1 Samuel 15:3, 8, 9
“Destroy all” was a simple command from the LORD to King Saul. Amalek had attacked Israel in Exodus 17 while Israel was on the journey to the Promised Land. God is not slack in His judgment, so He now orders Saul to repay Amalek by destroying everything that they have, animals included. Saul had other plans though.
Typical of man operating under rebellion, Saul felt that he had a better plan, which included the destruction of the people of the Amalekites, but the sparing of the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fatlings, and the lambs, “and all that was good” (15:9), as well as King Agag.
Where Saul failed in his discernment of spiritual things is found in his failure to understand that there is nothing good with that which God has cursed. Amalek was under the judgment of God’s hand, thus they had nothing to offer God’s chosen people. By destroying Amalek, God was not only judging them for their actions, but He was sparing His own people and their future generations from dealing with these heathens again.
Saul leans to that side of himself that is still prevalent in mankind to this day: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Saul felt that he could identify that which was good and that which was evil. This is why he refused to destroy things that he felt could be useful to him and to his army, though God had specifically order such extermination. He even categorizes other things as “vile and refuse” and thus worthy of destruction. He did not know the heart of God in this matter which viewed ALL of it as “vile and refuse”.
Amalek is a type of the flesh and of sin, and thus all of it is deemed unusable by God. Christ came to completely destroy the power of sin and the flesh, leaving none of it unresolved at the cross. His death was a complete and total victory over the forces of darkness, not even sparing Satan himself. Jesus said of the devil that he was cast out as a source of power when God’s judgment came pouring into the body of Christ (John 12:31). Paul also said that Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
As if to show us what happens when sin is left unresolved, Saul is ultimately killed at the hand of an Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:13), in an enormous piece of Biblical irony, that was not at all coincidental. Thank God that we do not have to fear the return of our old man of sin, but that Jesus has already destroyed Satan’s power in our life. Our heavenly Saul “hewed Agag in pieces” just as old Samuel did when he arrived (1 Samuel 15:33). We are free from the fear of tomorrow because our Amalek has been dealt with today.
“Destroy all” was a simple command from the LORD to King Saul. Amalek had attacked Israel in Exodus 17 while Israel was on the journey to the Promised Land. God is not slack in His judgment, so He now orders Saul to repay Amalek by destroying everything that they have, animals included. Saul had other plans though.
Typical of man operating under rebellion, Saul felt that he had a better plan, which included the destruction of the people of the Amalekites, but the sparing of the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fatlings, and the lambs, “and all that was good” (15:9), as well as King Agag.
Where Saul failed in his discernment of spiritual things is found in his failure to understand that there is nothing good with that which God has cursed. Amalek was under the judgment of God’s hand, thus they had nothing to offer God’s chosen people. By destroying Amalek, God was not only judging them for their actions, but He was sparing His own people and their future generations from dealing with these heathens again.
Saul leans to that side of himself that is still prevalent in mankind to this day: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Saul felt that he could identify that which was good and that which was evil. This is why he refused to destroy things that he felt could be useful to him and to his army, though God had specifically order such extermination. He even categorizes other things as “vile and refuse” and thus worthy of destruction. He did not know the heart of God in this matter which viewed ALL of it as “vile and refuse”.
Amalek is a type of the flesh and of sin, and thus all of it is deemed unusable by God. Christ came to completely destroy the power of sin and the flesh, leaving none of it unresolved at the cross. His death was a complete and total victory over the forces of darkness, not even sparing Satan himself. Jesus said of the devil that he was cast out as a source of power when God’s judgment came pouring into the body of Christ (John 12:31). Paul also said that Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
As if to show us what happens when sin is left unresolved, Saul is ultimately killed at the hand of an Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:13), in an enormous piece of Biblical irony, that was not at all coincidental. Thank God that we do not have to fear the return of our old man of sin, but that Jesus has already destroyed Satan’s power in our life. Our heavenly Saul “hewed Agag in pieces” just as old Samuel did when he arrived (1 Samuel 15:33). We are free from the fear of tomorrow because our Amalek has been dealt with today.
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