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Who Were the Amalekites in the Bible_ The Origin of the People of Amalek · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: What if I told you that a single act of
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  Speaker 1: cowardice in the desert doomed an entire civilization to prophetic extinction.
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  Speaker 1: Hidden in the genealogies of Genesis lies a name that
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  Speaker 1: would become God's sworn enemy for all generations, Amelek. But
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  Speaker 1: here's what haunts scholars. Why did the Almighty, who forgave
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  Speaker 1: egypt slavery and Ninevah's wickedness, declare absolute war against these
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  Speaker 1: desert dwellers. What unspeakable act did they commit that triggered
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  Speaker 1: the most chilling decree in scripture, I will completely erase
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  Speaker 1: their memory from under heaven. The Amalekites weren't just another enemy.
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  Speaker 1: They were blood relatives of Israel, descendants of Abraham's own grandson.
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  Speaker 1: Yet something twisted in their souls. Picture this exhausted slaves,
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  Speaker 1: finally free after four hundred years of bondage, staggering through
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness. Who attacks them, not their mighty pursuers, but
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  Speaker 1: desert raiders who specific hunted the weakest, slaughtering children and
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  Speaker 1: elderly stragglers from behind. Why the answer reveals something so
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  Speaker 1: disturbing about human nature that God himself said enough a
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  Speaker 1: king would lose everything for sparing their ruler a prophet
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  Speaker 1: would become an executioner. Even today, their name carries a mystery.
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  Speaker 1: How does an entire people vanish so completely that archaeologists
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  Speaker 1: struggled to find their trace? Prepare to discover why the
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites became the one enemy God promised to personally destroy.
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  Speaker 1: Every nation has a beginning, and the story of the
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites starts with a family tree that connects directly back
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  Speaker 1: to Abraham himself. To understand who these people were, we
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  Speaker 1: need to travel back to the Book of Genesis and
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  Speaker 1: look at a family line that would produce one of
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  Speaker 1: Israel's greatest enemies. Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, had
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  Speaker 1: several sons. He was first born was named Elephas now
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  Speaker 1: Eliphaz had a concubine, a secondary wife whose name was Tymna.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter thirty six, Verse twelve tells us plainly. Timna
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  Speaker 1: was a concubine of Eliphas, Esau's son, and she bore
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  Speaker 1: Amelek to Eliphas. This is where it all began. A
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  Speaker 1: child was born and his name was Amelek. Think about
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  Speaker 1: what this means. Amelek was Esau's grandson, which made him
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  Speaker 1: the great grandson of Isaac and the great great grandson
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  Speaker 1: of Abraham. The Amalekites weren't strangers or foreigners from a
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  Speaker 1: distant land. They carried the blood of the patriarchs in
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  Speaker 1: their veins. They were family, distant cousins to the Israelites
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  Speaker 1: who would later descend from Jacob. The same chapter in
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  Speaker 1: Genesis goes on to list Amelek among the chiefs of Edom.
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  Speaker 1: Verse sixteen mentions him specifically, Cora, Ghatam, and Amelek. These
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  Speaker 1: were the chiefs descended from Eliphas in Edom. They were
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  Speaker 1: grandsons of Ada. He wasn't just another descendant. He became
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  Speaker 1: a chief, a leader, someone whose name carried weight and
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  Speaker 1: authority among Esau's descendants. This genealogical connection is crucial because
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  Speaker 1: it shows us that the Amalekites didn't come from nowhere.
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  Speaker 1: They had roots, heritage, and a place in the family
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  Speaker 1: line that went back to Abraham's covenant with God. Yet
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  Speaker 1: somehow this branch of the family tree would grow in
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  Speaker 1: a completely different direction than their relatives. While other descendants
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  Speaker 1: of Esau settled in the mountainous regions of Syr, the
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites chose a different path. They moved south into the harsh,
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  Speaker 1: unforgiving wilderness areas. The Negev Desert and the Sinai Peninsula
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  Speaker 1: became their home lands, where water was scarce, vegetation was sparse,
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  Speaker 1: and survival required special knowledge and skills. The Negev sits
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  Speaker 1: at the southern edge of what would become Israel's territory.
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  Speaker 1: It's a transition zone between the settled lands to the
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  Speaker 1: north and the vast wilderness to the south. The Sinai
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  Speaker 1: Peninsula stretches even further south, a massive expanse of desert,
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  Speaker 1: mountains and rocky terrain. These weren't places where you could
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  Speaker 1: easily grow crops or build cities. These were lands for
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  Speaker 1: people who knew how to survive in extreme conditions. The
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites adapted to this harsh environment. They learned where every
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  Speaker 1: spring and well could be found. They knew which waddies
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  Speaker 1: dry river beds would temporarily fill with water during the
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  Speaker 1: rare rains. They understood how to navigate through mountain passes
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  Speaker 1: and across open desert. This knowledge became their greatest asset.
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  Speaker 1: By choosing these territories, the Amalekites positioned themselves along the
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  Speaker 1: southern approach to Canaan. Any group traveling from Egypt toward
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  Speaker 1: the Promised Land would have to pass through or near
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  Speaker 1: Amalekite territory. Trade routes between Egypt and the lands to
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  Speaker 1: the northeast ran through these regions. This wasn't random chance.
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  Speaker 1: The Amalekites occupied strategic ground. They didn't build great cities
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  Speaker 1: or establish permanent settlements like other peoples. Instead, they remained mobile,
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  Speaker 1: moving their camps according to the seasons and the availability
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  Speaker 1: of resources. Their tents could be packed up and relocated quickly.
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  Speaker 1: This mobility gave them advantages that settled peoples didn't have.
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  Speaker 1: They could strike and then disappear into the wilderness where
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  Speaker 1: others couldn't follow. The landscape itself became their ally. Strangers
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  Speaker 1: didn't know the terrain, they didn't know where to find water,
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  Speaker 1: or which path through the mountains were passable. But the
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites knew every rock and every hidden valley. This intimate
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  Speaker 1: knowledge of the land made them dangerous to anyone passing
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  Speaker 1: through their territory. Here's something that puzzles many Bibles readers.
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  Speaker 1: The Amalekites appear in scripture before Amelek was even born.
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  Speaker 1: This seems impossible at first, but it tells us something
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  Speaker 1: important about how ancient people's thought about land and identity.
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis chapter fourteen, we find Abraham involved in a
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  Speaker 1: rescue mission. Several kings had gone to war, and Abraham's
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  Speaker 1: nephew Lot had been captured. Abraham gathered his trained men
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  Speaker 1: and pursued the kings who had taken Lot. Verse seven
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  Speaker 1: describes the root of these kings. Then they turned back
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  Speaker 1: and went to en Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and they
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  Speaker 1: conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as
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  Speaker 1: the Amorites who were living in Hasizon tamar Wait the
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  Speaker 1: territory of the Amalekites. But this happened during Abraham's lifetime,
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  Speaker 1: long before his great great grandson Amelek was born. How
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  Speaker 1: can this be? The answer is that Moses, who wrote Genesis,
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  Speaker 1: was describing the geography in terms his readers would understand.
