by Rose Murdock

1. Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.

2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 1 Samuel 15:1-3

The Lord tells Saul to kill all the Amalekites.  Everyone.  Even babies and animals.  Why?  We talk a lot about God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness so why is it that we see, especially in the old testament, God instructing people to be killed?  Even those who are innocent like babies?

The answer lies in the fact that God did not have a covenant with them.  God had made a covenant with the nation of Israel.  The Amalekites had treated the Israelites badly and not shown mercy when they needed it.  Now they were reaping what they had sown.  The consequences of their actions were coming back on them.

From the beginning we see that God made certain separations and distinctions.  First there was light and dark, day and night.  There was the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Then after the fall of man there was the line of Seth and the line of Cain.

There was the separation between Noah & family and the rest of the world.  After that, between Abraham (from whom came the nation Israel), and the other nations of the world.  God made these distinctions along the way.

God’s desire was to have a people unto Himself.  A family to fellowship with.  Children, in His image and likeness.  This was God’s purpose for mankind from the beginning.  He created man and tried to establish His people through a willful obedience to His Word (Adam and Eve).  But it was proven time and time again that sin was bound in the heart of man.  At times people would call on God but before long they would be back to their evil ways.  God saw this over and over again.  It was proven that no one is righteous or can live righteously on their own.  Every single soul is undeserving of God’s mercy and grace.  It didn’t matter what the influence of the family was, the peer’s, or the culture.  The inward nature of man was sinful due to Adam and Eve passing on that sinful nature to the rest of mankind.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

But God had a plan from the moment Adam and Eve sinned and lost their right standing with God.  His plan was to send One to be the sacrifice for our sin and save us from eternal death, or separation, from God.  And even though God’s plan right after the fall was to send One to redeem mankind, He still reached out to man between the time of Adam and Eve’s fall and the time the Savior finally came.  He was reaching out to try and bring man to a place of righteousness so He could fellowship with Him.  But man continually rejected and turned away from God.  Finally God spoke to Abram and miraculously gave him a son.  He promised to make a great nation from Abram’s son.  Abram (Abraham), believed God to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son if need be.  Because of Abraham’s faith, God made a covenant with the nation of Israel.  Let’s look at His covenant with them.

1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2. and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.  Deuteronomy 28:1-2

He then goes on to list blessings of prosperity, freedom from debt, healing, blessings for children, blessings on all labors.

God established His covenant with the people of Israel because of Abraham’s faith and obedience to God.  But did this mean that the people of Israel were forever protected under God’s blessings?  No.  We also see in Deuteronomy 28 the curse that comes if they did not obey His commands.  God once again was establishing a covenant with man by willful obedience to His Word, His commands.

Did this mean that everyone who was not born an Israelite was forever excluded from God’s blessings and covenant?  No.

The conditions to living under God’s blessings were to hearken diligently to the voice of His commands and to observe to do according to all that was written.  God had established His covenant with Abraham and then commanded that all the males be circumcised.  God gave the law to Moses and commanded that they follow His law.

It became a problem when the people of Israel thought that no matter what, as long as they were born an Israelite, were circumcised and followed the law that everything would be O.K.  In keeping the law, one could forget the purpose of the law.  It was an atonement for sin.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a sacrifice for sin that was made once and for all?  A sacrifice that would forever wash away the stain of sin in men’s hearts (For that was the real problem that caused men to want to continue in sin)?  Thank God there was such a sacrifice!

But there were those that were so wrapped up in keeping the law that they got away from the intent of the law.  They didn’t rejoice when the One came who walked free from sin and then offered Himself as the sacrifice for us all.  That type of thinking caused them to miss God’s fulfilling of the old covenant and establishing the new covenant through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.  And this new covenant is available for all who believe.  This is what God desired in the beginning anyway was for all of mankind to be a part of His family.

His intention was not to exclude anyone but to find and include those who would desire righteousness and believe in His provision for it.

We can see this in God’s covenant with Israel.  He made provision for His covenant to include others besides the Israelites.  Let’s look at how God instructed them to deal with the "strangers" or foreigners that lived among them.

First, we must make a distinction between the foreigners who lived in the land and those who lived in people’s homes.  There were those who wanted to just live and work in Israel and then there were those who wanted to become an Israelite.  They wanted to be a part of the family, under the covenant of God.

God gave instruction as to how to treat those who lived in the land.  He provided for their protection and hospitality.

21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  Exodus 22:21

He also made commands for the foreigners in the land to abide by the same commands as the Israelites.

16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.  Leviticus 24:16

29. And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:  Leviticus 16:29

So God wanted the Israelites to treat the foreigners well and He wanted them both to abide by the same law but there was still a distinction between them up until a certain point.

21. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God…  Deuteronomy 14:21

The Israelites were considered a holy people unto the Lord.  They were the ones with whom God had established His covenant.  There were certain things the foreigners could eat that the Israelites couldn’t.  And the foreigner couldn’t eat of the Passover that the Israelites did.  So there was a distinction made between the Israelites and the foreigner unless the foreigner came into the covenant by being circumcised.

43. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it;

44. but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

45. A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it.

46. It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.

47. All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this.

48. But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

49. The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you."  Exodus 12:43-49 NAS

If the stranger of the covenant, the foreigner of the land, would obey the commands of God, which at that time was to be circumcised, then he would have the same rights and privileges as the native born Israelite.  He would have the same protection as the Israelite.  The Passover represented a protection from God through the blood of a sacrifice.  This was a foreshadowing of the protection that is available through the blood of Jesus Christ.

As we obey the commands of God today, which is to believe in His Son Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sin, then we are washed and cleansed from our sin and will be as one who is born-again, as a native born member of the family of God!  That’s good news!

Any stranger of the covenant, anyone who is not a ‘natural born’ child of God (which is all of us because we were all born in sin after Adam & Eve’s sin), can become as a natural born child be believing in Jesus Christ who was the sinless sacrifice.  And the provisions available to us now that we are born again are tremendous (Read Deuteronomy 28).

So what does this have to do with God instructing the slaughter of people?

It shows that to be outside the covenant of God is a dangerous place.  It’s not safe.  Because of the sinful nature of man we have no protection until we come into the covenant God has made available to us.  We will reap the consequences of our sinful actions unless we enter into His covenant.  But the good news is that God has provided for everyone to enter into His covenant!  And the covenant He has with His people today is a new covenant based upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6).

Again, God’s intention was not to exclude anyone, but to include those who would seek His provision for righteousness.  You no longer have to be a stranger of the covenant of God.  And once you enter into that covenant by believing in Jesus Christ then the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 belong to you and you are redeemed from the curses of Deuteronomy 28 because Christ, the sinless sacrifice, redeemed you from the curse of the law (See Galatians 3:13, 28-29).

Thank God that through faith in His Son Jesus Christ we are no longer strangers of the covenant!