But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
God promised Abraham that his descendants would return to Canaan in the fourth generation after a long delay, because the iniquity of the Amorites, the Canaanite peoples, was not yet full but would become complete by the time of their return. That delay lasted four hundred years, during which the Amorites were spared and given a period of probation with time, light, warning and evidence to turn from idolatry and know the true God. The verse states the general principle that God in mercy defers judgment until a people's iniquity reaches its full appointed measure, pictured as a cup filling with increasing lawlessness until God rises to punish. When that measure is complete and further forbearance would do no good, guilt being proportioned to light rejected and continued, His protection is withdrawn and judgment is no longer withheld. The same measure afterward met Israel when it rejected Christ, meets national apostasy that makes void God's law and exalts a false sabbath, and now meets a world rapidly filling its cup under a cloak of godliness.
Promise and Timing
The verse promises that Abraham's descendants would come back to Canaan in the fourth generation after a delay in taking possession of the land. That delay was allowed so that the iniquity of the Amorites might reach its full measure before judgment came. The assurance stands that God's promise of the land to Abraham's descendants would be fulfilled, though they would first suffer affliction. The appointed waiting before reckoning with persistent sin marks God's long bearing with iniquity until disobedience is complete.
The return was held back for four hundred years, during which the Amorites were spared. God bore with them for more than four hundred years, giving them time to repent and turn from idolatry. Their suffering in Egypt did not mean God had forsaken Israel, for He preserved them because of His covenant with Abraham. He allowed their distress to turn them back to Himself. Until the fourth generation the Canaanite peoples would not be driven out, and Canaan could not yet be taken over for Israel's growth into a great nation. Egypt instead provided the conditions for that growth while Israel remained separate from Canaanite idolatry.
It was revealed in vision that Abraham's descendants would be enslaved by an idolatrous nation as punishment for apostasy from God's law. When they humbled themselves and sought deliverance and promised obedience, God answered them. He then brought Israel out of Egypt as His special people.
Amorites' Iniquity Explained
The Amorites here mean the Canaanite peoples as a whole, whose life was marked by idolatry and abominations, corruption and licentiousness, and by opposition to and wilful disregard of God's law. Their idolatry and sin marked their conduct, yet they were not at once destroyed because their guilt had not yet reached its full appointed measure. God gave them further time, clearer light and warning about His requirements and law, ample evidence that He is the true God, and opportunity to witness His power and turn from idolatry, so that their eventual destruction would be just and they would be left without excuse. He did not destroy them unwarned, but bore compassionately with them for centuries, even sparing them for the sake of the few good people among them.
When the promise was given their wrongdoing had not yet reached its full measure and was not yet complete. By the time Israel returned from Egypt and was preparing to enter Canaan, the Canaanites had filled that full measure.
Their cup became full when, despite four hundred years of sparing and long patience, clear evidence and ample opportunity to turn, they were free to accept or reject that evidence and chose to reject the light. They did not change for the better but clung to their idols and hardened their hearts. The filling was completed when, despite Israel's peaceful request to pass through their land, they refused and gathered for battle and made war on God's people, and their opposition then brought God's judgment and the end of probation.
When the measure was complete God's protection was withdrawn from them. Though they felt secure, they were left unprepared for battle. God cast them out after their continued wilful disregard of His law and brought swift destruction upon them when they persisted in rebellion. He used His people as instruments to punish nations that had wronged them and led them into idolatry.
God's Patient Probation
The Amorites and the Canaanite nations were given a period of probation to become acquainted with God and His character, with time to change before judgment fell. During those four hundred years until the fourth generation they were given clearer light and warning about His requirements and law, ample evidence that He is the true God, and opportunity to witness His power and turn from idolatry and licentiousness. They were free to accept or reject that evidence, and because the light was so clear they were left without excuse. Condemnation depended on light received and refused and was proportionate to light rejected. As they rejected God's ways they advanced in wickedness, children inherited and increased their parents' rebellion, and the guilt of earlier generations is charged to a later generation when it continues in the same evil course.
God keeps an exact record and reckoning of guilt with nations, seeing every evil done toward fellow men and missing nothing. He bore compassionately and long with transgression for more than four hundred years, even for centuries, and also spared the Amorites for the sake of the few good people among them. He does not destroy unwarned but gives warning and light, and continues to send the gospel through appointed agents while He bears patiently with transgression. The delay of punishment does not mean judgment is forgotten, premature, uncertain, or less severe. When further evidence would do no good, when guilt is full and forbearance is exhausted, God intervenes, His judgments are no longer withheld, and judgment follows with a visitation of transgression and permission for destructive agencies to act.
