ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Pulelulu Tisema 15, 2021

go and attack Amalek..do not spare them.

ke ke ‘alu ‘o taa‘i ‘a ‘Amaleki..‘o ‘oua te ke mamae ki ai

 

1 Samiuela 15 (1 Samuel 15)

(v. 1-3) PEA pehē ‘e Sāmiuela kia Saula, Na‘e fekau au ‘e Sihova ke pani koe ke tu‘i ki hono kakai, ‘a ‘Isileli, pea ko eni, fanongo mai ki he le‘o ‘o e folofola ‘a Sihova. Ko e folofola eni ‘a Sihova Sāpaoti, Kuo u fakamanatu ‘a e me‘a na‘e fai ‘e ‘Amaleki ki ‘Isileli, ‘a ‘ene tu‘u ki ai ‘i he hala, ‘i he‘ene ‘alu hake mei ‘Isipite. Ko ia, ke ke ‘alu ‘o taa‘i ‘a ‘Amaleki, pea ke mōifua ‘a e me‘a kotoa ‘oku ne ma‘u, ‘o ‘oua te ke mamae ki ai; ka ke tāmate‘i ‘a e tangata mo e fefine, ‘a e tamaiki mo e fefine, ‘a e tamaiki mo e kei huhu, ‘a e pulu mo e sipi, ‘a e kāmeli mo e ‘asi.

(v. 1-3) Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and 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.’ ”

 David Guzik :: Study Guide for 1 Samuel 15:1-3

Samuel also said to Saul: This was a message from the spiritual leader of Israel to the political and military leader of Israel. The message was clear: punish what Amalek did to Israel... utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. God clearly told Samuel to tell Saul to bring a total judgment against the Amalekites.

Utterly destroy: This Hebrew verb (heherim) is used seven times in this account. The idea of total, complete judgment is certainly stressed.

How he laid wait for him on the way when he came up from Egypt: This explains why the Amalekites should be judged so completely. Centuries before this the Amalekites were the first people to attack Israel after their escape from Egypt (Exodus 17).

Hundreds of years before, the Lord said He would bring this kind of judgment against Amalek: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:14-16) Deuteronomy 25:17-19 repeats this idea.

The Amalekites committed a terrible sin against Israel. When the nation was weak and vulnerable the Amalekites attacked the weakest and most vulnerable of the nation (Deuteronomy 25:18). They did this for no reasons except violence and greed. God hates it when the strong take cruel advantage over the weak, especially when the weak are His people.

Though this happened more than 400 years before, God still held it against the Amalekites because time does not erase sin before God. Among men time should erase sin and the years should make us more forgiving to one another. But before God, time cannot atone for sin. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can erase sin, not time. In fact, it was time that the Amalekites were mercifully given opportunity to repent and they did not repent. The hundreds of years of hardened unrepentant hearts made them more guilty, not less guilty.

Now go and attack Amalek: God could have judged Amalek directly as He did against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But God had a special purpose in this for His special nation, Israel. He wanted it to be a test of obedience for Saul and all of Israel. Plus, since Amalek’s sin against Israel was a military attack, God wanted to make the judgment fit the sin.

Would God call His people today to fight such a war of judgment? God has a completely different call for Christians under the New Covenant than He did for Israel under the Old Covenant (John 18:36).

Though God no longer calls His people to take up arms as instruments of His judgment, it does not mean that God has stopped judging the nations. “But we cannot suppose, for a single moment, that the judgment of the nations is to be altogether relegated [appointed] to that final day. Throughout the history of the world the nations have been standing before Christ’s bar. Nineveh stood there, Babylon stood there, Greece and Rome stood there, Spain and France stood there, and Great Britain is standing there to-day. One after another has had the solemn word – depart, and they have passed into a destruction which has been absolute and terrible.” (Meyer)