Genesis 14-15
Genesis 15:16 contains an interesting (and awful) phrase.
God promised Abram that his offspring would be enslaved for four hundred years,
but that He would rescue them and bring them into the land He had promised to
Abram. And God says, “And they shall come back here in the fourth generation,
for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Emphasis mine.)
“The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” This
little phrase tells us a couple things. First, God allowed the Amorites to live
in their sin and rebellion against him. In essence, He let them have what they
wanted: their own way. He was patient with them, giving them every opportunity
to turn from their sin and return to Him (for all people come from God and will
return to Him one way or another). Second, the time would come when God would
say, “Enough is enough.” He would bring them to an end and punish them for
their evil deeds.
God rules the nations, and when a nation turns against
God there are consequences and judgment will follow. The Amorites faced this
doom. The Israelites did too, although God saved a remnant of those chosen
people. All through history, nations have risen and fallen under God’s blessing
and judgment; each according to His purpose. And even today, God blesses and
judges the nations, and they ascend or crumble at His will.
In the United States we should beware of the sins of our
nation. In our nation of liberty and individuality we often see the sins of
others and say, “It’s not my business.” Much like Cain asking, “Am I my brother’s
keeper?” we pretend we have no responsibility for others. God consistently
calls His people to speak out for the poor, the hungry, the needy, and the weak
– who were often widows and orphans. In our society some of the greatest evils
are still committed against the weak. There are many examples of this, but here
are two. Abortion robs a child of her life. Yet at the same time, the woman who
seeks abortion is often a victim of poverty and sometimes violence herself. God’s
justice demands better for both.
God told Cain that Abel’s blood cried out from the
ground. It was the cry that goes to God for vindication. How much more blood
have we shed or allowed to be shed? How many more people are oppressed and
calling to God for vindication and rescue from injustice? Make no mistake. God
hears it. He will answer it. Even our great nation will fall under His wrath
for the many injustices that take place here.
Yet there is hope. As we wait for the time when the
iniquity of the United States will be complete, there are those God has left
behind to testify to His love and a way of rescue from our iniquity. In the
midst of all the blood that has been shed in this nation (actually and
metaphorically), one perfect victim willingly allowed His blood to be shed to
redeem the rest of us. Jesus, God’s own Son, suffered oppression and died to
provide forgiveness for us.
Notice that this is God’s first response to our sin:
salvation. His desire is that we hear of what He has done for us, that we would
believe His promise. He credits that belief to those who believe as righteousness.
That’s how we are saved from His ultimate judgment. God wants to give us mercy,
and He acted on that desire by providing salvation and life through Jesus’
death and resurrection. That mercy, then, moves us turn away from our iniquity,
to hate evil, to turn from it, and to oppose it.
God’s second response is to punish sinners directly. He
sweeps away the nations, and a day will come when even our beloved United
States will topple because of its iniquity. And ultimately this whole world
will be judged and destroyed because of our sin.
Until that day we must endure its wickedness – to suffer
its oppression as the Israelites did in Egypt. But we do not endure silently.
We join the blood of this world’s victims crying out to God for salvation, and
we call the world to repentance. We are God’s voice in this world to speak His
Word to tell all people that there is hope in the Cross of Christ. Beneath the
cross all who trust in Christ will find protection, peace, hope, and life when
the iniquity of this world is completed.
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