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  Speaker 1: He was saying, they conquered the area that you now
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  Speaker 1: know as a Malakite territory. It's like saying Columbus sailed
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  Speaker 1: to the Americas, even though that name didn't exist in
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  Speaker 1: his time. This reference shows us that by the time
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  Speaker 1: Moses was writing the Amalekites were so well established in
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  Speaker 1: that region that the land itself was identified with them.
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  Speaker 1: Their presence had become permanent and recognizable. Everyone knew Amalekite territory.
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  Speaker 1: It was a fixed part of the geographical landscape. The
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  Speaker 1: fact that Moses used this reference tells us the Amalekites
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  Speaker 1: had been in those southern desert regions for a very
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  Speaker 1: long time. Generations had passed. They had made those lands
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  Speaker 1: their own so completely that the territory bore their name.
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  Speaker 1: This wasn't a new people just finding their place. By
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  Speaker 1: the time Israel encountered them, they were an ancient, established
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  Speaker 1: presence in the Nagev and Sinai. Living in the desert
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  Speaker 1: shaped everything about Amalekite society. They couldn't farm the land.
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  Speaker 1: There wasn't enough water or fertile soil. They couldn't build
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  Speaker 1: trading cities. They were nomads, constantly moving. So they developed
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  Speaker 1: a culture centered on something else, taking what others had produced.
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  Speaker 1: The Amalekites became raiders. This wasn't occasional or opportunistic. Raiding
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  Speaker 1: became their way of life, their economy, their identity. They
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  Speaker 1: watched the trade routes that crossed their territory. Caravans carrying
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  Speaker 1: valuable goods from Egypt to Mesopotamia or from Arabia to
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  Speaker 1: Canaan had to pass through the lands the Amalekites controlled.
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  Speaker 1: These caravans were vulnerable. They traveled slowly, loaded with merchandise.
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  Speaker 1: Their guards were often few in number, hired to protect
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  Speaker 1: against common bandits, but not prepared for organized military strikes.
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  Speaker 1: The Amalekites would watch and wait. They knew the roots,
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  Speaker 1: They knew where caravans would camp for the night. They
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  Speaker 1: knew where the terrain gave them the advantage. When they struck,
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  Speaker 1: they struck fast. Desert warfare requires speed and surprise. The
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites would attack suddenly, overwhelming their targets before any organized
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  Speaker 1: defense could form. They would seize whatever was valuable spices, textiles, metals, livestock,
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  Speaker 1: and then vanish back into the desert. By the time
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  Speaker 1: any help could arrive, the raiders were gone, scattered across
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  Speaker 1: terrain that strangers couldn't navigate. This lifestyle required certain skills
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  Speaker 1: and values. Amalekite men were trained as warriors from youth.
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  Speaker 1: They learned to ride, to fight, to endure the hardships
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  Speaker 1: of desert travel, they learned to live on little water
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  Speaker 1: and sparse food. When necessary, they became hard, tough, and ruthless.
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  Speaker 1: Mercy was weakness, Hesitation meant death. But raiding wasn't just about.
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  Speaker 1: It became a source of pride, a measure of a
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  Speaker 1: man's worth. Successful raids brought wealth and status. The boldest
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  Speaker 1: raiders became leaders. Stories of daring attacks were told around campfires.
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  Speaker 1: Young men grew up hearing tales of their fathers and
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  Speaker 1: grandfather's exploits, dreaming of their own chance to prove themselves
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  Speaker 1: in battle. This culture also meant the Amalekites were always
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  Speaker 1: at war with someone. Peaceful neighbors don't appreciate being raided.
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  Speaker 1: Merchants whose caravans were attacked wanted revenge. Settled peoples whose
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  Speaker 1: villages were plundered sought protection or retaliation. The Amalekites lived
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  Speaker 1: in a constant state of conflict, which only reinforced their
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  Speaker 1: warrior culture and their reliance on violence. The Amalekites came
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  Speaker 1: from Esau's line, making them part of the broader Edomite family,
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  Speaker 1: but family relationships in the ancient world were complicated, and
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  Speaker 1: blood ties did and always mean unity or friendship. Other
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  Speaker 1: descendants of Esau settled in different areas and lived different lifestyles.
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  Speaker 1: Many Edomite clans established themselves in the mountainous region of Seer,
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  Speaker 1: east of the Araba Valley. These mountains offered better protection
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  Speaker 1: and more resources than the open desert. Over time, these
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  Speaker 1: Edomites built towns, developed agriculture in the valleys, and established
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  Speaker 1: a more settled way of life. The Amalekites chose differently.
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  Speaker 1: They remained in the southern deserts, keeping their nomadic lifestyle.
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  Speaker 1: This geographical and cultural separation created distance between them and
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  Speaker 1: their Edomite cousins. They were related by blood, but they
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  Speaker 1: didn't live the same way or share the same interests.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes this relationship worked to mutual benefit when it served
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  Speaker 1: their purposes. The Amalekites might cooperate with other Edomite groups
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  Speaker 1: whom an enemy threatened both peoples. They might join forces.
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  Speaker 1: Marriages between families created connections and alliances. Trade in goods
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  Speaker 1: and information flowed between the groups, but the relationship was
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  Speaker 1: never one of full integration or unity. The Amalekites maintained
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  Speaker 1: their distinct identity. They didn't consider themselves just another Edomite clan.
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  Speaker 1: They were the Amalekites, separate independent answering to their own
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  Speaker 1: chiefs and following their own ways. Their desert culture and
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  Speaker 1: raiding economy set them apart from the more settled Edomite communities.
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  Speaker 1: This independence meant they often acted alone. When the Amalekites
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  Speaker 1: decided to raid a caravan or attack a settlement, they
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  Speaker 1: didn't need permission or agreement from other Edomite leaders. They
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  Speaker 1: made their own decisions and took their own risks. If
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  Speaker 1: those decisions brought consequences, those consequences fell on them alone.
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  Speaker 1: The Edomites who lived in se developed a more organized
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  Speaker 1: society over time, eventually forming a kingdom with a succession
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  Speaker 1: of kings. The Amalekites never followed this path. They remained tribal,
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  Speaker 1: led by chiefs whose authority came from strength and success
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  Speaker 1: rather than dynastic succession. This different political structure further distinguished
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  Speaker 1: them from their Edomite relatives. North of Amalekite territory lay
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  Speaker 1: the land of Canaan, inhabited by various peoples who had
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  Speaker 1: established city states and agricultural communities. The Amalekite's proximity to
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  Speaker 1: these Canaanite groups meant interaction was inevitable, though the nature
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  Speaker 1: of these interactions varied. The Canaanite city states represented a
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  Speaker 1: completely different civilization from the nomadic Amalekites. They had walls, temples,
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  Speaker 1: organized governments, and agricultural economies. They traced with distant lands
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  Speaker 1: and developed sophisticated cultures. From their fortified cities. Canaanite kings
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  Speaker 1: controlled surrounding territories and collected tribute from villages. For the Amalekites,
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  Speaker 1: the Canaanites represented both opportunity and limitation. The Canaanite cities
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  Speaker 1: were wealthy, but they were also well defended. Attacking a
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  Speaker 1: fortified city required siege equipment and sustained effort, things nomadic
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  Speaker 1: raiders couldn't manage, so direct assault on Canaanite cities was
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  Speaker 1: rarely practical. Instead, the Amalekites focused on softer targets. Farming.
