FOUR HUNDRED YEARS

[EZE]

Hey all.
Was listening to one of Mike's audio series recently and the topic of the 'end of the church age' briefly raised it's head.
It got me thinking about stuff...
I was thinking about the time between the various 'dispensations' that God has put into place.

430 years between Abraham and the exit of the Jews from Egypt.
400 or so years between Malachi and Christ.

But there were 10 generations between Adam and Noah.
And then another 10 generations between Noah and Abraham.

I think there is something in this!

I did a very brief word study on 400. Here are some scriptures that stuck out to me -

"...And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king's hand.
And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of Jehovah still here, and we shall seek from him?..." 2 Chronicles 18.5

"...Then Elijah said to the people, I, I alone, remain a prophet of Jehovah; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men..." 1 Kings 18.22

"...And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year from the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Zif, it is the second month, in the reigning of Solomon over Israel he built the house for Jehovah..." 1 Kings 6.1

"...And every man in distress, and every man who had a creditor, and every man bitter of soul, gathered themselves to him. And he became commander over them. And about four hundred men were with him..." 1 Samuel 22.2

Four Hundred seems to speak of a few things to me. The end of an age or dispensation for sure but also of the 'Many Called' as opposed to the few chosen.
I'd appreciate anyone else's thoughts on this...

EZE

[EZE]

Wow - this post is hot.

So many responses... Please, just stop posting beofre Dennis decides to ban me for overloading the server single-handedly.
Really, I'm serious

EZE

[worm]

Four Hundred seems to speak of a few things to me. The end of an age or dispensation for sure but also of the 'Many Called' as opposed to the few chosen.
I'd appreciate anyone else's thoughts on this...

EZE

hey EZE,
with you on this...numbers in the Bible have very specific significance...

here's a few more 400s:

Ge 33:1
Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.

Jacob (the chosen) vs Esau (the called)...with his 400 men

the seed of Abraham was opressed by "the bondwoman" for 400 years as well...from the birth of Isaac (oppressed by Ishmael - son of Hagar, the Egyptian princess) to the Exodus from Egypt itself

another fascinating number is offcourse the number 40...which represent trials, probation and testing

40 years Israel wondered in the wilderness untill that generation died out (except for Joshua and Caleb - who reprensents the overcomers)
they had the faith the first chance Israel had to enter the Promised land but the people rather listened to the other 10 spies' bad report...and they were sentenced to dwell in the wilderness and die out...incidently, the spies were also in Canaan for forty days to check it out

40 days is also the number our Lord was in the wilderness...tempted by satan

Saul, David and Solomon (the first three kings which ruled over the whole of Israel)...all reigned for forty years respectively...before the nation was divided into Israel and Judah

I haven't even mentioned the 40 Jubilee periods significant in the Bible...but I'll rest here for now :wink:

[mercie]

Hey all.
Was listening to one of Mike's audio series recently and the topic of the 'end of the church age' briefly raised it's head.
It got me thinking about stuff...
I was thinking about the time between the various 'dispensations' that God has put into place.

430 years between Abraham and the exit of the Jews from Egypt.
400 or so years between Malachi and Christ.

But there were 10 generations between Adam and Noah.
And then another 10 generations between Noah and Abraham.

I think there is something in this!

I did a very brief word study on 400. Here are some scriptures that stuck out to me -

"...And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king's hand.
And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of Jehovah still here, and we shall seek from him?..." 2 Chronicles 18.5

"...Then Elijah said to the people, I, I alone, remain a prophet of Jehovah; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men..." 1 Kings 18.22

"...And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year from the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Zif, it is the second month, in the reigning of Solomon over Israel he built the house for Jehovah..." 1 Kings 6.1

"...And every man in distress, and every man who had a creditor, and every man bitter of soul, gathered themselves to him. And he became commander over them. And about four hundred men were with him..." 1 Samuel 22.2

Four Hundred seems to speak of a few things to me. The end of an age or dispensation for sure but also of the 'Many Called' as opposed to the few chosen.
I'd appreciate anyone else's thoughts on this...

EZE

Eze.
Ive not read that article.

Numbers do play a Role like any other word in scripture .

Not to hot on that 400 number , 4( creation . earth , world) x 100 (Children of Promise)

We dont become of AGE tilll we are a 100 , moving from Child to Son.

10 Generations from Adam to Noah  , The Tenth equals Law , Testiminony or Responsiblity,
Again Ten Generations On to Abraham 10 + 10 equals 20 equals Redemption ie Abraham the Father of ALL Nations.

Look at Math 1 ,
42 Equals Redemption

The Geneology of Jesus 6 ( man) x 7( spiritual Perfection)  or 14 ( Salvation \ Deliverance) X 3  ( Perfection , union , As One )equals the 42 nd Generation  Being the Children\Family of God , if you check you will see Christ is the 41st generation.

The 42nd Generation is yet to be Complete.