Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 17:13-16

13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

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.

15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:

16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

At the end of the day, Joshua and the Israelite army prevailed and the Amalekites suffered a loss. However this was only a setback for the Amalekites, not an utter defeat. Nevertheless, the Lord used this opportunity to vow that He would, ultimately, “utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek.”

It is worth considering, has this vow been fulfilled? Referring to the Biblical record, it was almost accomplished in Saul’s military campaign, but Saul stopped short of the Lord’s mandate, and was sharply reproved for that, allowing the Amalekites to limp on, eventually becoming a thorn in the side of Israel once more.

We have no record that states the Amalekites were ever, completely eradicated, at least not by the Israelites. Perhaps they were conquered by the Assyrians or the Babylonians, or perhaps they were assimilated into other cultures, and the people have been “put out of remembrance” that way. Or, perhaps the people are still present to this day, and the Lord is biding His time before fulfilling His declaration.

A prophecy that we do know was fulfilled was the one given in verse 16. The Lord assured the Israelites that they would war with the Amalekites for generations, and as discussed yesterday, that most certainly did occur. Depending on whatever became of the Amalekites, perhaps in some form the feud still goes on even today.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 17:8-9

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

The account makes a sudden and dramatic shift, telling us now of an army of Amalekites that came to fight with Israel, even while they were still in the wilderness. As we have already seen, Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness was a time for them to prepare for life in the Promised Land. They had already had several lessons on how to rely upon the Lord and obey His word exactly, and now they were rehearsing the art of war, something that they would become very familiar with when they strove against the Lord’s enemies in the land of Canaan, including the Amalekites.

This is not the first that we have heard of the Amalekites, either. We heard of their forebearer back in Genesis 36:16, Amalek, who was the grandson of Esau, who was the brother of Jacob, who was himself the forebearer of the Israelites. As noted at the time, many of the nations that Israel fought in Canaan were people that branched off from the covenant bloodline. These fallen-away nations were a perfect foil to the Israelites, because they were similar, with a shared root, but had been twisted in pagan ways. They represent the beast that is too familiar, the evil that is too close for comfort, the worst version of our own selves.

The coming fight with the Amalekites also foreshadows Israel’s future in another way. Moses chose Joshua to lead God’s people in this battle, just as he would be chosen to preside over all of Israel after Moses’s death. Moses explains that he will help Israel in their fight, but from afar, while Joshua would be down in the ranks with them. So, too, Moses’s law would continue to aid and guide Israel after his passing, while Joshua would continue in the ranks.