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  Speaker 1: Villages outside city walls were vulnerable. Harvest time, when grain
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  Speaker 1: was gathered and stored, offered opportunities for raids. Travelers and
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  Speaker 1: small caravans moving between cities could be attacked. The Amalekites
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  Speaker 1: learned to take what they could without provoking the full
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  Speaker 1: military response of a Canaanite king. Sometimes political circumstances created
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  Speaker 1: opportunities for cooperation. A Canaanite king might hire Amalekite raiders
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  Speaker 1: as mercenaries when he was at war with a rival
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  Speaker 1: city state. The Amalekites would get payment and plunder, while
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  Speaker 1: the Canaanite king got additional military force without maintaining a
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  Speaker 1: standing army. These arrangements were temporary and based purely on
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  Speaker 1: mutual benefit, not trust or friendship. At other times, Canaanite
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  Speaker 1: kings would organize punitive expeditions against the Amalekites if their
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  Speaker 1: raids became too damaging. A king couldn't allow his territories
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  Speaker 1: to be plundered without response, or he would appear weak.
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  Speaker 1: So occasionally Canaanite armies would march into the desert, trying
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  Speaker 1: to punish the raiders and discourage future attacks. These expeditions
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  Speaker 1: rarely succeeded in catching the mobile Amalekites, but they sent
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  Speaker 1: a message. Despite these interactions, the Amalekites never integrated into
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  Speaker 1: Canaanite civilization. They didn't adopt Canaanite culture, religion, or lifestyle.
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  Speaker 1: They remained separate, keeping their desert ways and their raiding economy.
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  Speaker 1: The Canaanites represented settled civilization everything the Amalekites had chosen
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  Speaker 1: not to become. Most ancient peoples built their economies on
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  Speaker 1: agriculture or trade. They planted crops, raised livestock, crafted goods,
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  Speaker 1: or facilitated the exchange of merchandise between distant lands. The
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  Speaker 1: Amalekites chose a different path entirely. Their economy was parasitic,
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  Speaker 1: depending on taking what others had produced. Raiding wasn't a
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  Speaker 1: supplement to their economy, it was their economy. The wealth
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  Speaker 1: of the Amalekites came from the labor of others. When
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  Speaker 1: merchants worked for months to gather valuable goods and transport
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  Speaker 1: them across desert routes, the Amalekites waited to seize those
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  Speaker 1: goods in a single violent encounter. When farmers spent seasons
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  Speaker 1: cultivating crops, the Amalekites arrived at harvest time to take
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  Speaker 1: the produce. This economic model had certain advantages. The Amalekites
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  Speaker 1: didn't need to invest time in planting and tending crops.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't need to maintain trade relationships or build workshops.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't need permanent settlements with all the infrastructure that requires.
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  Speaker 1: Their needs were simpler, and they could focus their energy
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  Speaker 1: on warfare and mobility. Livestock formed an important part of
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  Speaker 1: their wealth. When they raided, they took sheep, goats, cattle,
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  Speaker 1: and camels. These animals provided food, transportation, and trading goods.
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  Speaker 1: Large herds indicated wealth and success. A successful raider could
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  Speaker 1: become rich in livestock, using his wealth to support multiple
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  Speaker 1: wives and many children, increasing his status and influence. But
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  Speaker 1: this economic foundation created inherent instability. The Amalekites produced nothing themselves.
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  Speaker 1: Their wealth fluctuated based on the success of raids. A
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  Speaker 1: string of successful attacks could make them prosperous, but if
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  Speaker 1: potential targets improved their defenses, or if stronger forces drove
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  Speaker 1: the Amalekites away from good raiding areas, their wealth could
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  Speaker 1: quickly disappear. This parasitic economy also meant the Amalekites needed
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  Speaker 1: others to remain productive. If they destroyed all the settlements
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  Speaker 1: in their region, killed all the traders, and drove away
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  Speaker 1: all the caravans, they would have nothing left to raid.
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  Speaker 1: So there was a perverse balance to maintain raid enough
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  Speaker 1: to prosper but not so much that the sources of
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  Speaker 1: wealth disappeared entirely. The dependence on plunder shaped Amalekite values
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  Speaker 1: and perspectives. Why work when you can take? Why build
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  Speaker 1: when you can seize? Why create when you can steal?
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  Speaker 1: These attitudes reinforce over generations became deeply embedded in their culture.
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  Speaker 1: Work was for others. Taking was the Amalekite way. Long
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  Speaker 1: before Israel encountered the Amalekites at Refidim, these desert raiders
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  Speaker 1: had already established a fearsome reputation across the region. Their
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  Speaker 1: name was known, their methods were understood, their cruelty was recognized.
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  Speaker 1: This reputation served both as a weapon and as a shield.
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  Speaker 1: Fear is a powerful tool in warfare and survival. When
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  Speaker 1: travelers heard they would be crossing Amalekite territory, they prepared
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  Speaker 1: for the worst. They hired extra guards, They traveled in
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  Speaker 1: larger groups. They watched constantly for any sign of raiders.
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  Speaker 1: This fear could sometimes prevent attacks. The Amalekites might decide
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  Speaker 1: a well prepared caravan wasn't worth the risk. But fear
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  Speaker 1: also isolated the Amalekites. Other peoples didn't seek friendship with them.
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  Speaker 1: They weren't invited to join alliances or trading partnerships. They
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  Speaker 1: were avoided when possible, and opposed when necessary. The Amalekites
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  Speaker 1: were known as enemies, as threats, as people to be
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  Speaker 1: wary of. This isolation, however, didn't bother them. They had
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  Speaker 1: chosen their path. Stories about Amalekite raids circulated throughout the region.
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  Speaker 1: Survivors told of sudden attacks without warning. Merchants who lost
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  Speaker 1: entire caravans described the speed and violence of a Malakite warfare.
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  Speaker 1: These stories reinforced the reputation and spread the fear further.
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  Speaker 1: Each generation heard tales of Amalekite raids, learning to be
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  Speaker 1: cautious when traveling through the southern regions. What made the
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Amalekites particularly feared was their willingness to attack the vulnerable.
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  Speaker 1: Many ancient warrior cultures had codes about fighting. You fought warriors,
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  Speaker 1: not women and children. You gave enemies a chance to surrender,
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  Speaker 1: showed mercy to the defeated. The Amalekites didn't follow these codes.
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  Speaker 1: They saw vulnerability as opportunity, not as a reason for restraint.
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  Speaker 1: This reputation for ruthlessness meant that when people saw Amalekite
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  Speaker 1: raiders approaching, they knew to expect no mercy. Surrender wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: save them, Pleading wouldn't help the Amalekites would take what
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  Speaker 1: they wanted and leave only what they didn't value. This
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  Speaker 1: knowledge created terror, and terror was exactly what the Amalekites wanted.
