The Lord Delays His Coming (reason four)

Fourth, His delay gives more time for evil’s “cup of iniquity” to come to its full.  Read the Old Testament.  You will find that always, before God brings judgment on a nation or people, the insidious “ferment” of evil has to fully permeate the society, or certain segments of the society, before God’s fury can no longer be restrained and He “brings an end” to that which has become totally nonredeemable.  When God is bringing an end to that which must be removed, He is also establishing something that has a fresh and new beginning.  God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to him and his seed the land of Canaan.  But God declared to Abraham concerning this promise: “you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, (the land of Canaan) for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”  (Genesis 15:15-16).  “Amorites” was a general term describing the people who inhabited Canaan at the time God made the promise to Abraham.  God also told Abraham that his descendants will be “strangers” in a land that was not theirs and would be afflicted (in Egypt) 400 years, and also “that nation whom they serve, I will judge: afterward they (the seed of Abraham) shall come out with great possessions (Genesis 15:13-14).  In other words, when the time came for Abraham’s seed to be delivered out of Egypt, the iniquity of the Egyptians would also have come to its full, and with the judgments of the 10 plagues God would almost completely destroy that nation.  Many other Biblical illustrations could be given, but I believe the preceding is sufficient to illustrate the point.

Now we’re coming to the end of 6000 years of man’s probation, wherein the whole world (all nations) are involved in God’s judgmental process.  God has to consider the “fullness of iniquity” of all societies, or segments thereof, and bring the timing all factors to a “head” at the same time.  A “delay” in the Lord’s coming has given the Lord the opportunity to evaluate (in order to determine the degree of judgment) the depths to which man’s degradation will go, and to determine and regulate the “boundaries” thereof.  Even religion’s “iniquity” must come to a full.  Iniquity in religion?  Yes, there’s plenty of it. This is pictured symbolically in Revelation 17:1-6 where John sees a woman who was a harlot, “arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.”  Evil must be shown to be evil regardless of where it manifests, in the world or in religion, and if God decrees an extended time period to allow its abominable and filthy nature be manifest more fully, that God’s purpose in its exposure is more fully fulfilled, and He is seen to be even more just when “the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.”  (Revelation 14:10).

Continued on next posting. . .