac’s exact age with any reasonable accuracy. What we do know is that the event occurred between the time that Isaac was weaned and when his mother died. At that time, Isaac was approximately 37 years old (compare Genesis 21:8; 23:2). However, many scholars do not agree on the age of weaning (stating that it occurred somewhere between the ages of 2 and 5, and even then they are just making an “educated” guess). There are other factors that may or may not come into play in narrowing down Isaac’s age at the time when Abraham was willing to sacrifice him, but we will leave it as a broad spectrum to ensure that we are within the parameters as outlined in the Bible.

In all likelihood Jacob was not exactly to the day 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt, nor is it likely that Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac on his 60th birthday. This fact can be readily confirmed, when reviewing other biblical genealogies, where the month is omitted – much in the same way that adults speak today when telling their age. This being the case and depending on their rules of rounding ages in ancient times, the final number we are looking for could be off by several years, depending on whether we add together the actual or rounded ages.

From this information we can calculate the duration of how long the Israelites dwelt in Egypt. We need to subtract from 430 years (the length of time from the final covenant with Abraham until Israel LEFT Egypt) the length of time from the final covenant until ENTERING Egypt. The formulas (since we are using a range for Isaac’s age of 3 to 37 years) are:

430-(60-3)-130=243

430-(60-37)-130=277

By adding and subtracting up to 3 years to each end of the solution (to compensate for any extra months not included in the ages of Isaac and Jacob), it would appear that the Israelites were in Egypt for somewhere between 240 to 280 years. While men such as Dr. Bullinger, in his Companion Bible, and Bishop Usher’s dating set the time span at 215 years for the children of Israel being in Egypt, other researchers do offer different conclusions; however, most chronologies seem to conclude that both the 400 years of Genesis 15:13 (also, Acts 7:6) and the 430 years of Exodus 12:40 (also, Galatians 3:17) refer to the more general period, encompassing time on both sides of the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt.

Rome’s Revivals

On December 11, 2010, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Rome’s Revivals.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A new member letter was written and will be sent out early next week.

Our new booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians,” has entered the final review cycle.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Will the Euro Survive?” Some predict that the euro-zone will disintegrate and that the euro is finished. But what would be the practical consequences, if the euro-zone countries were to abandon the euro and replace it with national currencies? Why do some feel that such a scenario is “massively unlikely” and “unrealistic”? Why do they conclude that the euro will remain one of the “world’s most important currencies”?

Norbert Link’s recent video-recorded sermon, “The New Covenant,” was posted on the Web.

A new German sermon was posted on the Web, titled, “Die Welt der Engel, Teil 1” (“The world of Angels, Part 1”).

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