# 125 God's Merciful Patience!

The Book of Genesis Day 125 Ge 15:13 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. 14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." God has chilling news for His friend Abram. His descendants will experience a very difficult 400 years before they inherit the Promised Land. (In this world you WILL have tribulation!) At the same time He gives Abram assurance that this difficult time will occur after he is dead and gone, and He promises Abram that he will die at a ripe old age in peace. So why will Abram’s descendants be denied access to this beautiful land of Abram? Oh, it’s because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete! “Wait a minute God! You’re going to keep the Israelites from occupying the promised land because the Amorites haven’t used up all their iniquity? That’s not fair! Their iniquity is terrible! Why they worship idols, they practice temple prostitution, divination, and they even sacrifice their children to their false gods!!!!!!!!!!! God, You are going to allow this to continue for 400 more years, while Your children endure tribulation and slave away in Egypt?” Doesn’t make sense to us does it? Well, sensical or not, it points out some attributes of God that we should make note of. First of all He is omniscient, He knows all things. He has infinite awareness. He knew exactly how long it would be before the Israelites would be released from captivity and sent packing to the Promised Land! This time would not be wasted. There would be tremendous faith lessons for God’s people then, and through the ages for all to learn. Lessons intended to point us all toward Jesus!Lessons from Joseph, Moses, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, and of course God’s provision for His people, all coming as a result of their captivity. Still another attribute to glean from the iniquity of the Amorites is the forbearance of God! While the Amorites and their despicable practices deserved to be wiped out, God kept giving them time to repent! Eze 33:11 says, “As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” And in 2 Pe 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Before we jump all over this grace and mercy extended to the Amorites, maybe we ought to reflect on the grace and mercy God has extended to us! Where would you be? Where would I be without the forbearance of God? Let’s admit it, God refrained from giving us what we deserved, and gave us time to repent. He gave us grace, ought we not to be graceful to others? Pray that God would continue to be patient with the sins of our nation, and rather than bemoan the fact that the wicked seem to be escaping judgment, let us ask God to empower us to live and proclaim His Word so that the Amorites of our land may come to life saving repentance and escape the wrath to come. 400 years is a long time, but it has and ending. This is a sobering thought and one that should cause us to witness to the saving grace of God with a greater sense of urgency. The bucket of iniquity is filling up in our land! Pray that God’s Spirit would move and once again bring revival to our nation! Pray: Lord thank You for Your grace, mercy, and patience. I am so grateful that You granted me the time I needed to receive Your call to repentance. Let me be patient with others as well.