Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 15:13-16 (New Living Translation)

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

God promises a land to the descendants of Abram (Abraham). Not, however, for a while. How about over 400 years for a while?

Why the wait? I read a very odd reason in verse 16. Perhaps so odd that I am reading this incorrectly. The wait is so the sins of the Amorites will warrant their destruction. I don’t get it. Sorry, I have no explanation for this one. I just don’t know why you would let the sins of a people become big enough to warrant their destruction.