Judgment When Full
The verse lays down the general rule that God holds back judgment until a people's guilt has grown to its full appointed measure. During that delay He extends mercy and long-suffering through a period of probation, giving further time, clearer light, warning of His requirements and law, and opportunity to witness His power, so that destruction when it comes is just. He bears patiently for centuries, even more than four hundred years, with nations, cities and individuals, keeping an exact account of guilt and not destroying unwarned, but when they persistently reject the opportunity for life and further evidence would do no good, patience runs its course and judgment is no longer withheld. That was why Abraham's descendants could not take Canaan at once, for though idolatry and sin marked the Amorites their guilt was not yet full, and only after they hardened their hearts, persisted in idolatry and wickedness, and made war on His people did their probation end. The guilt of earlier generations is charged to a later generation when it continues in the same evil course, and delay of punishment does not make judgment forgotten, premature, uncertain, or less severe.
The full measure is pictured as a cup filling up to a full sum of corruption. Men advance from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to lawlessness through the corruption of the age, until the cup is full and rapidly filling becomes full. When the wicked have filled their cup the Lord rises to punish and to uphold His authority against those who have made His law void, and brings swift destruction whose anger will not be appeased until sinners are destroyed out of the earth. He shows He is the living God by removing His protecting care, saying to the angels no longer to combat Satan in his efforts to destroy but to let him work his malignity upon the children of disobedience, and no longer to restrain the destroyer or prevent him from doing his work. He keeps a reckoning with nations and sees every evil done toward fellow men, missing nothing, not even the fall of a sparrow, so that those who say How doth God know will meet long-deferred vengeance when their cup is full, for there is a boundary of mercy and a limit to forbearance. In this age more than common contempt for God and insolence and disobedience show the cup is almost full and many have well-nigh passed the boundary, and soon the restraint will be withdrawn in retributive judgment upon widespread sin that defiles the earth. Ministers who use their trusted, higher profession to lead people into sin are especially guilty and will reap the harvest of the wrongdoing they encouraged and the souls they led astray.
God permits the wicked to prosper and to live on in His world until they fill the measure of sin, so that their enmity is revealed and their guilt becomes evident. Their destruction then displays His justice and mercy. As He allowed the Amorites to remain in the land until their iniquity was full, so wicked people are permitted to live until they have filled up the measure of their sin, while the world that was deeded to Abraham and his children waits for God's people to take possession of it.
Warnings for Later Generations
The same law of deferred judgment applied to Israel itself, for generations of apostasy and rebellion filled its cup of deferred wrath until guilt was full. In the days of Christ that fullness was reached when the law of God was made void by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and when the Son of God was rejected and crucified. That rejection marked the end of the Jewish nation's time as a people specially favored by God, once the elect people now set aside as the Amorites had been.
The same measuring of national guilt applies to the abundantly blessed land of the United States, whose cup is fast filling and rapidly reaching the same full sum of corruption. Delay does not make punishment uncertain, for when guilt is full God intervenes and judgment follows, and the measure is proportionate to light rejected. The crime that fills it is making void the law of God, accepting and exalting a spurious sabbath and turning souls away from obedience and loyalty to God. It reaches the point reached in the days of Christ when rulers side with the man of sin by restoring his lost ascendancy, taking the false sabbath under the care and protection of law and placing divine honors upon it. When that work is fully done national ruin follows and persecution breaks forth upon those who observe the Sabbath given in Eden as a memorial of creative power.
The image of the filling cup is applied to the present inhabitants of the earth and to the world, which is rapidly filling, almost full, nearly filled, and well-nigh past the boundary of mercy. They are now filling up the measure through the corruption of this age, practicing corruption and iniquity, and iniquity practiced under a cloak of godliness brings especially heavy retribution. Because that measure is becoming full, God's kindled anger will not be appeased until sinners are destroyed from the earth and out of the earth. When wrongdoing is complete, long-delayed wrath comes in destruction upon the inhabitants of the land. Ministers who use their trusted, higher profession to lead people into sin are especially guilty and will reap the harvest of the wrongdoing they encouraged and the souls they led astray.
By the time of Elijah the same idolatry and abominations of the Amorites had overspread Israel. Elijah was born among the mountains of Gilead on the other side of the Jordan and came from among that idolatrous nation to take his place in the work of God.
