Donna Wooten was in the hospital
this week and got back yesterday to her home, and everybody remember
her. She hopes to be back next week. I've entitled this message, Smite,
Utterly Destroy, Spare Not, and Slay. Let me read the text. This is the Lord's command with
regard to Saul and the Amalekites. Verse three, now go and smite
Amalek and utterly destroy, exterminate
all that they have and spare them not, show them no mercy,
but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep,
camel and ass. I was watching a Muslim, interviewing a Christian and
he said, do you really believe that Jesus Christ is God? He
said, yes, I do. He said, do you believe he's
the God of the Old Testament that spoke in the Old Testament?
He said, yes, I do. And so he read this scripture unto him.
Did Jesus say, now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all
that they have and spare them not? but slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass? Could he have
made a command like that?" And the man replied, well, I
believe the Bible is the word of God. And sometimes the scripture just
speaks in hyperbole. which is a very irreverent use
of the scripture, God using hyperbole, God exaggerating something that
he doesn't intend to do, but that is what this preacher said
about this verse of scripture. I guess it's hyperbole. I don't
believe God really intended that because God could never do that.
Now, what does this scripture mean? What does this scripture
mean? Because it sounds like a genocide,
doesn't it? It sounds like an ethnic cleansing. Get rid of
them completely. And he even included infants,
children. He said, kill them all. Now this was actually God's judgment
against them for their sin. Look in verse 18 of the same
chapter. And the Lord sent thee on a journey
and said, go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites. This was not an ethnic cleansing.
This was not a genocide. These people were guilty of great
sin. And that is why God commanded
this judgment against them. But notice in verse two, thus
saith the Lord of hosts, I remember God's got a memory. He remembered
exactly what had taken place. I remember that, that which Amalek
did to Israel, how that he laid wait for him in the way when
he came up from Egypt. Now this is what God remembers
what the Amalekites did. They were the descendants of
Esau. When they came up out of Egypt,
The Amalekites were laying wait for them to attack them. Now, this story actually begins
600 years before this in Exodus chapter 17, if you'll turn with
me there. Exodus chapter 17. Verse eight. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim. Now this is the first battle
fought after leaving Egypt. There's great significance to
that. The first battle fought after leaving Egypt. It's when the Lord saves us is when
the battle with sin begins. I want you to think about that.
You don't really, before the Lord saves you, you don't really
have an understanding of sin. You understand something of the
consequences of it. People get in trouble, they ruin
their lives. There's all kinds of problems
that sin brings on. But you don't understand sin
until God saves you. And when God saves you, you have
some understanding of sin, and that's when the battle actually
begins. Galatians 5 17 says the flesh
lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary one to
another. They're at odds. They're adversaries
so that you can't do the things that you would. Now an unbeliever
does not have a spiritual nature. Remember when God said to Adam,
in the day you eat thereof, you'll surely die. Well, his spirit
died that very day. And an unbelieving man, the way
we're born into this world, we do not have a spiritual nature.
Somebody says, well, I'm a spiritual person. No, you're not. The only
people who are spiritual are people who have the Holy Spirit
and are given a spiritual nature. And that's what's referred to
in Galatians 5, chapter 17, when it says, the flesh lusts against
the Spirit. That's not talking about the
Holy Spirit. It's talking about the spiritual man, the new man
in Christ Jesus. And this battle does not take
place till you leave Egypt. This is the experience of someone
the Lord has saved. The flesh lusts against the spirit. The spirit lusts, is at war with,
is at battle with. It's against the flesh. These
are contrary one to another so that you cannot do the things
that you would. And we have so many examples
of this in scripture. For instance, Abraham had two
sons, Ishmael and Isaac. What does the scripture say with
regard to these two boys? Galatians chapter four, Ishmael
was born after the flesh. Isaac was born after the spirit.
These two boys, and remember Ishmael mocking Isaac. Well, he still is. That which
is born of the flesh is mocking that which is born of the spirit.
I think of Jacob, his, I mean, Isaac's two sons, his wife, she
has twins in her womb and there's a struggle, a fight going on.
