Answers to common questions about our To the Watchmen article series and the key topics it explores, including biblical chronology, end-times prophecies, and prophetic timelines.
When did the “Sojourn of the Sons of Israel” begin?
Moses wrote that on the day of the Exodus, the sojourn of the sons of Israel had been 430 years long (Exodus 12:40). The question is, when did that sojourn begin? The most common view is that it started with Abraham, but Abraham is not a son of Israel– he is Israel’s grandfather.
Our theory is that the answers lies with the date that the sons of Israel came into existence. When Jacob and his sons left Laban in Haran and made their way to Canaan, Father changed Jacob’s name to Israel. And, on that day, the sons of Jacob became the sons of Israel, thus starting the clock on the 430 year sojourn of the sons of Israel that Moses describes.
Here’s how this theory aligns with the information in the Scriptures.
Genesis 41-45 tells us the following:
Joseph was 30 years old when he became ruler in Egypt;
There were seven years of plenty, then seven years of famine;
All Israel arrived in Egypt in the second year of the famine.
This tells us that Joseph was 38 years old when all Israel arrived in Egypt.
Joseph’s Age
Event
30
Year 1 of plenty
31
Year 2 of plenty
32
Year 3 of plenty
33
Year 4 of plenty
34
Year 5 of plenty
35
Year 6 of plenty
36
Year 7 of plenty
37
Year 1 of the famine
38
Year 2 of the famine
As you can see above, when Joseph was 38, it was the second year of the famine, and, according to our theory, it was also the first year of Israel’s 400 years in Egypt since the Scriptures say they arrived in Egypt in the second year of the famine.
Our theory is that the 430-year sojourn of the sons of Israel started when they left Haran. They spent the first 30 years in Canaan, then 400 years in Egypt. In order for that theory to hold water, if Joseph was 38 in the first year of Israel’s 400 years in Egypt, he must have been eight when they left Haran and became the sons of Israel.
Is it reasonable to assume that Joseph was eight when they left Haran? Yes!
Here’s what the Scriptures say (Genesis 29-31):
Jacob worked for Laban for 20 years: 14 years wherein he received his wives as wages, plus an additional six years wherein he received flocks as wages.
Jacob was unmarried for the first seven years that he worked for Laban.
Joseph was the last of 11 sons born before Jacob started his last six years working for Laban.
This means that Jacob had all his sons in Years 8-14 of working for Laban.
Here are Jacob’s 20 years working for Laban:
Year
Notes
1
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
2
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
3
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
4
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
5
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
6
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
7
Jacob is unmarried; he has no sons
8
Jacob marries Leah & Rachel; Possible childbirth year
9
Possible childbirth year
10
Possible childbirth year
11
Possible childbirth year
12
Possible childbirth year
13
Possible childbirth year (our pick for Joseph’s birth year)
14
Possible childbirth year
15
Jacob starts working for the flocks sometime after Joseph’s birth; he has no sons
16
Jacob works for the flocks; he has no sons
17
Jacob works for the flocks; he has no sons
18
Jacob works for the flocks; he has no sons
19
Jacob works for the flocks; he has no sons
20
Jacob works for the flocks; he has no sons
21
Jacob stops working for Laban; he and his family leave Haran after 20 years
Here’s our logic on why Joseph being eight years old is a reasonable assumption:
The Scriptures tell us Joseph was born before Jacob’s last six years in Haran. So, at the latest, he could have been born in Year 14 which would have made him seven years old when the family left Haran.
The Scriptures also tell us Joseph was born after Lean had her six sons. In order to allow enough time for Leah to have six sons before Joseph, the earliest Joseph could have been born was in Year 13 (the sixth year of Leah’s childbearing). This would have made Joseph eight years old when they left Haran.
As you can see, Joseph could have only been seven or eight years old when they left Haran, so to assume he was eight is perfectly reasonable. And, if he was eight years old when they left and 38 when Israel arrived in Egypt, we think we’ve properly identified the 430 years sojourn of the sons of Israel as being the time from the Haran trip through the Exodus.
According to online sources, a woman can become pregnant in as little as three weeks after giving birth. It’s likely that this rapid succession childbirth is what was happening with Leah since she gave birth to six sons in seven years, and despite the many births in such a short time saw that she stopped bearing for a time after her fourth son.
Just for fun then, here is a possible scenario for the birth dates of her sons:
Year 8: Leah and Jacob are married on the 1st day of the 1st month and Reuben is born the 1st day of the 10th month (9 months after marriage).
Year 9: Simeon is born the 1st day of the 8th month, 10 months after Reuben.
Year 10: Levi is born the 1st day of the 6th month, 10 months after Simeon.
Year 11: Judah is born the 1st day of the 4th month, 10 months after Levi; sometime after this birth Leah realizes that it’s been a few months since her last childbirth and she’s not pregnant again. She assumes she has stopped bearing and gives Zilpah to Jacob. Zilpah’s sons can be born anytime after this.
