The Judge of Judges

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly….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 have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites…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.

1 Samuel 15:9, 15, and 33

No other person in scripture is like the Prophet Samuel.  His ministry gives a prophetic picture unparalleled.  Melchizedek was the shadow of Christ the King and Priest.  Joseph was a beautiful shadow of the rejected Messiah, the hidden Egyptian, who rises to sovereign power and saves His brethren, the sons of Israel.  Isaac was the child of promise marked for sacrifice.  Elijah and Elisha were Christ the Prophet in two appearances.  Aaron and Phineas pictured Christ the Priest, while David and Solomon portrayed Christ the King shadowed in two appearances.  Many others were used to show magnificent aspects of Jesus, but Samuel alone shows us a type of Christ as the prophet, priest, and judge.  No other episode of Samuel’s life bears this out any greater than the episode above—the slaying of Agag.

God’s command to Saul was sure and certain.  Judgment was decreed against Amalek and God wanted Saul to be his instrument of justice and truth.  Why Amalek?  Why such righteous anger?  Amalek was the son of Eliphaz who was the first born of Esau, the brother of Jacob who traded his birthright for dinner.  There is a midrash that says Eliphaz was charged by Esau to kill his Uncle Jacob but he failed to follow through with the assignment.  Later, after Esau promised peace between himself and Jacob (Israel), he secretly plotted with Amalek to destroy Israel and his descendants.  Amalek had sworn to be a thorn in the side of Israel. 

While they were in the wilderness, Amalekite soldiers plagued the Israelite by killing the weakened stragglers.  In Exodus 17 we read about one of their attacks at a place called Rephidim (resting place in Hebrew).  They gave the Israelites no rest.  Joshua was called to battle and Moses went up the mountain to pray having his arms upheld by Aaron and Hur.  The Bible then states, “…LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16).”  Saul, as mentioned above, was to finish them off.  Finally, Amalek is an enduring shadow of our continual battle against the flesh.  (See note 3 on this post, YHWH who…)

King Saul only obeyed to a minor degree.  Notice above that he kept all of the good things of Amalek while destroying what the people deemed vile and refuse.  Read it again, “But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.”  In essence, the people disobeyed the command of the LORD and kept back what they considered important.  Samuel, the last great judge of Israel, shows up and he is not happy.   He followed the words of the people while ignoring the commands of God.  "And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice (1 Samuel 15:24)".  He followed the justice of the people and was then spit out of the mouth of God.  (Jesus promised the same thing for the Laodicean church--Laodicea means "the people's justice").

Saul, like the US Government today, disobeyed God and chose for himself a new truth.  “I’ll bless myself”, Saul thought.  “This will be a victory for Israel”, he stammered.  “We will placate the Almighty and offer Him some of the booty”, he planned.  But God and His commandments never change.  To quote the US President from his gay pride “victory for America” speech this morning justice arrived, “like a thunderbolt”.  When Samuel was finished, the command of the LORD was executed in totality and Saul would eventually be out of a job.  Want to guess who finished Saul off later?  It was an Amalekite.  The final thing that Saul heard from the Prophet/Priest/Judge of Israel was,“ The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. (1 Samuel 15:28-29).”  Jesus is not returning as a meek lamb but as The Roaring Lion of Judah!

Human government cannot overstep its bounds.  Judgment now is certain for the United States, and the Judge of Judges, Jesus Christ will wholly fulfill the commandments of the LORD in time across the Land.  Saul had a few years left, but that day was the beginning of the end.  Remember this saying America, “justice delayed is not justice denied.”  “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30).”

Finally, Samuel did something very interesting that every blood bought saint of God now needs to do across the land.  He spent agonizing hours in prayer for Saul.   The LORD would then say, “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons (1 Samuel 16:1).” Church, it is time to mourn for America and the world, but it is also time to look skyward.  The Greater Son of David is about to appear without sin unto salvation.  The SON of GOD is soon2come and every knee shall bow.  Witness while you can as the LORD is just about to recall His ambassadors. His name is GOD!