Werner Bergmann May 1987
Deuteronomy 25: 17-19
Amalek
5th Book of Moses, chapter 25 and there we read the 3 verses 17 to 19,it says:
"Remember what Amalek has done to you on the way when you pulled out of Egypt How he met you on the way and struck your nightingale, all the weak behind you when you were weary and tired, and he did not fear God. And when Jehovah your God has made you calm of all your enemies round about in the land that Jehovah your God gives you as an inheritance to possess it, then it shall happen that you amalgamate the memory of Amalek under the sky. Do not forget it ", so far the word of God.
It is amazing for us in the time of grace that we receive from the Old Testament the great teachings of the walk and behavior of the faithful of our day. Immediately after the hard 40 years Israel had to enter before entering the vast inheritance. "Remember what Amalek has done to you on the way". This is God's speech before they enter the Promised Land. Before Israel enters Canaan, God gives them a memory. It is a memory of future days. This memory or commemoration provides for a death. It is the death of Amalek. So God had determined that.
Who was Amalek? Amalek was the grandson of Esau. We read this in Genesis 36:11. He was not a little but a prince, five verses further. Isaac prophesied in the presence of Esau (Gen. 27:39), which prophecy was fulfilled in Amalek as well. Where it says, "Far from the greasiness of the earth shall be your abode, and without the dew of heaven from above."
Very early on, the Amalekites were a warlike Bedouin people, a ragtag nomadic people. In the area of the desert, their home was as a hiding place, the desert Zin. It is west of Edom. The word Edom is both the name and the country of Esau. On the one hand it says in Numbers 14:25 that the Amalekites dwell in the lowlands, and then again we find them living in mountains (Numbers 14:45) or Judges 12:15. They were everywhere and nowhere. As such a Bedouin people they knew the change of local influences, so we see on the map, no matter what age we have before us, no country recorded Amalek. That does not exist in all the maps of the past millennia. They were constantly in dispute with Israel. They prevented the people of Israel from entering into the promise of Canaan, and when they lived in it, war was always with them.
Early on in Genesis 17: 8, Amalek fought against Israel in a huge squad of men and weapons. It came to the great and mighty battle, especially recorded in the Word of God. There came to the great fight where Joshua fought down in the lowland, a picture of Jesus who was here in the flesh as the Son of God in the lowlands in our baseness and Moses on the hill opposite in prayer with Aron and Hur.
And God gave instruction in this story to write this in a book, says God, to the memory. And it is said that God wants to completely exterminate Amalek. Exodus 17:14. God wants to eradicate Amalek altogether. This has nothing to do with blessing, but with being far away from the greasiness of the earth and the dew of the sky. No blessing earthly and no heavenly blessing is spoken about Amalek. Much later, King Saul was ordered to defeat Amalek and banish everything, 1 Samuel 15: 2 to 3. This order did not execute Saul at God's command and command, thereby making the Amelekites doom to King Saul, although Saul the Amalekites had completely beaten. So the kingship of Saul departed because he had left Agag, king of the Amalekites and cattle alive, though he should banish everything. Is it any wonder, considering the knowledge of Amalek, if, after the death of Saul, we find the king's royal diadem and the golden bracelet of 2 Samuel 1: 10 in the hand of the one who foretells two verses, I am an Amalekite?
"Remember this," God says in the text word again, "what Amalek has done to you on the way". Amalek is the image of the old man in us, as it was for Israel the inner enemy. Amalek has always been inside. They attacked the other countries, beat some of them and deprived them of them, and they lived on that, retreating to the hot desert of Zin.
On the other hand, the Philistines, who were external enemies who attacked Israel from the outside, as once Israel was on the way to the promise of the land of Canaan, which God had sworn unto them, so we too are in the promise of the glory of heaven, on the way, of God Word has left us clearly written. The inner enemy Amalek near Israel is the old man in evil thoughts with us.
Israel was attacked on the way when they came out of Egypt and we are attacked more or less by the enemy as soon as we have left the desert of this world by a conversion. The way out of the desert and through the desert can often be a hard thing. Some are still relatively well through, and the others remain as if on the track. The many obstacles on this path weary on the pilgrim then as now. Israel often languished in the flesh, and we? We are exhorted in Hebrews 12: 3 not to languish in our souls for spiritual service, Romans 8, 3 to 4. In Israel, the miscarriage of the flesh was manifested by grumbling and rebellion against Moses and God, and in many of the saved we find today in weariness the soul laxity, indifference, inertia, lukewarmness towards spiritual things. The cause of sin in Israel was thirst and hunger in the wilderness. The cause of sin today is lack of taking up the bread of life and the life water of the Word of God in the desert of this world.
