“However,Sha’ul and the people spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, and even the second best, also the lambs, and everything that was good — they weren’t inclined to destroy these things. But everything that was worthless or weak they completely destroyed.”-1 Samuel 15:9
If you really wanna understand why God was so upset with Saul after he attacked the Amalekites, then you need to understand the chief principle governing a Biblical Holy War.
And that chief principle is the Law of the Ban…
Or in Hebrew, the Law of HEREM.
This is a God-ordained law that bans Hebrew soldiers from taking any of the belongings from the conquered enemy for their use.
Instead, all of the war booty was to be collected and destroyed, normally by fire.
This was how the spoils of war were returned to the Commander-in-Chief of Israel’s military, which in this case was God.
Remember, a Holy War per the Biblical definition is NOT a war fought in God’s Name.
It is a war fought by God Himself.
Now, what exactly was banned by God in this war against the Amalekites?
In short, everything.
This included all human beings…
All the men, women, elderly, children, and babies.
The ban also included all farm animals, personal possessions, buildings, and homes.
The bottom line, if it had been owned by an Amalekite, it was to be destroyed.
And if you were an Amalekite, you were toast…quite literally I might add.
However, there was only one itty bitty problem.
The earthly leader of this Holy War thought he knew better than God concerning what to do with some of the Amalekite possessions that were supposed to be devoted to God for destruction.
Saul knew darn well that ALL of the Amalekites’ belongings and the Amalekites themselves were under a divine ban.
Yet he went ahead and kept the best animals and things he liked from the Amalekites.
He didn’t do what God told him and even let the Amalekite king, Agag, stay alive.
What was God’s response?
“I regret setting up Sha’ul as king,
because he has turned back from
following me and hasn’t obeyed my orders”.
-1 Samuel 15:10
Ouch!
It ain’t a pretty thing when you get on God’s bad side due to disobedience.
And that’s your takeaway for today.
Heck, that’s the takeaway for the entire world given the state it’s in at the moment.
God has given us certain clear instructions about how we should live in certain areas of our lives.
Yet how many times have we decided we know better than Him than to follow His PLAIN, CLEAR, AND SIMPLE instructions?
If you’re a commander of an army, and God orders you to kill every man, woman, child, and baby, you do it dammit.
And you don’t question His morality on the matter.
If there’s any part of the Bible that has turned folks into atheists more than any other, it’s got to be this part of the Scriptures.
They just can’t stomach the idea of a loving God ordering the wholesale extermination of “innocent” women and children.
“I’m not worshipping a God like that,” they say to themselves.
The problem is they don’t understand Holy War protocol and the Law of the Ban.
The other problem is they’re making themselves out to be God by placing their ideas of right and wrong over the Creator’s.
My response is to share this Scripture:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
-Isaiah 55:8-9
And by the way, I remind you, that when the Messiah returns, he is going to fight a Holy War against Israel’s modern-day Amalekites (gentile nations) according to the protocol outlined in the Torah.
This means strict adherence to the Law of the Ban.
This ain’t just some “Old” Testament thing that doesn’t hold relevance for today.
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