1 Samuel 15:3

The sentence of God had long gone out against this determined enemy of His people. At Rephidim, the LORD said that He would have "war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Ex. 17:16); and Moses, in his parting charge to Israel, said, "you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget" (Deut. 25:19). Only one thing was still needed: a word from the LORD about the exact moment to carry out the terrible sentence. That word came to Saul through Samuel.

The LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders and had brought them to Himself. Never were they nearer to Him. Yet it was at that time that the Amalekites sought to harm them. They did it out of real hatred to them as the LORD's people, for they could gain little advantage from their attack... It was both cowardly and cruel, for they fell on all who were feeble and at the rear, when they were faint and weary.

If God is love, why should He tell His people to act this way? The answer is very simple: "God is light," as well as love. The nations in and around Canaan were so soaked in terrible evils that they were a moral ulcer in the middle of the earth. God endured them with much patience. To destroy them completely was mercy to others, as well as righteousness in God. How much of a cancer does a skilled surgeon's knife spare?

It may seem dreadful to kill little children. But at least they would go to heaven. It would be a different matter if they grew up in bitter hostility against God and the truth of His Word.

Samuel is therefore sent to Saul with the command to destroy Amalek. The reason for the command is given too, so that he may intelligently share God's mind about it... The debt was contracted long ago. Amalek had never repented of it or asked forgiveness for it. The Amalek of that day remained the same adversary of God and His people, so the debt had only gathered interest over time... They are sentenced, as God alone has the right to sentence, to complete destruction, with all that they have, even to the cattle. The world at large needed such object-lessons of God's anger against sin, and so did Israel.

In this final test of Saul there were no difficulties in the path of obedience. His resources were plentiful and the victory was easy. The temptation to disobey came entirely from within. The commandment tested his heart, and it is the heart that the word of God lays bare.

The same divine Lawgiver said to Saul, in perfect harmony with the law of that time, "Devote them to destruction, and do not spare them." Now, in the day of salvation, He says to His redeemed, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5)... The path of obedience, in every age, is not only the safe path. It is the path of present blessing and future glory.

The flesh and its lusts were never to be seen as anything but enemies. Between the people of God and the lusts of the flesh there is to be, not necessarily constant conflict, but absolute hostility... One who stands in the place of king — a type in that way of Christ — must be a relentless enemy of Amalek. We cannot imagine our blessed Lord sparing the flesh in its fairest form.