Although the circumstances were usually hard because of the way of the promise, and the Israelites only ceaselessly advanced in the sinking heat, the sick, the elderly, the exhausted, stayed behind. Amalek fell for this addendum of those who were left behind and killed them all. They robbed everything they had. Of these, the Amalekites lived. At times there were many miles between the army of Israel and the exhausted. Amalek killed everything that remained, so the connection to the tabernacle of the convent, the sanctuary of Israel, was so important. Anyone who lost this connection to the sanctuary was in great danger, for Amalek's sake alone. Terrible things must have happened, otherwise God would not have mentioned the memory of Amalek again and again. It is said, "how he came to meet you, Israel, by the way." That's what, here speaks his special language of vulgarity and brutality of the Amalekites.
In verse 18 of the text we read of the weak. It is said, "when they were weary and tired," Amalek struck, relentless. And it literally says that without fearing God, even though they did nothing, the Amalekites did their evil work. Here we generally see that the fear of God sets man's limits to malice. We also see how these sins are preserved through memory. We see how these sins were punished by God. For the memory of Amalek should be exterminated according to the command of the Lord.
The events here in the Old Testament were the silhouettes to our present day. After that, Scripture teaches us in New Testament the following teaching, which we find in Hebrews 4: 1 "Let us be afraid that not one of you seems to have been left behind. Especially because there is a promise to enter into the peace of God. " That's it. If today in the time of grace we see the believers in the lack of spiritual goods, then the reasons are clear. But the Lord has given us by his Spirit and by His Word such a great equipment that we may have victory by overcoming faith in every thing. Ultimately, we should live only in dependence on him, the sanctuary, to have victory. The children of God are responsible and they are also in the decision for or against the ways of the Lord. As soon as we love the Lord and choose Him, we go on the desert road, the way of our Lord.
I am convinced that in the life of a child of God, where everything is clear and where there are no obstacles, nothing is right. For the desert way is the way of our Lord, but his way is the way of victory. The way of the cross with the Lord Jesus is not always easy. The way of our Lord Jesus here on this earth to the hill Golgotha was a difficult walk. But who, like our Lord, walks in the will of God, we too can go our way in the will of our Heavenly Father. God the Almighty is glorified in it. And we are the blessed here already, but especially in eternity when we are with him. When Jesus comes to pick up the church, we will finally see what we believed. But as soon as we follow Christ with a divided heart, our love is for the Lord Jesus and at the same time for the transient world. Then it's just the question of time when the other side called Amalek sits on our heart throne.
We recognize these children of God in the previous enumeration of lukewarmness and indifference to divine things, where by the exhaustion of souls such things occur. The love of the world is not an essential part of our desert journey. In the desert we need other things that keep us in this hot area. And then they lack the joy (the power) to read the Word of God. The lack of spiritual food makes them sick, dull, exhausted and tired. So believers stay behind. The Amalekite as an old man argues in our limbs. The fight gets tough. Doubts about the life of victory multiply. We are the exhausted ones who are left behind. The spiritual distance to other children of God is getting bigger and bigger. The inner connection to the sanctuary is barely perceptible.
But as far as our lives with Jesus are concerned, many saved believers fall slain to the ground. The old man with his good connections to Satan has become a snare to them, as Agag once became a pitfall for Saul. Yes, the old man, he meets us on our own paths of faith. He is an ally and no less. He is the ally of the soul enemy. We do not know how many Israelites were killed by Amalek. There have been many, many. The enemy, he beat their exhausted, who were left behind. This happened under the guidance of the great Moses.
The Lord Jesus was entrusted by God to a far larger crowd than Moses. But the Lord Jesus could confess, as it is written in John 18, 9, of whom whom you have given me, none is lost. Then come questions: Brother Bergmann, Judas was a disciple after all? Of course, that was a disciple, but we must be at home in God's Word to know things. Notice that the Lord Jesus, before that decision, found a yes for Judas, spent an entire night on top of the mountain in the fierce battle of prayer. This is how the Bible tells us. He was given to him. Not in the yes of agreement, but he was given to him as a traitor. He triggered his capture and his death.
