Genesis 15:15, 16

And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

The Lord tells Abram that he will die in peace and be buried in a good old age. Abram will not live to see the fulfillment, but that changes nothing about the certainty of God’s promise. The delay is not because God forgot. The delay has a reason.

The iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full.

That is a remarkable statement because it shows us the Lord was not acting impulsively. The people of Canaan had become terribly corrupt, but God gave them four hundred years while Israel was in Egypt. Four hundred years to turn. Four hundred years to repent. Four hundred years of mercy before judgment finally came.

That alone should bury the foolish idea that the God of the Old Testament was harsh, and that Jesus came to make Him kinder. No, the Lord was patient with the Amorites for centuries. He was not eager to destroy. He was willing to wait.

But His patience was not approval.

That is the warning. Their sin was not yet full, but one day it would be. There would come a point when mercy long extended would be refused once too often, and judgment would finally fall. God is patient, but He is not indifferent. He waits, but He does not overlook sin forever.

There is something else here that is worth seeing. While Israel was in Egypt, it may have looked as though nothing was happening. But God was doing more than one thing at a time. He was preparing Israel for deliverance, and He was giving the Amorites space to repent. What looked like delay was actually mercy.

I think we forget that sometimes.

We assume that if God is not moving as quickly as we want, He must not be doing much at all. But the Lord is never idle. He knows why He waits. He knows when to act. He knows how long mercy should be extended, and He knows when judgment is right.

So this passage leaves us with both comfort and sobriety. Comfort, because God’s timing is never careless. Sobriety, because His patience should never be mistaken for weakness. He is merciful beyond measure, but He is still holy.

And both are on display right here.