Why did God let Israel stay in bondage in Egypt before bringing them into the promised land?
God allowed Israel to remain in Egyptian bondage until the Canaanites’ iniquity was full. Their prolonged suffering gave the Amorites and Canaanites time to prove themselves worthy of the coming judgment, making God’s later command to cleanse the land perfectly fair and just.
Les explains that Genesis 15 had already told Israel they would stay in bondage until the Canaanites’ iniquity was full. In other words, the Canaanites had gone so deep into sin and wickedness that God was perfectly fair in telling Joshua to kill them all—not sparing even an infant or an old person, because one spared Canaanite would be like a rotten apple in a barrel. God patiently let His own people suffer in Egypt so that the Amorites and Canaanites could prove the worthiness of the judgment coming upon them. The pitiful part is that Israel did not carry it out, and just as God said, they went down to their level.