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  Speaker 1: Terrified people don't fight back effectively. They panic, scatter, and
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  Speaker 1: make mistakes. By the time Egypt's enslaved Hebrews crossed the
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  Speaker 1: Red Sea and entered the wilderness, the Amalekites had been
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  Speaker 1: raiding the southern desert regions for generations. Their reputation was
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  Speaker 1: well established, their territory was clearly defined, their methods were understood.
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  Speaker 1: They were a known quantity in the region, dangerous, cruel,
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  Speaker 1: and always watching for opportunities to attack. The week, the
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  Speaker 1: Israelites had just witnessed something impossible. They had walked through
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  Speaker 1: the Red Sea on dry ground while water stood like
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  Speaker 1: walls on both sides. They had seen Pharaoh's army drowned
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  Speaker 1: behind them. They were free after four hundred years of
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  Speaker 1: slavery in Egypt. But freedom in the wilderness came with
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  Speaker 1: new challenges. They traveled through the desert, and the journey
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  Speaker 1: was hard. These weren't trained soldiers or experienced travelers. They
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  Speaker 1: were families, men, women, children, and elderly people who had
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  Speaker 1: spent their lives making bricks in Egypt. Now they walked
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  Speaker 1: through harsh terrain with limited supplies, learning to trust God
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  Speaker 1: for each day's provision. The Israelites came to a place
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  Speaker 1: called Refidim. They camped there, but there was a problem.
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  Speaker 1: There was no water. The people were thirsty and their
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: complaints grew loud. They quarreled with Moses, demanding water. Moses
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: cried out to God, and the Lord told him to
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: strike a rock at Horeb. Moses obeyed and water poured
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: out for the people to drink. This was the situation
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: at Refidim, a massive group of former slaves, exhausted from travel,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: dealing with thirst and complaints, just beginning to learn what
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: it meant to follow God through the wilderness. They were vulnerable,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: they were disorganized. They were not a threat to anyone.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Then Exodus, chapter seventeen, verse eight records what happened next.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. No warning,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: no provocation, no territorial dispute or previous conflict. The Amalekites
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: simply came and attacked. Israel hadn't entered Amalekite territory demanding anything.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: They hadn't threatened the Amalekites or raided their camps. They
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: were refugees passing through the wilderness, trying to survive. But
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the Amalekites saw opportunity. Where others might have seen fellow
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: human beings in need, they saw thousands of people with possessions, livestock,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: and no military organization. They saw easy targets. This attack
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: wasn't about defense or protection. It was about predation. The
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Amalekites looked at a vulnerable population and decided to strike.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: This moment would define the relationship between these two peoples
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: for centuries to come. The Amalekite attack at Refidim wasn't
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: just unprovoked, It was calculated and cruel in its execution.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: They didn't challenge Israel's strongest warriors to an honorable battle.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: They employed a tactic that revealed something dark about their character.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Years later, Moses would remind the people about this attack
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: in Deuteronomy chapter twenty five, Verses seventeen and eighteen. He
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: told them, remember what the Amalekites did to you along
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: the way when you came out of Egypt, when you
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: were weary and worn out. They met you on your
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: journey and attacked all who were lagging behind. They had
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: no fear of God. Think about what this means. When
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: a large group travels through difficult terrain, some people naturally
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: fall behind. The elderly can't walk as fast, Sick people
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: struggle to keep pace, small children tire easily and slow down.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: Pregnant women need to rest more. Often, these vulnerable people
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: end up at the rear of the traveling group. The
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Amalekites specifically targeted these stragglers. They didn't attack the front
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of the column, where the strongest men traveled. They struck
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: from behind, cutting down those who couldn't defend themselves. Elderly
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: men and women who had survived decades of slavery in
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Egypt were killed as they struggled to keep up with
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: their families. Children were cut down as they walked. Sick
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: and weak people who were already suffering were shown no mercy.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: This wasn't warfare. This was slaughter. Warriors fight other warriors,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: but the Amalekites chose to kill the defenseless. They picked
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the easiest victims, the ones who couldn't fight back, the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: ones who posed no threat. This tactical decision showed a
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: complete absence of human compassion. Moses added a crucial detail,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: they had no fear of God. The Amalekites knew what
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: had happened in Egypt. News traveled in the ancient world.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Stories of the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: and the destruction of Pharaoh's army would have spread throughout
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the region. Every one knew that Israel's God was powerful
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and protective of his people. But the Amalekites didn't care.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: They showed no reverence, no caution, no respect for the
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: God who had just performed miracles. They saw vulnerable people
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: and attacked regardless of divine protection or moral boundaries. This
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: fearlessness wasn't courage. It was a rejection of any authority
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: beyond their own desires. The Amalekite attack forced Israel to respond.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: They couldn't just run. Where would they go. They had
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: to stand and fight. Moses called for a man named
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Joshua and gave him specific instructions. Exodus chapter seventeen, verse
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: nine records Moses command, choose some of our men and
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow. I will stand
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: on top of the hill with the staff of God
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: in my hands. This was Joshua's first appearance as a
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: military leader. He wasn't an experienced general like everyone else.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: He had been a slave in Egypt, but Moses trusted
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: him with this critical task. Joshua did exactly what Moses asked.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: He selected men from among the Israelites to form a
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: fighting force. Meanwhile, Moses climbed to the top of a
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: nearby hill, taking Aaron and a man named Her with him.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Moses held up the staff of God, the same staff
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: that had been raised over the Red Sea, the same
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: staff that had brought plagues on Egypt. Verses eleven and
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: twelve described what happened during the battle. As long as
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: moses hands grew tired, they took a stone and put
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: it under him, and he sat on it erin and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: her held his hands up, one on one side, one
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: This was a strange way to fight a battle. Joshua
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: and his men did the actual fighting on the ground,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: striking with swords and defending against a Malakite attacks, but
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: the outcome of the battle depended on Moses keeping his
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: hands raised on the hilltop. When his arms were up,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Israel prevailed. When his arms dropped from exhaustion, a molek
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: gained advantage. Erin and her recognized what was happening. They
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: found a stone for Moses to sit on, taking some
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: of the physical burden off him. Then they stood on
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: either side, physically holding his arms up when he could
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: no longer do it himself. They maintained this position until sunset.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Verse thirteen gives the result. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: army with the sword. The battle was won. Israel's first
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: military engagement ended in victory. But every one understood this
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: victory came from God, not from their own military skill.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: The raised staff symbolized dependence on divine power, and that
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: dependence made the difference. After the battle ended and Israel
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: had defeated the Amalekite attack, God spoke to Moses. What
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: he said was unlike anything he had said about any nation.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: This wasn't just a statement about one battle. It was
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: a declaration that would echo through generations. Exodus, chapter seventeen,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: verse fourteen records God's words. Then the Lord said to Moses,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: write this on a scroll as something to be remembered,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: completely blot out the name of Amelek from under heaven.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: God commanded that this promise be written down permanently. It
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: had to be remembered, and specifically, Joshua, who had just
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: led Israel's forces in battle, needed to hear and understand
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: this divine decree. The phrase blot out the name of
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Amelek from under heaven was absolute. God wasn't talking about
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: defeating them in battle or driving them away. He was
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: talking about complete erasure, total destruction, the end of their
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: existence as a people. Their very name would be removed
