By: Obed Pineda
After returning victorious from rescuing his nephew, Abram was reassured by Jehovah God, “‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’” (Genesis 15:5). However, the Lord clarified to Abram that “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, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:15-16). It is curious to read that God allowed Abraham (as he would later be renamed by the Lord, cf. Genesis 17:5) a glimpse of how quickly iniquity was rising through all the cities of the plain where Lot and his family dwelt (cf. Genesis 14:1-24), before making this statement to him. The value of this allowance is later revealed in Jehovah’s conversation with His friend concerning the decision to punish Sodom and Gomorrah due to the abysses of depravity that society had sunken to (cf. Genesis 18:16-33, 19:1-29, 2nd Peter 2:6-8). There is no question that Abraham himself was aware that the inhabitants of the land that Lot had selected were untrustworthy since he rejected the Sodomite king’s monetary reward for rescuing them by stating, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’” (Genesis 14:22-23). Upon reading this response from Abram, this author is reminded of what kindled God’s wrath against Nebuchadnezzar and Herod Agrippa (cf. Daniel 4, Acts 12:20-24). It is obvious that Abram could perceive the absence of godly reverence from the king of Sodom, and thus his reprieve of the king was, too, an invitation to humble himself before the mighty God by giving Him praise and honor. Therefore, it was no surprise to Abraham when the Lord notified him that the outcry against Sodom’s evil had finally filled up to the rim of His righteous bowl of wrath. This was the same reason the merciful Father gave in His explanation of why four generations would pass before the evil actions of the Amorites (representatives of all the inhabitants of Canaan) would reach its tipping point. Although there is no mention of an overflowing bowl (or cup) in these examples, it is worth noting that this symbol does apply in these events. Keep in mind that the figure of a cup being slowly filled has been often used in Holy Writ to illustrate the long-suffering nature of God, but once the cup has been filled to the rim He pours its contents out upon the disobedient (cf. Revelation 15:7-16:1). It is fascinating to learn that the same cup that demonstrates God’s righteous wrath toward impenitent sinners, unveils His mercy toward them as well. Consider the reality that several centuries transpired from when the divine Judge spoke those words to Abraham to when Joshua finally defeated and conquered all of the Canaanites, as He had declared to His friend (cf. Joshua 21:43-45). In other words, when Joshua fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham, the Canaanites’ refusal to repent from their wickedness had finally spilled over the rim of God’s bowl of wrath. Yet, observe the length of time it took to overflow this cup. It becomes very easy for the untaught who point their accusatory finger at God falsely claiming that He cast out the Canaanite nations from their land because He “favored” Israel, since they ignore the length of time God spent pleading for them to turn away from their evil ways. If their outlandish claim had any truth to it, never would He have waited for the bowl to overflow with judgment; He would have immediately given the land to Abraham, His friend. Instead, notice the dire warning God gives Israel about imitating the religious practices of the deposed nations of the Promised Land: “When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they have burned even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:29-31). The centuries that God allotted them to repent from their heinous and brutal rites and rituals, regrettably was squandered away by them. The inhabitants of Canaan only incremented their immorality to the point that God declared, “the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). It is also worth highlighting that God warned the children of Israel that if they fell into those abominable actions, they would be punished in the same manner (cf. Leviticus 18:26-30, Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Lamentably, Israel did not heed the commandment and began to fill up heaven’s bowl of judgment yet again as evinced by two of the three prophet’s of the captivity. The Lord commanded Jeremiah, “‘Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.’ Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the Lord sent me; Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day” (Jeremiah 25:15-18). Ezekiel details all the abominations that were avidly practiced by the people on the temple grounds at Jerusalem, God declaring, “they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them” (Ezekiel 6:17b-18). History verifies that God’s bowl of judgment was once again poured out on the impenitent cities as He had said that He would (cf. Jeremiah 52:1-30). Although it is true that God’s bowl of wrath fills up slowly representing His mercy and long-suffering, one must not make the lethal mistake of ignoring that it does fill up, and will eventually spill over if we do not stop pouring in our sins, thus reminding us that God is a just God as well.