Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” 1 Sam. 15:1-3
As humans with limited knowledge and perspective, we read this chapter of the Old Testament and it totally unsettles us. It radically challenges our own perceptions of who God is, and also what justice and civility looks like to us in this age we live in. Some will even claim, “God really didn’t mean that, right? I mean, all throughout the Bible, over and over we read that the Lord is patient and kind, slow to anger and abounding in love! This is not who God is!”
But the truth of the matter is that while God is all of those things – kind, loving, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love – He is also just. He hates sin, and sin must be dealt with by a righteous God who is to be feared.
The Lord’s command to King Saul was crystal clear. “I want you to utterly destroy the Amalakites, including their children and all of their animals. Spare nothing.”
So how do we reconcile what God commanded Saul to do, knowing that He is the same God who is merciful, patient and loving?
It’s not easy. In fact, some pastors shy away from preaching this chapter because there is no dressing it up to make the truth less harsh and more palatable to the people in the pews. “Simply tell us God is just, but spare us the graphic details and move on.” In other words, we don’t want the bad news; only the good news, please. Try that with your doctor the next time you’re in his office and going over your recent test results. “Only the good news, Doc.” That would be rather foolish, wouldn’t it?
The Bible is God’s Word. His command to Saul left nothing else to be considered. Several centuries had passed since King Amalek attacked Israel as they were coming up out of Egypt. The Amalekites were ruthless and evil. They even sacrificed their own children. And despite all of that time that God had patiently given them to repent and change their ways, they continued in their wicked sin. So the vow that the Lord had made to Moses a few hundred years earlier – a promise to destroy the Amalekites for what they had done to the Israelites (Exodus 17) – was now going to be fulfilled.
Judgment time had come for the Amalekites, and nothing was to be spared.
We reconcile this by understanding that despite our own inherent sin and wickedness, God is indeed patient with us. He’s not quick to anger. He still cares about us. In fact, He wants us to prosper and enjoy life. And think about this: God could’ve completely annihilated the Amalekites that day they attacked the Israelites in the wilderness. But He spared them. God gave them 300+ years to get their act together, and yet they continued their wickedness. Even the evil Ninevites responded and repented the first time around with Jonah!
Patient? Yes! Kind? Yes! Abounding in love? Of course! But God is just. He is perfectly righteous in His dealings with His creatures. He keeps His promises. And when an even greater judgment comes at the end of the age, that will either be a wonderful thing or completely horrifying. He gives us the choice to pick which one it will be, and there will be no sanitizing it then.
But make no mistake, God means what He says.
Former Blackout Artist 