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: from the earth. Why such a severe pronouncement. Other nations
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: had opposed Israel, Egypt had enslaved them for four hundred years,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Yet God didn't decree Egypt's total destruction. He judged Egypt
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: with plagues and destroyed Pharaoh's army, but the nation continued
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: to exist. The Amalekites, however, received a different sentence. The
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: answer lies in what they had done. They attacked without cause.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: They targeted the vulnerable intentionally they showed no fear of God,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: despite his obvious power and protection over Israel. This wasn't
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: just an act of war. It was an act that
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: revealed something fundamentally corrupt about a Malakite character and culture.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Moses's response to God's declaration was immediate. Verse fifteen says
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Moses built an altar and called it the Lord is
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: my banner. The name reflected what had just happened. God
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: had been Israel's banner, their rallying point, their source of victory.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: The raised staff on the hilltop had been like a
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: battle standard that the troops could look to. Then Moses
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: made another statement recorded in verse sixteen. He said, because
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: generation to generation. This wasn't a war that would end
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: with one battle or one generation. This was perpetual war,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: continuing through time until the divine decree was fulfilled. The
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: phrase hands were lifted up against the throne of the
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Lord explains why this war was different. When the Amalekites
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: attacked Israel, they weren't just attacking a group of people.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: They were attacking the people God had chosen the people.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: He was protecting, the people through whom he was revealing
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: himself to the world. To attack Israel was to attack
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: God's purposes and plans. The Amalekites had positioned themselves as
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: enemies not just of Israel, but of God himself. Time
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: passed and Israel moved through the wilderness. Eventually they camped
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: at Kadesh Barnaya, on the border of the Promised Land.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Moses sent twelve spies to explore Canaan and bring back
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: a report. The spies returned after forty days with amazing
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: news about the land's fertility, but ten of them also
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: brought fearful reports about the strength of the people living there.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: The Israelite's response was rebellion. They refused to enter the land,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: despite God's promise to give it to them. They even
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: talked about choosing a new leader and returning to Egypt.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: God's anger burned against them, and he declared that this
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: generation would not enter the Promised Land. They would wander
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness for forty years until all the adults
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: who had rebelled died off. When the people heard this judgment,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: they suddenly changed their minds. Now they wanted to go
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: into the land. Moses warned them not to, explaining that
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: God was no longer with them in this effort, but
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: they didn't listen. Numbers Chapter fourteen, verse forty four describes
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: what happened. Nevertheless, in their presumption, they went up toward
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the highest point in the hill country. Though neither Moses
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: nor the Ark of the Lord's Covenant moved from the camp.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: They went without Moses' leadership and without the Ark, the
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: symbol of God's presence, they were acting on their own.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: Now Verse forty five gives the result. Then the Amalekites
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: down and attacked them and beat them down all the
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: way to Horma. The Amalekites were there controlling parts of
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: the southern hill country. When Israel tried to invade without
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: God's blessing, the Amalekites joined with the Canaanites to defend
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: the territory. This battle was completely different from Refidim Atrafidim.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Israel had God's support, and despite being inexperienced here, they
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: presumed to fight without God's presence, and they were utterly defeated.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: The Amalekites helped chase them all the way back to Horma,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: inflicting heavy losses. This defeat taught Israel a hard lesson.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: They couldn't win battles on their own strength or their
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: own timing. Victory required obedience and divine support. The Amalekites, meanwhile,
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: had successfully defended territory and driven back an invasion attempt.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Decades later, as Israel prepared to finally enter the Promised Land,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: a strange event occurred. The king of Moab, terrified by
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: Israel's presence near his territory, hired a prophet named Balem
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: to curse Israel. But every time Balem opened his mouth
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: to curse, God put blessings in his mouth instead. Balem
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: spoke several oracles about Israel and the nations around them.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: One of these oracles specifically mentioned the Amalekites, as Chapter
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: twenty four, Verse twenty records the moment then Balum saw
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: Amelek and spoke his message, Amelek was first among the nations,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: but their end will be utter destruction. The phrase first
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: among the nations has been interpreted different ways. It might
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: refer to Amelek being an ancient, well established people, or
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: it might mean they were the first nation to attack
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: Israel after the Exodus, the first to raise their hand
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: against God's chosen people. Either way, Balam acknowledged that the
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: Amalekites had a significant position and history, but that history
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: would end. Their end will be utter destruction. This wasn't
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Balem's opinion or wish. It was a prophetic declaration from God.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: The same God who had promised at Refidim to blot
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: out Amelek's name was now confirming through a foreign prophet
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: that this judgment would certainly happen. Balam's oracle added another
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: layer to the divine decree against Amalek. It wasn't just
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Moses who had heard God's promise of their destruction. Now
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: through Balem, the surrounding nations heard it too. The Moabites,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the Midianites, and anyone else present when Balam spoke these
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: oracles knew that the Amalekites were marked for complete destruction
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: by Israel's God. After Joshua's death, Israel entered a difficult period.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: The Book of Judges described cycles where Israel would fall
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: into sin, God would allow enemies to oppress them, the
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: people would cry out for help, and God would raise
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: up a Judge to deliver them. The Amalekites appear several
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: times during this period, always as oppressors or raiders. The
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: first mention comes during the story of Eglon, king of Moab.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Judges chapter three, verse thirteen says getting the Ammonites and
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Amalekites to join him. Eglon came and attacked Israel, and
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: they took possession of the city of Palms. The Amalekites
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: formed part of a coalition with Moab and Ammon to
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: attack and oppress Israel. They helped capture Jericho, the city
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: of Palms, and Israel served Eglon for eighteen years before
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: God raised up Ehud to deliver them. Later, the Amalekites
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: joined an even more devastating campaign. When the Midianites oppressed
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: Israel during Gideon's time, the Amalekites were right there with them.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: Judges chapter six, verses three through five described the situation.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: other Eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: and did not spare a living thing for Israel. Neither sheep,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: nor cattle, nor donkeys. They came up with their live
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: stock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: impossible to count them or their camels. They invaded the
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: land to ravage it. This was systematic destruction. Every year
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: when Israel planted crops and worked their fields, these raiders
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: would arrive in massive numbers. They weren't just stealing food.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: They were destroying Israel's ability to survive. They left nothing,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: no crops, no livestock, nothing. The comparison to locusts was appropriate.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: They came in overwhelming numbers and consumed everything. Verse six
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: gives the result. Midians so impoverished the Israelites that they
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: cried out to the Lord for help. The Amalekites were
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: part of a campaign that brought Israel to desperation. This
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: wasn't occasional raiding. This was annual devastation that lasted seven years.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: The Amalekites had returned to their old patterns, joining with
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: others to prey on Israel's vulnerability. God raised up Gideon
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: to deliver Israel from the Midianite Amalekite oppression. Through a
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: series of miraculous signs, God reduced Gideon's army from thirty
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: two thousand men to just three hundred, so that Israel
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: would know the victory came from God, not from military might.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: With these three hundred men, Gideon attacked the vast midian
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Nite camp at night, causing panic and confusion. The enemy
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: forces fled, and Gideon's men pursued them. Judges, chapter seven,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: verse twenty four says Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: country of Ephraim, saying, come down against the Midianites and
