Why did God take 4,000 years to bring in the New Covenant?

[TallMan]

(after the fall of man)

[ageofknowledge]

It took that long for humanity to figure out they needed it.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Why did God take 4,000 years to bring in the New Covenant?

It took that long for humanity to figure out they needed it.

Wrong answer! most people - the vast majority - still don't think they need the New Covenant.

Anyway, 4,000 years is not much time from God's perspective; this is His show, afterall.

FL

[ageofknowledge]

Why did God take 4,000 years to bring in the New Covenant?

It took that long for humanity to figure out they needed it.

Wrong answer! most people - the vast majority - still don't think they need the New Covenant.

Anyway, 4,000 years is not much time from God's perspective; this is His show, afterall.

FL

I was being facetious; however, Gatatians 4:4-5 states:

"4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."

Jesus' arrival during the Roman Empire's Pax Romana (the peace of Rome) was perfect timing. The known world was united by one language of commerce. A network of global trade routes provided open access to the whole world. All of this guaranteed that the gospel could move rapidly in one tongue. No visas. No impenetrable borders. Only unhindered access to help spread the news of the Savior whose crucifixion fulfilled the prophecy of the Lamb who would be slain for our sins (Isa. 53).

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I was being facetious

...and I was being a smart aleck.

Gatatians 4:4-5 states: "4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."

«...when the time had fully come,» could also refer to Daniel's prophecy in Da 9:25. The coming of Messiah is exactly 483 years (Jewish 360-day years) after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. 483 years after Artaxerxes' decree is 6 April, 32 a.d., the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey as per the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. (Anyway, I'm splitting hairs.)

I still say that 4,000 years is not a long time.

FL

[TallMan]

. . .

Jesus' arrival during the Roman Empire's Pax Romana (the peace of Rome) was perfect timing. The known world was united by one language of commerce. A network of global trade routes provided open access to the whole world. . .

I have read how earlier civisizations also traded along established trade routes.
Look at all the things Solomon had!

Noah was able to spread the message to his "world".

[rare96ws6]

It could be argued that the time Jesus did come was not the best time. Wouldn't it have been so much more effiecient
if he had come in this day and age, when in a matter of hours the majority of the world's population would know he had been born?

[Silvertusk]

Well ask yourself this.

The timing must obviously be right because we know about Jesus - He is the most famous person in the world. More has been written, sang, talked, argued, fought over him than any other person in history. Can we really say we would have this much knowledge about him if he came at any other time? We will never know.

[jlay]

Isn't this kind of like asking an author, "why did it take you 25 chapters to get to the 26th chapter?"

[TallMan]

Isn't this kind of like asking an author, "why did it take you 25 chapters to get to the 26th chapter?"

No, God isn't just filling a book, he is doing what needs to be done to get mankind to love him more than he loves himself.

God showed he wanted to be a Father to us, he worked with one man and woman who he kept isolated, they didn't trust him so he made man subject to death, but they still had long life to learn and re-consider.
But apart from Noah and family they were continually wicked despite being warned of judgement to come and given a way of escape.
He tried wiping them out and starting again with the best he could find, he tried educating people through inspired teachers, leaders and prophets, without a system of law, and with one.
He shortened their lifespan to focus their mind more.

Many times he gave them abundant provision of food, protection and provision without charge. He tried bitter hardship and oppression in captivities. None of this broke man's pride and stubbornness. In fact they persecuted the few who were righteous!

God, who knows men's hearts better than they do, brought in the only way back into his presence, His perfect Son, the "second Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45-51). After showing the unchanging compassionate, perfect love of God for man and his control over all that is against us, he took our death so that we could learn from Adam & Eve's mistake and rely on His Life.

Those who receive this are a new kind of person, sons/daughters, prophets, priests, kings, ambassadors and temples of God. They are God's vessels for salvation for all who will receive it.

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. . . Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders" (Isaiah 8:16, 18)

[Jac3510]

Actually, AoKs original answer was very close to right. The entire history of mankind is God giving humanity the chance to see that He is justified in His claim of sovereignty. Man rebelled against God when he had no sin nature and was in a perfect environment. He rebelled against God when left to himself, with only conscience as a guide. He rebelled against God when given government (the right to rule over one another, rather than over the rest of creation, as originally planned; and that to protect him from himself!)--in fact, it was the very government given to man that rebelled against God; He rebelled against God when he persecuted God's singularly chosen nation and rejected Him, even as he saw God's deliverance of that nation. He rebelled against God in continuing to persecute that nation for generations, and that nation itself rebelled against God, despite being both His chosen and divinely protected vessel. He is rebelling against God today, despite what His Son did on the Cross. He will finally rebel one last time when that Son returns to establish a perfect utopia that will last a thousand years.

We see that no matter how easy God makes it for man, mankind always rebels against God, because it is in his nature to rebel. Those who do not rebel but believe God are saved. Those who do not are given their own way, and will be separated from that God whom they hate for all of eternity, just as they desire.

Thus, we see that had God sent "the messiah" immediately after the Fall, man would still be able to argue that if he had only been given another chance, he could have done better. In God's plan, every defense mankind has will be put down. He will be forced to recognize--along with everything in creation--that God is just who He says He is and that he is in utter need of Him.

As for why 4,000 years and not any other time period, the answer is that God rules this creation in two ways:

1. Universally - this has not changed. He absolutely always has, does now, and always will.
2. Relationally - that is, he rules through mankind. This changed at the Fall. Thus, God set about not merely to redeem man, but to redeem him in such a way that He could again rule through him (and this for man's benefit, not God's!). He did this by establishing a people whom He would rule over and through (Israel). You can read their story in the Old Testament. God called them into being from nothing (two barren women and one unlikely, raucous son). He preserved them and taught them obedience to Him, which obviously takes time. He established a kingly line that He Himself would occupy in His Son for all of eternity. And THEN, when the fullness of the times came, He sent His Son to establish the New Covenant.

So, to answer your question along J's response: chapter 26 could not come until the material we find in chapters one through 25 had been written.