The 430 years mark the precise interval between the covenant God ratified with Abraham in Genesis 15 and the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Exactly 430 years to the selfsame day, on the fifteenth of Abib, the hosts of the LORD departed at the beginning of the Night To Be Much Observed. Paul notes that the law came 430 years after this covenant, so the later law could not nullify the earlier promise. The 400 years mentioned in Genesis 15 and Acts 7 approximate this full span, reaching from Abraham through Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Moses. This exact timing, confirmed by a maledictory oath, demonstrates God's faithfulness, points to the physical deliverance, and foreshadows spiritual fulfillment through the sacrifice of Christ. Also see sermons and articles about 430 Years.
Exodus 12:40-41 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egyptwas four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
Galatians 3:17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
Related Scriptures
Genesis 15:13-18 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
Exodus 12:42 It is a night of solemn observance to the LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.
Exodus 12:51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.
Acts 7:5-7 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’