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: far as beth Barah. So all the men of Ephram
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: were called out, and they seized the waters of the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Jordan as far as beth Baara. Other Israelite tribes joined
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: the pursuit, cutting off escape routes, but the Midianite kings
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: Zebra and Zalmunna escaped with fifteen thousand men, all that
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: remained of their massive army. Gideon didn't stop pursuing. Judge,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: which is chapter eight, verse ten describes where he found them.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Now Ziba and Zalmunna were in Kharkor with a force
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: the armies of the Eastern peoples, one hundred and twenty
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: thousand swordsmen had fallen. The pursuit took Gideon through territory
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: controlled by the Amalekites and their allies. His three hundred
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: men were exhausted, having fought all night and then chased
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: the enemy for many miles. Verses four and five say
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted, yet keeping up
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: said to the men of Sukoth, give my troops some bread.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: They are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zeba
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: and Zalmuna, the kings of Midian. The towns in this region,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Sukoth and Penniel, refused to help Gideon. They were afraid
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: that if Gideon failed to capture the Midianite kings, those
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: kings would return and punish anyone who had helped him.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: They wouldn't risk supporting Gideon's pursuit. Despite exhaustion and lack
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: of support, Gideon continued. Verse eleven describes his approach. Gideon
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: went up by the route of the nomads east of
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Noba and Jogbaha and attacked the unsuspecting army. He used
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: the routes that nomadic peoples, including the Amalekites, used through
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: that region. He knew the terrain well enough to approach undetected.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: Verse twelve gives the outcome Zibah and Zalmunna. The two
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: kings of Midian fled, but he pursued them and captured them,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: routing their entire army. Gideon completed his mission. The oppression
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: that had lasted seven years was finally ended. The coalition
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: of Midianites, Amalekites, and Eastern peoples was broken. Their kings
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: were captured and executed. This vicy demonstrated that even though
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: the Amalekites could form powerful alliances and devastate Israel when
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: God allowed it, they couldn't stand when God decided to
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: deliver his people. Gideon's small force, empowered by God, defeated
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: armies that included the Amalekites, despite their experience and numbers.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: Years had passed since the time of the Judges, and
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Israel now had a king. Saul had been anointed by
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: the prophet Samuel and had led Israel in several military victories.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: But now Samuel came to Saul with a specific message
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: directly from God. First. Samuel, chapter fifteen, verse one sets
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: the scene. Samuel said to Saul, I am the one
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: So listen now to the message from the Lord. Samuel
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: was reminding Saul of his authority. He was the prophet
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: who had anointed Saul, and he was bringing God's word.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Saul needed to pay careful attention. Then Samuel delivered the message.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Verses two and three record God's command. This is what
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: the Lord Almighty says, I will punish the Amalekites for
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: they came up from Egypt. Now go attack the Amalekites
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: spare them. Put to death, men and women, children and infants,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. The reason for this
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: command reached back centuries to refit him. God hadn't forgotten
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: what the Amalekites had done when they attacked Israel's weakest
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: members as the people fled slavery. The divine decree spoken
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: at that time that God would blot out Amelek's name
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: was now being carried out. The instructions were extremely specific.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: Saul was to destroy everything. The Hebrew word used here
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: is herem, which means devoted to destruction, completely destroyed. Nothing
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: was to be spared or kept. Every person, every animal,
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: everything the Amalekites possessed was to be destroyed. This command
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: is difficult for modern readers to understand. Why such complete destruction.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: The text points back to the original sin, the unprovoked
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: attack on vulnerable refugees, the targeting of the weak and defenseless,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: the complete lack of fear of God. The Amalekites had
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: become a symbol of opposition to God's purposes, and their
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: culture of cruelty had been passed down through generations. Saul
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: received these instructions clearly. There was no ambiguity, no room
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: for interpretation. The prophet who had anointed him king was
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: standing before him, delivering God's direct command. Saul's response would
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: reveal much about his character and his fitness to be king.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Saul responded to God's command by gathering his forces. First
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: Samuel chapter fifteen, verse four says so Saul summoned the
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: men and mustered them at Telaim, two hundred thousand foot
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. This was a massive army,
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: showing that Saul took the mission seriously and mobilized significant
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: military resources. Verse five described Saul's approach. Saul went to
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: the city of Amelek and set an ambush in the ravine.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: He used military strategy, positioning his forces for maximum advantage.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: The Amalekites had cities by this time, not just nomadic camps,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: indicating they had established more permanent settlements over the centuries.
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: Before attacking, Saul sent a warning to another group living
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: in the area. Verse six records then he said to
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: the Kanites, go away, leave the Amalekites, so that I
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: do not destroy you along with them, For you showed
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: of Egypt. So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: The Keyennites were related to Moses father in law and
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: had helped Israel during the Exodus. Saul made sure they
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be caught in the destruction, showing he could distinguish
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: between Israel's enemies and those who had shown kindness. Then
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: the attack began. Verse seven gives the scope. Then Saul
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havila to Shur,
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: near the eastern border of Egypt. This was a comprehensive
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: campaign covering the entire range of Amalekite territory, from Havila
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: in the Arabian Desert to Shur near Egypt. Saul's forces
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: swept through all the lands the Amalekites controlled. Verse eight
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: describes the military outcome. He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: From a military standpoint, this was a complete victory. Saul's
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: forces diaed defeated the Amalekite army, destroyed their population, and
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: captured their king. The Amalekites as a military power were broken,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Their cities were conquered, their people were killed in battle.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: The campaign showed Saul's capabilities as a military commander. He
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: could organize large forces, plan strategic attacks, and execute comprehensive
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: operations across wide territories. He had achieved what God sent
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: him to do, or had he Saul had won the
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: battle completely. The Amalekites were defeated, their king was captured,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: But then Saul made decisions that would change everything. Vers
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Samuel Chapter fifteen, Verse nine reveals what happened. But Saul
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: and the army spared a Gag and the best of
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, everything
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: But everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: Read that carefully. Saul kept King a Gag alive. The
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: army kept the best livestock, the valuable animals that could
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: be sold or used. They destroyed only what was worthless
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: or weak. This was the exact opposite of what God
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: had commanded. God said to destroy everything. Saul decided to
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: keep the valuable things. Why did Saul do this? The
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: text doesn't give us his initial reasoning, but we can
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: see the pattern. The best sheep and cattle were valuable,
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: why waste them. King a Gag was a trophy a
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: captured enemy king to parade as proof of victory. Saul
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: was making practical decisions, keeping what seemed useful or valuable.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: But these practical decisions violated direct divine instructions. God hadn't
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: said destroy everything except the valuable things. He said, do
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: not spare them. There was no exception clause, no permission
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: to use human judgment to modify the command. Verse twelve
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: shows what Saul did after the battle. Early in the morning,
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: was told Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: set up a monument in his own honor, and has
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: turned and gone on down to gilgal Do. Saul went
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: to Carmel and erected a monument to himself. He was
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: celebrating his victory, commemorating his achievement, building something to honor
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: his own name. This monument reveals Saul's mindset. He saw
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: this campaign as his accomplishment, his victory, his success. He
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: was proud of what he had done. He wanted people
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: to remember his military achievement. But he had forgotten something crucial.