Year 12: Leah has Issachar on the 1st day of the 10th month (18 months after Judah).
Year 13: Leah is back to rapid succession childbirth (aka being exceedingly fruitful) and Zebulun is born the 1st day of the 8th month, 10 months after Issachar. Joseph is born to Rachel later this same year.
Didn’t the 400 year “affliction” of Israel begin with Isaac being mocked by Ishmael?
Those who subscribe to the 215-years in Egypt theory assume that when Father told Abraham his descendants would be afflicted for 400 years, that timeframe started with Isaac being mocked by Ishmael.
In Hebrew, the word used for afflicted is “anah,” which is commonly translated as to be humbled. When Ishmael mocked Isaac, Isaac was not humbled, he was exalted since the end result of Ishmael mocking him was Ishmael being driven away and Isaac being established as the son who would inherit the promise.
In Enoch’s 10 Weeks Prophecy, the 8th week is described in this way:
“And after this there will be another week; the eighth, that of righteousness, and a sword will be given to it so that the Righteous Judgment may be executed on those who do wrong, and the sinners will be handed over into the hands of the righteous. And, at its end, they will acquire Houses because of their righteousness, and a House will be built for the Great King in Glory, forever.”– 1 Enoch 91
Many assume that this time period is referring to the return from Babylon through YASHUA’s coming, and that when Enoch talks about the righteous being given a sword to overcome sinners, he’s referring to the Maccabees. The Maccabees are well known in Jewish history for having made war against Hellenized Jews and Greeks who were preventing observant Jews from following the laws of Moses.
But while the Maccabees represent a time of great national victory in the land, this time period is by no means a week of righteousness in the eyes of our Father.
In his parable of the animals, Enoch describes the return from Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple and says “they began again to build as before, and they reared up that tower, and it was named the high tower; and they began again to place a table before the tower, but all the bread on it was polluted and not pure.”
These words are a description of how Father viewed the people of the land during the entire Second Temple period. Malachi similarly describes the people of this period as having departed from the way.
In fact, by the time of YASHUA and the apostles, the people were so off-path and steeped in their own traditions, they missed MESSIAH.
“And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” – Luke 19:44
Why is King Manasseh on your list of righteous generations in Enoch’s 10 Weeks Prophecy?
It’s true that Manasseh committed a great number of heinous sins in the land of Israel. However, Father spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to let us know that if the wicked turns from his sin he shall surely live and not die (Ezekiel 33). The Scriptures make it clear that Manasseh repented and that GOD was intreated of him and that HE heard him. That’s enough to get Manasseh’s name into the Book of Life and therefore onto the list of righteous generations in the line of MESSIAH.
As another testimony in favor of Manasseh, it’s written that his son who did evil after him was condemned for not humbling himself like Manasseh did.
There are two major views on this topic. One is that Terah was 70 years old when he had Abraham and the other is that he was 130.
Our view is that based on all of the Scriptures on the subject, Terah could not have been 70 when he had Abraham.
The Scriptures tell us:
Terah lived a total of 205 years, then he died in Haran (Gen 11:32).
Abraham went to Canaan after Terah’s death (Acts 7:4).
Abraham left Haran and went to Canaan at 75 yrs old (Gen 12:4).
Since Terah lived 205 years and Abraham was 75 when Terah died, Terah would have been in his 131st year when he had Abraham.
So why does Genesis 11:26 say ‘And Terah lived 70 years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran’?
Here I believe the author of Genesis (Moses) is following the same line of thinking that he used when talking about Noah and his sons. Moses wrote “and Noah was 500 years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
We know that Moses was not saying here that Shem was born when Noah was 500 years old since we later read that the flood occurred in Noah’s 600th year and that two years after the flood, Shem was 100 years old (Gen 11:10).
The implication is that the age given by Moses is the age when the patriarch began having the sons in question. Noah was 500 when he started having the three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and Terah was 70 when he started having Abraham, Nahor and Haran. It doesn’t mean either set of sons listed are triplets. Also, the first name listed is not necessarily the oldest son. Shem is listed first but he wasn’t the eldest (Genesis 10:21 implies Japheth was the eldest and Genesis 9:24 implies Ham was the youngest, making Shem the middle child).
Moses’ description of the sons of Noah sets a precedent by which we can interpret his description of the sons of Terah. And by acknowledging Abraham’s birth in Terah’s 131st year, all the Scriptures on the subject come into alignment.
How can there be a gap in Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy?
The Scriptures are full of prophecies that were partially fulfilled in the days of the prophet who wrote them down, with the remaining part of those same prophecies being reserved for the time of wrath that is to come. YASHUA showed us one of the many, many examples of this when HE read aloud from the Book of Isaiah about the year of THE LORD’s favor, but stopped when HE got to the part about the coming wrath (Luke 4:16-21). We see this same pattern in Daniel’s 70 Weeks. For more info on why we believe Daniel’s 70 Weeks have not yet been fulfilled, click here for a detailed analysis.
