What…Why…When
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This is a big problem
today.
Millions of people
have been led into worshiping a
caricature of God that denies or
ignores all that God really is.
For example, I am
often asked how a God of love could
demand that Israel kill every man,
woman and child when overtaking the
tribes of Canaan.
1 Samuel 15:1 “Samuel
said to Saul, “I am the
one the Lord sent to anoint you king
over his people Israel; so listen now
to the message from the Lord.
1 Samuel 15:2 This
is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘I will punish the Amelekites
for what they did to Israel when they
waylaid them as they came up from
Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:3 Now
go, attack the Amelekites and totally
destroy everything that belongs to
them. Do not spare them; put to death
men and women, children and infants,
cattle and sheep, camels and
donkeys.’
To the surface reader,
this seems horrible!
What kind of God
demands the death of children and
infants?
Even more, why would
God tell King Saul to destroy the
Amalekites for something that was
done to Israel 400 years earlier!
These are good
questions because there’s more
to God’s ways than people
imagine!
Here’s the story:
Lineage: Abraham,
Isaac, Esau, Eliphaz, and Amalek.
Amalek became a
powerful warlord in his day and his
offspring followed in his ways.
For 300 years, the
Amalekites terrorized Canaan. They
became a ruthless tribe of roaming
bandits.
Soon after the Exodus,
while Israel was in the wilderness,
the Amalekites ambushed Israel in an
effort to steal anything of value.
Israel did nothing to
provoke this battle. Israel was in
the desert, living in a “no
man’s land.”
But, the Amalekites
were predators. They were too lazy to
earn a living through toil and labor.
It was much easier to steal the food
and possessions of others.
They were
“pirates on camels,” a gang
of outlaws.
The Lord gave Israel
victory over the Amalekites, but the
Lord was grieved with the ongoing
degenerate behavior of the
Amalekites.
After the battle with
Israel was over…
Exodus 17:14
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write
this on a scroll as something to be
remembered and make sure Joshua hears
it, because I will completely blot
out the memory of Amalek from under
heaven.”
About 400 years after
the Amalekites attacked Israel in the
desert, the Lord commanded King Saul
to rise up and destroy the Amalekites
and everything they owned.
Why?
For the same reason
that the Lord destroyed the world and
everything in it – men, women,
children, infants and animals –
in Noah’s day.
Genesis 6:5
The Lord saw how great man’s
wickedness on the earth had become,
and that every inclination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil
all the time.
Genesis 6:6
The Lord was grieved that he had made
man on the earth, and his heart was
filled with pain.
Genesis 6:7
So the Lord said, “I will wipe
mankind, whom I have created, from
the face of the earth—men and
animals, and creatures that move
along the ground, and birds of the
air—for I am grieved that I have
made them.”
Noah’s flood was
NOT a freak accident of nature.
Noah’s flood was
NOT a natural event.
Noah’s flood was
an expression of God’s love.
(Remember,
“wrath” is one of the seven
elements in God’s character of
love.)
Why did the Lord
destroy the world in Noah’s day?
Why did the Lord
command King Saul to wipe out the
Amalekites?
Answer: When
the people become so degenerate and
so wicked in god’s sight that
newborn children will not have a
chance to live a decent and upright
life, a God of love destroys
everything so that adults cannot
damage or harm their offspring any
longer.
God’s wrath
protects the oncoming generation.
Mercy and justice are
not in conflict with each other.
In fact, divine love
contains a perfect balance of mercy
and justice.
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