God promised Abraham that his descendants would return to Canaan in the fourth generation after a long delay, because the iniquity of the Amorites, the Canaanite peoples, was not yet full but would become complete by the time of their return. That delay lasted four hundred years, during which the Amorites were spared and given a period of probation with time, light, warning and evidence to turn from idolatry and know the true God. The verse states the general principle that God in mercy defers judgment until a people's iniquity reaches its full appointed measure, pictured as a cup filling with increasing lawlessness until God rises to punish. When that measure is complete and further forbearance would do no good, guilt being proportioned to light rejected and continued, His protection is withdrawn and judgment is no longer withheld. The same measure afterward met Israel when it rejected Christ, meets national apostasy that makes void God's law and exalts a false sabbath, and now meets a world rapidly filling its cup under a cloak of godliness.
Promise and Timing
The verse promises that Abraham's descendants would come back to Canaan in the fourth generation after a delay in taking possession of the land. That delay was allowed so that the iniquity of the Amorites might reach its full measure before judgment came. The assurance stands that God's promise of the land to Abraham's descendants would be fulfilled, though they would first suffer affliction. The appointed waiting before reckoning with persistent sin marks God's long bearing with iniquity until disobedience is complete.
The return was held back for four hundred years, during which the Amorites were spared. God bore with them for more than four hundred years, giving them time to repent and turn from idolatry. Their suffering in Egypt did not mean God had forsaken Israel, for He preserved them because of His covenant with Abraham. He allowed their distress to turn them back to Himself. Until the fourth generation the Canaanite peoples would not be driven out, and Canaan could not yet be taken over for Israel's growth into a great nation. Egypt instead provided the conditions for that growth while Israel remained separate from Canaanite idolatry.
It was revealed in vision that Abraham's descendants would be enslaved by an idolatrous nation as punishment for apostasy from God's law. When they humbled themselves and sought deliverance and promised obedience, God answered them. He then brought Israel out of Egypt as His special people.
Amorites' Iniquity Explained
The Amorites here mean the Canaanite peoples as a whole, whose life was marked by idolatry and abominations, corruption and licentiousness, and by opposition to and wilful disregard of God's law. Their idolatry and sin marked their conduct, yet they were not at once destroyed because their guilt had not yet reached its full appointed measure. God gave them further time, clearer light and warning about His requirements and law, ample evidence that He is the true God, and opportunity to witness His power and turn from idolatry, so that their eventual destruction would be just and they would be left without excuse. He did not destroy them unwarned, but bore compassionately with them for centuries, even sparing them for the sake of the few good people among them.
When the promise was given their wrongdoing had not yet reached its full measure and was not yet complete. By the time Israel returned from Egypt and was preparing to enter Canaan, the Canaanites had filled that full measure.
Their cup became full when, despite four hundred years of sparing and long patience, clear evidence and ample opportunity to turn, they were free to accept or reject that evidence and chose to reject the light. They did not change for the better but clung to their idols and hardened their hearts. The filling was completed when, despite Israel's peaceful request to pass through their land, they refused and gathered for battle and made war on God's people, and their opposition then brought God's judgment and the end of probation.
When the measure was complete God's protection was withdrawn from them. Though they felt secure, they were left unprepared for battle. God cast them out after their continued wilful disregard of His law and brought swift destruction upon them when they persisted in rebellion. He used His people as instruments to punish nations that had wronged them and led them into idolatry.
God's Patient Probation
The Amorites and the Canaanite nations were given a period of probation to become acquainted with God and His character, with time to change before judgment fell. During those four hundred years until the fourth generation they were given clearer light and warning about His requirements and law, ample evidence that He is the true God, and opportunity to witness His power and turn from idolatry and licentiousness. They were free to accept or reject that evidence, and because the light was so clear they were left without excuse. Condemnation depended on light received and refused and was proportionate to light rejected. As they rejected God's ways they advanced in wickedness, children inherited and increased their parents' rebellion, and the guilt of earlier generations is charged to a later generation when it continues in the same evil course.
God keeps an exact record and reckoning of guilt with nations, seeing every evil done toward fellow men and missing nothing. He bore compassionately and long with transgression for more than four hundred years, even for centuries, and also spared the Amorites for the sake of the few good people among them. He does not destroy unwarned but gives warning and light, and continues to send the gospel through appointed agents while He bears patiently with transgression. The delay of punishment does not mean judgment is forgotten, premature, uncertain, or less severe. When further evidence would do no good, when guilt is full and forbearance is exhausted, God intervenes, His judgments are no longer withheld, and judgment follows with a visitation of transgression and permission for destructive agencies to act.
