Amalekites, Gollums of the OT

II Samuel 1
The first verse of this chapter struck me--"after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites..." Saul lost God's favor for not utterly destroying the Amalekites and all they had. Now David has finished the job.

Some trivia about the Amalekites--they were descendants of a grandson of Esau (at least the ones during this time of history. Another group of people is called "Amalekites" as early as the days of Abraham). Esau's children and grandchildren were given Mt. Seir (meaning "rough, hairy") by God. In fact later in the minor prophets God equates the giving of Mt. Seir to Edom with the giving of the Promised Land to Israel. It was Esau's portion. The Amalekites came from a union between Esau's son Eliphaz and an "aborigine," a woman whose Horite tribe had previously inhabited Mt. Seir. "Horite" means "cave-dweller." Apparently the Mt. Seir area is full of limestone caves.

It seems to me the Amalekites were sort of the cave-dwelling Gollums of the OT--cowardly, sneaking, and opportunistic. You'll remember that Gollum found his prey among the orcs who had wandered away from their group or were trapped and helpless. There's something of this kind of a national personality seen in the two instances of Amalekite attacks...killing the helpless and weak in the rear of the camp of Israel as they entered the Promised Land, and attacking David's village when all the men were gone to war. Is it any mistake that the man who deceitfully claimed to have killed Saul--to have finished off a dying man-- was an Amalekite? Jewish writers say that whereas the other Gentile nations believed in false gods, Amalek believed in nothing. It would follow that they had no moral code, no "right and wrong" to govern their actions. Therefore the Amalekites were basically cowards and sneaks--doing whatever was expedient and that they could get away with. Sort of Stinkers and Slinkers.

God doesn't miss much when it comes to these pagan nations, though He is merciful with them, even at the expense of his own chosen people. Israel stayed in bondage for 400 years, partly because the "iniquity of the [pagan nations] was not yet full." They were not yet wicked enough to warrant losing their lives and their land. So, when God says a nation should be destroyed, be sure He has given them plenty of chances. The Amalekite king was no doubt a wicked man, worthy of death, but Saul, like a soft judge, let him off on good behavior. This king was a smooth talker...he came to Samuel delicately, saying "Surely the bitterness of death is past." Samuel did the right (though messy) thing and carried out the capital punishment he deserved.

The point is, God wanted this wicked nation destroyed, and David carried out His judgement. David was interested in being an instrument of God's divine program. Saul was interested in his own self-promotion. Another point from this story: David's reason for destroying the Amalekites was a personal motive God gave him. They had burned his city, Ziklag. So the Ziklag incident actually served two purposes, in retrospect: cutting ties to the city so David and his men could move on, and giving them a strong reason to carry out God's mission.