The Amalekites are probably most known because God gave a command to destroy them to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:1-3. God wanted them punished because of something they did 400 years earlier. One lesson we might take away from this opening point is that God does not always give a nation what they deserve at the moment they choose sinful behavior. He waited more than two centuries to punish Egypt and twice that for Amalek. The Roman Empire persecuted Christians in the first century, but God did not formally destroy them until A.D. 476. One wonders how patient God will be to the United States in light of her sins.
So, what sin had Amalek committed? God says they had ambushed Israel when God had delivered her out of Egypt. It has been said that the Amalekites dwelt between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. While Israel was in the wilderness there, Amalek attacked them. So far as we can tell from both Exodus 17:8 and 1 Samuel 15:2, they fought against Israel without being provoked in any way.
This is the battle where Moses stood on top of a hill with the rod of God in his hands. As long as he was able to hold the rod up with his hands, Israel prevailed in the battle. When his arms tired and the rod came down, Amalek prevailed. Eventually Aaron and Hur held up his hands until the sun went down and Israel had a victory. At that time God promised that He would “utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Ex. 17:14).
Hence, when God gave the commandment to King Saul to utterly annihilate them, He had in mind fulfilling this prophecy. As we all know, Saul failed to accomplish the task given to him by the Lord. When Saul returned, he told Samuel that the mission had been accomplished. It was obvious that he failed in slaughtering the animals; the king admitted that they had been brought back to sacrifice to Jehovah. It was at this point that Samuel asked the king: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” (1 Sam. 15:22). “NO!” is the answer to this hypothetical question.
Furthermore, Saul had not put King Agag to death, thus violating killing all of the Amalekites. As long as one yet lived, then all were not put to death. Samuel called for King Agag, who thought he would survive. He reasoned, “Surely the bitterness of death is past” (1 Sam. 15:32). But he thought wrong. “And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal” (v. 33). Does his violent demise mean, therefore, that the Amalekites had been thoroughly wiped out? If we can believe Saul’s word, then the answer is, “Yes.” Had not Saul declared, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord” (1 Sam. 15:13)? Of course, we know he had not killed all, since Agag remained alive. Certainly, he had not killed all of the animals.
The Evidence Indicates….
But did Saul slay all of the nation of the Amalekites? If Saul could be believed, then, yes, they did. But we know from history that at least some of the Amalekites remained. Ironically, one Amalekite appears in connection with the death of Saul. The ungodly king of Israel had fallen on his sword in order to take his own life. When his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he followed suit, falling on his own sword (1 Sam. 31:4-5).
But an Amalekite came into David’s camp, thinking that he might be rewarded if he took credit for slaying David’s enemy—the king who had so long pursued him with the intent of killing him. David told him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed’” (2 Sam. 1:16). One of the young men executed him (v. 15).
However, this man was not a random escapee, who had fled when Saul attacked the Amalekites. It seems that when David and his men returned home (just a few days before the battle) that a substantial number of that tribe had raided the town where David lived—Ziklag. In fact, they burned the place with fire “and had taken captive the women and those who were there from small to great” (1 Sam. 30:1-2).
David and his men were devastated because their wives and children had been taken captive. Some of the people spoke of stoning David (v. 6). David asked Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod to him that he might inquire of the Lord as to how they should react (v. 7). God told them they should pursue and would overtake them, which (with the help of an Egyptian) they did. They were able to retrieve their families, who had remained unharmed, and return to Ziklag (v. 18).
So, how many Amalekites had been involved in the raid? It was not some band of twenty men. How do we know, since the number of the Amalekites is not mentioned? One verse gives us an idea; 1 Samuel 30:17 says: “Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.” A small skirmish would not have lasted an entire day. There were hundreds of soldiers fighting on both sides, as evidenced by the fact that only a percentage of the men escaped, but that number was 400, thus indicating far more had fought and died in the battle. Saul apparently missed destroying the Amalekites by a large margin.
These 400 who escaped apparently survived until the time of Hezekiah. The sons of Simeon “defeated the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped” (1 Chron. 4:42-43).
