Remember what Amalek did unto thee on the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt;
Moses closes a chapter of everyday laws with a memory. God tells Israel to remember a nation that ambushed them on the road out of Egypt and struck the weakest at the back. Why does God, who forgives so much, command His people never to forget this one wrong?
This was not a battle between armies. It was an ambush on people who had just walked out of slavery.
Here we see Amalek's unprovoked attack on Israel, just as they had escaped from Pharaoh's power. Through Samuel we learn what Moses did not tell us in Exodus 17: Amalek lay in wait for Israel, like a serpent lurking in the road. For this cowardly attempt to destroy His people, the LORD swore that He would have war with Amalek "from generation to generation." The beating Joshua gave him did not subdue him or turn him from his plans against Israel. Amalek made his guilt worse by a low attack on Israel's rear. He struck those who lagged behind, all who were feeble, when they were faint and weary. He did not fear God.
Amalek had little to gain from the raid. That is what exposes the motive behind it.
The LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders and had brought them to Himself. Never were they nearer to Him. The pillar of cloud and fire, the manna from heaven, and the water from the rock were visible proof of it. Yet that was the very time when the Amalekites tried to harm them. They did it out of real hatred toward them as the LORD's people, for they could gain little from the attack. They struck in the presence of "the glory." It was a wicked insult to God, a lifting up of their hand against His throne. So the LORD made His people's cause His own. To touch them was to touch the apple of His eye.
Some readers find such a judgment too harsh. The answer turns on who the Judge is.
Now, who will dare to say that this was wrong? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do and say what is righteous?
Commentators read Amalek as a picture of something inside every believer.
Why was such a total judgment necessary? Because Amalek pictures "the lusts of the flesh" which war against our souls. God will not allow us to spare such things. It is important that we take sides with God against the lustful desires that dishonour Him and harm our own souls. God told King Saul through Samuel to attack and completely destroy Amalek. Saul won the victory, but he spared their king, Agag, and the best of the livestock. For this he was not only sternly rebuked but told, "Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king." If we spare our own sinful lusts, we are in no condition to lead others.
Amalek struck the back of the column. That detail marks out who is most at risk.
The Amalekites succeeded in attacking the weakest and the last of Israel's company. This is always the case. The lusts of the flesh have no power over those who press forward, forgetting the things that are behind. But others lag behind. They forget that they are pilgrims and become stragglers, following far off. Over them the lusts of the flesh have special power. It was when Peter followed at a distance that he gave way to the cowardice that is one of the marks of the flesh.
One Israelite, Mordecai, refused to bow to an Amalekite. This command was his whole reason.
It was enough for Mordecai that the LORD had said, "Remember what Amalek did… you shall not forget it." How long was it to last? "From generation to generation." The LORD's war with Amalek would not stop until God had blotted out his very name and memory from under heaven. And why? Because of his cruel and heartless treatment of Israel. Such was God's kindness toward His people! How then could a faithful Israelite ever bow to an Amalekite? Impossible.
Joshua won, but Amalek lived on. That gap shapes Christian life now.
Amalek was driven back and defeated, but he was not yet destroyed for good, as he will be… We have power to keep the sentence of death on the flesh, so that we do not fulfil its desire. That power holds us back from doing things we otherwise might. But the flesh still remains in us, though we have received the Spirit. A time is coming when God will blot it out from under heaven, but that time is not yet.
- Remember the crime. Amalek lay in wait and struck the worn-out stragglers of a people just freed from slavery. He did not fear God.
- Remember whose they were. The attack came in the presence of God's glory, out of hatred for those who belonged to Him. To touch them was to touch the apple of His eye.
- Remember what it pictures. Commentators read Amalek as the lusts of the flesh. They strike hardest at those who lag behind.
- Remember by obeying. Saul spared Agag and lost his kingdom. Mordecai obeyed the same word and would not bow.