It had to be that way, and the Lord says it after the resurrection: "Does not Christ have to suffer all this?" Yes, he had to, otherwise we would not have been saved. But Judas did not belong to him, otherwise he would have stayed with him. We also read that in John's letter, "they were not from us. If they had been from us they would have stayed with us. " This is where life and death, authenticity and illegitimacy are decided. What a statement, I repeat it again: "of those," says the Lord Jesus, "that you have given me I have not lost any". And we say, what a confirmation of our Lord to his Father.
To this day, I can not understand how saved people doubt the words of the Son of God. I can not believe it. It is a bit too high for me and not just little or even his words turn into the opposite, as we often hear it. How happy our hearts are that our Lord does not lose anyone who belongs to Him. Who is saved is not lost. Jesus, the Lord, does not lose one who belongs to Him. Not even if Amalek comes and says so. That's another gospel. Only when children of God want to leave the Lord, then comes Amalek.
But when children of God want to give back the rebirth to God, then you realize how silly such thinking and talking is, that children of God can be lost. Praise and thanks to our Lord. The Bible is God's Word. The chatter of believers is often contrary to the word of God.
Now to verse 19 of the text, where is spoken of the peace and the entrance to the inheritance. Israel's promise was Canaan. Once they had settled there, they should erase the memory of Amalek under the sky. So now they are over the Jordan, and are now in the Promised Land, and now the word of the Lord is now fulfilled according to instructions. As we have already heard, the first king of Israel, Saul, the son of Kis, received the commission for this, a Benjaminite. But the man of his own will disobeyed God and did not ban Amalek altogether. Thus, the extermination of Amalek remained open because of non-observance of the command of God. The promise of the church is in heaven, not in Canaan. Once we have come to rest in Christ at conversion, the memory of Amalek, that is the old man, shall be eradicated.
I still remember how a dear brother from overseas once said a few years ago that the children of God no longer had an old man. And then, as proof, a biblical passage was quoted, the biblical passage is Ephesians 4:22, it is said that you have stripped the old man. That is past. This is how Satan works: you leave out the first half of the sentence. It means: as far as the former way of life is concerned, the old people have abandoned it. This is no proof that the old man has disappeared. It does not mean that a child of God has no old man.
Well, the memory of Amalek is to be eradicated and the Lord Jesus has the commission for it. And because the Lord was obedient in all things, we receive at the first resurrection a new body, which will exist without old men, we look forward to it. Once we have entered the glory of heaven, God has given us rest. Here in our text states, of all our enemies around. And then even the memory of Amalek, that is of the old man, will forever be eradicated in heaven. And then God, it adds like a hidden warning, adding something to his words, adds an afterword.
"Do not forget it," God says to us forgetful people. As it may turn out, the history of Israel has taught us, the history of the church teaches us anew. "Do not forget it," to fulfill what is said in Ecclesiastes 9: 5, where it says, "They have no reward, for their memory is forgotten." We also do not want to forget that we also have two natures in us, the old and the new creation. Which one we serve lies solely in our hands. Now it comes, "do not forget it". I'll say it one more time, "Do not forget it," says the Lord in his Word here to Israel and today to us.
Amen.
The Man Who Forgot to Remember
God was at war with Amalek from generation to generation. There was no good thing in Amalek!
In effect, there is absolutely no salvageable content in the flesh! That was God’s mind, God’s will, and God’s all-knowing judgment concerning Amalek. But Saul forgot to remember!
Even though Saul agreed to destroy every gross thing of the Amalekites, he “...took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive.” Saul spared the king – “self” – that ruled Amalek, and the best things that belonged to the self-life. He spared what he thought was good, even though God had totally condemned everything that comes from Amalek as bad.
