When God gets enough
Figuratively speaking there are any
number of “keys” in life. An example of
such a key is when a person finally comprehends a certain
process in math or chemistry with the result being the
whole picture suddenly becomes clear. The same thing
often applies to any number of endeavors. Including
the study of scripture.
Genesis 15 is one of those keys. If
a student will read that chapter he will find the key
to understanding the Abrahamic covenant; that it is
an unconditional covenant and not like other covenants
that are contingent upon obedience on the part of the
Jewish people. God promised to give the land of Canaan
to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac without
condition. Abraham asked God how he might know this
to be a fact and God, in a miraculous vision, gave him
some of the details. In answering Abraham’s question
God said absolutely nothing about other factors so important
in other covenants, but simply said, “To your
descendants I have given this land…” Period.
Other things can be said about other covenants regarding
the Jews possessing and using the land, but that is
a subject for another time.
Included in this chapter is a comment
by God about Abraham’s descendants being in slavery
for four hundred years. Then, in verse 16 God said,
“Then in the fourth generation they shall
return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not
yet complete (emphasis mine). This is a short clause,
but a very important one because it is one of those
“keys” mentioned above. These words reveal
a lot about how God deals with man’s iniquity
and rebellion. When a person gets this “key”
straight he begins to see clearly the answers to his
questions about the progression, influence and final
punishment of wickedness. And, who has not wondered
about these things at times?
First, who were the Amorites? The word
is a generic term for the Canaanites who lived in the
land of Canaan before the Israelites arrived. There
are no descendants of the Canaanites or Amorites today.
A Moslem Arab who is a citizen of Israel once told me
he was a descendant of the ancient Canaanites in an
effort to convince me he and his brother Arabs were
the real owners of the land of Israel. Besides the fact
he was perpetuating a lie and knew he was doing so,
that land has always belonged to God and God alone,
and He gave it to Abraham and his heirs through Isaac.
The Canaanites were the descendants
of Ham through his son Canaan. They were a very powerful
and prominent group of people in those days prior to
the conquest of the land under Joshua. It is possible
they even ruled in portions of Egypt at the same time
they were settling a large part of Canaan. Some of the
prominent Amorite kings you have read about in the Bible
are Amraphel, Og and Sihon.
And, they were a very wicked people.
Actually, the term wicked seems to fall short in describing
the level of wickedness they practiced. Take a look
at the entire 20th chapter of Leviticus and see exactly
what they were involved in. Named among the Amorites
was the worship of Molech. This had to do with child
sacrifice where children were killed and their bodies
burned on the red-hot arms of a metal image of Molech.
Such activity was also accompanied with full-blown orgies.
They consulted mediums and spiritists
for any number of reasons, not the least of which was
to get answers to questions about the future. They regularly
practiced homosexuality, incest and bestiality. They
habitually cursed their parents and reveled in just
about any form of perversion you can imagine. In short
you can say the Amorites did not deny themselves any
lustful inclination of their evil nature — you
name it and they did it.
Canaan was a wonderful land. It was
flowing with milk and honey, as the Bible says. That
simply means it was a land that produced abundant vegetation,
had sufficient water and a naturally pleasing environment.
Remember the samples of the land’s produce the
spies brought back to Moses (Numbers 13)? It was not
only excellent grazing land for cattle, but was good
for farming, also. Flowers and all vegetation necessary
for animal husbandry and honey production were in Canaan.
What a place to live! But, the Amorites living there
were so far gone in their paganism and moral debauchery
God chose to take the land from them and give it to
the Hebrews, as He had promised Abraham.
You see, this was (and is) God’s
land (Jeremiah 2:7; Joel 3:2), and He will give it to
whom He will. The Amorites not only had no claim to
the land, they had absolutely nothing to say regarding
who God might allow to live there. Note the primary
reason God chose to drive out the Amorites was their
abject decadence and depravity (Deuteronomy 9:1-6).
Further, we see the reason God chose to give the land
to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac was to
confirm the oath He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Two things must be noted at this point.
First, the Jews did not receive the land back then because
they were such a God-fearing, righteous and holy people.
In fact, they were a stubborn people. God gave it to
them because He promised He would do so in the unconditional
Abrahamic covenant. Secondly, though the Jews were not
serving God wholly as they should have been, yet God
distinguished them from the Amorite pagans. Said another
way, though the Jews were disobedient to God, yet they
were in a covenant relationship with Him, and that made
a big difference.
