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The hand that was laid upon the throne of the Lord was the hand of Amalek. With all
their failures Israel were the Lord's anointed. When Balaam was brought to curse Israel,
he had to say:
"He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob . . . . . the shout of a king is among them."
"His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted."
"Edom shall be a possession."
"And when he looked upon Amalek, he took up his parable and said, Amalek was the
first of the nations, but his latter end is even to perish" (Numb. 23: and 24:).
Here Agag is mentioned in connection with Israel's king and kingdom. This was a
title similar to that of Pharaoh or Abimelech, and used by all the kings of Amalek.
We have seen that because Amalek's hand was laid upon the throne of the Lord, war
was declared from generation to generation. Let us pursue this vital subject further. It
will be remembered that After Saul had been king for some time, we read:
"So Saul took possession of the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his
enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the sons of Ammon, and against Edom
. . . . . and smote the Amalekties" (I Sam. 14: 47, 48).
Following this general deliverance of Israel from their hereditary foes comes the more
explicit command to:
"Smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not" (I Sam. 15: 3).
The story is well-known to us. Saul smote the Amalekites, but he took Agag the king
of the Amalekites alive. Saul and the people also refused to destroy the best of the sheep
and the oxen, and `all that was good'.
The flesh, the old man, typified by Amalek, is too often spared today. In the sight of
God there is `no good thing' in the flesh, but it is rare to find that believer who is so
taught of God that he has reached the height of Phil. 3: and, making no comparison
between the flesh cultured and the flesh manifestly depraved, repudiates it entirely and
rejoices to stand beneath the Banner of the cross. Many who condemn Saul would be
found sharing this so called `good' thing of the flesh. To often we add to our sin by
hypocrisy. Saul said:
"The people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should
have been utterly destroyed, TO SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD thy God in Gilgal"
(I Sam. 15: 21).
"In Gilgal"! The place where the reproach of Egypt was rolled away (Josh. 5: 9),
where the rite of circumcision which sets forth the repudiation of the flesh (Col. 2: 11)
was solemnly carried out by all Israel before they set foot in the land of promise, there
above all places would Saul offer the sacrifice of the flesh and dishonour the Lord. This
was to go in the way of Cain. The very next thing that Samuel is instructed to do after
this is to anoint David king (I Sam. 16:). That the throne of the kings of Israel could be
spoken of as `the throne of the Lord' I Chron. 29: 23 makes clear: