In my last post, I demonstrated how the principles behind the Torah given at Sinai were actually embedded in the earlier stories of the Patriarchs.
Today I want to show you how in Deuteronomy 24, we have laws directly connected to each of the four generations of Abraham.
This will help shed some light on the often-debated topic concerning God’s prophecy to Abraham that his descendants would be made slaves for four generations.
When debating this topic, the question that often comes up is “How long is a generation”?
However, that’s the WRONG question.
Instead, you should be asking “Exactly what IS a generation?“.
Let’s get started.
FIRST, we have the law against kidnapping, which is connected to Joseph who represents one of the generations after Abraham.
SECOND, we have the law connected to Miriam’s TZARA’AT (not leprosy but a skin condition of some sort) that represented the present generation during the time of the Exodus.
THIRD, we have the law concerning the pledge connected to Isaac and Rebecca (the pledge) which represents the generation immediately following Abraham.
FINALLY, within the same law about the pledge, we’re given the warning that returning the pledge (the garment or cloak) to the owner will counted as righteousness to the person who obeys this law.
Recall in Genesis 15:5, the Lord told Abraham that to trust in Him would be credited to him as righteousness.
Hence, this law of the pledge connects directly to Abraham which obviously represents the original and 1st generation.
Here are the four generations prophesied in order:
Abraham is the first generation.
Isaac is the second generation.
Jacob (aka Israel) is the third generation.
And Jacob’s 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel represent the 4th generation of Abraham.
It wasn’t until the 12 tribes (the fourth generation of Abraham) were fully established and had reached a certain level of fruitfulness and maturity that God decided to act to free them and bring them to the land he had promised to Abraham.
So what do we learn from all of this concerning the length of a generation?
Simple.
Biblically speaking, a generation isn’t so much about some specifically defined time period.
Rather it was about the incredible event that occurred with the 4th generation (the generation of the 12 tribes) that defined the prophecy when God said to Abraham…
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.'”-Genesis 15:13-16
In case you’re wondering, for a certain period of time the name “Amorites” was synonymous with name “Canaanites”.
The reason is because the Amorite culture became the dominant culture in the land of Canaan.
So although it says Amorites, God is referring to Canaan in verse 16 above.
I gather that the contents of today’s (and yesterday’s) article may have been a bit challenging for some of you folks to digest all at once.
Even if you weren’t able to get all of it, understand the main point I wanted to drive home is the living inseparableness of the WHOLE Word of God and why the gentile church’s determination to sever the Torah and what they call the “Old” Testament away from their doctrines was a huge mistake of gargantuan proportions.
The Torah is the foundation of our faith.
If that goes, so does our faith.
I’m done.
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