It was a beautiful morning for the young boy. He had just experienced the refreshing taste of clean water from a split rock and few days ago and oh he wished he could taste it again. The people were so thirsty and complaining, and it was tense moments for them anymore as it went from day to day in their travels from being thirsty to being hungry. He could still almost taste that coolness on his tongue as he remembered his last drink of water and how long ago it seemed. But alas, instead of cool water, it was another long day of walking and journeying to their new home.

As he was lost in his own thoughts he realized there was a loud commotion coming from behind him as his mother grabbed his hand and took off as fast as she could dragging him along as the commotion got louder. As he glanced over his shoulder he saw wild looking man chasing down an elderly couple and cut them down with a large knife. Suddenly fear filled him as he tried to will his short legs to carry him faster than they were made to. His mother was sobbing while he was screaming in fear as the men gained on the little group of weary and tired travelers.

Without warning there were more men coming from the side of the path. His mother grabbed him and hugged him close as the men gather around the tired group of weary travelers. These men didn’t want money, they didn’t want their possessions. No, their prize was the godless bloodlust of the kill. Their only desire was to harass and kill this weary group of travelers on the road. With hearts of fear and shaking legs the group of old, young, feeble and tired people were pushed and jostled until one by one each of them was killed. The last thoughts of the young boy as his mother shielded him from the blows of the men were how could this be? How could their journey end like this? As he closed his eyes in death, he saw the last of the weary travelers beaten, and killed as the men whooped, then cheered and ran off over the hills.

What a bleak story, what a terrible ending. It doesn’t help that that group of men and their descendants spent the next hundreds of years fighting and harassing that tired and weary group as they grew into a small but thriving nation. No, this isn’t a story on the Celts harassing the Roman colonists of early Britain. Nor is it a tale from the pioneer days of the American West. Instead this tale goes all the way back to the days following the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt. This story is of how the Amalekites came to be public enemies number one to the people of Israel.

The first time the Amalekites are mentioned as an enemy is in Exodus 17:8-16. And the battle that ensued is listed in Deuteronomy 25:17-19 and also I the Exodus chapter 17 passage. It’s not a nice story. They purposely laid on wait and slew the weak and feeble trailing behind the camp of Israel. But why? Why would they do that to someone they didn’t know? Or didn’t they?

To understand the complex backstory here we have to do some history and genealogy. According to Genesis 36:12 Amalek was the grandson of Esau. The same Esau that According to Malachi 1:3 God hated. And just so no one tries to say that just meant God didn’t love him as much as Jacob, no it doesn’t. The Hebrew word for “hate” here is: Śānē’ which means to hate; as an enemy. That is not a soft version, but a very clear feeling of how God felt about Esau. But why? It stems from his disdain and disrespect he had for his birthright, his apparent immorality, and his disdain for God’s order stemming from both proper marriage and proper respect for the birthright. Now let’s take what we now know and move forward through the 400 years the israelites were slaves in Egypt.

We don’t know this for fact, but it would appear there was a degree of calculation and planning in the way that these descendants of Esau chose to go about attacking their distant cousins. Was it personal hostility going back to the Jacob/Esau birthright? Was it purely just for marauding purposes? We don’t know but what we do know is that God clearly did not like one bit what these descendants of Esau chose to do.

And it wasn’t just after the crossing of the Red Sea, these same Amalekites are then found in 1 Samuel 15:9 as harassing the children of Israel again and God, through Samuel, tells King Saul to “utterly destroy” them. And this is where we tie into the question: “How can a God of love tell people to kill poor women and children?” Or; “God isn’t someone I want to worship if He does things like that.”. Those questions miss two fundamental elements of the story in 1 Samuel 15.

First element is this: They harassed and slew the feeble and weak coming out of Egypt back in Exodus 17. As our little introduction story demonstrates it was an unsolicited attack on God’s people. God specifically spells out the reason for their utter destruction because of that. That is also an offshoot of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3. Secondly is this: God’s sovereignty was on full display in 1 Samuel 15. He gave a space of over 400 years for the Amorites to possibly repent (Gen 15:16) Were the Amalekites among these “Amorites” we don’t know. But what we do know is because of their sin against Israel God then became their enemy and they were to be destroyed, and unlike Nineveh and the Amorites, no repentance allowed. Their children, their possessions, and even the animals. Because God is a heartless entity? No, quite the opposite it’s because GOD DOES HAVE A HEART, one for His people! It is because God is sovereign and will honor his covenant is why the Amalekites were given a space to possibly repent and when they didn’t, well God used swift and violent judgment against His enemies.

The lesson, with proper hermeneutics, that comes from this story is this: God will enact judgement on His enemies. While also honoring His covenant with His people. What truly amazing testimony to the sovereignty and majesty of God! He isn’t heartless, He isn’t a bloodthirsty entity. Instead He is our strength, our help, and our protector.

When asked about the “genocide” of the Amalekites, I hope we can all have a better answer to give now. One that shows who God truly is and an ability to take that story and show the accuser that actually God will protect you and care for you just as he did for Israel. But only if you accept the free gift of Salvation while He give you time. Then walk with Him and follow Him faithfully!