The 4 Generations in Egypt

In Genesis chapter fifteen, God promised Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land. He said they would be enslaved and mistreated there. Abraham was informed ahead of time that suffering would one day come upon his family. Yet God encouraged him by telling him that it would not last forever. In verse sixteen God promised that He was going to rescue his children and bring them out of bondage in the fourth generation.

What did it mean when God said the fourth generation? The fourth generation from who? Certainly not Abraham!

So what's the answer? Where can we find it? Remember, it must be Scriptural!

The answer is given in Exodus chapter six. It is here that we find the four generations in their proper context. In this passage we find out the clarifying truth that what God was saying to Abraham was that in the fourth generation to live in Egypt, God would come in to rescue them and bring them to the land that He was giving to them.

As in the diagram below which I have illustrated for your benefit, the countdown of generations began with Levi as the twelve sons, which represented the nation of Israel, journeyed into Egypt in the year 1661 B.C. It is there that the people of Israel would remain for the next two hundred and fifteen years until they would finally be rescued from their captivity.