Introduction

As we get into chapter 15, Samuel came to Saul & said, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD.

q      Saul has shown a pattern of disobedience up to this point, he has become self-willed doing his own thing.  So the prophet Samuel is coming and warning him.  This to me is very significant because God does seek to warn us from our self-willed path of destruction.  God doesn’t let you just trip off into some path of destruction without giving you a warning & oftentimes repeated warnings. 

The Bible says He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (NKJV); A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes       will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy (NIV); If you get more stubborn every time you are corrected, one day you will be crushed and never recover (Good News Bible); If you keep being stubborn after many warnings, you will suddenly discover you have gone too far.

q      God is faithful and warns you and says “Hey the path you are on the way of self-will it is destroying you.  When God speaks to us we must take heed-pay attention to the voice of the Lord.

So Samuel is coming with a warning from God for him & telling him of a mission that God is sending him on.  God wants you to go down and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, totally wipe them out. 

q      Some may think “how horrible this is for God to command such a thing”, they have great difficulty with some Old Testament commands. They even imagine a different God of the Old Testament. The difficulty lies in their lack of knowledge of history. Amalek was one of the most vile nations in history. Their practices were so corrupt, that they would have destroyed themselves. They were corrupting others. They were a cancer that had to be removed or like a pack of wild dogs, if you don’t destroy them they will hurt innocent people. 

q      Another factor that is very important is that the Amaleks were always a type of the flesh in the Scriptures.  And since they are a type of the flesh God is ordered the utter destruction of the flesh, wipe it out completely (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16-17, 24; 1 Peter 2:11; Romans p12:17; Romans 8:13; Galatians 6:8; Colossians 3:5-8)

q      Now whatever this is, we know that this is disobedience to God.  Saul had an opportunity to get right with God, but he did not, instead he disobeyed the command of God again. 

q      As we progress in history a few hundred years, we are going to go into a story that is familiar to us, the story of Esther.  Esther was chosen queen in Persia, but their was one man in Persia that was seeking to destroy all the Jews because he could not this certain Jew by the name of Mordecai who refused to bow to him.  He had such a hatred for this man, he perpetrated a scheme whereby all of the Jews were to by wiped out & he had the king sign a decree that on a given day all the Jews would be wiped out in all thin kingdom of Persia.  This man’s name was Mordecai. 

Purim, Feast of. References to Purim include Esther 3:7; 9:24, 26, 28-29, 31-32. This feast commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from destruction by an evil schemer named Haman during the days of their captivity by the Persians. It took its name from the Babylonian word put, meaning "lot," because Haman cast lots to determine when he would carry out his plot against the Jews. The Feast of Purim took place on the 14th and 15th of Adar, and during its celebration the Book of Esther is read as a reminder of their deliverance. A happy ceremony, Purim is accompanied with the giving of gifts and much celebration.    

During this celebration, it is sort of like Halloween is to us, in that the boys dress up in the costume as the villain Haman & the girls dress up as the Queen Esther.

But here is the thing that I want to point out—“The nationality of Haman; He was a descendant of the king of the Amoles Agag he was an Agagite.  A descendant of Agag so that Saul failing to completely obey God almost cost’s Israel its whole National existence later on.  Because he failed to completely obey the command of God      

The History Of Amalek.

A. #Exodus 17:8 They attacked Israel shortly after they had come out of Egypt

 1. Their's was a sneak attack against the rear of the camp.

 a. Against the old and feeble, who could not keep up with the pace of the moving people.

 2. This is the battle where Moses held up his arms and Israel prevailed, and when he dropped his arms Amelek prevailed.

 3. God announced after the victory that He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

 B. #Deut  25:17 As God was giving Moses instructions concerning their settling in the new land, He said, "Remember what Amalek did when you came out of Egypt, the sneak attack against feeble, those who were weary and faint. When you have settled in the land and have established yourselves, you are to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Don't forget this.

 C. The time to fulfill this command of God has come.

 1. God wants this old score with Amalek to be settled.

 2. Saul and his army are to be the instruments of God's judgment against these vile people.

 D. Because of the nature of Amalek, they have become a type of the life of the flesh.

Man Is Either Ruled By The Flesh Or By The Spirit.

 A. If I am ruled by my flesh, I then possess what the Bible terms the mind of the flesh. That is my consciousness is dominated with thoughts of fleshly desires, and how to satisfy them.

 1. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

 2. If a man is always talking about his latest pleasure adventure, wheather in the realm of food, drink or sex, he is only demonstrating that he is dominated by his flesh. The body rules.

 B. If my spirit rules, then I live in the consciousness of God. He fills my thoughts. I have what the scriptures term the mind of the spirit.

 1. To come to the mind of the spirit I must be born again. Born of the Spirit.

 2. This is necessary to know and worship God. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

 C. There is a never ending war between my flesh and my spirit.

 1. The prize of victory is the ruling over my mind.

 2. The spirit is waring against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, and these two are contrary.

With Amalek Being A Type Of The Flesh, We See Why God Ordered His Total Annilation.

 A. Notice how Amalek attacked Israel at the weakest point.

 1. You will find your attacks will come at the weakest point.

 2. Each of us possess weak points in our defence system. The enemy knows these weak points and their consentrates his attacks. His tactics are dirty and ruthless.

 B. God had one command for Amalek, utter destruction.

 1. Not to try to conquer, and then reform.

 2. God has one rule for you flesh life. Death. Crucify the old man with his affections and lusts. If we by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, then we shall live. Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the desires thereof.

 C. Sauls disobedience.

 1. He tried to reclaim some of the good parts.

 2. He saved the King Agag alive.

 3. He did not totally destroy.

 V. The story of Esther and the almost eradication of the Jews.

 A. Haman's insane pride, which resulted in his hatred of Mordicai.

 B. The decree to kill every Jew in the kingdom on the 13th day of Adar or the twelth month.

 C. Haman is called the Agagite. i.e. He was a descendant of Agag the Amalek.

 D. Not obeying the command of God, almost cost the whole nations extermination.

 E. If you do not crucify your flesh, your flesh will destroy you.