That's How They Knew

In studying Abraham I noticed yet another verse I have skimmed over. Genesis 15:13. Hello, Abraham was told before he went into Egypt that his great, great, great, great grandchildren and so on would be slaves. (He knew?) For four hundred years. I can't even fathom how long that is.

Knowing this Jacob still obeyed and took his family into Egypt. Hunger can do that; putting yourself and your loved ones in harm's way. And even though there was a famine when they first went there,  Egypt offered them so much more when the famine passed that they decided to stay on. (Even though they knew what it would entail.) The abundance of water could have been a real draw . . . the Nile River is huge in season. The weather is more conducive to growing crops. And they were less likely to be attacked or have their lands invaded because of the Egyptian army protecting the land.

Now, here's some food for thought. Once they started making babies nothing stopped them. They went from being in charge of land to being the slaves working that land overnight. Still Exodus 1:12 tells us they kept growing. Nothing stood in the way of God making his people a huge nation. Even in spite of the fact that they probably lost large numbers of people to beatings and such.

I have often wondered why God took so long to come rescue his people. Why hadn't he come sooner? Why did it take four hundred years to hear them crying for help?

But since the father of their nation had been told how long they would be in Egypt, I guess after four hundred years they started crying out to God to come save them. Because it was time to leave this place and return to the land Abraham once wandered. That's why God finally heard their cry and came to rescue them and return them to the promised land filled with milk and honey.