Judgment When Full
The verse lays down the general rule that God holds back judgment until a people's guilt has grown to its full appointed measure. During that delay He extends mercy and long-suffering through a period of probation, giving further time, clearer light, warning of His requirements and law, and opportunity to witness His power, so that destruction when it comes is just. He bears patiently for centuries, even more than four hundred years, with nations, cities and individuals, keeping an exact account of guilt and not destroying unwarned, but when they persistently reject the opportunity for life and further evidence would do no good, patience runs its course and judgment is no longer withheld. That was why Abraham's descendants could not take Canaan at once, for though idolatry and sin marked the Amorites their guilt was not yet full, and only after they hardened their hearts, persisted in idolatry and wickedness, and made war on His people did their probation end. The guilt of earlier generations is charged to a later generation when it continues in the same evil course, and delay of punishment does not make judgment forgotten, premature, uncertain, or less severe.
The full measure is pictured as a cup filling up to a full sum of corruption. Men advance from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to lawlessness through the corruption of the age, until the cup is full and rapidly filling becomes full. When the wicked have filled their cup the Lord rises to punish and to uphold His authority against those who have made His law void, and brings swift destruction whose anger will not be appeased until sinners are destroyed out of the earth. He shows He is the living God by removing His protecting care, saying to the angels no longer to combat Satan in his efforts to destroy but to let him work his malignity upon the children of disobedience, and no longer to restrain the destroyer or prevent him from doing his work. He keeps a reckoning with nations and sees every evil done toward fellow men, missing nothing, not even the fall of a sparrow, so that those who say How doth God know will meet long-deferred vengeance when their cup is full, for there is a boundary of mercy and a limit to forbearance. In this age more than common contempt for God and insolence and disobedience show the cup is almost full and many have well-nigh passed the boundary, and soon the restraint will be withdrawn in retributive judgment upon widespread sin that defiles the earth. Ministers who use their trusted, higher profession to lead people into sin are especially guilty and will reap the harvest of the wrongdoing they encouraged and the souls they led astray.
God permits the wicked to prosper and to live on in His world until they fill the measure of sin, so that their enmity is revealed and their guilt becomes evident. Their destruction then displays His justice and mercy. As He allowed the Amorites to remain in the land until their iniquity was full, so wicked people are permitted to live until they have filled up the measure of their sin, while the world that was deeded to Abraham and his children waits for God's people to take possession of it.
Warnings for Later Generations
The same law of deferred judgment applied to Israel itself, for generations of apostasy and rebellion filled its cup of deferred wrath until guilt was full. In the days of Christ that fullness was reached when the law of God was made void by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and when the Son of God was rejected and crucified. That rejection marked the end of the Jewish nation's time as a people specially favored by God, once the elect people now set aside as the Amorites had been.
The same measuring of national guilt applies to the abundantly blessed land of the United States, whose cup is fast filling and rapidly reaching the same full sum of corruption. Delay does not make punishment uncertain, for when guilt is full God intervenes and judgment follows, and the measure is proportionate to light rejected. The crime that fills it is making void the law of God, accepting and exalting a spurious sabbath and turning souls away from obedience and loyalty to God. It reaches the point reached in the days of Christ when rulers side with the man of sin by restoring his lost ascendancy, taking the false sabbath under the care and protection of law and placing divine honors upon it. When that work is fully done national ruin follows and persecution breaks forth upon those who observe the Sabbath given in Eden as a memorial of creative power.
The image of the filling cup is applied to the present inhabitants of the earth and to the world, which is rapidly filling, almost full, nearly filled, and well-nigh past the boundary of mercy. They are now filling up the measure through the corruption of this age, practicing corruption and iniquity, and iniquity practiced under a cloak of godliness brings especially heavy retribution. Because that measure is becoming full, God's kindled anger will not be appeased until sinners are destroyed from the earth and out of the earth. When wrongdoing is complete, long-delayed wrath comes in destruction upon the inhabitants of the land. Ministers who use their trusted, higher profession to lead people into sin are especially guilty and will reap the harvest of the wrongdoing they encouraged and the souls they led astray.
By the time of Elijah the same idolatry and abominations of the Amorites had overspread Israel. Elijah was born among the mountains of Gilead on the other side of the Jordan and came from among that idolatrous nation to take his place in the work of God.