Why am I thus? Two nations are in thee. Two
manner of people are in thee. And that is the experience of
every believer. We might not be able to articulate
it, but we know what's going on. There's two natures, the
flesh and the spirit. And this battle represents this battle going on within. Let's
go and read it. Verse nine. Now before I go on reading, let
me read what God said in Deuteronomy chapter 25, right before they
entered into the promised land. He remembers this battle. And
what he says in verse 17, I'll read it to you. Remember what
Amalek did unto thee by the way. when you were come forth out
of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the high most
of thee, and even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou
was faint and weary, and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be
when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies
round about in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out
the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Thou shalt not
forget it." Right before they're getting ready to go into the
promised land. He makes this statement with regard to Amalek. Now, back to Exodus 17. Remember, these are the people
God says to Saul, exterminate them, show them no mercy, kill
them all. Verse eight, Moses said unto
Joshua, choose us out men and go out and fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I'll stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God
in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought
with Amalek. And Moses and Aaron and Hur went
up to the top of the hill. Now here is our experience. And
it came to pass when Moses held up his hand, all of Israel could see the rod
of God. And Israel prevailed. But when he let down his hand,
I mean, how long can you hold something up? You get tired. He would put down his hand. What
happened then? Amalek prevailed. Now, in my
experience, when I looked across, I win. When I don't, I lose. That was the experience. Now,
look what happened in verse 12. Moses' hands were heavy, and
they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there on,
and Aaron and her, The priest, her means light,
stayed up his hands, that one on the one side and the other
on the other side, and his hands were steady into the going down
of the sun. And Joshua disconfitted Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword. Now, notice it
doesn't say he killed them. They were still alive. He discomfited
them. That's what the word means. It
means they were not put to death. They were subdued, they were
defeated, but they were not all killed. They were only discomfited. And look what the Lord says in
verse 14. And the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial
in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will
utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and
called the name of it Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner. For
he said, because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have
war with Amalek from generation to generation. It's going on
right now, isn't it? It's going on right now. This
is a continual battle from generation to generation, this war with
Amalek. And I have no doubt that Amalek
represents the flesh, the first battle that they faced upon leaving
Egypt. Now turn to 1 Samuel 15, 600
years later. 600 years later, this battle is still
going on. Verse one, Samuel said unto Saul,
the Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over
Israel. Now Saul actually had already
been exposed in 1 Samuel chapter 13. He had attempted to offer
sacrifice without a priest. He thought, I can't wait for
Samuel to get here. I need to do it now. And he did
it. He offered a sacrifice without a priest. He demonstrated he
had no true understanding of the character of God or he would
have never done that. He would know the only way he
could come into God's presence is through the priest. He couldn't
come on his own. He demonstrated a complete ignorance
of his own sinfulness, thinking he could do that. And that's
when God said, seek me out a man after my own heart, talking about
David. So he'd already exposed himself, but here God gives this
commandment through Samuel. And Samuel also said unto Saul,
the Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over
Israel. Now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words
of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I remember that which
Amalek did to Israel. how he laid wait for him in the
way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek and utterly
destroy all that they have him. Spare them not, but slay them,
man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And Saul gathered the people
together and numbered them at Tilaim 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Judah. Now that's quite an army, isn't
it? This is the army that is going to slay the Amalekites.
And Saul came into the city of Amalek and laid wait in the valley.
And Saul said unto the Canaanites, these were the People who, remember
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, those were the Kenites. And this
is recorded in scripture, what he's speaking of, and evidently
Saul read the scripture because he knows about this event. So
look what he says to the Kenites. And Saul said unto the Kenites,
go depart and get you down from the Amalekites, lest I destroy
you with them, for you showed kindness to all the children
of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed
from among the Amalekites, and Saul smote the Amalekites with
his vast army of over 200,000 people from Havilah and to the
Baal Kamas to Shur that's over against Egypt. And he took Agag,
the king of the Amalekites, alive. And didn't God say kill everybody? He took Agag, the king of the
Amalekites, alive. He did not obey the voice of
the Lord. And he utterly destroyed all
the people with the edge of the sword. He left one person, King
Agag. And he utterly destroyed the
people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared
Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen. Didn't God say
kill everybody and every oxen and every sheep? Yes, he did.
But they spared Agag, the king. They spared the best of the sheep
and of the oxen and all that was good and would not utterly
destroy them. But everything that was vile
and refuse and worthless, that was of no value to them, they
destroyed them. Now, this was an act of disobedience. That's all it can be called.
