D25-15: Why Did God Have So Much Beef With The Amalekites?

“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.”-Deuteronomy 25:17-19

Okay, we now arrive at a totally different section of Deuteronomy 25 dealing with the Amalekites.

Who exactly are these Amalekites that God orders Israel to never forget their past actions and why did He eventually want them destroyed from the face of the earth?

The truth be told, if it weren’t for God identifying the Amalekites as Israel’s archetypical enemy, there would hardly be much known about this actually quite insignificant people group.

Let’s have a quick review of the genealogical history of this people the Lord earmarked for annihilation.

In the Book of Genesis, we’re told that the person of Amalek was a grandson of Esau (recall Esau was the patriarch of Jacob’s twin brother) who came from the loins of Esau’s son Eliphaz.

We can see from this that Amalek was related to Israel and was a Semite BUT he was not a Hebrew.

This means he was a gentile and the race that Amalek spawned became a nation who was considered exceptionally wicked in God’s eyes.

In Scripture, Amalek is actually presented as a type or pattern epitomizing the ultimate enemy of Israel.

What did God have to tell His people about the Amalekites?

In a nutshell, Israel is to NEVER forget what Amalek did to them.

The Lord is referring to the time during the exodus when Amalek attacked Israel just as they were struggling to escape the bondage of Pharaoh.

What makes what Amalek did unusually cruel is they really had no reason to hate and attack Israel.

Up to this point in history, Israel had done nothing to Amalek.

Amalek despised Israel for simply existing which is characteristic of all retarded anti-Semitism in the world today.

It was this baseless hatred that led Amalek to act as shameless cowards and attack the rear end of the long column of Israelites where the elderly and weak were concentrated.

This was a big no-no in God’s eyes because it violated his fundamental principles of fairness (which we discussed in my last post).

Although the command to destroy the Amalekites was given to the second generation of Israelites in Deuteronomy 25, it wouldn’t be until 250 years later until this command would be fulfilled through King Saul.

That will be the topic of discussion the next time we meet.