- Remember the end. God has condemned the flesh, but it is not yet gone. He will blot Amalek out from under heaven, but not yet.
how he met thee on the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all the feeble that lagged behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary, and he feared not God.
Moses is recalling an old raid. Amalek fell on Israel soon after they came out of Egypt. The verse points to two things: where the enemy struck, and why — he had no fear of God.
Amalek did not meet Israel head-on. He picked off the ones at the back. Commentators read this as a picture of how temptation works.
In Deuteronomy 25:17-19 we find that they succeeded in attacking the weakest and the last in the ranks of Israel. This is always the case. The lusts of the flesh can have no power over those who are pressing forward, forgetting the things that are behind. But they have special power over those who lag behind. Such people forget that they are pilgrims, they become stragglers, and they follow far off. It was when Peter followed at a distance that he gave in to that cowardice which is one of the marks of the flesh.
Israel had not always been weak. One writer sets this weariness against the way the nation left Egypt.
Does this not suggest some evidence of decline? When God brought them out of Egypt in all the triumph of a salvation He Himself had worked, the Psalmist tells us that "there was not one feeble among their tribes" (Ps. 105:37). God's provision for the wilderness is entirely enough — "the manna and the springing well suffice for every need." But we stay in spiritual energy and freshness only as we take this rich provision in as food for our souls. Otherwise we become weak in spirit. Then Amalek attacks us — the adversary working in all his subtle power through the flesh — and holds up our progress.
(The ESV renders Psalm 105:37 "there was none among his tribes who stumbled.")
The last words of the verse point the charge higher than Israel.
The Lord had delivered Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, and had brought them to Himself. Never were they nearer to Him. The pillar of cloud and of fire, the manna from heaven, and the water from the rock were visible proofs of it. Yet it was at that time that the Amalekites tried to injure them. They did it out of real hatred to them as the people of the Lord, for they could gain very little from their attack. It was made in the presence of "the glory," a wicked insult to God, a lifting up of their hand against His throne. It was both cowardly and cruel, for they fell on all who were feeble and last, and when they were faint and weary. God passed His righteous sentence on them at once, and later appointed the very people they had wronged to carry out the judgment (Deut. 25:19). So the Lord made His people's cause His own.
Attacking the weak is not a small crime. And the weakness that invites attack is not left without help.
Our weakness may become the occasion for the enemy's attack... But to attack the feeble saint is really to attack God. "He who touches you touches the apple of His eye" (Zech. 2:8)... Satan in some way would take advantage of our weakness. But the Spirit is given to shed the love of God abroad in our hearts, and in His power we now resist the enemy. "Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world" (1 Peter 5:9).
Several writers read Amalek as a picture of the flesh — the old nature in the believer.
Now Amalek was a very subtle foe, as we discover when we read Deuteronomy 25:18. In our experience the flesh acts in just this way. It attacks us at what we may call our weak points — though these are often what we imagine to be our strong ones! God put the sentence of death on Amalek in its most extreme form, as we see in Exodus 17:14. In the same way God has "condemned sin in the flesh" in the death of Christ.
Moses ties the command to remember to what Amalek did here. One writer applies it to Mordecai.
It was enough for Mordecai that the Lord had said, "Remember what Amalek did... you shall not forget." How long was this to hold good? "From generation to generation." The Lord's war with Amalek was never to cease until his very name and memory were blotted out from under heaven. And why? Because of his cruel and heartless treatment of Israel. Such was the kindness of God toward His people! How then could a faithful Israelite ever bow to an Amalekite? He could be hanged, but he could never do homage to Amalek.
- Lagging. The enemy could not touch those pressing forward. He took the ones who fell behind — and so does the flesh today.
- Weary. Israel left Egypt with no feeble one among them. Faintness came later, when they neglected God's provision of manna and water.
- Fearless. "He did not fear God" marks the raid as an insult in the presence of God's glory, a hand lifted against His throne.
- Touched. Striking the feeble saint strikes God Himself. He who touches you touches the apple of His eye, so weakness is where His Spirit meets the enemy.
