Iniquity of the Amorites not Complete (Genesis 15)

 Iniquity of the Amorites not Complete

Abram was called a prophet of the Lord. He received visions of what would happen in the future. One of these is recorded in Genesis 15.

In this chapter Abram is promised that he would inherit the land of Canaan. The Amorites lived there too.

To drive the point home God made a covenant with Abram using visible signs and customs of that time. 

Then Abram got a vision of which the first part brought him great fear.


[Gen 15:12-16 NKJV] 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror [and] great darkness fell upon him. 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."


Abram’s vision was guided to a far time in the future. A promise was received that could’ve kept the Israelites strong and encouraged throughout the whole story.

The ‘land’ which would later turn out to be Egypt is not named yet. But the affliction and slavery there was a scary thought. There they would remain for a long time.

But after that they would return to the land of Canaan and conquer it.

Then the iniquity of the Amorites would be complete.

The way God speaks about this suggests that there was already quite some iniquity among the Amorites. They existed in the time of Abram and had their issues.

But their iniquity was not yet complete.

This would not be the case for more than four whole generations.

Here the patience of God can be seen.

He is slow to anger and waits to judge.

His patience can be seen in all this. Oftentimes He waits till the iniquity of a nation or people is complete. He doesn’t like to judge. 

Even in the case of the Amorites and the Canaanites who would be conquered by the Israelites this is visible.

True, He does not leave the guilty unpunished. He hates sin and His righteous wrath is over it. 

But He also cares about the person itself and wants them to repent. He gives them time and sometimes even a lot of time. He waits till the iniquity is complete and then He pours out His wrath.

And He is still the same God. When God doesn’t judge us or anyone for their sins we should not misinterpret this as indifference. It is rather patience.


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