One other point of note is that, according to Josephus, Haman the Agagite, who tried to destroy all of the Jews In Esther’s day, was a descendant of King Agag, whom Samuel hacked into pieces. Was the historian correct—or just trying to lend a little extra drama to an already tense situation? It might have been possible for someone to have saved a son of Agag.
Lessons
1. The Amalekites were intentionally obnoxious, which is never a good thing for a nation or an individual. They had no legitimate reason to oppose Israel as they came forth from Egypt. Probably, they saw an opportunity to take advantage of a non-military people who had been enslaved for quite a while. God’s justice might have been slow in coming upon them, but it did eventually reach them even if it did take 700 years.
2. They should have noticed how Jehovah led His people out of Egypt without any kind of battle or military victory whatsoever. If God would do such a magnificent thing for Israel, what else might He do for them?
3. Maybe the Amalekites never heard the expression, “You reap what you sow,” but they would experience the maxim.
4. Saul slightly exaggerated his claim to have obeyed the Lord’s voice when God had commanded him “to utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Sam. 15:3). Everyone likes to put the best spin on his actions—to present himself in the best light possible. It would appear, however, that Saul actually lied. Did he not know about all the Amalekites he did not kill? Did he let them go or just not make a diligent effort to find them? Was it not his business to discern all he could about them? He should not have sounded so confident when, in fact, his effort was rather slipshod.
5. When a king or a nation (or a church) is slack in carrying out God’s will, it will usually prove to be detrimental either immediately or sometime down the road. Somehow, we convince ourselves, like Saul did, that we do not need to keep God’s Word as thoroughly as He requires of us. Maybe we can forego emphasizing evangelism here and be a little loose about withdrawing of fellowship there. Maybe no one will notice or care that we are being slipshod in our collective obedience to the Lord. Of course, complacency in soul winning only increases over time and is replaced by other activities. Failure to withdraw fellowship from those who no longer come or who attend sporadically just encourages others to live the same way, thus weakening the effectiveness of the local body of Christ. Anything included in the Word of God is: 1) for our good; and 2) there for a Divine purpose.
But what is the upshot of neglect? Congregations without an emphasis on evangelism eventually wither and die. Churches without discipline eventually compromise with the world. Consider what happened in the first century through neglect.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb. 5:12).
By refusing to keep God’s Word thoroughly, Saul made it possible for the Amalekites to thrive, and eventually they conquered the wives and the children of David and his men. In fact, if Josephus is right about Haman being descended from Agag, the results of Saul’s inefficiency could have led to the destruction of the Jews worldwide.
God does delight in obedience. Neither the Amalekites nor Saul can serve as an example of this principle, but David can. The natural response of just about anyone upon discovering that his wives and family had been captured would be to rush to the rescue posthaste. However, that was not David’s behavior in this instance. He wanted to know what God’s thoughts on the matter were. Therefore, he asked Abiathar the priest to bring him the ephod by which he could inquire of God (1 Sam. 30:7-8). David heard the answer he wanted to hear, which was to pursue the Amalekites and recapture what had been taken, but what if God had said, “Let them go; I need you elsewhere”? That would have been difficult; his men might have deserted or even killed him. But faith would have demanded obedience, which God delights in. The Lord could have, through His providence, returned everyone and everything that had been stolen.
6. God’s enemies should be our enemies. God had a reason for appointing the Amalekites’ destruction; it was Saul’s task to carry out the orders. Christians today are God’s soldiers. If we are not, why are we instructed to wear the Christian armor (Eph. 6:10-17)? And if we are soldiers, who is our enemy? In what fight are we to be engaged?
Our enemy is not flesh and blood, as Israel’s was. Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world or His servants would have fought (John 18:36). We “do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12). No, but we do spiritually fight against Satan and his servants (Eph. 6:11).
God’s enemies are those who deny Him and the spiritual realm in which He dwells. Avid atheists, evolutionists, and materialists continually fight against Him. So do all who propagate error, whether in or out of the church. Both existed in the first century, as they do today. Anyone who contradicts the Word of God is an enemy of God—especially those who have been taught better.