Yesterday, we dove deep into the name of Joshua and learned that he is a “type” of Messiah. Every type you’ll need to understand in Scripture is set (for eternity) in the first 5 books of the Bible. Every single seed that eventually comes to fruition in the Book of Revelation begins it’s growth in Genesis—starting most obviously with the “Seed of The Woman.” However, there are bad seeds too, and Amalek is just that type of type. Just as the name Joshua is mentioned 7 times throughout the Book of Exodus, Amalek is mentioned exactly 7 times, but all condensed into this short set of verses. This certainly does not mean Amalek is “perfect and complete” – but here his “type” is set forever as the “perfect and complete” type of evil.
Here is his awful history:
The original Amalek is a son of Esau who himself is already set forth as negative type (Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated–Yah’s words from Malachi 1:3).
Worse than that, Amalek is the son of a concubine of Esau’s.
Worse than that, in most Bibles, Amalek’s entire origin story is half a verse, and it’s surrounded by parenthesis. This is a really shameful position—barely a footnote in history.
Worse than that, ‘Amalek’ means ‘valley dweller’. Scripture is making the most stark contrast between YHWH on the mountain, Moses on the hill, and Amalek way, way, way down there, the lowest of the low—being defeated by Yah’s Savior.
In Numbers 24, Balam’s curse-turned-blessing further deepens and extends the expectations of the evil of the Amalekites forward far into the future. This prophecy even mentions Agag, the name of the King of Amalek—hundreds of years before he’s even born.
“And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.” (Numbers 24:20)
Once we see the pattern, “Agag”, the King of Amalek, is therefore a type of Satan. The three letters of his name could also mean, “first Gog”. This implies that we can continue this type forward, past the Babylonian exile, into the both the Book of Esther (Haman was a Agagite) and the also into Book of Ezekiel! Ezekiel talks about the endless curse and eternal hatred of Gog (which seems to come out of nowhere, until you connect these dots.) Ezekiel even names the location where Gog’s bones are buried, the Valley of Hamon-Gog. All the types are thrown into one name, and one appropriate place!
So. Why all the hate? I thought “YHWH is Love.”
Here’s why:
“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on THE WAY when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore when YHWH your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that YHWH your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; YOU SHALL NOT FORGET.” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)
Amalek preys on the weakest of the weak. Here in Exodus 17 Amalek’s nature is first revealed. The Serpent in the garden was cursed forever (to travel on his belly, to be the lowest of the low) because he messed with humanity at our earliest and weakest point. Just so, Amalek attacked new-born baby Israel—or Yah’s sweet-yet-clueless virgin bride-to-be. In both metaphors, the spirit is the same. Amalek represents the lowest of the low—the type who even the loving, sweet, and gentle Yeshua says should have a millstone tied around their neck and dropped into the sea. The spirit of Amalek is no different than the Satanic spirit itself, and it will eventually share the same violent, bloody, gnashing of teeth, and eternal burning fate. (Is that too harsh? Nope.) This fate isn’t realized once and for all until Revelation 20:7-10, but it’s worth waiting for.
If this is all new to you, this understanding of the nature of evil is why Yah’s people are so anti-abortion, yet often pro death penalty. The Spirit of Amalek is about the intentional, willful, even gleeful destruction of the weakest of human lives. The womb, designed to be the safest place on earth, becomes a profit-center for huge corporations at the cost of the most innocent of lives. Following the spirit of Amalek, the womb becomes a tomb. Treating that fact with nonchalance or cheering and marching for the right to kill the innocent falls right into the Amalek camp. Worse, that same spirit of Amalek convinces the very mother to conspire with him in the act.
Before I get too self-righteous, the same Amalekite spirit also ignores childhood hunger and leaves orphans, widows and the elderly helpless and with no provision. Amalek convinces us that we paid our taxes to the state—so now its someone else’s problem. The selfishness and hardness of heart that allows us to ignore the plight of the weak leads down the same path of destruction as abortion.
Anyway, back to righteous indignation.
Here’s what the semi-fulfilled promise of Deuteronomy 25:17 looks like in 1 Samuel 15:3-4:
“Thus says YHWH of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Saul actually does kill MOST of them but loses his title as King because he fails to fully obey the command originally set forth in Deuteronomy 25:17! This is a very big deal. It’s essentially saying that the primary role of Israel’s King is the final destruction of Amalek. Saul—you had ONE JOB! Samuel needs to come in and make sure the object-lesson is truly fulfilled.
“Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before YHWH in Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 15:32-33)
I’m just sharing scripture folks. Veggie Tales missed this story even though chopping up vegetables would look so great on screen.
Before we get censored from the internet, here’s the surprising take-away—we are called to HATE, HATE, HATE Amalek. But before we load our guns we need to come back here to Exodus 17. This is where we are taught that it’s Joshua’s (Yeshua’s) job to go to war.
We hate, He defeats.
Yeshua is the one who solves this. We just raise our hands and lift up our heads.
More on that strategy tomorrow.