Day 76: The One Who Is Good

Genesis 15:16

In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”

One thing we know about God from passages like this one is that He doesn’t like to kill people. Some like to argue that a good God wouldn’t kill off entire families of people like the God of the Bible does. In response to this, I would say that, first of all, we don’t really get to choose who our God is. He is who He is. Second, we are definitely not the ones to say what is good and what is not. I see no evidence that mankind knows how to actually be good. Finally, the God of the Bible defines what good is. He can’t possibly be bad because he defines what good really is. We are the ones who need to change our thinking to be like his. On top of all this, God did care for the Amorites.

The Amorites were some of the people that God did destroy by the hand of Israel. Even though this was to happen, God waited a long time first. The Amorites were aware that they were violating the God of Noah because I know that God is good and didn’t want to destroy them. He even mentions them here and explains that even though they were already evil, He didn’t want to destroy them yet. The Bible tells us that God doesn’t enjoy the death of the wicked. It was never God’s purpose for any of Adam’s children to do evil even though he knew that it was to happen.

There was an important person who may have been an Amorite that had not yet been born. She was to become a Jew and give birth in the line if Jesus. Her name was Rahab and she was later to work as a prostitute in Jericho. She was Boaz’ mother, the man who married Ruth. Had God destroyed her people before it was time, she would not have been saved. God not only saved her but her family as well. So, it really isn’t for us to pass judgment on God. We need to trust Him instead and learn from Him what good really is. God knows when evil cannot continue to cause harm and He knows how to save those who have faith in Him.