It was not partial obedience. We did some of the stuff. That's
not enough. And you'll find this interesting.
Agag. What does Agag mean? His name,
he was the king of the Amalekites. His name means I will over top. I will impose my will. I will be victorious. I will. What is it that religion
spares? Man's will. Oh yes, man's got
problems. He's a sinful creature. But he
still has a free will. He spared the will. Now let me say some things about
the will of man. There is no such thing as free
will. Now why do I say that? God doesn't have a free will. His will is controlled by His
nature. He can't freely decide to sin, can He? He can't up and
decide to lie. He can't act contrary to His
nature. His will is controlled by His nature. Men have a will,
but that will is controlled by an evil nature. Now that doesn't
mean We don't do what we want to do because we do. Everything
you do, everything I do, we do because we want to. We're not
forced to do it. We do what we want to do. Men
have a will, but that will is controlled by an evil, ungodly,
wicked nature. And so man's will is not It is
free. It is controlled by a sinful,
evil nature. And here's what false religion
does. It says, man's will is free. Your salvation is up to
your will. It's up to you to accept the
offer. It's up to you to ask Jesus into your heart. It's up
to you to accept him as your personal savior. Salvation is
ultimately in your hands. It's up to your will. That is
a false message. Salvation by works. That's the
bottom line. That is salvation by works. But
that is what they preserved. They preserved Agag. I will impose my will. My will is going to be done. I'm the master of my own destiny. My salvation is in the hands
of my will, whether or not I choose or decide. Agag is spared. Verse 10. Then came the word of the Lord
unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to
be king, for he has turned back from following me, and hath not
performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and he
cried unto the Lord all night. Now somebody says, what's that
mean? The Lord repented. Did he regret
doing it? Well, this is just language given
to accommodate our weakness. Remember when God said it, when
God said, it repenteth me that I've made man. It grieved him
at his heart because of the sinfulness of man. This is just given to
accommodate our weakness. I understand that. But in this
same chapter, look down in verse 29, And also the strength of Israel
will not lie nor repent, for he's not a man that he should
repent. God never changes his mind. God never regrets. His will is always done, but
this language is given to accommodate our weakness. It repenteth me
that I've set Saul up as king, for he's turned back from following
me and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and he
cried unto the Lord all night, presumably, don't forsake him. Samuel was impressed with Saul.
If you'll remember, he was this big, good-looking guy that stood
head and shoulders above everybody else in Israel, and he was impressed
with Saul, and one of the best for him, and he was aggrieved
that the Lord was rejecting Saul at this time. Verse 12, and when
Samuel rose up early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told
Samuel, saying, Saul, come to Carmel, and behold, he set him
up a place. And you know what that means?
He set him up a monument. He made a monument to himself
over this great military victory. He was very proud of it. He didn't
realize that it was a monumental failure and sin, but he sets
up a monument to himself because of this great military victory
he'd achieved in wiping them out, the Amalekites, and sparing
Agag and the best of the sheep and the best of the sacrifices.
set him up a monument passed on down to Gilgal. Verse 13,
and Samuel came to Saul and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou
of the Lord, I perform the commandment of the Lord. Did he really believe that? I don't know whether he did or
not, but he said, I've obeyed God's command perfectly. Now, even while he was saying
that, the sheep were bleeding and the oxen were lowing. And he heard the sound of those
sacrificial animals that he said, kill them. And they're alive.
So look what Samuel says to Saul. And Samuel came to Saul and Saul
said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord. I perform the commandment
of the Lord. And Samuel said, what meaneth
in the bleeding? of the sheep in mine ears, and
the lowing of the oxen which I hear." If you've obeyed my
commandment, why do I hear these animals that you were to put
to death? And Saul said, they brought them
from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the
sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the
rest we've utterly destroyed. We had a good motive in this.
We're gonna use these for religious purposes. We're gonna use these
for sacrifice. Verse 16, then Samuel said unto
Saul, stay and I'll tell thee what the Lord has said to me
this night. And he said unto him, stay on. And Samuel said,
when you were little in your own sight. Now there was a time
when he was little in his own sight. That's a good place to
be. That's the best place you can
be. You see, if you're little in your own sight, you need an
omnipotent Savior. Now, Samuel said, when you were
little in your own sight, was thou not made the head of the
tribes of Israel and the Lord anointing thee king over Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey
and said, go and utterly destroy the sinners. Amalekites. Now let me repeat, this was not
an ethnic cleansing, it was an ethics cleansing. They were evil
and that is why God had determined their destruction. God's judgment
is because of sin. It's not some kind of arbitrary
act of His sovereignty. Well, I'm going to damn the Amalekites.
