Grace and Patience

Genesis 15:13-16 says:

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 your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 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 fathers 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."

This passage explains the wars in Joshua's time. It was not a Jihad, and not genocide. In fact Joshua's actions were simply the end of a long period of grace. The Lord is telling Abraham here that his people would be slaves for 400+ years so that the Amorites (and others) would have a chance to repent. People like Melchizedek and Reuel were righteous followers of the True God. These men were not part of the covenant people, and yet they stood in the land as testimonies to the One True God.

So think of what all that meant. It meant grace for the land of Canaan, but it meant patience for the Israelites. Now think of what that means today for you and I. Perhaps you think the world is getting unbearable and you wonder why Christ has not returned. It's because of grace. God is giving the world a chance to repent. This is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 when he was speaking about the end times: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Of course, the difference between the Israelites and the body of Christ is that we are to be the agents who bring the message of the truth. We are the modern day Reuels and Melchizedeks. But it also means patience. You might have to wait awhile. God's timetable is not ours. Again, Jesus addressed this issue in the same passage in Matthew. In the next chapter he tells the parable of the Ten Virgins. The five foolish virgins did not bring enough oil for the long time the bridegroom would be away. Oil here represents faith, and/or patience. Jesus concludes by saying: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." That's our job, our purpose. That sums up the meaning of life. We are here to be a testimony in this time of grace and we need to keep watch, be patient and remember that God will come when he comes.