This was the sin of Saul. He kept what God hated – the basic nature that wanted to rule the body, and the best of its heart idols. Since he was unwilling to give up the flesh-life, he was unable to enter the promised Sabbath-rest where “the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you” who can afflict the spiritual life. The people of this world, even the ones who claim to befollowing Christ,
but instead are following Saul’s example, would rather keep self alive than to be set free from the spiritual bondage they naturally experience while clinging to their flesh-life. This is the subtle temptation with which you will be confronted. For the devil will come to you again and again and whisper in your ear
that you are not as bad as the Bible makes you out to be. There is surely something good to salvage from your flesh-life. It seemed to Saul that God was taking things too far. God’s judgment on Amalek seemed to be unwarranted, a fanatical exaggeration of the issues; and so, in defiance of God’s word, God’s mind, God’s will, and God’s perfect judgment, Saul made up his own mind about right and wrong. Like Adam and Eve, Saul ate of the tree of “ good and evil” – the personal opinion tree – thus making himself into his own god. (Gen. 3: 4-5) It was this life of self-will that caused the Spirit to depart from both Adam and Saul. Are you still living by your own opinions and deciding what is right and wrong in your life? If you are, you are living by the flesh. God will not permit this evil to enter into His presence within His undivided kingdom. “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8: 8)
It is comparatively easy to be sorry for our sin ful past, and even to recognize and dislike some of the sinful things we may still stumble into {such as selfish anger, some other temper, or saying some unkind words}, but we are by nature loathe to concede the natural depravity and wickedness of our willful nature. We think there is something good in ourselves, and so we want to keep Agag alive in order to control our own life and have our own glory. Like Saul, we even plan to use the “good things” of Amalek in our worship to God. Many people save their self-life so they are able to build themselves up in the eyes of the people through their worship services. However, it is easy to recognize “the pride of life” in man, even when it claims to be worshipping God. In other words, the fact that you are a preacher , the fact that you are a missionary, the fact that you are a minister of music, the fact that you are a Christian educator, the fact that you are a Christian worker, the fact that you are a witnessing Christian, does not make you spiritual, nor your activity a righteous work coming from the life of Jesus Christ – no matter how deep your sense of dedication or the sacrifices involved.
Are you still doing your Christian work with some hope of receiving honor and recognition? (John 5: 44) If you are,
Agag is still alive and active. You are still acting like “mere men.” (1 Cor. 3: 3) This is why you become worried and upset when things don’t go the way you have planned them to. You have not yet sacrificed your fallen nature so that your body may become the temple of Christ’s life. This is the “one thing needful.” (Luke 10: 42) The flesh does not take kindly to an exposure of the unholy nature of its own self-righteousness. It will be hurt, offend ed, indignant, and resentful. Like Saul, it will even try to justify itself by claiming to be obedient to the word of God.
But the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen did little to vindicate Saul’s claim that he had performed as God had commanded. The noise that flows out of a carnal nature, such as boasting, quarreling, bickering, fretting and irritability, is the bad fruit that will demonstrate how an individual is still living under the power of the flesh like a “mere man” of the world.(1 Cor. 3: 3)
Of course, Saul assumed an air of offended innocence and insisted that he had not only performed the commandment of the Lord, but had done so with superior human judgment. After all , he had spared the best part of Amalek to be offered to the Lord in his worship to God. In effect, he planned to serve the Lord with his very best efforts! Saul said in so many words, “Don’t get me wrong! Don’t do the injustice of misjudging my heart or my motives! The good that I have found in Amalek, I have kept to dedicate to God.”
Saul was saying the same thing that we hear from so many people in the church today. Even though they refuse to die to self so they may live under the control and power of the Holy Spiritand manifest the life and nature of Jesus Christ, they say their motives are right, even when they are still serving God in the power of the flesh. This heart deception is a stroke of satanic genius and one of Satan’s most ancient devices, to persuade us to piously dedicate our fleshly human works to God.
We think that the works we are doing for the Lord with our “right heart” will make our proud and willful way of life acceptable to God. And so we presume to find good in the flesh-life – a life that God has condemned. But it is nothing more than an attempt to build the Tower of Babel up to God through human works.
This is the curse of Christendom! This is what paralyzes the Spirit’s work in the church today! In defiance of God’s word, men everywhere are prepared to dedicate to God the human plans that God condemns – the works of the flesh. No wonder God’s life and glory are not being seen from the lives of Christians today.
God had effectively said, “Do not forget the innate evil in Amalek.”
But Saul forgot to remember. Saul, in his own willfulness, had rejected God’s verdict on Amalek. He therefore had to learn in a bitter way how God’s verdict is always right and unchangeable. Though you may show mercy to Agag, this self-life will never show mercy to you! „I am in great distress,” said Saul. “The Philistines {who represent the sins of a carnal nature} are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has turne d away from you and has become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me......Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines {which is a life of suffering under the bondage of a carnal nature}...(1 Sam. 28: 15-19)
MAJOR W. IAN THOMAS
TheSaving Life of Christ
http://windowtinting.0catch.com/StudyingGodsWord/TheSavingLifeofChrist-IanThomas.pdf