- Remembered. Because of that cruelty, the war with Amalek runs from generation to generation. Mordecai would rather hang than honour an Amalekite.
And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God shall have given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; thou shalt not forget it.
Chapter 25 ends with an old score that God keeps for Israel. Why does He tell them to remember what Amalek did on the way out of Egypt — and then wipe that memory out, but only after He has given them rest in the land?
Amalek attacked when Israel stood closest to God, and struck at the stragglers.
Israel had never been nearer to Him. The pillar of cloud and of fire, the manna from heaven, and the water from the rock were visible proofs of it. Yet it was at that time that the Amalekites sought to harm them, out of real hatred for them as the people of the Lord. They could gain little advantage from their attack. It was made in the presence of "the glory," a wicked insult to God, a lifting up of their hand against His throne. It was both cowardly and cruel, for they fell on all who were feeble and hindmost, when they were faint and weary. The righteous sentence went out against them at once, and it was written down later. The people they had wronged were appointed to carry out the judgment. So the Lord made His people's cause His own. To touch them was to touch the apple of His eye.
The severity troubles many readers. Kelly answers with the reason the text itself gives, and with the character of the One who gave the order.
But Amalek must not slip out of mind. "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way... he did not fear God... you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget." Now who will dare to say that this was wrong? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do and say what is righteous?
Commentators read Amalek as a picture of what still fights the believer from within.
Why was such a total judgment necessary? Because Amalek pictures "the lusts of the flesh" which war against our souls. God will not allow such things to be spared. It matters that we take sides with God against the lustful desires that both dishonour God and harm our own souls. When God told King Saul through Samuel to destroy Amalek completely, he won the victory but spared their king, Agag, and the best of the livestock. He was solemnly reproved for this, and told that because he had rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord had rejected him from being king. If we spare our own sinful lusts, we are in no condition to lead others.
Amalek fought differently from Israel's other enemies, and God's answer was different too.
The Amalekites' method of warfare was mean and cowardly, quite different from that of the scheming Philistine or the brave Jebusite. This is a foe that lies in wait for every sly and unfair advantage against our souls, and God has sworn to destroy it... Other foes might be handled gently, but not this one. There must be no truce and no mercy.
Kelly turns this into a test of Christian character.
It is the part of a Christian to hate evil as much as to love what is good. Beware of the smallest sympathy with anyone who counts it good to be indifferent, lukewarm, not zealous. Such a person likes what is pleasant and gentle in itself, but has no hatred of what dishonours God.
Centuries later, in the court of King Ahasuerus, one man let this command settle how he acted.
Mordecai stood like a rock for the truth of God. He firmly refused to recognise Amalek. He would save the life of Ahasuerus and bow to his authority as the expression of the power of God, but he would not bow to Haman. In this matter the word of God alone governed him. He found the authority for what he did in this book of Deuteronomy.
The order waits for a day of rest that is still ahead.
They are told not to forget Amalek, their enemy in the wilderness. They are also pointed forward to a time when they have full rest in the land and all their enemies are subdued. Then Amalek shall be blotted out of remembrance for ever. What a blessed time! The lusts of the flesh will no longer have to be thought of at all. Their memory will have come to an end in practice, and the conflict inside will have passed away for ever.
- Remembered by God. Amalek struck the weak and weary of a people God had just rescued. God treated that wrong as done to Himself.
- Written as sentence. God passed the sentence at once, and it was written down later. The people Amalek wronged were the ones appointed to carry it out. This is God's justice, not Israel's grudge.
- Read as picture. Commentators read Amalek as the lusts of the flesh. Spare them, and you are in no state to lead anyone else.
- Held without truce. Other enemies could be handled gently; this one never. Saul spared Amalek and lost his throne. Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, and he took his stand straight from this command.
- Ended in rest. The blotting out waits for the day when all enemies are subdued and the inward conflict is over for good.