Genesis 15:16

16. In the fourth generation Evidently reckoning one hundred years as an average generation among these patriarchs .

For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Another sentence of profound significance . The Amorites were the most powerful and widespread of all the inhabitants of Canaan, and are here named as representing all the Canaanitish tribes . Their origin is noted in Genesis 10:16, where see note . Those who “dwelt in Hazezon-tamar” had been recently smitten by the eastern invaders . Genesis 14:7. But Abram was at this time confederate with one of their princes, (Genesis 14:13,) and the presence of such saintly characters as Melchizedek preserved the many from utter moral degeneracy and ruin . But Melchizedek would depart, and Abram’s seed be removed from the land, and the nations would fill up the cup of their iniquity and become ripe for destruction . In this verse Murphy notes the following lessons: “1) The Lord foreknows the moral character of men. 2) In his providence he administers the affairs of nations on the principles of moral rectitude. 3) Nations are spared until their iniquity is full. 4) They are then cut off in retributive justice.”