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by Bill Seng

“As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.’” ~Genesis 15:12-16

We should be encouraged to know that all things work for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28). But things don’t always look the way we would like them to be. In these situations it is very easy to think that God has forgotten you. What is more, when wicked people seem to be prospering while you struggle in all things, it’s hard to believe that God has remembered you. The reign of the Amorites may have been such a case in the days of Abram.

The father of the Amorites was Canaan, the one who was cursed by Noah. Although the people who descended from Canaan seemed to be prosperous and powerful, they were all wicked and idolatrous. In the book of Genesis, Abram (later to be renamed Abraham), lived in the same region where the Amorites dwelt. No doubt, Abram was surrounded by all sorts of evil. Abram fell asleep while God was confirming his promise to him and it was while he was sleeping that God revealed the future. Apparently, the sins of the Amorites were linked in some way to Israel’s departure to Egypt and their return to the Promised Land.

It is never quite explained what the sin of the Amorites was. More than likely it was probably along the lines of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many people would say that homosexuality was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, but their sin ran far deeper than that. Romans 1:24-27 reveals that the sins that we know as sodomy and bestiality (the latter of which was not mentioned of the Sodomites) are an indication that a culture has not only defied the natural order of things, but God’s righteous decree. This means that the sins of a nation are more than just condoning of one wicked act, but a multitude.

In the United States, we tend to think that, say, abortion will be the sin by which we are condemned. The reality is that abortion is a symptom of the wickedness of our country. In reality, the greatest sin America has committed is the rejection of the Word of God. Without a foundation in God’s Word, all other sins will inevitably follow. Today, many of us feel like maybe Abram did back in the days before God fulfilled his promise to him. Perhaps we will also have the opportunity to rejoice over the conquering of sin through God’s Holy Spirit and a nationwide revival. There is no telling what God has in store for us.

Nonetheless, God revealed that it would be 400 years until the sin of the Amorites would reach its peak! At the same time, the Israelites would be suffering in Egypt. Talk about discouragement!

Throughout the book of Judges, it is important to know who the Amorites are. For a good portion of the book they appear as a major enemy of the Israelites. Even after 400 years of the Amorites reigning in wickedness, the Israelites would still have to battle them in order to take their land. Ultimately, God would give them victory after Israel repented from her sins.

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