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: This wasn't his mission to accomplish as he saw fit.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: This was God's judgment being executed through him. The contrast
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: is stark. God said to blot out Amelek's name. Saul
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: built a monument to his own name. God said to
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: destroy everything. Saul kept the best of everything. God gave
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: clear commands, Saul modified them according to his own judgment.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: While Saul was celebrating his victory and building monuments. God
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: was speaking to Samuel. What God said that night would
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: mark a turning point in Israel's history. Verse Samuel, Chapter fifteen,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Verse ten records, then the word of the Lord came
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: to Samuel. This happened at night, after the battle was over,
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: and while Saul was at Carmel. God didn't wait for
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: Samuel to discover Saul's disobedience. He revealed it directly to
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: his prophet. Verse eleven contains God's devastating words, I regret
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: that I have made Saul king because he has turned
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: away from me and has not carried out my instructions.
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: The word regret here expresses deep grief and sorrow, not
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: that God made a mistake. God was grieved that Saul
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: had failed, that the man chose to be king had
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: turned away from obedience. Samuel's response shows how deeply this
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: affected him. The verse continues, Samuel was angry, and he
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: cried out to the Lord all that night. Samuel spent
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: the entire night in prayer crying out to God. He
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: was angry, Whether at Saul, at the situation, or at
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: the implications, we aren't told. But he was deeply troubled
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: and pleaded with God through the night. Why was Saul's
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: disobedience so serious. He had won the battle, He had
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: defeated the Amalekites militarily. He had destroyed most of what
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: God commanded. Wasn't that enough? But God's perspective was different.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: Partial obedience is disobedience when God gives specific instructions, following
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: most of them while ignoring parts doesn't count as obedience.
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: The specific issue was what God had commanded regarding Amelek.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: This wasn't just another battle or another enemy. This was
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: the execution of a divine judgment pronounced centuries earlier at Refidim.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: God himself had declared war against Amelek. He had promised
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: to blot out their name. Saul's role was to be
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: the instrument of that divine judgment, not to modify it
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: according to his own wisdom. By sparing a gag and
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: keeping the best livestock, Saul showed he trusted his own
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: judgment more than God's command. He decided what should be
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: destroyed and what should be kept. He substituted his wisdom
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: for God's clear instructions. This revealed a fundamental problem with
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: Saul's character. He would obey God when it made sense
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: to him, but he would adjust or ignore commands that
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: didn't fit his understanding. God's regret over making Saul king
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: meant the relationship was broken. Saul had proven himself unfit
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: for the role. A king of Israel needed to obey
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: God completely, not selectively. The kingdom needed a leader who
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: would trust God's commands even when they didn't make practical sense.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: The morning after his night of prayer, Samuel traveled to
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: find Saul. First Samuel Chapter fifteen, Verse twelve says he
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: was told that Saul had gone to Carmel and then
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: to Gilgill. Samuel went to Gilgal to confront the king.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: Verse thirteen describes their meeting. When Samuel reached him, Saul said,
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: the Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord's instructions.
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Saul greeted Samuel confidently, even asking for God's blessing on
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: the prophet. Then he claimed complete obedience. I have carried
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: out the Lord's instructions. In Saul's mind, he had accomplished
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the mission successfully. Samuel's response was immediate and pointed. Verse
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: fourteen records but Samuel said, what then is this bleating
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: of sheep in my ears. What is this lowing of
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: cattle that I hear? Samuel could hear the animals Saul
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: had kept. The evidence of disobedience was literally making noise
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: all around them. Saul claimed complete obedience. While surrounded by
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: proof of his partial obedience. Saul tried to explain. Verse
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: fifteen gives his answer. Saul answered, the soldiers brought them
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, but
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: we totally destroyed the rest. Notice Saul's defense. First, he
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: blamed the soldiers. They spared the animals, not I spared them.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: He shifted responsibility away from himself. Second, he claimed a
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: religious purpose. The animals would be sacrificed to God. He
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: was framing disobedience as piety. Samuel wasn't impressed. Verses sixteen
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: through nineteen record his response Enoughamuel said to Saul, let
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: Tell me. Saul replied. Samuel said, although you were once
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: small in your own eyes, did you not become the
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: head of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: king over Israel, and he sent you on a mission saying,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: go and completely destroy those wicked people the Amalekites. Wage
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: war against them until you have wiped them out. Why
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Samuel cut through Saul's excuses. God had given
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: clear instructions. Saul had chosen to take plunder instead. The
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: religious justification didn't matter. The command was to destroy everything,
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: not to keep the best for sacrifice. Saul tried again
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: to defend himself Verse twenty records. But I did obey
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: the Lord, Saul said, I went on the mission the
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: back a gag their king. Saul insisted he had obeyed,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: even while admitting he brought back the king alive, the
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: very thing God commanded him not to do. Then Samuel
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: delivered one of the most famous statements in scripture, Verses
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: twenty two and twenty three record. But Samuel replied, does
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice,
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: and to heed is better than the fat of rams
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: for rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance,
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Samuel's words struck at the heart of the issue. Religious
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: rituals don't substitute for obedience. You can't disobey God and
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: then offer him sacrifices from the spoils of your disobedience.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: Obedience is what God wants. Saul's partial obedience was actually rebellion,
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: rejecting God's word, and that rebellion was as serious as
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: witchcraft or idolatry. The final sentence was devastating, he has
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: rejected you as king. The kingdom was being taken from Saul.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: His dynasty would not continue all because he modified God's
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: clear command regarding the Amalekites. After Samuel's pronouncement that Saul
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: was rejected as king, Saul finally admitted his sin. First
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: Samuel Chapter fifteen, verses twenty four and twenty five record
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. I violated
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: the men, and so I gave in to them. Now
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: I beg you forgive my sin and come back with
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: me so that I may worship the Lord. Saul confessed,
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: blamed his fear of the people, and asked for forgiveness,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: but Samuel's response showed the damage was irreversible. Verse twenty
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: six says, but Samuel said to him, I will not
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: go back with you. You have rejected the word of
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: over Israel. Samuel refused to return with Saul to worship.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: The rejection stood. As Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: his robe and it tore. Samuel used even this accident
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: to make a point. Verses twenty seven and twenty eight
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: record as Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: the hem of his robe and it tore. Samuel said
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: from you to day and has given it to one
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: of your neighbors, to one better than you. After more discussion,
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: Samuel finally agreed to accompany Saul for worship, but then
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: he dealt with the unfinished business. Verse thirty two says,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: then Samuel said, bring me a gag. King of the
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: o Malakites a gag came to him in chains. Some
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: translations say a gag came confidently or cheerfully, suggesting he
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: thought the danger had passed. He had been spared when
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: everyone else was killed. Maybe he believed he would be
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: allowed to live. Verse thirty two continues with the GAG's words,
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: and a Gag said, surely the bitterness of death is past.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: A Gag thought he was safe. He had survived the battle,
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: he had been kept alive for days. Surely, if they
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: were going to kill him, they would have done it already.