Presently we can draw two similar conclusions
about the Middle East conflict. First, God did not bring
the Jews back to their ancient land because they, in
1948, suddenly decided to serve Him. Actually, they
are back in their land in unbelief, and they will not
turn to their Messiah until the closing days of the
tribulation when 66% will die in the process. God brought
them back because He promised He would (Ezekiel 36,37).
Secondly, there is no such thing as moral equivalence
between the Jews and the Moslems. For someone to say
the Jews are totally to blame, or that they even share
the blame for the lack of peace in the Middle East is
to be terribly misguided, totally removed from reality
and absolutely ignorant of the facts of the conflict.
There is possibly one other reason for giving moral
equivalency to the Moslems even when empirical evidence
says otherwise— when hatred for the Jewish people
is stronger than a person’s innate sense of justice.
Unfortunately, this is sometimes the consequence of
believing the unbiblical and harmful doctrine which
says the church has taken the place of Israel in God’s
economy.
In spite of the influence of the gods
of tolerance and political correctness there is something
we must confront and examine without bias. Though it
is true the so-called Palestinians are not, as my Moslem
acquaintance said, the descendants of the Amorites,
yet it seems very clear their religion of Islam is quite
similar to the Amorite religion. Moslems think nothing
of sending their children into the middle of a fire-fight
between Israeli soldiers and Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.
The death of their children in such circumstances is
cannon fodder for propaganda even though the Israeli
Defense Forces always risk their own lives to protect
Arab children as much as they possibly can. Moslems
not only send their men to kill Americans by the thousands
and even their women to kill Israeli soldiers and civilians,
but they habitually shield their rocket-launching sites
with large numbers of women and children knowing Israel
will hesitate to retaliate for fear of harming the innocent.
Whether Pres. Bush, Secretary Rice, the UN, the EU,
liberal American politicians, et.al., have the guts
to admit it, human sacrifice is as much a part of Islam
as it was part of the Amorite religion.
It seems there is somewhat of a parallel
between Joshua’s day and ours. As He did after
the Exodus, God is once again bringing His people back
to their ancient land just as He promised. As they were
then, so they are presently without any righteousness
that would make them deserving of the blessings of being
back in their land. As the Amorites were a cruel people,
hateful toward the Jews, so, too, are the Moslems who
have vowed to destroy the nation of Israel and her people
with no qualms whatsoever. And as the Amorites were
driven from the land when they arrived at the point
where their iniquity was full, so God will again act
against Israel’s enemies when they reach the same
point.
A large portion of Israel’s enemies
will be devastated when she is invaded by what I believe
to be Russia and her allies as we see in Ezekiel 38,
39. Some put this invasion prior to the rapture, but
I believe it will happen during the first half of the
tribulation period. This, however, will not be the end
of Israel’s enemies. Only at the end of the tribulation,
the 70th week of years God revealed to Daniel in chapter
nine, will Israel accept Jesus as her Messiah with the
full contingent of her world-wide enemies being destroyed.
There may be several reasons why God
has not taken action yet. We know that God is patient
in dealing with people, and we shall be eternally grateful
for that! His patience means salvation for people (2
Peter 3:15). Things are not yet at the point they need
to be when God closes the church age and begins to deal
with them directly once again. Signs, however, indicate
such a point is imminent. Further, the iniquity of some
nations is not yet full. By that I mean those nations
that are anti-God, anti-Christian, anti-Israel, anti-anything
and everything biblical. Unfortunately, as an American
this sounds much too familiar.
Though no one knows precisely what
it will take to bring the cup of their iniquity to the
point of being full, yet it will happen. God’s
patience is not to be trifled with; it is a long rope
so to speak, but it has an end, and it will come with
unmitigated wrath and judgment.
That God will judge and destroy the
nations who hate His people is a truth that finds wide
rejection today, even among many who call themselves
Christian. It is no surprise that the world denies God
will ever judge anybody for anything. But, it is sad
when Christians flinch at the thought of coming judgment.
It seems Christians have become so comfortable with
this world system and its view of God that the thought
of His taking action against it is...well, is just so
unfair and so politically incorrect. Perhaps those same
people feel the same way about Matthew 7:21-23.
In these last days God has raised up
men whose sole charge is to herald the imminent return
of Jesus for His church and the warning of coming judgment.
Most see them as fanatics who thrive on doom-and-gloom.
Perhaps such a description is accurate for some, for
their work is based upon sensationalism and emotion.
However, that does not dilute the truth of what God
has said about these matters — matters that relate
to God’s wrath upon a Christ-rejecting world.
Many snicker at these things; or even
worse, they smile condescendingly in appeasement. Perhaps
they should ask an Amorite if God is really serious
about all this wrath stuff. But, alas, the Amorites
are extinct…
Deja vu? DLM |
