But the Lord sent His servant with another message to Saul. By obedience he might still prove his fidelity to God and his worthiness to walk before Israel. Samuel came to the king and delivered the word of the Lord. That the monarch might realize the importance of heeding the command, Samuel expressly declared that he spoke by divine direction, by the same authority that had called Saul to the throne. The prophet said, "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, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." The Amalekites had been the first to make war upon Israel in the wilderness; and for this sin, together with their defiance of God and their debasing idolatry, the Lord, through Moses, had pronounced sentence upon them. By divine direction the history of their cruelty toward Israel had been recorded, with the command, "Thou 628 shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it." Deuteronomy 25:19. For four hundred years the execution of this sentence had been deferred; but the Amalekites had not turned from their sins. The Lord knew that this wicked people would, if it were possible, blot out His people and His worship from the earth. Now the time had come for the sentence, so long delayed, to be executed.


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Saul forkastes

Nu lod Herren sin tjener overbringe Saul et nyt budskab. Hvis han ville være lydig, kunne han endnu nå at vise sin vilje til at tjene Gud af et udelt hjerte og bevidne, at han var værdig til at lede Israel. Samuel opsøgte kongen og overbragte ham budskabet fra Herren. For at kongen skulle forstå, at det havde stor betydning at efterkomme denne befaling, sagde Samuel udtrykkeligt, at Herren havde sendt ham, og at han talte med samme myndighed, som da han salvede Saul til konge. Profeten sagde: "Så siger hærskarers Herre: Jeg vil straffe Amalek for, hvad de gjorde mod Israel, da de stillede sig i vejen for det på vandringen op fra Ægypten. Drag derfor hen og slå Amalek og læg band på dem og på alt, hvad der tilhører dem; skån dem ikke, men dræb både mænd og kvinder, børn og diende, okser og får, kameler og æsler!" Amalekitterne var de første, der drog i krig imod israelitterne i ørkenen, og på grund af denne synd og deres foragt for Gud samt deres nedværdigende afguderi havde Herren gennem Moses fældet dommen over dem. Gud havde befalet, at beretningen om deres grusomhed over for Israel skulle nedtegnes, ledsaget af disse ord: "Da skal du udrydde ethvert minde om Amalek. Glem det ikke!" 5. Mos. 25, 19. Denne dom havde ventet på sin fuldbyrdelse i 400 år, men amalekitterne var ikke holdt op med at synde. Herren vidste, at dette onde folk ville udrydde hans folk og udslette den sande gudstilbedelse, hvis det var dem muligt. Nu var tiden kommet, da dommen, som var blevet udsat så længe, skulle fuldbyrdes.

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