That Rock Was Christ (Ex. 17)

[Sung Psalm: 95]

The Amalekites have the dubious distinction to be the first people who attacked the nation of Israel.

The Amalekites are descended from a grandson of Esau – Jacob’s brother. Esau had recognized that Jacob had a rightful inheritance in the Land. But his descendants repudiate their father and now seek to kill Jacob’s heirs.

Here in Exodus 17, God says that “The LORD will have war with Amalek for generation to generation.”

The LORD will tell Israel when they come into the land, that they are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

So, when Saul becomes king, the LORD calls Saul to destroy the Amalekites. But Saul failed. He took the King of the Amalekites, Agag, captive – and took lots of plunder (claiming that it was for sacrifice to the LORD). Because Saul refused to obey the voice of the LORD, the LORD removed him from being king.

It is important to see that David does what Saul failed to do. David is the one who blots out the Amalekites.

Indeed, after the time of David, the Amalekites drop out of the biblical narrative. Only one Amalekite is named later in biblical history.

Remember how Saul failed to kill Agag, the king of the Amalekites? In the book of Esther, many centuries later, Saul’s kinsman, Mordecai, will encounter the last of the Amalekites: Haman, the Agagite (Agagite means “of the family of Agag”). Mordecai will finish what his ancestor failed to do.

Truly, “The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

It’s worth remembering that the LORD does not come begging people to repent. He commands all people everywhere to repent.