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: But Samuel had different plans. Verse thirty three records Samuel's
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: response and action. But Samuel said, as your sword has
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women?
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: And Samuel put a Gag to death before the lord
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: at Gilgal. Samuel himself executed the Amalekite king, remind finding
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: him of his own cruelty before carrying out the judgment
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: Saul had failed to complete. Samuel's words revealed something about
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: a GAG's character and actions. Your sword has made women childless.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: A Gag had been a brutal king, killing men and
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: leaving widows and orphans. His reign had been marked by
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: violence and cruelty. Now he would face the same fate
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: he had inflicted on others. The execution happened before the
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: Lord at Gilgal in a place of worship. As an
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: act of completing divine judgment. Samuel personally ensured that God's
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: command was fully carried out, even though the king had
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: failed to do it. Years passed and David became the
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: next king, the neighbor Samuel had mentioned who was better
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: than Saul. But before David took the throne, he had
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: his own encounters with the Amalekites. During his years as
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: a fugitive from Saul, David spent time living Amadeung the Philistines.
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: For safety. The Philistine king Akish gave him the town
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: of Ziklag as a base. First Samuel Chapter twenty seven,
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: verses eight and nine described David's activities. Now, David and
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Gurzites,
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: and the Amalekites. From ancient times, these peoples had lived
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: in the land extending to Shur and Egypt. Whenever David
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: attacked an area, he did not leave a man or
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys, and camels
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: and clothes. Then he would return to Akish. David was
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: raiding a Malakite territory, continuing the war God had declared
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: against them. He took their live, stock and goods, and
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: he made sure no one survived to report his activities.
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: When Akish asked where he had raided, David would give
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: misleading answers, maintaining his deception while actually fighting Israel's enemies.
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: But then disaster struck. First Samuel Chapter thirty, Verses one
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: and two described what happened. David and his men reached
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it,
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: both young and old. They killed none of them, but
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: carried them off as they went on their way. While
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: David was away, Amalekite raiders had struck Ziklag. They burned
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: the town and took every one captive, including David's two wives,
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Ahinoam and Abigail. Verse four says, so David and his
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: The devastation was total. Everything was gone. Every one they
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: loved was captured. David's own men turned against him in
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: their grief. Verse six records David was greatly distressed because
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: the men were talking of stoning him. Each one was
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: David found strength in the Lord, his God. In his
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: darkest moment, David turned to God for strength. David inquired
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: of the Lord through the priest Abiathar, asking if he
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: should pursue the raiders. Verses seven and eight record Then
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: David said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of a Himalch,
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: bring me the ephod. Abiathar brought it to him, and
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue this raiding party?
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: Will I overtake them? Pursue them? He answered, you will
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue. David took
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: six hundred men and began pursuit. They found an Egyptian
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: slave who had been left behind by the Amalekites when
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: he became sick. This man agreed to lead David to
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: the raiding party. Verses sixteen and seventeen describe what David found.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: He led David down, and there they were scattered over
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: the countryside, eating, drin, thinking and reveling because of the
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: great amount of plunder they had taken from the land
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: dusk until the evening of the next day, and none
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: of them got away except four hundred young men who
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: rode off on camels and fled. David attacked and fought
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: for an entire day and night. Verse eighteen gives the outcome.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: He rescued everyone and everything. Verse nineteen adds nothing was missing,
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: young or old, boy or girl, plunder, or anything else
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: they had taken. David brought everything back. The Amalekites had
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: taken captives instead of killing them, perhaps planning to sell
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: them as slaves. This decision allowed David to rescue everyone alive,
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: but the Amalekite raiders themselves were destroyed, except for four
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: hundred who escaped on camels. One last significant mention of
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: an Amalekite appears in the Bible narrative, and it connects
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: directly to Saul's end. After Saul died in battle against
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. A young man came to
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: David with news. Second Samuel Chapter one, Verses one and
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: two set the scene after the death of Saul. David
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: two days. On the third day, a man arrived from
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: This messenger came with dramatic signs of mourning. Verses three
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: and four described the conversation. When he came to David.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: He fell to the ground to pay him honor. Where
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: have you come from, David asked him. He answered, I
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: have escaped from the Israelite camp. What happened, David asked,
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: tell me the men fled from the battle. He said,
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: many of them fell and died, and Saul and his
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: son Jonathan are dead. Asked how he knew Saul and
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: Jonathan were dead. The young man's answer appears in verses
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: six through ten. He said, I happened to be on
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear,
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. When
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: he turned around and saw me, he called out to me,
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: and I said, what can I do? He asked me,
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: who are you? An Amalekite? I answered, Then he said
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: to me, stand here by me and kill me. I'm
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: in the throes of death, but I'm still alive. So
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: I stood beside him and killed him because I knew
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: that after he had fallen, he could not survive. And
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: I took the crown that was on his head and
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: the band on his arm, and have brought them here
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: to my lord. Whether this account was true or the
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: Amalekite was lying to gain favor is debated, but David's
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: response was immediate. Verses fourteen through sixteen record David asked him,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: why weren't you afraid to lift your hand to destroy
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: the lords Anointed? Then David called one of his men
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: and said, go strike him down. So he struck him down,
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: and he died. For David had said to him, your
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: against you when you said I killed the lords anointed.
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: David executed the Amalekite for claiming to kill Saul, even
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: though Saul had been David's enemy. The lord's anointed king
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: was not to be killed, regardless of circumstances, the irony
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: was complete, Saul lost his kingdom for sparing an Amalekite king,
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: and now an Amalekite claimed to have killed Saul. After this,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: references to Amalekites in the Bible become rare. First Chronicles,
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: Chapter four, verse forty three mentions one final encounter, and
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: they destroyed the remaining Amalekites who had escaped, and they
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: have lived there to this day. This happened during King
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's reign. Centuries after Saul, some Simonites attacked a remnant
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: of Amalekites who had fled to the hill country of Seyr.
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: By the time of the Divided Monarchy and the later
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: Biblical period, the Amalekites had disappeared as a distinct people.
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: The nation that once controlled the southern desert, that had
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: attacked Israel at Rephidim, that had formed alliances and raided settlements.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: They were gone. The divine decree spoken at Rephidim had
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: been fulfilled. Their name was blotted out, Their identity as
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: a people ceased to exist. If this journey through Biblical
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: history has opened your eyes to details you've never noticed before,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: don't keep it to yourself. Hit that subscribe button so
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: you won't miss our next deep dive into Scripture's most
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: fascinating stories. Share this video with someone who loves Biblical history,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: or anyone curious about the lesser known peoples of the Bible,
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: and let us know in the comments what aspect of
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: the Amalekite story surprised you most. Until next time, keep
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: exploring God's word. There's always more to discover.