Acts 7:17 Cross References

Acts 7:17

17: "As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.

But God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign country where they would be mistreated as slaves for four hundred years.

"The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them prosper in Egypt. Then he powerfully led them out of their slavery.

So God blessed the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.

But their descendants had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land.
Then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.
He told his people, "These Israelites are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them.
We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don't and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country."
So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves and put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down under heavy burdens. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.

And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel until they became too mighty for their enemies.
Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites, and they plotted against the LORD's servants.

Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years.
But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.
(But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.)
After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, when the sin of the Amorites has run its course."

But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.

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