WHO
ANTITYPICAL AMORITE? 11
IS THE
A. -- You will not forget the most important question of all, at least to me, and one which I suspect you realize will
upset your particular theories. I speak of the strange interval of bondage which we found in Genesis 15, Galatians 3
and Ephesians 1. The question is: What is the reason for this interval, and what answer can you give from the
history of the typical people Israel?
B. -- Shall we turn to Genesis 15 once again?
A. -- There you are! you cannot give a straight answer, but just involve the issue in a cloud of difficult passages.
The typical Principle tested
B. -- If by a `straight answer' you mean some cut and dried theory of my own, then I gladly confess that I cannot
give you one. Without the wonderful teaching and perfect parallel of the Scripture type, I suppose I should be
obliged to accept one of the many systems of theology that attempt to account for the problems of the age-purpose;
choosing according to my temperament and upbringing, one of the explanations offered; from Higher Calvinism
with its decrees of election and reprobation on the one hand, to Universalism on the other. May I once again suggest
that we turn to Genesis 15?
A. -- We have already seen what that passage teaches, but I am anxious to test your theory, so I suppose I must
comply. (Turns to Genesis 15).
B. -- That's good. Now we rest once more on solid truth. Will you read verse 16?
A. --
`But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: FOR THE INIQUITY OF THE AMORITES IS NOT YET FULL'.
I see it! What a revelation! What a relief from that awful doctrine that I felt obliged to accept, which, in order to
explain this interval of death and sin, makes God Himself responsible. Yet as I say this, I remember the claim that:
`Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things' (Rom. 11:36).
Israel's Bondage and the Amorite
B. -- Let us go one step at a time. Before us is a definite statement. Israel's bondage was not primarily connected
with Israel's sin, but with God's forbearance and long-suffering with a sinful race that had started its course before
an Israelite had been born. You will find the same principle in operation just before Israel are redeemed out of
Egypt. Before one of the plagues fell God warned Pharaoh that if he did not let Israel go, it would result in the loss
of his firstborn. Yet plague after plague fell in the longsuffering of God before that dreadful night overtook Egypt.
After that you will remember Pharaoh and his host made one more desperate attempt against the Lord with the result
that the Lord said:
`The Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever (the age)' (Exod. 14:13),
and when the waters returned and covered the Egyptians we read:
`There remained not so much as one of them' (Exod. 14:28).
This utter destruction coming upon the second revolt finds its parallel in Revelation 20, where, when Satan
gathers the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth against the beloved city after the millennium, we read:
`Fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them' (verse 9).
Returning to the Amorites, you will remember that with them, as with the remainder of the Canaanites, nothing
less than utter extermination was ordained of God. You will find one further parallel in connection with the flood.
Do you remember the name of the man who lived longer than any son of Adam either before or since?
A. -- Yes, Methuselah. His age is proverbial.