His judgment is because of sin. This judgment was against the
sinners, the Amalekites. As harsh and as severe as it
may seem, God is just, God is holy, God is righteous. Verse
18, And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly
destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until
they be consumed. Verse 19, Wherefore didst thou
not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil,
and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? What he had made a
monument to, this glorious victory, did he achieve? What does God
call it? Evil. You see, what is partial
obedience? Disobedience. That's all it can
be called. There's no such thing as partial
obedience. This was disobedience to the
command of God. Now look at how Saul replies
to this. Verse 20, And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed
the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent
me. And I brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed
the Amalekites. I did part of it. Here's the
problem. The people took of the spoiled
sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have
been utterly sacrificed unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. He
blames the people. He joins with Adam in the blame
game. The woman you gave me. It was
the people that did this. It wasn't me, it was the people.
He was not taking responsibility for his sin. Now understand this. If my sin is not all my fault,
I don't need his grace. I don't need his mercy. I'm not
even truly asking for forgiveness. My sin is not all my fault. The
people, there's the problem. The people. But the people took
of this foal, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which
should have been utterly destroyed. He knew what he was supposed
to do. But oh, I was intimidated by the people. This is what they
wanted. Verse 22. And Samuel said, hath the Lord
as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, these things
that you're going to bring me because of taking them from the
Amalekites. We spared the best and we're
doing it for sacrifices. We're doing this for religious
purposes. And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great a delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the
Lord. Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice. And to hearken than the fat of
rams for rebellion. This is what this was. You're
saying it's for good, for sacrifice, for God. Here's what God calls
it. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft
and stubbornness. This was stubbornness on your
part. It is as iniquity and idolatry. Behold, thou has rejected the
word of the Lord. He also has rejected you from
being king. To obey is better than sacrifice. Do you remember when the Lord
said to the Pharisees when they were complaining over the fact
that he was with sinners? How's this right? Why does your
master eat with publicans and sinners? And that's when the
Lord said the whole need, not a physician, but they that are
sick, but you go and learn what this means. I'll have mercy and
not sacrifice. Now, what's that mean? Every one of us try to bring
a sacrifice to God that we think will cause him to accept us. whatever it might be. If I do
this, if I stop doing that, if I turn this around and change
that, it's Cain and Abel. What did Cain do? He brought
a sacrifice of his best that he thought God could accept.
I'm bringing my best. I'm bringing the fruit of the
ground. Now it's the ground that God had already cursed, but here
he brings the fruit of that which God had already cursed. This
is his sacrifice. What does Abel bring? All he
had was the blood of the coming Lamb. He understood that you
cannot approach God apart from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Him who is to come. He understood that by faith.
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
He understood he couldn't bring anything God could accept. The
only reason God could accept him is the sacrifice of Christ. Do you believe that? The only
reason God could accept you is because of the sacrifice of Christ.
It had nothing to do with your works, your merit, your nothing. Well, to obey the words of God is better than
the sacrifice you bring. God never told Saul to bring
these sacrifices, but to do what he told him to do, and it was
not at all unclear. What must we do to work the works
of God? What sacrifice are we called
on to make to please God? This is the work of God. Listen. Hearken. This is the work of
God that you believe on him whom he has sent. To obey is better
than any sacrifice you come up with. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. I came down from heaven. not
to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Do you believe the Father sent
the Son? This is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Now He came,
the Father sent Him, We read in the very first chapter of
the New Testament, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Question, did he do it? You can answer that question.
