The Reckoning

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                     

Aloha Dearest Family,

                Today we will cover one of the most puzzling records in the Old Testament. In I Samuel 15:3 God instructs King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites.

                “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys."

To most people, even Christians, this commandment to Saul seems out of character for God who we know to be all loving and all merciful. What God is instructing Saul to do seems to be most cruel and unusual to a seemingly innocent people. Misunderstanding this section of scripture has caused many to walk away from God (and this is exactly what the devil wants). 

                So why would a God as good as our God call for the total annihilation of an entire group of people? To fully understand this record and others, we must first understand God’s “justice”. It is true that God is good and God is merciful, but he is also just. It is just to reward the upright with blessings and to punish the wrong-doers. This concept is talked about all throughout scripture. But there are many people in today’s society who do not agree with this concept. Many believe that they can live any way they want to and that there shouldn’t be a reckoning for their deeds done; that this is somehow unfair. They are wrong.

                This is what the Amalekites were facing. Their time of reckoning had come. Now you may ask, “What did they do to reap this kind of punishment?” To find out let us go back to the book of Exodus chapter 17. The children of Israel had just crossed the Red Sea into the promised-land and were resting in an area called Rephidim. It was at this time that the Amalekites launched a surprise attack on Israel from behind. Israel at this time had no army for they had all just been slaves in Egypt and had no fighting experience. So Moses instructs Joshua to choose some men to fight the attackers and they miraculously are able to defeat the Amalekite army. Because of this dastardly attack on God’s chosen people, God curses the Amalekites.

                “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven." (Exodus 17:14)

When someone messes with God’s children, God takes this offense very seriously and He does not forget (see Nahum 1:3). Again in Deuteronomy, just before the children of Israel were about to enter the promised-land, they are reminded not to forget the deeds and actions of the Amalekites.

                “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) 

God makes it clear that He does not want them to forget about the actions of the Amalekites that day. God wanted their bloodline to be totally obliterated from existence. One day their day of reckoning would come. That day came when God instructed Saul to utterly destroy all that belonged to the Amalekites, women, children, infants, cattle and anything else that they possessed. If you keep reading in the story you know that King Saul disobeyed the Lord’s commandment and because of it, God removed Him from being King. God then chose a man that would obey His commands; David.

                Now the record is clear. What appears at first to be God commanding the destruction of an “innocent” people, we now see that the Amalekites had brought this judgment upon themselves. And even though the men and women that died that day had nothing to do with the attack on the children of Israel years earlier, their day of reckoning had come, and that generation had paid the price. (Also see Exodus 20:5, Lamentations 5:7))

                The Amalekites were not the only ones in the Old Testament that had their ‘day of reckoning’. Here are some more examples:

                -Noah and the Ark - Over 900 years after Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, mankind has become so corrupt that every thought was evil continually.  Their destruction was imminent. Mankind’s day of reckoning was fast approaching. But God chooses the only righteous man left, Noah, to build an ark to save him and his family – as well as all the animals on earth.

                -Sodom and Gomorrah – In the days of Abraham, angels are sent to two cities in the Southern plains of Canaan. As the angles had told Abraham, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous.”(Genesis 18:20) Because of God’s love for Abraham, these angels also saved his nephew Lot from destruction who lived in Sodom. Sodom and Gomorra’s day of reckoning had come and all the cities of the plains were destroyed.

                -Ahab and Jehu – For the culmination of the sins of King Ahab and for him marrying the evil Jezebel, God curses the house (all the male bloodline) of Ahab (I Kings 21:21, 22). Years later God anoints Jehu as King of Israel and sends him on a mission to destroy all the males of the house of Ahab (II Kings 9:6-8). They reaped the consequences of Ahab’s actions.

                -Jesus and the Religious Leaders - In Luke 11, Jesus tells the Judean lawyers (teachers of the Law) that they will be held accountable for the blood of the prophets spilled by past generations,

"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all." (Luke 11:47-51) 

All the evil done by their ancestors would have to be recompensed by these leaders. (It is interesting to note that a little over 40 years later, Jerusalem would be destroyed and a million men, women and children would be killed).

                If it were not for Jesus Christ, we would all see our own day of reckoning. All through the Bible God tells of a day that will be unlike any other; the time of God’s wrath upon all mankind. After a seven year tribulation period, every man and woman who have ever lived will be judged according the works that they have done. This will be mankind’s final day of judgement; his day of reckoning. 

    But—for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, our day of reckoning has ALREADY COME! It came when Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the tree. God heaped all of our sins and short-comings upon him, and he died with them. He took our place in death so that we could take his place in life. We now walk in his righteousness!! (What a deal!)

                                   

                              Love Always, Ray 

(To read more about God’s Justice, check out my sharing called Day of God’s Wrath).