And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
(1 Samuel 15:1-3 ESV)
This is one of those passages that people point to and say: "What a terrible God! Why would he kill all of those innocent people?!" But there is a lot behind this command we do not see at quick glance, and a lot about ourselves we are unaware of. The Amalekites, decendents of Esau, had a long history of brutally trying to eliminate God's people, because the were God's people. And they will do so again. God could see at that time they were planning to do so again, and that Israel was very vulnerable. He wanted it to stop once and for all. What we also do not see in this story is something about ourselves. We are such an individualistic, self-centered culture that we think only in terms of individual lives, and not societies or peoples. This was not so then, or even in many parts of the world today. God sees the big picture, and we will see the Amalekites come back again in Biblical history trying to eliminate God's people.
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