Did he do it? Well, he said in John chapter
19, verse 30, it is finished. He saved His people from their
sins. You and I are called upon to
believe on Him. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? I see I can't save myself. What must I do to be saved? on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Rely right now
only on Him. Don't wait for anything. Don't
wait to get better. Don't wait to you know more or
you experience more or feel more. Don't wait. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Believe that He is all that He's
all God requires. Rest. To not do so is rebellion and
stubbornness. Verse 24. And Saul said unto
Samuel, I've sinned, for I've transgressed the commandment
of the Lord and thy words, because I feared the people and obeyed
their voice. Here he goes with the blame game again. What have
you done? Well, the serpent gave me to,
fruit. Serpent's fault. Serpent deceived
me. Adam, the woman you gave me,
she gave me the fruit and I did eat. It's the blame game. It's
not taking personal responsibility for sin. Saul's doing it here
once again. I was afraid of the people. Verse 25, now therefore I pray
thee pardon my sin and turn away with me that I may worship the
Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I'll
not return with thee. For thou hast rejected the word
of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king
over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to
go away, he saw a layhold upon the skirt of his mantle, and
a rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom
of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor
of thine that is better than thou. We know that's talking
about David. Verse 29. And also the strength
My marginal reading says the eternity or the victory of Israel
will not lie nor repent for he's not a man that he should repent. Now here we have God, the eternity,
the strength, the preeminence of Israel, the God of glory.
He will not lie. He will not repent because he's
not a man. That's what men do. You didn't
repent. I messed up. I was wrong. God
has no reason to repent. Everything he does is altogether
glorious and perfect and holy. He can't tell a lie. He's unable
to tell a lie because of who he is. He's the God of glory. He's holy. He can't not be holy. He's other. He's altogether just,
altogether immutable, sovereign. Independent. He doesn't need
you to act before he can do something. He's God. He's not a man like
me or you that has to change his mind that's so fickle and
we can't see. He's not a man that he should
lie. The way men do it becomes natural to men. He's not like
me and you. He's not like anything. He's
other. altogether other, there's nothing like him in this world. That's why idolatry is such an
evil. We're bringing God down to some
human level. He's not like me and you. Verse 29, and also the strength
of Israel will not lie nor repent for he's not a man that he should
repent. Then Saul says, I've sinned, yet honor me now, I pray
thee, before the elders of my people. See, he just, he exposes
himself. All he cares about, I don't want
to look bad in front of everybody. At least honor me before the
elders of the people, so everybody's not going to look down on me
so much. and before Israel, and turn again
with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned
again after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. I mean, he loved Saul. He did. Verse 32, then said Samuel, bring
ye hither to me Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came
unto him delicately, and Agag said, surely the bitterness of
death is past. I think, you know, if you wait long enough, maybe
he won't be so angry and everything will be okay. Surely I'm not
gonna be judged now. Verse 33, and Samuel said, as
thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless
among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces
before the Lord in Gilgal. What did he do with free will?
He hacked it into pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. He did what Saul refused to do. He put him to death. Then Samuel went to Ramah and
Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. There was a separation
that took place and Samuel came no more to see Saul until the
day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned
for Saul, and the Lord repented that he'd made Saul king over
Israel. Now, I entitled this message,
this is what I want to close with, Smite, Utterly Destroy,
Spare Not, and Slay. People have used this verse of
scripture to prove that the Bible is not the inspired word of God
because there would never be a commandment like this because
God's merciful, God's love, all the objections people make. But what is the meaning of this?
Let me tell you. Let me tell myself. You know
when we smite, utterly destroy, spare not, and slay? When we look to Christ alone. and smite, destroy, utterly slay,
and spare not any hope of salvation by works. You know, when you
do this, when you look to the word of God alone, not man's
opinions, but what God says in his word, that's when you put
to death the flesh. That's when you destroy the Amalekites.
When you look to Christ alone, The hardest thing you're ever
called upon to do, it's impossible unless God gives you grace to
do it, is to look to Christ alone, nowhere else. Grace alone, not of works. Faith alone, not faith and. faith
alone. That is when you smite, utterly
destroy, spare not, and slay. Do that with every hope in your
flesh. Annihilate it. Exterminate it. Put it to death. And right now,
look to Christ alone as all that God requires of you. And if you do that, God has enabled
you to do it. That's the work of His grace. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we would be able, by your grace, by your spirit, to smite,
to utterly destroy, to spare not, and to slay anything that
would prevent us from looking to thy Son alone. Cause us to truly rest in who he is and what
he has done as our salvation. Lord, that is beyond the strength
and energy of this flesh, but we ask that you would do this
for us and in us for Christ's sake. Lord, let not, by your
mercy, let not one person leave this room trusting anything but
Christ Jesus, Your Son, our Lord and Savior. In His name we pray,
amen.